After practicing yoga myself for a number of years, I became interested in teaching yoga to children when I became a parent and saw the increasing amount of pressure put on kids today. Between the demands of school and homework, high rates of divorce and the fact that children are engaging in competitive, strenuous sports at an ever-earlier age, many children are now almost as stressed out as their parents.

At the same time, there are fewer and fewer safe outlets for children to help them unwind. The days when parents allowed kids to ring on a friend’s doorbell or ride a bike unsupervised are almost gone; indeed, many parents are now reluctant to let their children even watch television because of the violence and advertising on-screen.

I wanted to help restore the balance in children’s lives by imparting some of what I had learned through my own yoga practice. By teaching children how to find their own center of calm, yoga provides them with a healthy way of dealing with stress and anxiety — one that is more effective, not to mention more constructive, than simply playing computer games or watching TV. And by encouraging children to move and stretch playfully while bringing their energy inward, yoga teaches them to focus calmly on the present moment, rather than scattering their energies in a constant pursuit of the future and the "next big thing."

Yoga also teaches children creativity and respect for themselves, their bodies and others, as well as physical and sensory awareness. For children suffering from depression, low self-esteem or poor body image, in particular, yoga provides a non-judgmental environment in which to discover the joys of physical activity — one that is sorely lacking from most competitive sports.

As Mahon says, "With yoga, nobody is watching or comparing your performance to anyone else’s, so it is almost impossible for a child to leave practice feeling bad about himself."

So just how does a class for very young children differ from one for say, 10-year-olds or from a class for teens?

A toddler class will generally engage children in yoga practice using a combination of yoga themes, improvisation and games. A child may be asked to roar like a lion or stand like a tree, for example, or to lie on the floor and pretend she is a frond of seaweed, drifting gently along in the current of the ocean. Through exercises such as these, a young child will learn basic physical movements, like jumping or galloping, as well as more general skills, such as body awareness. She will also learn how getting upset can constrict her muscles and make it hard to breathe — and what to do when she feels like this. One 3-year-old boy in my class learned to lay his favorite stuffed animal across his eyes whenever he needed to relax and go to sleep at night — something he had learned from using the eye pillows we provide during relaxation in class.

A class for older children and preteens may revolve around a different theme each week — one that includes yoga poses, breathing, movement and even art projects. A teacher might ask a 10-year-old to express how he feels coming into the class by drawing a picture, modeling with wikki stix or by writing, if he prefers. At the end of the class, she might ask him to do the same, to see how his feelings have changed. These exercises help children channel their energies and focus on the class, as well as demonstrate how yoga can help them control their own emotions and their bodies. The poses in these classes tend to be more advanced, but kids love the challenge, particularly when they know they are not being judged.

Teenage classes are generally taught more like adult classes. A teacher may talk about how you feel when your life and/or your body are off-kilter, while guiding the class through a series of yoga poses focusing on balance. By teaching body awareness, yoga can help teenagers identify their fears, as well as feelings they have floating around, which is often the first step in learning to handle them. Adolescence can be an extremely insecure time, as teens struggle to establish their own sense of identity, and yoga can help them learn to respect themselves and their bodies, just as they are — abilities, limitations and all.

As a yoga instructor who teaches adults and children, it’s wonderful to see how people who might otherwise feel too intimidated to come to an adult class can lose their inhibitions by participating in a class with their kids. It’s also very empowering for children to see their parents learning alongside them. Often at the end of class, during relaxation, I will see a parent reach out and take the hand of her child lying next to her — something she may never have a chance to do in the course of a normal day, unless it is to hurry them across a road. But the most important benefit of yoga for children is its ability to provide a sanctuary in children’s lives — an all too rare time and space where children can come to relax, enjoy the moment and luxuriate in just being themselves.

Linda Feldman is a certified Next Generation Kids yoga teacher and the director of Budding Yogis, a yoga studio for children and adults with two locations in northwest Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.buddingyogis.com.