Children and adolescents have to deal with a lot of heavy issues, such as peer pressure and academic performance. Hormonal changes and a growing body probably don't help. However, one dietitian and community volunteer believes that Oregon yoga classes can provide an evidence-based risk prevention approach for youth.
"Yoga teaches us positive values and ethics such as telling the truth, not stealing, promoting integrity, accountability, responsibility, sexual ethics, self-discipline, healthy eating, practicing happiness and non-violence," practitioner Gloria Campuzano wrote in a guest column for The Oregonian.
She points out that yoga is being used in wellness centers, juvenile justice facilities and schools all around the country. One example is the Street Yoga Organization in Portland. Yoga can help improve depression and anxiety in children, as well as other issues, by increasing mind-body awareness, improving stress management and teaching personal ethics. But as far as risk reduction programs go, yoga is not federally funded, Campuzano said.
As of 2007, 1.5 million American children reported practicing yoga, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. Besides providing psychological benefits, yoga can also support healthy body composition, lung capacity, heart rate, strength and flexibility.
