Teen Yoga: Why Yoga Can Be So Valuable During the Teenage Years 🌿

The teenage years can be a wonderful, exciting and sometimes challenging time. There is so much happening at once. Bodies are changing, school and exams can bring pressure, friendships evolve, independence grows and young people are beginning to work out who they are and where they fit in the world.

Yoga can offer teenagers something wonderfully simple in the middle of all that change: a place to pause.

Teen yoga isn't about being able to touch your toes, standing on your head or looking like an Instagram yogi. It is about learning to notice your body, understand your breath, move in a way that feels good and develop practical self-regulating tools that can be taken off the yoga mat and into everyday life.

At Prittie Yoga, I love introducing young people to yoga because the skills they learn can become useful long after the class has finished. A teenager might discover a breathing technique that helps them before an exam, a movement that helps them release tension after sitting at a desk all day, or simply experience what it feels like to have an hour where they don't have to achieve anything.

What age can children start yoga?

One of the questions parents often ask is, “What age can my child start yoga?”

There isn't one universal age at which children can start yoga. Let’s be honest, most babies, toddlers and little people are doing yoga before they know what it is! If you take time to watch the way they move, hold their feet and play with their bodies, they are already doing many poses taught in yoga!

Yoga can be adapted for very young children, with practices changing considerably as children grow. For younger children, yoga tends to be playful and imaginative, using movement, stories, balance, breathing and games. As children become older, practices can gradually become more structured and introduce more traditional yoga postures, breathwork, relaxation and mindfulness. I love to weave energy medcine techniques to empower them to self regulate moods, hormonal fluctions, anxiety and sleep.

The NHS includes yoga among activities suitable for children and young people, describing it as a safe way to improve strength, flexibility and balance while learning different breathing techniques. It also notes that yoga can be enjoyed in a group or class, independently or as a family. (nhs.uk)

At Prittie Yoga, I work with children and young people of different ages and adapt the practice to the person in front of me. My approach is always to make yoga accessible, enjoyable and age appropriate rather than expecting a child or teenager to fit themselves into an adult yoga class.

Why is yoga particularly helpful for teenagers?

Teenagers are living through an enormous amount of physical, emotional and mental change. Yoga gives them an opportunity to develop a relationship with their changing bodies that isn't based on appearance or performance.

A yoga practice can help teenagers develop strength, flexibility, balance, coordination and body awareness. It also introduces breathing techniques and relaxation practices that can become useful tools for managing everyday pressure.

There is encouraging research into yoga for children and adolescents. A systematic review of yoga interventions for young people found that almost all of the studies included showed reductions in anxiety. (PubMed) More recent research reviewing yoga for children and adolescents found positive outcomes across areas including self-control, cognitive functioning, relaxation and overall wellbeing. (PubMed)

This doesn't mean that yoga is a treatment for mental health conditions, nor should it replace appropriate medical or psychological support when a young person needs it. Rather, yoga can be a lovely complementary practice that gives young people another set of tools for looking after themselves.

Yoga for teenage stress, exams and busy minds

One of the things I hear most often from parents is how much pressure young people are experiencing. Schoolwork, GCSEs and A Levels, university applications, social media, friendships, family life and the constant stimulation of phones and screens can make it difficult to properly switch off.

Yoga creates a different kind of space. Instead of asking a teenager to sit still and “empty their mind”, we can begin with movement. We notice the body, connect movement with breath and gradually allow the pace to slow and that is valuable for young people who find conventional meditation difficult.

A systematic review of yoga as an approach to stress management found positive changes in psychological or physiological measures related to stress across a number of studies, while research specifically involving children and adolescents is also encouraging. (PubMed) Sometimes the most useful thing a teenager can learn is not how to make stress disappear, but how to recognise what is happening in their body and have a few simple ways to respond.

Yoga can help teenagers feel more comfortable in their bodies

Teenage bodies can change rapidly. Height, weight, hormones, skin, muscles and proportions can all shift, sometimes seemingly overnight and this can be a particularly sensitive time for body image and self-confidence. Yoga offers an opportunity to experience the body from the inside rather than constantly viewing it from the outside. Instead of asking, “How do I look?”, yoga invites questions such as, “How does this feel?”, “Where am I holding tension?”, “Can I breathe comfortably here?” and “What does my body need today?” That subtle shift can be incredibly valuable. There is no need to be naturally flexible or sporty to practise yoga and you certainly don't have to be the strongest or flexible person in the room. Shoes and egos are left at the door! Your body is your body, and yoga gives you an opportunity to get to know it.

Yoga for teenagers doesn't have to be serious

Teen yoga should also be fun. Young people don't necessarily want another adult telling them what they should be doing for their wellbeing. Sometimes they simply want to move, laugh, try something different and spend time with friends. A good teen yoga class can include movement, balance, challenges, breathing, relaxation and plenty of lightness. There can be moments of stillness without the whole class feeling like a lecture about mindfulness. This is one of the reasons I love teaching young people. We can explore yoga without taking ourselves too seriously.

The benefits of parents practising yoga with their children

Practising yoga together can be a lovely way of spending time as a family. Parents and children are often living alongside one another while doing completely different things. One person is working, another is studying, someone is scrolling, someone is cooking and everyone is busy. A shared yoga practice creates a different kind of connection. You don't have to talk about school, homework or problems. You can simply move together, breathe together and have a shared experience.

The NHS also encourages families to be active together, noting that involving the whole family can make healthy lifestyle changes easier to accept and create opportunities to spend time together. (nhs.uk). And there is something rather lovely about a parent and teenager discovering that they can both wobble in Tree Pose and laugh about it!

The benefits of practising yoga with a friend

For some teenagers, the idea of going to a yoga class alone may feel a little intimidating. Going with a friend can completely change the experience. Practising yoga together creates connection without requiring constant conversation. Friends can encourage one another, laugh together, learn together and enjoy having something positive to share. There is also something reassuring about discovering that everyone finds different things easy or difficult. One person may have excellent balance while another has wonderful flexibility. Someone else might be brilliant at relaxing. Yoga becomes less about comparison and more about exploration, and perhaps that is one of the most important lessons for young people: we don't all have to move in the same way to belong.

Plus they can practice Partner Yoga together!

Can you get yoga on the NHS?

This is a question I am increasingly asked: “Can you get yoga on the NHS?” The answer is sometimes, but it depends on where you live, what services are available locally and whether yoga is offered through a relevant community or social prescribing pathway. The NHS does not generally operate a nationwide scheme where you simply ask your GP for a free yoga class and automatically receive one. However, NHS England's social prescribing programme can connect people with community activities, groups and services that support health and wellbeing. Social prescribing is an all-age approach, although the activities available vary from one local area to another. (NHS England)

The NHS also provides information about yoga and other ways of being physically active. Its Healthier Families guidance specifically describes yoga as a safe activity for children and young people and highlights benefits including strength, flexibility, balance and breathing techniques. (nhs.uk) So if you are interested in accessing yoga through the NHS, it may be worth asking your GP practice, local social prescribing service or community wellbeing service what is available in your area.

How much physical activity do teenagers need?

Yoga can be one part of an active lifestyle, rather than needing to be the only activity a young person does. Our body was made to move! And not all sports fit our body type or character. Teenagers might combine yoga with walking, swimming, cycling, dancing, running, team sports, martial arts or simply playing outside. There is no single “right” way to move. Yoga brings something different to many of these activities because it combines movement with breath awareness, balance, flexibility and relaxation.

Teen Yoga at Prittie Yoga

At Prittie Yoga, my aim is to give young people practical skills they can actually use. Teen yoga isn't about creating perfect yoga poses. It is about helping young people become more comfortable in their bodies, learn to listen to themselves and discover simple techniques that can support them through everyday life. Depending on the age and needs of the group, a session may include mindful Hatha yoga, Energy Medicine Yoga, movement, stretching, balance, breathing techniques, relaxation and simple energy practices. I keep the environment friendly and welcoming, because I want young people to feel that yoga is something they want to do rather than another thing they are being told they ought to do.

I also offer private family yoga, including popular Mum and Daughter sessions, which can be a beautiful way to share the practice together. (Prittie Yoga)

Yoga is a skill they can take with them

Perhaps the greatest gift of teen yoga isn't the yoga itself. I’ve even done yoga on long plane rides!

It is the discovery that they have tools within themselves.

They can pause.

They can breathe.

They can move.

They can notice when their body is tense.

They can give themselves a moment before reacting.

They can rest.

They can ask for what they need.

And they can learn that wellbeing doesn't have to mean fixing themselves. Sometimes it simply means creating a little more space to hear themselves.

Teenage years can be challenging, but they can also be a wonderful time to establish a relationship with movement, breath and self-care that can continue throughout adulthood.

If you're looking for teen yoga in Surrey, family yoga near Egham, Virginia Water, Chertsey or Staines, or a welcoming yoga class for your child or teenager, I'd love to hear from you. Prittie Yoga is based in my cosy cabin studio in Thorpe, Surrey, and I also offer private yoga sessions for families and young people.

Your body. Your practice. Your yoga. 🌿

Meta description:
Discover the benefits of teen yoga for children and teenagers, from strength and flexibility to relaxation, confidence and stress management. Prittie Yoga offers teen and family yoga near Egham, Virginia Water, Chertsey and Staines, Surrey.

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One SEO thought, Emily: “Can you get yoga on the NHS?” is a particularly good long-tail section to keep. It answers a very specific question people are actually searching, while allowing you to naturally introduce the NHS's own recognition of yoga as an activity for children and young people. (nhs.uk)

And I would not say that yoga “treats teenage anxiety” or “prevents depression”. The research is encouraging, but the evidence is still mixed enough that Prittie Yoga will sound much more trustworthy saying yoga may support stress, relaxation and wellbeing. (PubMed)