An exciting new yoga class that combines the benefits of yoga with mindfulness meditation, and is directly targeted at teens, will start in March.The teen yoga class kicks off in Sports and Fitness Markievicz on March 5th, and will run for six weeks. The cost is €50 for the six weeks. Yoga teacher Francis Daly will teach the classes, as well as doing the guided meditations. The objective of the course is to help teenagers cope with stress in their lives. Young people today are faced with a lot of stress, much of it hidden. This can include the stress felt coming up to exams (which we talked about in the current issue of NewsFour). A more insidious form is social media, that unfortunately affects people of all ages. Added to that is peer pressure, body image, self esteem and you begin to get an idea of the minefield today’s youth have to negotiate their way through.
The benefits of yoga on both body and mind have been well documented, and even backed up by many independent studies. But what a lot of people may not know is that yoga is particularly good at reducing stress. Scientific research has shown that practicing yoga regularly can significantly decrease the amount of cortisol – one of the major contributors of stress – being secreted into the body, thus helping to reduce anxiety, fatigue and depression. It is believed that the practice of paying attention to what’s going on in the body (and the mind) which yoga naturally facilitates is the reason. Obviously when combined with mindfulness meditation the effects are doubled. So it is great to see young teens in the area get a chance to learn these amazing skills and hopefully develop into more conscious, and healthy adults.
What then are the benefits, apart from reducing stress, of doing yoga? Well, many actually. Yoga aids flexibility, and is also known to increase muscle tone and core strength. It helps regulate metabolism and reduce weight, and also assists the cardio and respiratory system because of the breathing exercises and techniques they teach. So if you are a teen, or you have one in your household, might be worth considering signing up for these worthwhile classes. The date again is March 5th, and the place Sports and Fitness Markievicz.
For more information you can contact Francis at francis.daly@dublincity.ie
By Eoin Meegan
