I Can’t Do It! Boosting Self Confidence in Yoga Classes

How many times have you heard this from others, from your children, in your head?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing these words a lot in my yoga classes, in particular from children. I also heard if from an adult with Learning Disabilities at the weekend when I was running some yoga sessions for the Kids Can Achieve Charity Family Fun Day.

When Children think something’s hard or find something hard, they either express this idea vocally, or they stop participating in class, or they lose focus in class or they start distracting others.  

At the HEART of these words is a lack of self esteem, a lack of confidence which leads to them making assumptions about what they can and can’t do! Of course the problem with assumptions is that we don’t actually know if they’re true?!

When I hear or see ‘I CAN’T DO IT’ in class, this is when I realise that Children or the Adults in question need some support, some encouragement to try what they might think of as challenging yoga.

Yoga support and encouragement looks different for different children, young people and adults in my classes. So, here is a summary of the ways I’ve seen a lack of self-confidence manifesting with different age groups in my Yoga classes, as well as the support I offer.

Please note, I often adapt these systems of support according to my client’s needs and the needs of families.

PRE-SCHOOLERS  - Reach out for Support

One of the ways Pre-Schoolers learn is through movement. This is when they’re perfecting their ability to link thought to movement and are developing their fine motor skills. To gain confidence in their movements, they need role models to show them what to do. If they’re still learning a skill, for example when trying to do a Tree pose balance, Pre-Schoolers will often reach out a hand for support.

This support may come from Parents, from Nursery and Early Years Professionals and even from me as a their Yoga teacher. If this adult support isn’t around, they often reach out for support from friends or even tables and walls. All of these resources given Pre-Schoolers a sense of safety and security.

One of the wonderful sights of Family Yoga is when I see Pre-Schoolers building even deeper, amazing  bonds of trust and confidence in their Trusted Adults!

CHILDREN – Acknowledge and Praise

Some Children arrive at Yoga class with a less than positive Mindset about whether they can ’do’ yoga or if they like Yoga.

Children often have a lot of energy and when they have the opportunity to do more active Yoga, this provides me with the opportunity to acknowledge the effort children are making in class and to praise them for their achievements!.

This then motivates them to try the more challenging yoga poses. With reinforcement, over time, this builds more and more confidence.

TEENS – Encourage them to Move with Ease

Teens often judge themselves negatively if they can’t do an activity in the same way others can. So, if they can’t touch their toes or do lotus pose like others can, they often think they ‘can’t do yoga’. This is even the case if they were able to do these Yoga poses when they were younger and they can’t to them as easily now.

With these classes, my focus is on Teens developing awareness and acceptance of their changing bodies. I often see that Teens’ legs get longer and it takes a while for their torso and arms to catch up, if they ever do, so it may be harder for them to now reach their toes with straight legs.

This is when I feel it’s so important for Teens to understand that Yoga is non-competitive.

This is when I emphasise the benefits of doing yoga, even if they need to twist a little less, put one foot onto one thigh for lotus pose or bend their knees to stretch down to their toes with comfort.

ADULTS – Give them Options

Adults come to Yoga classes with a huge collection of ideas, thoughts and emotions, gained over years of experiences. This creates layers of assumptions in their minds about what they can and can’t do and also layers of pre-conceptions about the point, purpose and benefits of Yoga.

Adult body movement, flexibility and mobility is also influenced by their engagement with other physical activities and physical ailments.

With all these experiences and thoughts, adults practising Yoga need to feel and understand that Yoga is a flexible activity which can be adapted to their specific bodies and needs.

So, when it comes to Adult classes, my role is to ‘read the room’ and offer adults options and variations of Yoga poses and activities, so they can appreciate that Yoga for them is about their own individual journey to strength, flexibility and balance.

LEARNING CHALLENGES/DISABILITIES – Offer and Give Them Support

I’m including this category of individual as I’ve recently been working more with Children, Young People and Adults with Learning Disabilities both within mainstream schools and in specialist environments. 

For these individuals, their lack of belief in themselves often seems to stem from repeated interactions with others who believe they can’t do things,, who don’t have faith in their abilities and their ability to learn. In this environment, these individuals will often give up trying.

In these situations, those with Learning Challenges or Disabilities need people around them to notice them and to have higher ambitions for them, offering and giving them support, sometimes physically helping them to move into Yoga poses. This could start with something as simple as helping them join their hands behind their back.

Summary

Sometimes your limiting beliefs stop you from doing what you can, including Yoga or specific Yoga poses. This is when you need the help of other Adults or Yoga Teachers to support and encourage you.

When I teach Yoga and get this support and encouragement right, I can show you how to access and learn Yoga skills that help you learn Health and Wellbeing skills that will help you throughout your life!

Namaste

Anjli

WOCY Teacher, Facilitator & Guide to Children, Teens & Families!

The information contained above is provided for information purposes only. The contents of this blog are not intended to amount to advice and you should not rely on any of the contents of this blog. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this blog. World of Children's Yoga disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this blog.

Copyright © 2022 World of Children's Yoga

We are the owner of all intellectual property rights in this blog. These works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. We grant to you a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, revocable licence to view this blog on a computer or mobile device via a web browser, to copy and store this blog in your web browser cache memory and to print pages from this website for your own personal and non-commercial use. You may not reproduce in any format (including on another website) any part of our website (including content, images, designs, look and feel) without our prior written consent. Other than the above, we do not grant you any other rights in relation to this website or the material on this website and all other rights are reserved. For the avoidance of doubt, you must not adapt, edit, change, transform, publish, republish, distribute, redistribute, broadcast, rebroadcast, or show or play in public this website or the material on this website (in any form or media) without our prior written permission. If you print off, reproduce, copy or download any part of our site in breach of this notice, your right to use our website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.

We take the protection of our copyright very seriously. If we discover that you have breached the terms of the above licence, we may bring legal proceedings against you and seek monetary damages and/or an injunction to stop you using our materials. You could also be ordered to pay our legal costs.