Can Yoga Help Put an End to Bullying Behavior?

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Bullying has become a red-hot issue in recent years because of the terrible impact it can have on a victim's psychological and physical health. As many schools struggle to deal with the outcome of bullying behavior, parents and caregivers are at a loss as to how to stop their kids from bullying others. One thing that may help is to have the child or teen practice yoga on a daily basis.

Causes of Bullying Behavior

Many people think bullies hurt others because they don't care how others feel or they're just bad apples. While this may be the case with a small percentage of bullies, the reality is that kids bully because of mental, emotional, or environmental problems.

Some of the most common root causes of bullying behavior are:

• Dysfunction in the home – Some bullies come from homes where there is very little affection or openness. The kids themselves may be victims of or witnesses to aggressive behavior or abuse by parents.
• Need for attention and/or approval – Kids may bully others as a means of getting attention and approval from their peers. Even negative attention from adults or victims may be considered better than no attention at all.
• Low self-esteem – Oftentimes the bullying will stem from feelings of insecurity and low self-worth. Bullies will pick on others in an attempt to build themselves up.
• Inability to regulate emotions/poor life skills – Bullies may have a difficult time handling feelings of frustration or anger or be ill equipped to deal with the stressors of life. This may cause them to overreact to insignificant slights or assuage bad feelings by hurting others.

How Yoga Can Help

Although yoga is a form of exercise, there are many aspects of this practice that can help troubled kids reduce their need to bully others. First and foremost, yoga can increase a person's level of internal and external awareness. This newfound mindfulness can help children and teens better understand how they're feeling, how those emotions inform their actions, and how their actions affect others. This may naturally lead to a reduction in bullying behavior by kids who may not realize what they're doing or have difficulty self-regulating.

As an exercise, yoga can redirect a child's anger, frustration, or aggressiveness into a more productive and beneficial activity. Learning the poses and adhering to a daily regimen can teach kids self-discipline, improve self-confidence, reduce feelings of stress, and help alleviate mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Having children and teens participate in group yoga with other kids may also help improve their socialization skills.

There are a number of distance yoga courses available online that can help a troubled child get started quickly and in private. For more information about how yoga can help your kids, connect with a yoga instructor over the Internet or in your area.

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9 March 2015