Yoga credited with relieving stress, boosting self-esteem and improving grades in children.
By Marilyn Campbell/The Connection
Friday, January 20, 2012
Article from Connection News Paper
Hannah Ticardi deals with the pressure of competitive soccer games or rigorous science classes by striking a pose. The 16-year-old Vienna student usually prefers downward facing dog or cobra.
"It is really important to have a stress reliever, and yoga is really good for that," said Ticardi who is an 11th-grade student at James Madison High School in Vienna.
Katherine Harris, who has practiced yoga since middle school, agrees. "What I like best about yoga is the feeling I have after class where I feel like I'm floating," said Harris, a high school junior who takes classes at Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Arlington.
Ticardi and Harris are part of a generation of children who are growing up with yoga, the practice impacting their lives from in utero through high school. Most studios now offer prenatal classes as well as instruction for toddlers, elementary, middle and high school students.
"When I visit my prenatal students in the hospital after they have their baby, I can pick up the newborn child and they almost always take a deep breath and say 'om,'" joked Luann Fulbright of Dream Yoga Studio and Wellness Center in McLean.
Aficionados, educators and researchers credit the discipline for addressing issues ranging from self-control to self-awareness. A study conducted by researchers at the California State University, Los Angeles' College of Education showed that regular yoga practice boosted students' self-esteem and improved their physical health, behavior and academic performance.
"It is amazing to watch what happens with these children. Their focus and concentration is improved," said Dawn Curtis, owner of East Meets West Yoga Center in Vienna.
Yoga classes for middle and high school students incorporate exercises that deal with issues like peer pressure and body image. "We use warrior pose, for example, where kids come into the pose with their arms stretched up to the ceiling or out to their sides, and we say 'Feel how strong you are,'" said Annie Moyer of Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Arlington. "It is a gesture of opening oneself up to the world and creates the feeling of real confidence."
Instructors say it's good exercise. "It helps them to get physically fit," said Freddy Margolis of Village Yoga in Potomac.
SISTERS Joey and Eva Schulman, who practice at Budding Yogis studio in Washington, D.C., agree. "My favorite yoga pose is eagle pose, said 11-year old Joey. "It challenges your body to balance, to twist and to be strong all at the same time."
Eva gets a charge from the down dog tunnel. "You have to run, stretch into downward dog and then hold that pose for a long time. It's like a cardio, stretch and strength workout. I like it because it challenges all of your body," said the 14-year old.
Classes are structured to appeal to children at each age group. "For smaller children, everything is done on a theme. Sometimes classes are themed around the holidays or seasons or animals or stories," said Curtis.
Moyer's young yogis often pass a swath of brightly colored fabric across the room by balancing it on their heads or grasping it with their elbows. The object is for the students to work in tandem to get the cloth from one side to the other without using their hands.
"We're all pursuing this goal together," said Moyer. "It is a group effort. It's team building. None of the games we play are about winning. We all win. Some of the things kids do at school are goal oriented and have a component of pressure and stress. In yoga, there is never anything that you have to achieve or attain except for a good feeling inside."
Teachers keep students engaged by using age-appropriate language and adapting traditional yoga poses for children. "We learn poses that relate to nature or animals," said Cynthia Maltenfort, an instructor at Sun and Moon Yoga in Fairfax. "There is a lot of interaction and developing a connection with themselves and with each other. We start to address feelings and emotions."
Each class ends with a relaxation technique often referred to as shavasana. "We teach them how to calm themselves," said Moyer. "They lie down or curl up and listen to a story, a poem or music. Often, the most fidgety kids you've ever seen in your life will just chill and let go of everything when you set the right tone."
Many yoga studios also host yoga summer camps and yoga birthday parties. There is also yoga for families. "Family yoga classes give parents and children a chance to be together in a supportive, non-threatening, non-hierarchal way," said Fulbright. "They can just interact and enjoy each other without the parents having to discipline. There's lots of laughter and lots of fun. You build a stronger, healthier connection with your child."
SOME LOCAL SCHOOL officials have embraced yoga for children. Potomac Elementary School students are offered yoga classes from instructors at Village Yoga in Potomac.
"I believe that exercise and relaxation techniques should start at a very early age," said Linda Goldberg, principal of Potomac Elementary School. "Children will enjoy exercise throughout their lifetime when they experience pleasurable learning when they are young."
YoKid, a non-profit organization that makes yoga available to at-risk and underserved youth, also deploys instructors to a growing number of public schools in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties and the District.
"I have some teachers who, when the class is getting too busy, say to the students, 'Stand up and everybody take some deep breaths,' and they do a yoga position, sometimes just to calm children down," said Marjorie Myers, Ed.D., principal, Francis Scott Key Elementary School in Arlington. "We have an after-school yoga class that the parents put together, and there is a family yoga night where parents come in with their children and everybody does yoga together. One of the pluses is that these activities have demystified yoga for the children."
YoKid runs Key's after-school yoga program. Alexandria resident Michelle Kelsey Mitchell, the program's co-founder and executive director, says yoga's principle of self-acceptance can help boost self-esteem and confidence. "In yoga, kids don't have to prove anything to anybody. They can just come and be who they are."
YOGA HAS BEEN criticized for having religious overtones. "We often ‘om’" at the end of class .… We also say namaste. While the words aren't religious, they can be construed that way," said Linda Feldman, director of Budding Yogis, a studio that caters solely to children. "I tell our teacher trainees that if they're in a public school scenario or where there are concerns over religion, they can use a word other than om or namaste."
As with any physical activity, injury is possible, but preventable. "Sometimes [children’s] muscles haven’t yet developed to hold things where they need to be, so we have to be strict with them in making sure their alignment is proper," said Margolis.
Instructors say incidents are rare, even among the most vulnerable students. "I've had kids with all sorts of limitations like partial paralysis due to stroke, cerebral palsy, ADHD, Aspberger's syndrome and others," said Feldman. "All have been able to practice yoga with no concerns or injuries."
While many doctors agree that yoga is a healthy practice, they say the benefits children get from yoga can also be found just as effectively elsewhere. "The good thing is that there [are] a variety of cost-efficient and simple ways for children and teens to relax and unwind," said Kristin Anderson, M.D., M.P.H., family and preventive medicine physician for Molina Healthcare, Community Health Care Network clinic in Reston. "Going on walks as a family can also help everyone get the exercise they need as well as spend quality time together while they de-stress. This can help kids and their parents improve posture, relieve anxiety, practice deeper breathing, build lungs and stretch muscles."
But Ticardi, who is planning for college and preparing to take the SAT this spring, believes that yoga is the best stress reliever for her. In fact, she approached Curtis about starting a Yoga club for teens at East Meets West Yoga Center. Curtis agreed and will begin classes later this month.
"It's nice to have an hour every week where I don't need to think about anything but my breath," said Harris.
Article from Connection News Paper