Yoga for Kids and Teens*

In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.  ~ Suzuki Roshi

Please scroll down for FREE support materials for kids and teen yoga.

Why is kids and teen yoga important?

1. Yoga is fun: Kids and teen yoga works for some very simple reasons. One reason is that kids yoga can be fun and can allow people the opportunity to smile and laugh. The fun factor, which provides an opportunity to connect with people, is a key because it lowers stress levels in the body so people want to keep doing it. Doing yoga makes people smile. Smiling is contagious owing to people’s tendency to mimic the mood or expression of those around them, as explained in the book Emotional Contagion. Smiling not only improves people’s frame of mind, but it also can improve the quality of personal interactions. (1)2. Yoga promotes self-discovery:  Judith Lasater notes that yoga is a journey to self-discovery (2).  And who is, or should be, more actively involved in self discovery than young people? As kids and teens continually strive to develop and to define who they are, kids and teen yoga gives them a powerful tool with which to explore both themselves and their world. They can develop a more positive outlook, more confidence, and more physical and mental strength. In addition, kids and teen yoga provides them with an opportunity to explore who they are in a noncompetitive, supportive environment.

3. Yoga fosters social interaction and team building: Yoga, and the laughter and smiles it generates, can be used as a team building activity or to build understanding between diverse groups. Social interaction and group dynamics are highly important to kids and teens. Science has shown us that shared laughter increases a sense of closeness among people, which is a step toward understanding. (3) Daniel Goleman, in his book Social Intelligence, discusses the biological effect of smiling, improving people’s moods and outlooks. He states that “laughter may be the shortest distance between two brains, an unstoppable infectious spread that builds an instant social bond.” (4)

4. Yoga addresses risk factors: Consider this insight from a male prisoner who regularly attends one of GreenTREE Yoga prison yoga classes. The day after the Virginia Tech shootings (4/16/07), he said, “That guy really needed to do yoga.”

Kids and teen yoga programs address risk factors such as substance abuse, violence, and social isolation that challenge many populations for many reasons. Yoga engages people in physical exercise and develops concentration and focus. Yoga also builds trust, self-confidence and positive feelings, fosters creativity and exercises the imagination, and improves the learning environment.

5. Yoga decreases stress: A major benefit of kids and teen yoga is that it decreases stress and teaches simple relaxation techniques. We know that our youth is under increasing amounts of stress–social stress, emotional stress, and physical stress. In his book, Yoga as Medicine (2007), Dr. Timothy McCall outlines the many ways in which yoga decreases stress levels, giving us scientific data to support such claims. In addition, he identifies the many health risks associated with heightened stress levels, including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and depression to name but a few. At Needham High School in Massachusetts, the principal has scheduled yoga classes for all seniors as part of their stress reduction program. (5) One seven year-old said to Yael after a class, “I have a lot of yoga DVDs at home, but none makes me feel this relaxed.” It had, interestingly, been a very active class, yet she felt calmer at the end of it.

6. Yoga is flexible: Because there are many styles and facets to yoga, you can design the perfect practice for your group. For example, GreenTREE Yoga taught different groups of teens in the late afternoon after active days of sports. They begged for a more restful, restorative practice. Younger kids yoga groups met in the mornings and wanted a very active practice.

GreenTREE Yoga works with one group of high school athletes who love yoga. As a high school senior at West High in Salt Lake City says, “Yoga is absolutely, phenomically amazing!  It helps me discipline my body and to find my inner strength.  It prepares me for school and the future.  I wish I could do it everyday.  Hail to yoga!” (6)

So anywhere you have kids and teens, there are many opportunities to use kids yoga, to let yoga works its magic.

1)  Hatfield, Elaine, and Cacioppo, John. Emotional Contagion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1993.

2)  Lasater, Judith Hanson, Ph.D., P.T. 30 Essential Yoga Poses. Berkeley: Rodmell Press. 2003. p. 7.

3)  Fraley, Barbara and Arthur Aron, “The Effect of Shared Humorous Experience on Closeness in Initial Encounters,” Personal Relationships 11 (2004) pp. 61-78.

4)   Goleman, Daniel.  Social Intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. 2006.

5)  Rimer, Sara. “Less Homework, More Yoga, From Principal that Hates Stress.” The New York Times. October 29, 2007.

6)  www.greentreeyoga.org

Reprinted with permission from Yoga for Kids and Teens by Yael Calhoun, et al,  Sunstone Press 2009.

For free materials on Stress Management and Yoga ideas for kids and teens. 

       AUDIO/DVD   Click Here              Printed Handouts  Click Here