Let’s face it, being a tween is hard! You are not a kid anymore and you are not quite a teenager. Tweens come to yoga class each week, like adults, with many issues or concerns. Last spring I had a girl come into class crying because she was upset that her younger brother was getting an iPhone for his birthday, she didn’t think it was fair. Another day a couple of girls arrived very upset because there had been an issue on their bus ride home from school.

All these situations, big or small cause stress for today’s tweens. Coming to yoga can help alleviate some of that stress while also teaching them techniques to manage their stress.

Tweens Live Somewhere in the Land Between

Tweens are described as youth between the ages of 9-12 or 10-13. They are stuck in this sort of “in between” land, trying to navigate their way from childhood to teen land.

My name is Maura Bradley and I am the founder of Bee You Yoga. I teach kids of all ages with a primary focus on “tweens” because while this age group is growing up quick, they still like to play games, act silly and have fun!

After teaching “Tween Yoga” for years I have developed these 5 Tips for Teaching Yoga to Tweens.

5 Tips for Teaching Yoga to Tweens

Tweens doing tree pose in yoga with hands connected and smiling and being silly. — Make it Fun so Tweens want to keep coming back!

Relax – Tweens are smart; they can smell fear a mile away and they catch on real quick if you try to be something you are not. Just be yourself with the kids, learn to laugh at yourself and realize each and every class will not go 100% as planned. Let go of your expectations.
Make it Fun – Tweens are still kids and kids love nothing more than to have fun! I include games in all of my yoga classes and camps and the kids LOVE it. Playing games during yoga class helps to build confidence, build camaraderie between the kids and the games also work as a great icebreaker for larger groups or shy kids.
Share – Tweens want to learn more about you. This helps them relate to you on a personal level. They begin to see you more as a person and less as a scary adult/teacher. Often times, I share stories with my tweens about my own kids. I’ll tell them funny things that have happened in our house or maybe a joke one of my kids told me, they love this! The kids will relax and share more if they relate to you.
Challenge Tweens to master difficult poses.
Challenge Them – Tweens love a challenge, whether it’s mastering a difficult posture, winning a friendly tree pose competition to see who can hold the pose longest, or sharing about themselves. All challenges lead to growth, which helps to build confidence.
Savasana – Tweens today are busy! Introduce your students to savasana during the first class. I love to watch the kids fidget and giggle and move around during their first experience with savasana….as the weeks go on, they get quieter and quieter and more and more still. They now ask for savasana in the beginning of class! Kids need time to unplug, relax, and be still. Be sure to offer them this time in each and every class.

These are a few of my top tips for teaching yoga to tweens. I hope you have found this interesting and helpful to you as you share yoga with your students.

Please share in the comments below any tips that you have for teaching tweens.

About the Author

Maura Bradley

After years of working with cancer patients, Maura Bradley was introduced to kids yoga while teaching at a summer camp for children affected by cancer. This was such an amazing experience Maura is completing her 95-hour children’s yoga teacher certification.

Maura has taught hundreds of children in weekly classes, summer camps and specialty workshops. Currently, Maura teaches kids & family yoga in a variety of studios and schools throughout Monmouth County, NJ.

The founder of Bee YOU Yoga for kids, located in Manasquan, NJ, Maura has completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with YogaWorks, Levels 1 & 2 of Yoga for Cancer Teacher Training with Tari Prinster in New York City, and is currently completing her 95 Hour Childrens Yoga Teacher Certification with Little Flower Yoga.

Please be sure to like Bee You yoga on:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/YogaMaura
Instagram @beeyou_kidsyoga
and visit her website: www.beeyouyoga.com

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5 Tips for Teaching Yoga to Tweens - read these great tips at Young Yoga Masters dot com — Pin It Now

How to Speak to Children in Yoga

When teaching children yoga one of the best tools you can use is to speak to the soul of the student. I found this out in a class of older children, around 9 – 12 years old, the senior group in the daycare. Many of them were just a few months from being able to be on their own at home.

teaching tween yoga in a daycare setting

It was a challenge to engage this age group in yoga. They were going through changes physically. The idea of “lifting up your chest” or “bending backwards” just wasn’t, well…cool. They found it embarrassing. They often giggled uncontrollably and had to consult each other, verbally or with glances on every new move.

Plus I had just started with this group, so we didn’t have a relationship built from when they were younger. It took a lot of thought to figure out how to engage them.

Our common interest at that moment was computers. I had just gotten a new laptop computer. We talked about what was happening in these times. Everything was available at the press of a button. The hard part was not going to be getting on a computer, the hard part would be getting off it!

Let them Make their Own Choices

I spoke to them directly and listened so I wouldn’t speak down to them. My goal was to give them guidelines and values but leave the decision making up to them. They will be the leaders of the future, so they must have the ability to make their own decisions and choices. When it comes to computers they could use the computers or the computers could use them.

When we discussed this in class we came up with the idea to use my new laptop to do a yoga video with it – they would use the computer to do things they could enjoy and we could share these tips with the world.

Let the Children Teach You Yoga: Our Video

The outcome was a short video with 10 kids teaching 10 parts of a yoga class. It is beautiful, simple, and inspiring. When there was a good reason, the kids chose to do yoga and then became leaders by teaching each other. We’re using it as a fundraiser for the daycare, so now the children will develop another set of skills.

Whenever I show it in my other classes everyone follows along. It is inspiring for children to learn from other children. Yoga is great way to build leadership skills especially when we truly see that children are the leaders of the future.

tween yoga