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December 2008

 

By Nancy Rowland

 

 

Stress and Children

 

The life of the children and adolescents in the new millennium is one of cell phones, iPods, computers, emails, text messages and Wii games but it also the life of high stakes testing, organized competitive sports, divorce, financial crisis, terrorism and wars.  Gone are the days when kids went out and played basketball in a neighbor’s driveway until dusk.  This generation has scheduled play dates with friends in between dance class, soccer practice and tutoring.  Today’s teens, tweens and even younger kids, are targeted by advertisers to purchase the must have clothes, UGG boots and technology.  Television news programs inundate our children and us with reports of the struggling economy and tensions in the world and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Exercise is down, obesity is up, diabetes is on the rise, the food we eat is questionable (high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, organic/nonorganic!).  News reports tell us that stress and anxiety is on the increase among children, well no wonder. 

 

One way to combat the stress brought on by society’s demands is through regular yoga practice.  Children and adolescents can benefit from the restorative, meditative and exercise elements that are taught in yoga.  Yoga enables children to better regulate their emotions and teaches them how to cope with stress and self soothe.  Through breathing techniques and meditation children can learn to quiet their minds allowing them to relax and think more clearly.  In addition, children can increase their flexibility, strength, coordination and balance through regular yoga practice.  Yoga teaches the mind-body connection which can lead to improved self image and better posture which is particularly useful to adolescents.

 

High Stakes Tests and the School Environment

 

Well meaning educators and politicians have developed a series of standardized tests in order to ensure that no child is left behind.  These tests are implemented nationwide to students many beginning in the primary grades (grades 1 – 3).   Real estate values are in part determined by the scores of the students in a particular school.  Therefore school administrators, politicians and parents pressure teachers to instruct students in order to achieve the highest possible scores.  Teachers in turn pressure students, even those in elementary school, to perform well on tests.  By the time these children get to high school their graduation is dependant on passing these standardized tests. 

 

According to Jean M Twenge, PhD a psychologist with Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, “anxiety has increased substantially among children and college-age students over the last three decades" (as cited in, Davis).   Researchers discovered that elementary and middle school students benefited from stress reduction techniques, including visualizing success, positive imagery, breathing techniques, and listening to soothing music.( Triplett)  Children typically find that through the use of breathing techniques and stretching involved in yoga they can find relief from daily stressors.  Yoga emphasizes proper breathing when students are instructed to breathe they will begin to relax. 

 

Children and Sports Injuries

 

Children are increasingly enrolled in team sports activities at younger and younger ages. In addition, high school teams are becoming more and more competitive and in order for students to get a coveted spot on the high school junior varsity or varsity team they must specialize in their sport of choice at a young age.  This comes with a price for adolescents, repetitive motion injuries as well as increased stress.

 

Participation in team sports activities is in on the increase amongst children and adolescents.  Approximately 20 million children and adolescents take part in recreation or competitive sports outside of school.  Twenty-percent of the children participating in sports activities are injured each year and of those injured 1 in 4 is serious.   (as cited in, Children’s Hospital) 

 

The chart below from the Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics illustrates the increase in the sports related injury in children and adolescents ages 11 – 16. 

 

 

The reason for the increase in injury during adolescence is growth spurts. The bones tend to grow fast, and the muscles stay a little tighter. This makes it difficult to maintain flexibility in adolescence. The emphasis that yoga puts on flexibility can really help with that problem, says Kevin Walter, MD, pediatric sports medicine specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. (as cited in,  Harzog)

 

The muscle tightness caused by growth spurts can cause tension headaches and body aches.  Increasing flexibility through yoga can help to reduce some of these symptoms.   In addition, an increase in flexibility can significantly reduce sport-related injuries.  

 

Another benefit is that yoga can help children gain body awareness.  Body awareness can help the student-athlete excel in their competitive sport.  Along with body awareness student-athletes increase their ability to focus and clear their mind of negative self talk.  While sports can foster positive self esteem gained through the adulations received from spectators, yoga provides positive self esteem achieved from within.  Yoga is not about being the best or winning but honoring the body and getting connected with it.  Furthermore, sports can bring an adrenaline rush that can produce stress while yoga, through breathing and meditation, offers stress relief. 

 

 Adolescents and Self Esteem

 

It is during our teen years that we begin to explore and define our identity, to carve out a path for ourselves, to practice the skill of making life choices. During these tender years, we face challenges that often accompany us into adulthood--of self-acceptance, adjusting to change, and dealing with conflict. "Adolescents, above all else, are trying to define who they are, even though their parents, peers, and the media create strong stories about who they are supposed to be," says Kim Tanzer, a Palo Alto, California, yoga teacher who works with teens. (as cited in Busch)

 

Adolescents and lack of self esteem is not a new concept and it is not unique to this generation but through television and magazine advertisements as well as cyber ads this generation is exposed to more than its fair share of images of “perfect” models and actresses.   Enter any of the clothing stores in the mall targeting teens (Hollister, Abercrombie, American Eagle etc.) and you will see partially clothed, beautiful, and thin; seemingly perfect models plastered on all the walls.  If teens did not start out with a poor self image, one trip to the mall could cure them.  These images and advertisements are targeting even younger children ages 6 through 12 years old, in stores like Limited II, where similarly perfect models are displayed. 

 

Adolescents who participate in a regular yoga practice will benefit from increased body awareness and flexibility.  In addition, teens will gain an overall feeling of well-being, self-acceptance, as well as a decrease in anxiety, depression and hostility (Bridges & Madlem).  “The primary benefit of yoga is enhanced self-esteem.  You can’t do yoga and not improve at it”, says Temmi Sears, Director of YogaBuds.  (as cited in Bridges & Madlem).

 

Through an increase in body awareness teens can discover their flexibility through the use of poses that rely on movement and their own body weight.  Yoga encourages acceptance of our bodies by honoring the accomplishments and acknowledging the limitations that is inherent in every person.  Yoga discourages competition with other students and encourages students to acknowledge the growth that is made during each session.  Additionally, yoga gives the practitioner time to quiet their mind.  Breathing techniques are taught that help students quiet their minds and meditation is encouraged.  Teaching teens how to quiet their thoughts allows them to focus from within and thereby increases self esteem.

 

There is empirical evidence to support the assertion that yoga can help with self esteem and relieve stress and anxiety in teens.  In the study discussed below teens with eating disorders attended yoga class as part of their psychiatric treatment programs.  The study reported the following data.

 

Typically suffering from a lack of self-esteem, nearly 75% reported an increase in well-being. They used the words “relaxed,” “calm,” “energized” and “more awake” to describe how they felt after class. (Fury &  Kaley-Isley)

 

Another study of anorexic teens found that

 

…focused breathing (pranayama), movement sequences (asana), meditation (dhyana), and alert relaxation (yoga nidra)…reduced starvation-induced stress, safely reintroduced physical activity for a weakened body, minimized fatigue and… corrected distorted self-perceptions. ((as cited in, Binzen)

 

Further support for the benefits of yoga and adolescents is offered in this study of girls ages 14 – 17 who had suffered traumatic abuse and attended twice weekly yoga class.  The study showed a

 

…significant decreases in depression, anxiety, dissociation, and intrusive/avoidant symptoms…the girls overwhelmingly noted that they felt happier, more relaxed, less stressed, and more at ease in their bodies on the days they practiced yoga than on the days they did not. (as cited in, Binzen)

 

Teenagers, as well as adults, project their self-image through their body language.  Many adolescent girls tend to hunch their shoulders because of poor self-esteem, changes in their body (developing breasts), heavy backpacks and computer use.  Whether due to poor self-image or just poor posture the image projected is the same to the casual observer.   Rolled shoulders send the message that the teenager has a poor body image and therefore poor self-esteem.  Yoga alignment adjustments can help improve posture among teens.  For example, “…drawing your navel to your spine and lifting from the crown of your head can make you engage in proper posture” suggests Mary Kaye Chryssicas, RYT, and author of Breathe: Yoga for Teens.(as cited in, Harzog) The image we project to the outside world dictates the way in which we are treated. We see ourselves through the eyes of others whether we like it or not.  Beth Shaw, founder and president of YogaFit Training Systems Worldwide Inc., in Torrance, California, says getting in touch with their bodies through yoga just helps girls feel better. “And that manifests itself out in the world. It becomes a positive cycle,” she says. (as cited in, Harzog)

 

For some girls—unless they’re athletes—becoming proficient at yoga represents the first time they’ve experienced their own body strength. For most of these girls, that’s an eye-opening sensation. “You start to realize that it’s a body you can make strong, and you realize the awesome power of it,” says MaryKaye Chryssicas. “That tends to decrease the self-consciousness that teens feel about their bodies.” (as cited in, Harzog)

 

How Yoga Can Help

 

Yoga practice done in schools, in afterschool programs, or by coaches can offer children and adolescents the mind/body connection that is missing in their lives.  By connecting with their bodies through asana practice, learning breathing and meditating techniques through yoga; children will begin to be able to cope with the stress that is inherent in modern society.  It is by reducing stress that we will see a reduction in anxiety; depression; and poor self image that on the rise in children and adolescents.  The joy is it is not difficult to add yoga to our children’s daily lives.

 

Yoga can benefit all children in all learning situations with a little creativity.  All children learn differently, in education this is known as the theory of multiple intelligences.  Some children learn visually, some learn by hearing, and some learn through touching or doing.  Yoga can be a great tool for teachers to not only reduce stress and anxiety but also to teach to their students strengths.  For example, children that are kinesthetic or learners who learn best by doing can benefit from incorporating yoga poses into the curriculum.  A teacher in Georgia who incorporated Greek mythology and yoga is the perfect illustration.  This teacher renamed the yoga poses to the names of the Greek gods she was trying to get the children to remember and had great success and the children had fun. (Fortin). 

 

Other suggestions include using ‘partner yoga’ to help with classroom management through team building.  Students must rely on each other in order for the pose to be successful just as the must rely on each other to have productive days in the classroom.  In order to encourage students to listen to specific instructions, teachers can present a pose by only using words to describe the pose.  By listening to the instruction before attempting yoga pose students will become more aware of the words that are spoken and not anticipating what they think is coming.  Students must “be in the moment” in order to successfully demonstrate the pose.  Visual learners can be taught through the teacher demonstrating the pose without the verbal cues.  The students must then imitate the pose.  The possibilities are limitless. (Canibano)

 

Many teachers have seen the benefits of yoga in their lives and have begun to incorporate basic yoga in their classrooms.  One example of the benefits of yoga and high stakes tests is noted by school guidance counselor in Georgia, June Neal.  "We've seen an improvement in test scores and test-taking skills because their stress level is decreased after yoga", says Neal.  As for criticism that they receive regarding yoga in the classroom, Neal says, "An elementary school is more than reading, writing and arithmetic.  You do need some downtime, you do need some way to express yourself and to reduce anxiety that comes along with being in school." (as cited in, Fortin)

 

While children will not part with their iPods’, computers and Wii games and like it or not testing is here to stay, we can mitigate the negative effects that they can have on our children and teens.  Schools, teachers, administrators and parents can help children by offering yoga.  Yoga does not require an hour long class at the local recreation center.  It can be a ten minute instructed breathing techniques before a test in the classroom.   Yoga can be reading a book on animals to a young child and imitating the animals on the floor.  Yoga can be a mom and child watching a yoga video and practicing together in the family room.  It can mean a simple meditation instruction given to a child who is struggling to quiet down and go to sleep.  The investment is minimal but the positive results can be significant. 

 

Sources

 

Canibano, Emily. “Teaching Yoga to Children - Yoga in the Classroom” Suite                                                                                               101.com. November 2008.  2 December 2008. .

           

Binzen, Mira. "Yoga for Children--Now Proven Effective!" Yoga Chicago. March –

April 2007. November 26, 2008. .

 

Kaci A. Bridges, Kaci A & Madlem, Melody S. "Yoga, Physical Education, and Self-

Esteem: Off the Court andOnto the Mat for Mental Health." Californian Journal of Health Promotion. 2007. 25 November 2008. .

 

Fortin, Judy. "Kids use yoga to learn mythology, fight pre-test jitters." CNN. 8

October 2007.  Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.. 1 December 2008. .

 

Fury, M.J., MA, RYT, and Kaley-Isley, K.C., PhD, RYT. "The Benefit of Yoga for  

Adolescents with Eating Disorders." Saturday Main Session Abstracts. 2007.  Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, The Children’s Hospital, Denver, Colorado. December 3, 2008. http://iayt.fmdrl.org/index.cfm?event=c.getAttachment&riid=2665.

 

Harzog, Beverly. "Yoga for Teenage Girls ." Inner Idea. July 2008.  25 November 2008.

.

 

Morton Busch, Colleen. "It's Cool to be Grounded." Yoga Journal. 2008.  December 1, 2008.

.

Bridges & Madlem, 2007

 

"Sports Injury Statistics ." Children's Hospital. 2005-07. 30 November 2008.

.

 

"Sports-related injury distribution by age." Journal of Pediatric Orthopedics.

March/April 2001.

 

Triplett, Cheri Foster. "Third Through Sixth Graders' Perceptions of High-Stakes

Testing."     www.findarticles.com. Summer 2005.  ProQuest Information and Learning Company. November 25, 2008. .

 

Twenge, Jean M, PhD. "Childhood Anxiety Steadily On the Rise Since the 1950s."

www.webMD.com. 2000.  WebMD, Inc.  . 30 November 2008. .

 

 

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About the Author

nhrowland Nancy Rowland is a part time yoga instructor in Fairfax County and an educator for the Fairfax County Public Schools.  In addition, Nancy has first hand experience  with teenagers being the parent of two teenaged girls.  In corporating yoga in the classrooms to help reduce stress is one of Nancys passions.

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