Brief yoga practices for children and adolescents with anxiety

The purpose of this graduate project is to provide a time efficient intervention for children and adolescents who are experiencing anxiety in the school setting. The project will consist of a sampling of 3 videos of 15 minutes or less that provide guided yoga practices. The poses were chosen according to a ground-up technique where poses will focus on the lower half of the body and work its way up to the head. The students will learn how to decrease stress levels, build body awareness, and gain practical coping strategies to reduce negative feelings. Current anxiety interventions require at least 45 minutes for each session, resulting in a great amount of missed academic time. This project provides an evidence-based, time efficient alternative to these methods. The review of research provided strong evidence for physical exercise and yoga and its positive influence on mental health, specifically anxiety. Many studies, including meta-analyses, were discussed and reviewed regarding the anxiety, effects of physical activity, and effects of yoga. The results from these studies revealed positive influences on self-confidence, self-awareness, general wellbeing, and decreases in stress levels, anxious feelings, and physiological responses to stress. Conclusively, yoga was found to be an accepted alternative and complementary medicine and helped people of all ages make positive gains in mental health.