When I was teaching yoga full time a few years back, my classes were filled mostly with women, aged 25-50. But slowly, over time, the demand spread to other age groups, namely teenagers.

My client base quickly grew from lunchtime yoga for the 9 to 5 crowd and mainly women-filled classes in the evenings, to include after school yoga for teens as well. It didn’t take long before I realized this wasn’t just a trend either—teen classes always filled up quickly and were in high-demand. After a couple of weeks of teaching teens how to breathe and execute perfect downward dogs, I decided that modifying the traditional yoga class—both in length of time and poses—would be better suited to keep their interest and ensure we weren’t doing anything too strenuous, but still giving them a good stretch and a light muscle workout. It was a hit, both with teens and with parents.

I was always amazed by how well the teens took to yoga. They loved it! For young people who want to live a healthier lifestyle and keep strong natural defenses, it was a perfect fit. But I wondered—how does a 17-year old end up in a yoga class? What motivated them? What I learned during my work with teenagers was that they were looking for something new to try—yoga, being popular, seemed like a natural fit for most of them, but for others (some had been signed up by their parents or a friend) what motivated them to stick with yoga were the benefits they saw within just a few classes:

1. My teens told me that having a class that promoted relaxation, breathing and stretching gave them something to look forward to—a place to unwind. If you’re looking to motivate the teenager in your life to try yoga, mentioning these benefits could help.
2. Having an all-teenager class helped everyone feel comfortable. Going to a gym meant having to be around adults which most of them didn’t want to do. Finding an all-teenage yoga class is important and many studios and schools are offering them now. A quick Google search in your area should yield some results.
3.  No expectations can be a good, healthy thing. This isn’t the football team or basketball tryouts—no one judges you in yoga and there is no competition. These two points alone could turn your teen on to yoga, since they’re likely in environments that demand a lot of them all the time. The only thing yoga expects, on the other hand, is for you to show up.

Have a question about teen yoga? Let me know!