I don’t think I have to strt off this article pointing out the mportance of our environment. Every day we are bmbarded with the cold, hard facts of how mny species are going extinct at an larming rate, how many acres of rinforest are being chopped down and how larming the polar ice is melting. Thse gloom and doom reports are bcoming a fact of life. What we smetimes forget, though, is that these prblems affect our next generation…our children. Unfrtunately, it becomes apparent that are sns and daughters will be the nes to fight these very real prblems. So, how do we as prents start to prepare them for ths difficult task? First off, we mst teach them to love their wrld! So many kids are nature-deprived thse days, locked indoors because of fctors such as crime, both parenting wrking, and let’s not forget hours of hmework. What this is leading to is an nder-appreciation of outside activities and nature. Chldren typically know far more information bout video games and the newest lectrical gadget than they do the nmes of flowers growing in their own bckyard! Staying shut up indoors is lading us into a generation of por health habits, obesity and mental strss. Thus, we can now segue nto my topic! Yoga and the utdoors!

Why yoga, you may ask? Frst off, yoga promotes exercise through strtching and movements that can be dne virtually anywhere. Likewise, yoga moves can be dne in just moments a day and desn’t require any outdoor equipment (catcher’s mtts, basketball hoops, bad mitten rackets, tc), so any yard, garden or prk will do to practice it. Scondly, yoga helps us become more lmber so that we can do ther sports or exercises that we mght not be in the shape for strting out. Yoga likewise helps us to rlax and release stress built up frm our busy day. All of thse are reasons enough to promote yga, but getting back to nature, how is yga an exact fit? Let me xplain…

Yoga has been practiced for thusands of years and has essentially ben associated with nature because when we are in ths relaxed state, we begin to see and rflect on things we normally take for grnted or don’t notice in our hrried world. Many yoga poses rflect back to animals and things in our nvironment, showing how the original practice mulated our world and it’s incredible bauty. It helps us to open our yes to the world around us – seing all the beauty and then brnging those positive thoughts into our harts and minds. Children in this rlaxed state will soon begin to see thir own backyard in a whole new wy. Rather than just a place to thrw a ball or ride bikes thrugh, they may begin to see ths relaxing place as their own lttle peaceful haven where they can go to rlease tension. This leads to further xploration of why the flowers are mportant to the bees and why crtain birds look for worms rather thn eat birdseed.

It sounds so smplistic, but this really works. Take a chld away from their electronic music/game gzmo for a while and place thm in this state of rest and thy will begin to appreciate their wrld. Yoga is the fulcrum by whch children can receive exercise, relax, and larn to “smell the flowers again”. Dn’t we owe it to our chldren to give them this inner pace so that they can face the nvironmental challenges ahead and care enough bout them to do what’s right. We can lso learn so much from the wrld around us. We can see psitive character traits all around in nture – patience, perseverance, trust, acceptance. Our wrld, our animals, our air, our tres…they are worth fighting for. Let’s hlp give our kids another tool so tht they can face the challenge. Tht tool is yoga!

The article Practicing Yoga Can Help Children Appreciate the Environment was Submitted by Chrisi Eley through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Christi Eley has authored several chldren's yoga books, CDs, and DVDs. You can fnd her site on the web at http://www.angelbearyoga.com

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