Yoga for Children & Adolescents
Give your child peace-of-mind and body.
Yoga and mindfulness helps children to find inner peace and calm, as well as to grow stronger and more balanced. Bretton’s classes include age-appropriate breathing, meditation, mindful crafts, yoga poses, games journaling, and, of course, savasana. No two classes look alike, as she strives to reach the heart of each individual child and stay present and open to each and every moment.
Bretton takes a therapeutic, inclusive and trauma-informed approach in her yoga instruction. She aims to provide a safe space for every child to discover what their practice means to them includes all of the senses in her classes so that she can reach all kinds of learners. She has worked with children and adolescents struggling with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, ADHD, muscular dystrophy and sensory processing disorders, as well as those who have experienced trauma. She emphasizes using shame-free language and is passionate about fostering an environment of body positivity.
Work with Bretton
What are the benefits of children’s yoga?
Increase Flexibility.
By building muscle mass, cardiovascular health, and stamina, yoga provides a gentle yet effective way to increase flexibility throughout children’s growing bodies. This can potentially help prevent future injuries and increase overall balance and coordination in day-to-day activities.
Develop Essential Skills.
According to Harvard Medical School, yoga helps children develop important skills, such as balance, endurance and anaerobic capacity. Beyond just the physical, it has also been shown to improve academic performance, ADHD and anxiety and stress in children.
Improve Emotional Responses.
Yoga emphasizes the mind-body connection. Practicing regularly can help children recognize the physical symptoms of different emotions and use yoga techniques (such as deep breathing) to recenter themselves during emotional outbursts.
Build Self-Esteem.
Many athletic offerings in schools foster a competitive spirit around performance. In yoga, the mindset shifts to one of compassion, self-development and cooperation, allowing children to see their own strength without the burden of comparison.
Bretton’s Journey
Bretton first discovered yoga as a child. As a teenager, she began to truly appreciate the meditative practice—in yoga class, social cliques dissolved, stress melted away and a mutual sense of connection was fostered. In her heart, she knew she one day wanted to bring these breakthroughs to others as a yoga instructor.
After completing her initial yoga training for adults, Bretton enrolled in Linda Feldman’s Budding Yogis course through Circle Yoga. She began working with children in 2014, both in after school enrichments classes and family yoga studios around Washington, D.C. In 2018, she transitioned to teaching yoga children’s full-time at the River School, an inclusive school for children ages 18 months through 3rd grade, at a partial hospitalization and outpatient rehabilitation center for adolescents in Montgomery County, MD, and at other MCPS schools including Bethesda Elementary and Chevy Chase Elementary, after school.
Her past clients include DC and Virginia public schools, the Government Accountability Office, Breathing Space Family Yoga and INA Wellness. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bretton offered virtual programs for children to rest and reset from remote schooling.
