In yoga class, time to chill

The Boston Globe

February 4, 2007

Denise Taylor, Globe Correspondent

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In yoga class, time to chill

Teenagers say class designed for them is the antidote to the daily grind

Soft music floats through the airy yoga studio in Mary Kaye Chryssicas's home, and a ginger-scented candle flickers as she guides her students into a "spinal knee twist" pose. Breathing deeply, eyes closed, all calmly move into the position, extending their arms to their sides.

"Feel free to tickle your neighbor's armpits if you like," Chryssicas cracks, and giggles ripple through this roomful of teenage yogis.

The youths in her classes and their parents rave about the 41-year-old yoga teacher. They say her cheery Wellesley studio offers an island of calm where increasingly overloaded youths can find peace, relaxation, and a good laugh now and then.

Chryssicas's classes are overflowing, her waiting list is growing, and requests by local schools for her to lead sessions are increasing. Her local fans cite the techniques she teaches, as well as her enthusiastic and irreverent approach to the 5,000-year-old system of exercise and meditation.

Now she's reaching out to teenagers nationwide. Chryssicas's new book, "Breathe: Yoga for Teens" hit stores last week. But as much as Chryssicas enjoys taking a playful approach to teenage yoga, she's entirely serious about the need for it.

"I've got girls in my classes doing yoga for depression, for self-esteem, for weight issues, for attention-deficit disorder, so they can learn to focus better, and for athletics to get them better stretched out to prevent injuries," Chryssicas said . "But mostly they come because they are simply stressed out."

Her teenage students say they have to cope with mountains of homework, high parental expectations, over scheduling, trouble with peers, pressure to win at sports, family breakups, fear of school violence, and uncertainty about where they'll get into college.

Youths in the schools where she teaches yoga, including The Walker School in Needham, also sometimes have more serious behavioral and emotional issues. But all of Chryssicas's students respond in the same way.

"Those kids come in here and just melt into their mats," she said. "Sometimes, I'll ask what their favorite pose is, and the answer shocks me. The majority always say 'savasana' , and that's 'corpse pose' where you lay on your back at the end and just relax, and I find that's what it's really about. They just want a break -- a big, huge break."

National statistics bear out Chryssicas's concerns. Adolescent depression is on the rise, as is the prescription of antidepressants to teenagers. Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg , who advises the American Academy of Pediatrics on teenage stress, calls today's youths "the most anxious, stressed, sleep-deprived generation ever."

"We don't know if the rate of teenage anxiety is truly going up or if it's just recognized more. But what we do know is that on college campuses counseling centers are overflowing . . . and that more and more people are talking about stress among teens," he said.

Ginsburg outlines a 10-step approach to reducing teenage stress in the Academy publication, "A Parents Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens" (online at aap.org/stress). Two of the steps are exercise and relaxation, and Ginsburg heartily supports yoga -- which involves stretching exercises, deep breathing, and meditation -- as an approach to both.

"Anything you can do to relax your body and control your breath is a wonderful technique, and yoga is one of the best techniques for this," he said. "Exercise is also important to burn off stress hormones, maintain strength, and use up energy."

The teenagers in Chryssicas's classes already know this. "I have a very busy schedule," said Caroline Baumann, 14, of Wellesley, who participates in field hockey, basketball, and theater. "I was really stressed out all the time and then I came here and it was really, really fun, and what we learn is really helpful. I had to take a really big test the other day and during the break I did yoga and it calmed me down."

On a recent Tuesday, the other students in Chryssicas's class, ages 11 to 15, echoed Baumann's comments, saying the postures and breathing techniques they learn in yoga class help them calmly take tests or tackle homework, and sleep better.

"Sometimes I get worked up at school and start to talk really fast," said Murphy van der Velde, 14, of Wellesley, the only boy who has taken the teenage class. "But then I just take a deep breath and go back to the yoga for a bit in my mind and then I'm back down to a normal person's talking speed."

Still others attend the classes for health reasons. "I've been doing yoga since third grade because I have ADHD," said Claire Robertson, 11, of Wellesley. "I do the breathing at school. I call it 'Zen and stuff.' It helps me focus."

Chryssicas began practicing yoga in 1998, after she left her job as advertising director for Boston magazine to focus on raising her three children. Soon after that, a friend opened Yoga Spot in Wellesley and asked Chryssicas to teach children's classes.

"The idea was that I would teach the kids so we could pack the other classes with their parents," she said. "But I thought, ' I'm not just going to baby-sit the kids; I'm going to teach them what their mommies are learning,' and the kids really responded. Soon, the mothers were coming because the kids were demanding to go."

Over time, Chryssicas developed a playful approach to kids' yoga and wrote "I Love Yoga" for younger children. Then when her oldest daughter, Tyler, now 13, turned 11, it seemed like a good time to start a class for teenagers.

Adding that class put Chryssicas right in line with a national trend. In recent years, teenage yoga has popped up at more and more youth centers, schools, gyms, and private studios nationwide. In Boston's western suburbs, high schools in at least a dozen towns, including Holliston, Hudson, Marlborough, Medfield, Needham, Newton, and Wellesley have added yoga to their fitness programs.

"It's something we believe every grade level should have," said Maria Melchionda , executive director of the Massachusetts Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance , which advocates statewide on behalf of physical education teachers for school fitness programs.

"I know it helped out my students just before MCAS when I was teaching in Needham," she said. "My fourth-graders used to go in there in the mornings and I'd do 15 minutes of yoga with them before they'd take the test. It just helped them center and focus. It was great."

Chryssicas said it takes finesse to help youths to get over stereotypes of what yogis are like "so they'll try yoga and realize it's cool."

Not just your average adult-style yoga book, "Breathe" engagingly packs together a mix of chatty instructions for poses, tips for teenage life such as how to avoid gossips, and fun asides such as how it's a blast to do handstands and turn out the lights with your feet.

"My attitude is anything you can do to get teenagers hooked on yoga is worth it," Chryssicas said. "Because those who really respond to it just feel better afterward."

Mary Kaye Chryssicas will read and sign "Breathe: Yoga for Teens" at 1 p.m. today at Wellesley Booksmith at 82 Central St. in Wellesley Center. Call 781-431-1160. For more information, visit buddhafulkids.com.