Where I Teach: The Rock, Youth Athletics

Throughout my time as a fitness instructor I’ve been introduced to many different demographics to whom yoga and mobility can benefit. One of the biggest introductions to this fact has been my time teaching yoga and mobility to the youth of the local Tampa gym, The Rock. Within this community I had the privilege to run a 5 week program with a large group of 10-13 year old athletes looking to better their athletic performance. This coed group of about 15 of Tampas youth embarked on a challenging 5 weeks; testing their flexibility, mobility, and ability to rest. It reminded me of why I began practicing yoga in the first place; to find challenges while simultaneously finding peace. 

As you can imagine, the attention span of today's youth is ever fading. One of the biggest challenges kids face is the ability to be still and focus on their breath, aka meditation. Moving around is their speciality, but moving around with intention and flexibility isn’t. I have had plenty of experience teaching yoga to kids (8 years and under) but The Rock was my first experience teaching yoga to tweens (people between 10-13 years old, they’d kill me if I called them kids). As we age, unless the neurodevelopmental movements known as an infant are continued, those positions, mobility, and flexibility are lost. But what is lost does not mean it cannot be found again. These tweens introduced me to that realization, and their inability to touch their toes and move into certain positions made me feel youthful in my abilities even though I’m 3x their age. 

Each week we’d have two 1 hour sessions where we’d focus on breathwork, stretches and postures that assist in their flexibility, mobility, and strength. During our breathwork portions of practice, I guide them through specific breath work strategies that help them sleep, regulate emotions and refocus their attention. At first, getting out their wiggles and jiggles seems impossible, but after a while of focused belly breathing, I’m able to relax them enough to focus on the breath patterns and sometimes even fall asleep. While we move through various yoga postures, I focus on stretches that’ll assist in their specific sport (most participate in baseball and volleyball), giving them a better range of motion and ability to avoid injuries. 

After the 5 weeks we (including their parents) noticed a drastic change in their focus, flexibility, and sleep quality. To be able to have made an impactful change in their lives in just 5 weeks gives me so much satisfaction, knowing I have direct abilities to positively change the future of their lives and in turn, the future of our world. Our youth holds the key to the future, and being able to have taught them the benefits of yoga and a consistent quality movement practice was a beautiful blessing.