Mary Kaye Chryssicas would like the nation's teenagers to chill out.
She's on a mission to help teens discover that yoga can bring them a much needed respite from lives that are often involve coping with mountains of homework, high parental expectations, peer issues, pressure to win in sports, family issues and more.
A mother of teenagers herself, Mary Kaye is well acquainted with strain that the demands of their everyday life can place on kids. "I've got girls in my classes doing yoga for anxiety and depression, for self-esteem, for weight issues, for attention deficit disorder, so they can learn to focus better, and for athletics to get them stretched out and prevent injuries," she said. "But mostly they come because they are just stressed out."
Mary Kaye's classes offer teens an opportunity to chill out, relax and tune in to their own bodies. She says she enjoys taking a playful approach to teen yoga and finds a little humor can go a long way in helping them to open up. The asana portion of her classes is a departure from adult classes. Instead of silence, she encourages the kids to share what is on their minds, often by using stories from her own teenage years and tips on everything from coping with a headache and eating right to avoiding gossip.
Time for meditation is also an important element in Mary Kaye's classes. She teaches her students that even 10 or 15 minutes of meditation a day will be an invaluable tool in their lives, helping them to center and live in the present. We need to make time for stillness, she says.
Surprisingly, for most, savasana is their favorite pose. "The kids just melt into their mats. They just want a break Š a big huge break," Mary Kaye says. All this led her to realize that her approach might be helpful to a wider audience. She wrote Breathe: Yoga for Teens in an effort to reach kids nationwide. The book and accompanying DVD came out earlier this year.
The message at the heart of her practice for teens is about being positive and living with enthusiasm. "I try to teach them that like attracts like and that when they are surrounded by positive people, great things happen." She encourages them to free themselves from "friends" who pull them down. "I donÕt care how popular they are, I donÕt care how beautiful they are, if the people they call friends don't bring out the best in them, it's time to move on." One young yogini told her she had more friends since she began practicing yoga. "When I go into a party, I just remember how everyone in yoga class likes me and I try and take that feeling with me," the teen said.
Mary Kaye believes that in addition to yoga's benefits for body and mind, it is a great tool for spreading kindness and laughter. She firmly believes that in 10 years yoga will be mandatory in all our schools. Until then, she adds "My attitude is anything you can do to get teenagers hooked on yoga is worth it!"
Mary Kaye Chryssicas is an RYT 200. She lives in Wellesley, MA. She also is the author of I Love Yoga, an introduction for children. To learn more about her work, visit www.buddafulkids.com.