Teen Yoga

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Teen yoga has been shown to improve both physical and mental health in adolescents. Like yoga for adults, yoga for teens can be an effective practice for reducing stress and increasing feelings of overall well-being. Furthermore, teen yoga encourages self-reflection while promoting an optimistic outlook on life.

What Does Yoga for Teens Entail?

Teen yoga is the application for young people of this five-thousand-year-old mind/body practice, which has its historical origins in ancient Indian philosophy. Thus, yoga for teens and children adapts the physical postures of traditional yoga, employing accessible kid’s yoga poses or poses appropriate for teen yoga classes. Combining breathing exercises with physical postures and movements, teen yoga can help adolescents to become more comfortable in their body and to face challenges with greater equanimity. Therefore, teen yoga practice helps teenagers access their inner strength and find balance within.

Numerous styles of yoga have been developed over the centuries, and many are used in teen yoga practice. Hatha yoga, the most commonly practiced form of adult and teen yoga in the US, focuses on postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. Hatha yoga styles that have evolved over time include Ananda, Ashtanga, Bikram, Iyengar, and Kundalini.

According to the National Health Interview Survey, more than 1.5 million children and adolescents take teen or kid’s yoga classes on an annual basis. Moreover, that number has continued to grow as more schools, yoga studios, and youth programs offer teen yoga.

Sources: Health Publishing (Harvard Medical School), National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, US National Library of Medicine (NIH)