Arriving at an all-boys high school, to introduce them to their first class of yoga, my nerves start to rise and questions circle around my brain.
Will they like it? What are they expecting? Have they done yoga before?
Within moments of the class starting, we are all in, faces engaged, listening to my every word, absorbing all the nuggets yoga has to offer and how it’s going to help them.
This becomes a class I love and look forward to every week.
Sure, I get nervous, (yes, even after 20 + years of teaching teens), but it’s the thrill of watching the boys go from being resistant, to having the most transformational experience, that they cannot wait to come back for more.
Watching tension disappear from those teen shoulders, and stress melt throughout class makes it worthwhile.
My favourite moment is always during relaxation, when I peek a look around the room, and see everyone deep in relaxation, all the worries gone from their foreheads and peaceful expressions on their faces. They look so young again.
So, is yoga beneficial for teen boys?
One teen boy described his experience brilliantly.
He said, ‘Miss, I feel like I am this big rubbish bin. And during the week, my bin gets filled up with worries, stress, anxiety, and it fills right to the brim. Then I come into yoga, and at the end of class, I feel like my rubbish bin has been emptied.”
-Isn’t that the best description! -We all know how that feels when we walk out of our adult’s yoga class.
So, what is it about the yoga class that the boys enjoy so much?
Because, let’s be honest, there has been a massive turn around, from not wanting to do yoga in the first place, to looking forward to it every week.
Is it the strength part of the class? or the relaxation?
Is it that it is not competitive, there’s nothing to prove, you don’t have to be ‘good’ at it?
When I asked the teen boys at a school where yoga was a mandatory sport option, why yoga was the favourite sport option (and it is across the whole school), one boy answered,
“You get a six pack in yoga.”
Another replied, “I love the strength classes and the relaxation best.”
And another, “It’s the discipline of the class that makes it.”
So, it seems to be a wholistic practice that they love.
When I educate the class on their bodies and how to look after their own health, all attention is switched on – 100% presence. They remember every move to detox their kidneys, fix their gut health, strengthen bones, and fix ankles and knees.
Equally, you can hear a pin drop, when I educate them about their thoughts and feelings, and how thoughts impact their lives now and into the future.
What is interesting is how quickly their perceptions change….from what they think yoga is (for girls) and then through the experience of what yoga is, to how much they love how it feels and the benefits it provides.
Most boys tell me, they are calmer after yoga, less worried, less irritable, less reactive, and get a better sleep.
We have seen the benefits of yoga for teen girls for over a decade now. In fact, most teen yoga classes outside of school will be filled with girls.
But there is a growing trend of boys seeking it out now also.
The growing rate of suicide for teen boys is at an all time high. The levels of mental health issues will hit more teen boys than girls. An increasing number of boys are suffering from eating disorders, and we know how cruel the school playground can be for boys.
There is no space or activity for boys where they can just be. Where they have time out from the world, themselves, their thoughts, and feelings.
And it is this that they love the most. What most will call, “sleep time,” or relaxation.
The unique moment in a yoga class….when the boys connect deep within to that happy, calm, still place inside.
I cannot tell you how many times a teen boy has walked into the yoga room uttering the words, “I really need yoga today, Miss.”
Let me leave you with a story from one of the teen classes……
(This is from a high school, where they get to choose which sport they want to do for 10 weeks.)
Walking into the class, there were 25 students – 24 teen girls and 1 teen boy.
When I asked the boy why he had chosen to do yoga, he angrily replied, “I didn’t”.
Unfortunately, he was away on the day they chose their sport options, so the school had chosen his option for him – yoga!
He stuck with it for the 10 weeks and at the end, he wrote us a note, which said, “At first, I was angry for being put in yoga. But by the end of the first class, I didn’t want to move sport. It was a relaxing change I loved.”
If you want to teach teens and have a smooth flowing class, without any classroom issues, where real yoga can be experienced, come join us at the Online Kids Yoga Training Certification Course.
You will learn all the tools & techniques that have even the teen boys loving it.
Cannot wait to help you on your journey of impacting lives.
Loraine x
PS Click here to learn more about our Kids Yoga Training Certification Course
