" I really regret that yoga class"
-said no one....EVER
-said no one....EVER
Yoga for teenagers
Exclusively designed yoga classes for 12-18 year olds in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
Delivered by Dr Anouk Houdijk, Clinical Psychologist and yogi, with over 10 years experience of working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Much more below on how yoga can help you / your teenager.
Delivered by Dr Anouk Houdijk, Clinical Psychologist and yogi, with over 10 years experience of working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Much more below on how yoga can help you / your teenager.
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How can Yoga help me / MY Teen?
Cant' wait to start the next year of teen yoga so be sure to start your year right and sign up today!
I really believe that yoga can help young people's mental health and resilience. Here's why.
I really could go on and on as there is also emerging evidence on how yoga can improve concentration, executive functions (planning and organizing) and memory! Amazing!
My classes will have a well being focus over a physical health one - although young people will also get a good work out! I plan to help young people use their time on the mat to observe and experience different mental activities and processes. These processes can be high-jacked by anxiety and low mood and become exacerbated (e.g. rumination which is a a tendency to worry and churn over things time after time with no end). Many of these processes when exaggerated underpin mental health disorders and contribute to keeping them going! By supporting young people to recognise these processes in the first place we can increase resilience to mental health conditions, which are unfortunatley on the up in our young population. To do this I will be incorporating mindfulness, body awareness exercises, breath work and experiential practices of common psychological stress reduction techniques which are typically learnt in therapy but not practiced as extensively; we all know that young people in particular need to really have the experience of something "working" for them in order for them to apply it in daily life!
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your young person's suitability or to book a place!
I really believe that yoga can help young people's mental health and resilience. Here's why.
- Beyond the physical benefits, Yoga increases self awareness and mindfulness.
- It increases the capacity to tolerate intense emotions and therefore, reduces the need to avoid emotions through unhelpful psychological coping mechanisms (e.g. suppression and denial).
- When we are more able to tolerate our emotions we are better at understanding them, talking about them and are in a better position to take reflective action rather than reactive action stemming from a desire to suppress or turn away from the uncomfortable feeling.
- It reduces anxiety via regulatory effects on the autonomic nervous system and can lead to improved sleep and reduced over-activity.
- The sympathetic nervous system (the "go" system) is overactive in anxiety disorders but interestingly anxiety difficulties are also characterised by an under-activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (the "relax" system). Yoga helps regulate the balance between these systems.
- Yoga can help young people gain a sense of mastery and competence - they learn that they can change / tolerate / accept the way they feel in a given moment. This can really help counter feelings of helplessness and passivity.
- There is an emerging evidence base for the positive effects Yoga has on mental health via psychological, biological and neurological means;
- a number of studies have shown a reduction in anxiety and depressive symptoms (e.g. Bennett et al 2008; Campbell &Moore 2004; Forbes at al 2008), eating disorders (e.g. Scime and Cook-Cottore 2008), and insomnia (Khalsa 2007).
- Yoga has also been reported to have beneficial effects on the behaviour of young people with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), (e.g. Abadi et al 2008; Jensen & Kenny 2004).
- Yoga has also been shown to increase oxytocin (the ‘love hormone’) and Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (or GABA), the ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter (Jayaram et al 2013; Streeter et al 2007 respectively) and reduce salivary cortisol (the stress hormone) (West et al 2004).
- GABA and Cortisol have a large role in the stress response system.
- Oxytocin is associated with social affiliation and is involved in attachment which protects children from the effects of stress.
I really could go on and on as there is also emerging evidence on how yoga can improve concentration, executive functions (planning and organizing) and memory! Amazing!
My classes will have a well being focus over a physical health one - although young people will also get a good work out! I plan to help young people use their time on the mat to observe and experience different mental activities and processes. These processes can be high-jacked by anxiety and low mood and become exacerbated (e.g. rumination which is a a tendency to worry and churn over things time after time with no end). Many of these processes when exaggerated underpin mental health disorders and contribute to keeping them going! By supporting young people to recognise these processes in the first place we can increase resilience to mental health conditions, which are unfortunatley on the up in our young population. To do this I will be incorporating mindfulness, body awareness exercises, breath work and experiential practices of common psychological stress reduction techniques which are typically learnt in therapy but not practiced as extensively; we all know that young people in particular need to really have the experience of something "working" for them in order for them to apply it in daily life!
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like to discuss your young person's suitability or to book a place!