teacher training - Yoga4Teens

The Yoga4Teens Teacher Training is designed specifically for people who want to reach teens with age-appropriate, fun and helpful yoga.

Christy Brock, the founder of Yoga Minded, developed Yoga4Teens training and works with Cristin of Kids & Yoga! to offer training in Africa and Europe - to request those contact cristin@kidsandyoga.com. For US trainings, reach Christy at christy@yogaminded.com.

Yoga4Teens has been watching and teaching teenagers do yoga everywhere around the world. Yoga's benefits for teens include:

Improving posture
Getting the body to be more agile and responsive
Learning the ancient teachings of Yoga
Getting the spine and joints to be healthy, strong, and flexible
Experiencing deep states of relaxation
Making cool shapes with the body
Quieting the inner chatter of the mind for a little while

The training prepares you to teach teen yoga classes anywhere. It is based on the book Yoga 4 Teens: An Instructors' Guide to Teaching Yoga To Teenagers by Christy Brock and Jennifer Lightsey. Encompassing ten years of combined experience teaching yoga to teenagers, this three-part book is an important resource for anyone currently teaching or desiring to teach yoga to teenagers.

Part I discusses what it takes to lead a classroom of teenagers, including specifics for setting up a teen yoga class. Twelve teaching principles and fifteen teaching practicalities are fully explained, providing the reader with confidence and teaching skills.

Part II gives guidelines, body actions, teaching ideas, and suitable partner work for each of the major categories of yoga poses. Explicit guidelines for teaching the poses are given to ensure a safe classroom. Specific exercises for learning in the classroom are also detailed along with partner exercises that will make your classes interesting and engaging.

Part III lays out eight sample classes, including sequences for getting students into Handstand (Urdvha Mukha Vrksasana), Full Backbend (Urdvha Dhanurasana), and Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) .

Yoga 4 Teens is designed as a hardback spiral-bound binder, easy for classroom reference. Hundreds of pictures of typical teens are included illustrating the poses, techniques, and sample classes. A bounty of additional information including quotes for the classroom, charts summarizing yoga philosophy in teen terms, and a summary of the benefits of yoga for teens are also included. The organization and design of this book make it a must-have for anyone who teaches teens or is interested in teaching yoga to teenagers. It is a model for teaching effectiveness.