I have lots of kids who are involved in other sports. The usual: soccer, baseball, gymnastics, baseball, riding. Then there's a smaller subset who don't do other sports, who aren't that competitive.

What is yoga's main physical benefit for kids?

Because kids are doing more strenuous sports at a young age, it's good for them to learn to stretch consistently [to avoid injury]. Kids need to learn to take responsibility for their own body.

Stretching is great for your body. It's good if you get in the habit of doing it in your young years; it's harder to start as an adult.

And psychological?

Yes. Nobody's watching them, nobody's judging them. They're doing it for themselves. It's not something they're doing for their parents -- if they come voluntarily, which I really encourage. Never force a kid to come to yoga. I don't want yoga to be another stress, another scheduled thing.

With homework, school, sports, there are so many ways kids can feel bad about themselves. The feeling of accomplishment they get out of yoga, unlike some competitive sports, where sometimes kids come away feeling bad about themselves. Coming into yoga, there's almost no way to leave feeling bad about yourself.

What poses do kids like best?

Tree. And Lion -- because of the roaring.

But what they really like is the savasana -- the guided relaxation. I've seen kids lie there for 30 minutes. They really need it. One girl, she would just lie there and not want to leave. She couldn't find that relaxation in other places.

During savasana, I rub their feet. No only is it relaxing, but it's really grounding to bring energy down to your feet.

We're pushing kids so hard in school, it pushes them up into their head. I think we all should be more in our bodies, not so much in our heads.

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