At Core Kids we are on a mission to teach young people about the many benefits to be gained from regularly practicing simple Pilates exercises and mindfulness! Our Core Kids classes have been designed to be fun, exciting and will help to strengthen muscles, improve balance, posture and concentration.
Children’s lifestyles have dramatically changed over the past 20 years. Unfortunately, there is less opportunity to spend hours playing outside having wonderful adventures from dawn to dusk! Yes, kids still love to climb trees, hang from monkey bars and go for long bike rides, but in general their daily routine is more sedentary. There is more sitting, watching TV and playing on gadgets, which is having a massive effect on posture, core strength and general well being. We want our children, and in turn, their children, to be happy, healthy and strong.
Pilates offers a range of benefits for children, including aiding in cardiovascular and general fitness.
Flexibility
The poses practised in Pilates help to maintain flexibility in children's muscles and tendons. This is useful if they wish to participate in other sports such as ballet and gymnastics, and is also great for their overall fitness!
Strength
Pilates helps to improve the circulation of blood, strengthening the core muscles of the body - helping children to conserve their energy, as well as keeping them lean and improving their athletic performance.
Concentration
School can be mentally demanding, and often children can be overwhelmed. The focus required to perform exercises in Pilates will transfer to the classroom and you will see improvements in their academic performance.
Posture
Spending hours slouched staring at a screen each day, can lead to a range of back problems in later life. Pilates can help to correct this! Children that participate regularly in Pilates classes have better spinal alignment and posture!
“If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world in one generation”
Exams, peer pressure, homework and social media are just a few of the many stressors faced by children, and these can quickly lead to anxiety and unhappiness. Often this manifests in the following behaviours:
- Inability to regulate emotions
- Under developed social skills
- Poor attention
- Low self esteem
- Reduced quality of sleep
- Anxiety triggered by academic exams and tests
- Anger management issues
Do you have a child, or work with children who have challenges in any of these areas? Teaching them mindfulness skills can provide life-long benefits.
Mindfulness is noticing what is happening around you right now, and learning to REALLY focus on the present moment. When children learn simple mindfulness techniques, they are able to focus more deeply and begin to pay attention, allowing them to improve many areas in their lives.
What to expect
This course is specially designed to teach children how to apply mindfulness and meditation skills to build resilience, enabling them to cope with stress and difficult everyday situations more readily. They will be skilfully led through a series of exercises and discussions which focus on the importance of listening. At the heart of this will be age-appropriate breathing and relaxation techniques.
The calm and safe environment of our studio will support these fun sessions and the children will experience many benefits including:
Calmness Breathing and other mindfulness practices relax the body and mind, giving access to peace independent of external circumstances. Studies find that mindfulness reduces feelings of stress and improves anxiety and distress when placed in a stressful social situation.
Improved Attention Levels. Mindfulness strengthens our “mental muscle” for bringing focus back where we want it, when we want it. Numerous studies on the effects of mindfulness show improved attention including better performance on objective tasks that measure attention.
Increased Resilience Seeing things objectively reduces the amount of narrative we add to the world’s natural ups and downs, giving us greater balance.
Adaptability Becoming aware of our patterns enables us to gradually change habitual behaviours wisely. Improvement in working memory, resulting in better academic results
Emotional Regulation Observing our emotions helps us recognize when they occur, to see their transient nature, and to change how we respond to them. Mindfulness creates changes in the brain that correspond to less reactivity and better ability to engage in tasks even when emotions are activated.
Compassion Awareness of our own thoughts, emotions, and senses grows our understanding of what other people are experiencing. People randomly assigned to mindfulness training are more likely to help someone in need and have greater self-compassion, increased kindness and empathy towards family and peers.
Who is this for?
Any children aged between 6 and 11 years old can benefit from these combined disciplines . Mindfulness is a practice to be shared and taken into our everyday lives. No previous experience of mindfulness or meditation is required.
We hold two sessions, one for 6-11 years and one for 11-16 years.
Check out this video which explains the benefits mindfulness has on kids:
We are holding a 4 week introductory course, starting on Tuesday 7 May 2019
6-11 years at 4.00pm
11-16 years at 5pm.
Class duration is 45 minutes
£10.00 PER CLASS
