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Last Updated: May 28th, 2009 - 13:16:11 |
Celebrities do it. Pregnant women do it. Russell Simmons, grandmas, computer engineers, artists, Wiccans, preschoolers, bomb specialists and professional wrestlers all do it. It is even rumored that President Barack Obama does it. Some do it in parks, others in the quiet of their homes. There are even classes that teach it.
Hatha yoga—the physical aspect of the 5,000 year old art—is now also a growing trend for teen-agers. Structured teen yoga classes often offer a fun and relaxing atmosphere, in which yoga can be both vigorous and enjoyable. Classes specifically for teens are appearing rapidly in yoga studios in the D.C. metropolitan area.
Yoga, which translates to union of the mind, body and spirit in Sanskrit, focuses on inner-balance between bodily and mental energies. For teens, it can create good posture, support the maturation of internal organs, relieve stress and help maintain a stable weight.
Yoga teachers who instruct teens credit the art with helping their students remain focused in school, improve self-esteem and self awareness and reduce stress caused by hectic schedules, home life and growing pains. Destiny Jackson, a high school student in Washington, D.C., just started yoga this year. She practices at home using a class televised on cable. “It’s relaxing,” she said. “It kind of a makes me feel better. When I get upset, I do yoga.”
Jasmine Andrews, also a D.C. teenager, took yoga for two years. She said that yoga is "not as easy as people think it is.” Despite the difficulty, she said she benefited from her practice as it “stretched my body and made me feel more comfortable in my body.”
Yoga practice includes breath control, physical and mental endurance and meditation. It entails cardio, aerobics and muscle toning needed to maintain health and fitness. Though yogis and yoga enthusiasts credit yoga with healing an array of diseases and disorders ranging from manic depression to breast cancer, some teens practice yoga for the mere fun of it.
“I do yoga because I love yoga,” said a teen student at Willow Street Yoga studio in Takoma Park, Md. According to Chelsea Harrison and Mayaa Boatang, two D.C. high school students, one of their movement classes begins with sun salutations, a popular yoga sequence.
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