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Yoga and Teenagers
Angela Hulm on 31 March, 2010 |

I’ve got ugly feet. I’m not bendy. I’m not taking my tights off, my legs are hairy.

These were the worries of teenagers coming to yoga for the first time. I’m a secondary school teacher teaching yoga after school but at school to 14-18 year old girls. They mostly come because they want to relax, but get anxious that they’ll laugh when we sit still and sing the Oms at the start of class.

The girls are stiff compared to my private children’s class aged 9-12yrs. I rarely use any props beyond walls and partners in my children’s class. Teenage girls are quite different. They have mostly finished growing and have better balance than younger children, but need bricks for example in Prasarita Padottanasana as they’ve got longer legs than adults but their legs and backs haven’t yet developed the strength to extend forward fully.

Ever image conscious it was a few weeks before all would wear suitably covered tops, and short enough trousers – long baggy tracksuit pants and spaghetti strap vest have been replaced by cycling shorts and aertex tops by most, which has helped them to stretch further without slipping or losing coverage. Partner work is loved by my children’s class, but the teenagers prefer to stay on their own mat, but are keen to look at how everybody else is doing. Being ‘picked on’ as an example of a correct action, at first led to discomfort, but as the class has tuned in to what yoga’s about they’ve enjoyed seeing that we are all different, and can learn from looking at bodies.

Oh no! I used an embarrassing word. Predictably mentioning buttocks gets a giggle, but the girls have been candid asking, Where is my pubis? Is it here under my arm? Periods are becoming ok to talk about now but for the first few weeks I only introduced poses that you can practice during the menses. They are achieving their goal of relaxing, feedback invariably asks for a longer relaxation. Yoga’s cool Miss. It was soooo relaxing. More of us are coming next week.

Attendance has been very erratic, reflecting the changing school calendar so few attended those key exam weeks as the gym was being used and every week had a different timetable. Working with teenagers is exciting – they wear their heart on their sleeve, letting you know if they feel uncomfortable.

I’m so glad I started yoga aged 19, I am proud to be part of the move to include yoga as part fo the curriculum not just after school, and since becoming a teacher 6 years ago have regularly included some yoga in both my Health & Typing classes and been a visitor to others classes to give a practical session on stress relief and relaxation.

My after school class was been made possible by development of the Sports department to have more space available after school, and I’ve even been paid enough to buy equipment for classes of 50. The government are keen to promote yoga in schools and your local school maybe looking for a teacher.

Angela Hulm MBA DipM CertEd Mifl Certified Iyengar yoga teacher