YOGA FOR TEENS AND CHILDREN

Even though there are few scientific journal articles to support the claim that Yoga is good for teens, the plethora of anecdotal evidence about this ancient practice shows educators that historically yoga is successful in treating stress and anxiety.  White (2009) purports that this is one of the most significant reasons schools are increasingly turning to the practice of yoga as a means to help their students, and also why Yoga may be a promising treatment to encourage better health and sense of wellbeing for children who are seriously ill.

A yoga practice places emphasis on the individual’s unique abilities instead of competition (White, 2006). This provides students with gentle, non-threatening ways to exercise, which not only boosts physical fitness, but also encourages good mental health and a positive sense of wellbeing.

According to the American Yoga Association (2006), Yoga means ‘to join or yoke together’; it has the capacity to create harmony between the body and mind. Yoga is an ancient practice and with repeated practice, history indicates that it produces greater personal freedom, good physical health, and heightened self-understanding.

No one really knows when the practice of Yoga began (American Yoga Association, 2006). However, archeologists found evidence of Yoga practice from the stone carvings in the Indus Valley, which date back over 5,000 years ago. There is also written record of yoga practice in the Yoga Sutras (or Yoga Aphorisms) of Putanjali, which is thought to have been written either between 1st and 2nd BCE, or as late as 500 CE (American Yoga Association, 2006). No matter what the exact dates are, Yoga has a very long history that provides evidence of how regular daily practice results in a strong healthy body and a clear mind.

The American Yoga Association does encourage the use of Yoga meditation and breathing techniques to help with stress in children. However, it does not promote the practice of Yoga before the age of 16 (2006). The association thinks that the child’s nervous and glandular systems are still growing, and that Yoga exercises on these systems could interfere with natural growth.

However, when modified, Yoga can be beneficial, as reported by Steuck & Gloeckner (2005). In their research, the team tested 48 fifth grade students using specifically selected yoga techniques for children (e.g. breathing exercises, imagination journeys, selected Yoga poses, etc.) and found that the children’s feelings of helplessness and aggression greatly reduced. The research revealed that children were able to transfer their knowledge of Yoga techniques into situations outside of school, and children reported that they used Yoga to relax after classes, to improve their wellbeing and to control their feelings. Based on their evidence, the researchers believe Yoga modified for young children is suited for helping children cope with stress and gain autonomy. White (2009) contends that Yoga is a growing complementary and alternative treatment in pediatric nursing care, and that its practice will only facilitate good health and encourage wellbeing.

REFERENCES

American Yoga Association, (2006). General yoga information. Retrieved from http://www.americanyogaassociation.org/general.html

Stueck, M & Gloeckner, N. (2005). Yoga for children in the mirror of the science: Working spectrum and practice fields of the training of relaxation with elements of yoga for children. Early Child Development and Care, 175(4), 371-377.

White, L. S. (2009). Yoga for children. Pediatric Nursing, 35(5), 277-83, 295. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/199437885?accountid=27965

More Evidence Supporting Yoga as an Effective Way to Combat Teen Anxiety and Mood Problems

In April 2012, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, the largest and most established yoga and holistic health retreat and education center in North America, reported their findings from a study they did on the psychological Benefits for High-School Students (Kripalu, 2012).   In the pilot study, conducted by researcher Jessica Noggle, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School, fifty-one 11^th- and 12^th-grade students from a Massachusetts high school were randomly assigned to either yoga or regular PE classes for ten weeks.  All participants received psychosocial tests both before and after the yoga treatment. 

At the end of ten weeks, tests revealed that teenagers assigned to the yoga classes had more positive outcomes than students who were assigned to regular PE classes.  Yoga participants showed lowered scores for mood problems and anxiety while those in regular PE classes had overall increased scores.  Also, at the end of the ten-week session, nearly three-fourths of the participants said they wanted to continue taking yoga classes.  While the study was small, it does suggest positive psychological effects of yoga. Details of the study can be found in the April 2012 Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

Reference

Kripalu.  (2012).  Press release: Yoga Shows Psychological benefits for high-school students.  Retrieved from http://kripalu.org/article/1331

Pilot Study Shows Evidence that YOGA Benefits Teens

Today, as I continue my work on building the curriculum of YOGA-GIRL, I resumed my quest for scientific articles to support the benefits of a yoga practice in the lives of adolescents.  My efforts were rewarded this afternoon, and I was delighted to read a report by Beets & Mitchell (2010).  Findings from their pilot study with teenagers, who had never practiced yoga before, showed significant positive effects of yoga on stress, depression and health-related quality of life.

In their experiment, Beets & Mitchell (2010) tested 55 adolescents (50% female and 49% Hispanic) for health-related quality of life, depression levels, and perceived stress prior to the yoga treatment.  Students were divided into treatment and non-treatment groups. Following four to five yoga classes over a period two weeks, Beets & Mitchell reported statistical evidence showing that yoga is beneficial in reducing adolescents’ acute perceptions of stress, and that yoga promotes positive feelings of physical health and self-esteem.   Even more significant is that carryover effects were observed.  In other words, the practice of yoga had lingering positive benefits, which the researchers could conclude from comparing post-treatment tests against the initial stress and depression scores.

Although Beets & Mitchell’s study had a small number of participants, it still shows that participating in yoga has the potential to address important issues in the lives of teenagers.  Because both Caucasians and Hispanics participated, the study also shows that yoga is cross-cultural in its effectiveness as a treatment for depression and alleviation of stress.

Reference
Beets, M., & Mitchell, E. (2010). Effects of yoga on stress, depression, and health-related quality of life in a nonclinical, bi-ethnic sample of adolescents: a pilot study. Hispanic Health Care International, 8(1), 47-53. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1891/1540-4153.8.1.47