RIDGEFIELD — The children in Kristen Matthews’ yoga class start lining up 11 purple mats in a circle on the floor of their portable classroom.
It’s about an hour before they will be let in to Union Ridge Elementary School, so the kids have been dropped off early to ready themselves for a school day with yoga and meditation. Elementary school yoga isn’t something the 36-year-old Matthews was privy to growing up, but it is something her 8-year-old daughter, Kaliah, participates in each Wednesday morning at Matthews’ class.
According to a recent study from the National Institutes of Health, Kaliah and the 10 other children in Matthews’ class are part of a larger U.S. trend.
The percentage of children ages 4 through 17 who participated in yoga in the past 12 months increased from 3.1 percent in 2012 to 8.4 percent in 2017. And for the same age range, the percentage of those who used meditation in the past 12 months increased from 0.6 percent in 2012 to 5.4 percent in 2017.
The data add up to one thing: Yoga, which is increasing in popularity for adults at even higher rates, is now also on the rise for children and teenagers, too.
Matthews can speak from personal experience when it comes to yoga’s impact on young folks. She discovered yoga around age 12 in a Cosmopolitan magazine article. There was a rundown of some poses she thought looked interesting, so she tried them. It provided relief from middle school stressors.
“I remember it being an age where you just feel so socially pressured,” Matthews says. “You’re trying to fit in. You don’t know where you’re going to fit in. But I’d come home and I’d do my yoga every day, and everything was OK.”
Matthews starts that Wednesday session by asking the kids to grade how they’re feeling on a scale of 1 to 5 as they pass around a “magic rock” that allows them the floor to speak. Some kids respond they’re a “6.”
The kids will also discuss their favorite parts of the recent Thanksgiving holiday (family, treats and travel), and then massage pressure points on their body. Then they’ll perform chants while they cycle through sun salutation poses before playing a game of Yoga Jenga. Each Jenga piece has a yoga pose scribbled on it.
“Whatever the pose is on the (Jenga) piece, we’re going to do it,” Matthews says.
‘Different ballgame’
The way Matthews teaches yoga during her class at Union Ridge is much different than how she teaches adult yoga. Matthews was initially trained for instructing adults, then she also acquired certification for kids before implementing the Union Ridge program last year.
Matthews uses games and lessons during class, and even has breathing buddy animal dolls that she made, which help the kids when they do breathing exercises.
“My training was mostly for adults, and I started learning quickly that it’s a whole different ballgame when you’re teaching kids,” Matthews says. “Attention spans are different, and the way you have to approach things are different. You can’t tell them, ‘OK, now we’re going to meditate,’ and expect them to sit there for 20 to 30 minutes. You get to be more creative. It’s fun, because your inner child comes out.”
Kristi Herron and Mandy DeBord, who teach yoga at South Ridge Elementary School and also offer private and group yoga through their company MKELEVATE, utilize similar tactics. They implement games, too, and let kids teach some poses to each other.
“The important thing with the kids is to keep it fun and keep it moving,” DeBord says. Herron and DeBord say the classes have made a difference for the kids, and help them learn how to deal with their emotions.
“I’ve had several kids who have said that they’re angry, mad at their mom or dad or whatever, and ‘Yeah, I just stopped and I breathed and it made me feel better,’ ” Herron says.
Herron’s 7-year-old son, Keegan, takes part in the class and said his favorite pose is happy baby pose, and that yoga gives him more energy. DeBord also mentioned yoga is a great outlet for kids and teens, who are experiencing rising rates of anxiety. There’s one other group of people who are also possibly benefiting from the rise of children doing yoga, as well.
“Hopefully the teachers appreciate it, too, when they step in to class that morning,” DeBord jokes.
