Eagle Pose: Brainy Kids Yoga for Learning
/Feeling scattered and need to create focus and concentration?
Have your joints been feeling a little creaky lately?
Want a full-body wake-up and warm-up?
Wrap Yourself Up In Eagle Pose!
Eagle pose in yoga combines balance, strength and flexibility and works several parts of the body at once. It is a true whole body and mind work-out! This pose strengthens the ankles, knees and hips while stretching thighs, hips, shoulders and upper back.
Practicing eagle improves balance while increasing feelings of grounding, focus and concentration. It also engages and firms abdominal muscles while increasing circulation throughout the body.
The Benefits of Eagle Pose
Crossing the midline of the body with both the arms and legs is beneficial for sensory integration and prepares the brain for complex tasks and learning. Pairing wrapping arms and legs with balancing on one foot makes this pose extra tricky but also super powerful.
Start the class with Criss-Cross Applesauce to help everyone get more comfortable with cross-body movement.
Next, move to the more challenging like Crane Pose to experiment with basic cross body movement and balancing.
Click the button below to try these and other Eagle prep poses!
How To: Eagle Pose
Begin standing tall and strong in mountain pose
Bend your knees and lift your right leg up and cross it over your other leg
Tap toes onto the ground for balance
Reach arms wide and then cross right arm under left to make an “X”
Bend your elbows and try to touch your palms together
Lift your chest and move elbows away from the body and upward
Keep chin level to the ground and focus straight ahead
Take a deep breath in to lift chest and create space in the upper body
Breath out and draw the tailbone down firming into the feet.
Stay for 3-5 breaths and then repeat on the other side
When you feel confident with the balance, you can lift your toes off the floor and wrap the foot around the calf of the standing leg.
More Fun Ways to Practice Eagle Pose!
Turn this kid-friendly yoga pose into a fun balancing sequence by flying your eagle! Once you feel strong and steady in Eagle, try combining it with Warrior 3, flying your bird and then landing again into your eagle nest.
Tips for Mastering Eagle Yoga Pose
If you are new to Eagle take your time…keep the toes on the ground for a bit before wrapping the foot. Also, if your shoulders or upper body feels tight, start by crossing your arms and simply holding opposite shoulders. Once you start to gain mobility, you can begin to slowly move hands toward one another.
Draw your tailbone toward the ground and keep your core engaged to support you low back.
Relax your jaw, face, neck, and shoulders as much as possible…this trains your body to focus and concentrate without adding extra tension.
Notice if you’ve stopped breathing – then simply start again!
Kid-friendly Eagle Pose Variations
Eagle has a lot of moving parts so you may want to take the time to really break it down. For young children sometimes starting with the arms makes this pose more accessible because they can learn this new move without trying to balance at the same time. After really getting the arm wrap, then try just the legs, using the toes as a kickstand. Once children feel comfortable with each piece suggest putting them all together!
Try eagle pose against the wall to help with balance while learning to wrap the limbs. Challenge SEL (social emotional learning) by offering children to do this pose back-to-back using each other for support.
More Kids Yoga Videos!
Did your kids love flying and landing like an eagle? Invite them to try Tree Pose with a scarf to imagine a bird flying and landing in their tree.
Tree is another great balancing pose and practicing it can help children get ready for Eagle. Plus, tree pose is all season and perfect to blend into your classroom curriculum year round. All right birds, have smooth take-offs, happy flights and soft landings!
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