Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Keeping Yoga Classes Interesting for Teens:

Yoga is an essential physical activity for human body especially for growing ones i.e. teens, it just not only help them physically but also helps in getting acquainted with important phenomenon about life and self awareness. Yoga teachings contribute a great deal in boosting self-esteem, mental focus, concentration, potency and improve emotional stability.

Beside numerous physical benefits of yoga, the activity is very helpful for teens in dealing with issues faced by them in daily life such as insecurity about their personality, academic performances along with the heightened expectations of their parent, friends and family. If yoga is performed on daily basis it has proven to stabilize the mental and emotional condition of teens, by performing it on regular basis they tend to become calmer and sane. They deal with situations more easily, however to instigate their interest in yoga is a big challenge because it may be merely just another boring exercise according to them. So to increase their interest the instructor needs to be thoughtful and it is necessary for him/her to come up with interesting and new techniques in class daily. To make teen’s yoga session interesting a teacher can make use of the following techniques,

• Incorporate “cool” element in the routine: Teenagers nowadays seems to be infatuated by the term ‘cool’. So if the instructor keeps him/herself updated and use the same vocabulary as they do then that may make it a lot easier for the teacher to gain their concentration otherwise the class will become boring for them.
• Music: Music is another aspect that can be use as a bait to get teenagers involvement in class, having an updated billboard chart’s hit playlist will definitely make the class bearable and interesting for teens. Music is food for their souls especially when it comes to the pop genre.
• Find Balance: Working with teen practitioners is completely different than that of adults, while teaching them a teacher needs to incorporate interesting sequence or techniques during session. However a competent instructor will have to make sure that in between all the fun they are not missing the core purpose i.e. yoga so in order to keep things working the balance is needed. Children cannot perform challenging poses so as the body frame of teens but they can attempt this type of poses with some support or modifications.
• Discover new methods: Teens will never follow the routine of their parent or grandparents they want to do things in their own way due to rebellious nature so the best way to deal with is to incorporate different activities in the poses for example teacher can make them work in pair, group of three or use creative props something that the teenager can relate to.

In the end it is all about learning something new and fixing one self. Meditation, relaxation and deep breathing are one of the most essential poses for teens to explore their inner selves moreover these poses will allow energy forces and fresh blood to flow throughout body.