Teaching yoga to teenagers is a niche and a passion that distinguishes many of us across the world who are committed to bringing this useful practice into the lives of young people. YogaMinded’s Yoga 4 Teens teacher trainings are undoubtedly meaningful for everyone who attends.

The August 28-29, 2009 training in San Juan Capistrano, CA was no different.
We represented the far corners of the United States: from New Jersey to Washington state to Texas and Southern California, yet our raison d’etre (as they say in French) was the same.

Peggy Dial, Tricia Hurley, Judy Levin, Anne Petersen Mauk, Sharon Spiers and myself, Christy Brock, grew and learned so much from each other in our time together.

Christy Brock with Teachers Trica Hurley, Peggy Dial, Anne Petersen Mauk (pictured above), Sharon Spiers, and Judy Levin

We began with a simulated teen yoga class. Discussions on adolescence, powerful teachers, and the benefits of yoga for teens followed. With input and verification from our own experiences, we delved into the principles and practicalities of teaching teens, as they are outlined in Yoga 4 Teens, An Instructors’ Guide to Teaching Yoga to Teenagers.

As a group, we brought forth translations of yoga philosophy that would be helpful for our teen students. We had seven high schoolers show up for a teen yoga class that I taught to get the first hand experience of real live teens. Each of the participants taught simulated teen yoga classes with feedback and critique afterwards. We shared what was happening in our own teen yoga classes and greatly benefited from learning about each other.

All in all, it was a very moving two days. My take away: these trainings need to be longer! There’s too much good stuff happening to condense it to 15 hours only.

One participant described her experience:

You have such a beautiful and amazing passion for teens and it truly comes out in the way you presented yourself to all of us. I especially appreciated how you spoke from experience and the heart (as opposed to just re-stating what’s already in your book). I felt like all of the discussions were relevant and worthwhile. I feel like a I got the most out of observing the teen class and our discussion of bringing the yamas/niyamas down to the teen’s level.

This weekend gave me extra a huge amount of motivation to keep up the momentum in pursuing places to get things going for my girls. I just can’t say enough about how your energy and passion are truly admired and appreciated. From the bottom of my heart – Thank you!