By SARA ELLIS OWEN

The Mental Benefits of Pilates for Your Teenagers

Pilates is often seen as a way to improve physical health, but it can also do wonders for your teenager’s mental health too.

Teenagers go through a surprising amount of stress. Despite being so young, they’re often bombarded with expectations, exams, and social challenges that can weigh heavy on their mental state. As such, it’s important to find ways for your teenager to relieve stress, relax, and help them stay more focused especially during periods that demand improved concentration. Thankfully, there are solutions that can help your teenagers combat the mental and physical stress that they might be facing.

Frequent exercise is one of the best remedies for combating stress. One great example of this is Pilates.

While most people associate Pilates with physical strength building, it actually comes with a number of mental benefits too. These benefits aren’t exclusive to teenagers either. Many people just don’t consider the positive mental effects of practising pilates. With the right approach, Pilates is a habit that can provide mental clarity, stress reduction, and offer improved relaxation. When used at the right time (such as during periods of heavy study) it can also cut the stress that your teenagers face and help them prepare for long-term challenges.

Pilates can improve your teenager’s concentration

Pilates isn’t just a physical exercise–it also encourages you to be more mindful and focused. Pilates connects the mind to the body through purposeful movement. By focusing on the movement and the expansive breath pattern, Pilates can sharpen your senses and give you a clearer and deeper understanding of your own body and what’s going on around you. Pilates demands a high level of focus when it’s being practised,and these effects can be carried over into other day to day activities such as studying, competing in athletic activities and mindfulness.

Pilates encourages better sleeping habits

Sleep deprivation in teenagers was seen as an epidemic in the past. Increased academic stress led to a lack of sleep, and this ultimately caused poor grades, drowsy-driving incidents, and a plethora of mental health problems. By practising Pilates regularly, your teenager will learn to harness the mind and body, facilitating a deep sense of relaxation. This release of tension will make it easier to fall asleep, as well as deal with challenging events during the day.

Pilates helps teenagers cope with mental health concerns

Depression and anxiety in teenagers have become a growing concern. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that 31.9% of adolescents had some kind of anxiety disorder. While Pilates isn’t the only solution for helping teenagers cope with mental health concerns, it can certainly help restore emotional balance by helping teenagers focus on their wellbeing and surroundings as opposed to stressful thoughts and demands in their life.This not only helps to reduce symptoms of anxiety and stress, but it can even create more resilience to deal with thoughts of unease as Pilates releases endorphins, which naturally cause the mind and body to feel more relaxed and positive.

Thanks for reading!

I hope you found this informative 🙂

By SARA ELLIS OWEN

The Mental Benefits of Pilates for Your Teenagers

Pilates can improve your teenager’s concentration

Pilates encourages better sleeping habits

Pilates helps teenagers cope with mental health concerns

If you'd like to know more about my online pilates course for your teenagers, check it out below.