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SEPTEMBER – BACK TO SCHOOL

Finding your Rhythm through Life’s Transitions: Back-To-School with Yoga & Ayurveda

September marks more than the beginning of a new school year. As the seasons begin to shift, many teens are navigating change on multiple levels: new routines, different expectations, changing friendships, and the transition from the freedom of summer into the structure of school life. From an Ayurvedic perspective, times of transition naturally increase Vata dosha, reminding us of the importance of creating supportive daily rhythms that help young people feel steady, focused, and connected.

Finding Your Rhythm: Ayurveda teaches us that change naturally creates more movement in body and mind. During adolescence, a time already filled with growth and transformation, busy schedules and shifting expectations can increase this movement further. In Ayurveda, this quality is associated with Vata dosha, the energy of air and movement. As autumn begins and nature becomes more changeable, Vata naturally increases. Because like increases like, transitions can leave teens feeling more scattered and anxious. While we cannot stop life from changing, we can create steady anchors to return to. These daily rhythms, known as Dinacharya, support balance through consistent sleep and wake times, regular meals, movement, study routines, and moments of pause.

Yogic Wisdom: The yoga philosophies of Tapas (steady effort) and Saucha (clarity) offer valuable guidance as teens establish new routines. Tapas reminds us that healthy habits are built through small, consistent actions, whilst Saucha encourages us to create clarity in our physical spaces, bodies, and minds. Together, they show teens that structure can create more ease, not less freedom.

Working with Your Energy: Ayurveda recognises that our mental and emotional states naturally shift. The Gunas – Tamas (rest), Rajas (activity), and Sattva (balance) – help us understand these changing qualities and notice what needs to return to balance.

Yoga in Motion: Rhythmic yoga practices can help teens feel steady during times of change. Sun Salutations, standing poses such as Warrior II and Tree Pose, followed by calming forward folds or Child’s Pose, can help create both energy and ease. 

We invite you to follow Teen Yoga on social media throughout the month of September for simple Yoga and Ayurveda practices to support teens in building healthy rhythms, navigating change with confidence, and thriving throughout the school year.

With thanks to Stefanie Levine; Houston, Texas (United States), Ayurvedic Wellness Educator; Teen Yoga Specialist; Holistic Interior Designer; & Artist/Author

WHY TEEN YOGA?

We have created two resources that are likely to be useful to people who wish to talk about the benefits of yoga (for example to schools).

Download the presentation we used in Parliament in Ocotber 2022:
Teen Yoga Cost-effective Policy Presentation Oct 22

Download the benefits and cost-effectiveness of yoga document we created
Teen Yoga Rationale for Yoga in Schools Oct 22

Please let us know if you have any questions/suggestions.

LINKS & RESOURCES FOR SEPTEMBER

Class: Finding your Rhythm

This practice sequence is designed for teens to use at home, once they have learned it in a yoga class. It takes roughly twenty minutes and is best practised somewhere quiet, on a mat or carpet, with a cushion or folded blanket nearby and a clear stretch of wall for the eleventh practice. It has a shape you can lean on when life feels scattered: a steadying arrival, a warming rhythmic flow, grounded standing poses, and calming folds into rest. Do it at roughly the same time each day and it becomes an anchor — a small piece of Dinacharya you can count on.

Before You Begin

When everything around you is changing — timetable, friendships, expectations — the most helpful thing is something that doesn’t change. That’s what a regular practice gives you: a steady rhythm to return to. Pick a time that could realistically become a habit (first thing, or as a wind-down before bed) and treat showing up, even briefly, as the win.

  • Breathe slowly through the nose throughout, unless noted otherwise. The steady in-and-out is the simplest rhythm there is, and the one you can always come back to.
  • Consistency beats intensity. A short practice done most days does far more than a long one done once — this is Tapas, steady effort built from small, repeatable actions.
  • Before you start, tidy just the space your mat needs. A small square of clear, calm floor is Saucha — outer clarity that quietly settles the mind.
  • Skip or soften any pose that doesn’t feel right today. Meeting yourself where you actually are is part of the practice.
  • If you have a current injury or health condition, check with a teacher or healthcare professional first.

The Sequence

Twelve simple practices, moving from a grounded arrival, through a warming rhythmic flow, into steady standing poses and calming folds, and finally into settled rest. The whole arc is designed to do one thing: take a scattered, autumn-Vata feeling and give it somewhere solid to stand.

1. Grounded Easy Seat  (Sukhāsana)

Hold: 2 minutes

How to come into it. Sit cross-legged on a cushion so the hips are higher than the knees. Feel the weight of your sitting bones pressing down into the floor. Spine long, shoulders soft, hands resting on the knees. Close the eyes or soften the gaze. Breathe in through the nose for a count of four; out for a count of four — an even, steady rhythm. Before you move, quietly notice: do you feel wired and restless, heavy and flat, or fairly steady today?

Before you can find a rhythm, you have to notice where you’re starting from. No judgement — just an honest look at how today actually feels.

Why this pose, this season. Vata is light and mobile, so it settles when it feels weight and ground — hence starting low and heavy. The quick check-in introduces the Gunas: whether you feel restless (Rajas), sluggish (Tamas), or steady (Sattva). Knowing where you’re starting is how you know what today’s practice is for.

2. Cat–Cow  (Marjāryāsana / Bitilāsana)

Hold: 1–2 minutes

How to come into it. Come onto hands and knees. Inhale: drop the belly, lift the chest and tailbone (Cow). Exhale: round the spine, tuck the chin (Cat). Let the breath lead the movement — one breath, one motion — for about ten slow, even cycles.

Let your breath set the beat and your body follow. This is what rhythm feels like from the inside: nothing rushed, nothing forced, just a steady back-and-forth.

Why this pose, this season. Linking one movement to one breath is the simplest possible rhythm, and it gently gathers a scattered mind by giving it a beat to follow. It also warms and frees the spine, preparing the body for the flow to come.

3. Sun Salutation  (Sūrya Namaskāra)

Hold: 3–5 rounds

How to come into it. Stand tall at the top of the mat. Inhale, sweep the arms up; exhale, fold forward. Inhale, half-lift the chest; exhale, step or hop back to a plank and lower down. Inhale to a gentle Cobra or Upward Dog; exhale to Downward Dog. Hold a breath or two, then step the feet forward, inhale to a half-lift, exhale to fold, and inhale all the way up to standing. That’s one round. Move with the breath and repeat three to five times, letting a smooth rhythm build.

The same shapes, again and again, breath after breath. There’s a quiet confidence that comes from repeating something until your body just knows it.

Why this pose, this season. Sun Salutations are the classic rhythmic practice for exactly this season: repeated, breath-led rounds build warmth and steady energy while giving a busy mind a reliable pattern to settle into. Coming back to the same sequence day after day is Tapas in motion — steady effort that turns into a dependable habit.

4. Low Lunge  (Añjaneyāsana)

Hold: 1 minute each side

How to come into it. From Downward Dog or hands and knees, step the right foot forward between the hands and lower the left knee to the mat (pad it with a blanket if it’s tender). Rest the hands on the front thigh, sink the hips gently forward and down, and lift through the chest. Keep the back of the neck long. Switch sides.

Feel the strong line from your back knee to the crown of your head — steady and rooted at the base, open and lifted at the top. That’s a good way to meet change.

Why this pose, this season. After the movement of the flow, a grounded lunge re-establishes stability: the back knee and shin anchor into the earth while the front body opens. Hip-openers are especially settling for Vata, which tends to store restless tension around the hips.

5. Warrior II  (Virabhadrāsana II)

Hold: 45 seconds each side

How to come into it. From standing, step the feet wide. Turn the right foot out and bend the right knee over the ankle; the back foot stays grounded and strong. Stretch the arms out level with the shoulders and gaze softly over the front hand. Feel all four corners of both feet pressing down. Switch sides.

New term, new demands, new unknowns — and here you are, steady and strong, holding your ground. You can meet a lot from a stance like this.

Why this pose, this season. Warrior II is grounded, wide, and quietly powerful — a whole-body antidote to feeling scattered or anxious. Holding a strong, stable stance builds the felt sense of steadiness that helps teens face new routines and expectations with more confidence.

6. Tree Pose  (Vrksāsana)

Hold: 1 minute each side

How to come into it. Ground down through the left foot and find a steady spot to gaze at. Place the right foot on the inner left ankle, calf, or thigh — never the knee. Bring the palms together at the heart, or float the arms up like branches. Breathe, wobble, rebalance. Switch sides.

A tree in autumn wind moves at the top but holds firm at the roots. You can bend and sway with all this change and still not be knocked over.

Why this pose, this season. Balance is never perfectly still — you’re always making tiny adjustments — which makes Tree a perfect image for staying steady through change rather than rigidly unmoving. Rooting down through one foot while the body sways gently is Vata balanced in a single pose: grounded below, free to move above.

7. Standing Forward Fold  (Uttānāsana)

Hold: 1 minute

How to come into it. Stand with the feet hip-distance apart. Bend the knees generously and fold over the thighs. Catch opposite elbows and let the head and neck hang completely heavy. Sway gently side to side, then be still and breathe.

Let the head hang and the mental to-do list drain downward for a minute. Not everything has to be figured out right now.

Why this pose, this season. Bringing the head below the heart calms the nervous system and quiets the racing, planning mind that transitions tend to switch on. Forward folds are inward-turning and grounding — exactly the counterbalance an over-stimulated, Vata-heavy system needs.

8. Seated Forward Fold  (Paschimottānāsana)

Hold: 1–2 minutes

How to come into it. Sit with the legs out in front, a slight bend in the knees. Inhale tall, then hinge forward from the hips, walking the hands towards the feet and letting the head and neck go heavy. Let the breath be slow and soft. There’s no need to reach the toes — just fold to a comfortable edge and rest there.

Turn your attention inward for a while, away from all the noise and newness. This quiet is yours, and it’s always available.

Why this pose, this season. A long, supported seated fold is deeply calming and turns the attention inward — a welcome pause when the outer world is full of new demands. Slow forward folds soothe Vata’s restlessness and prepare the body and mind for rest.

9. Seated Spinal Twist  (Ardha Matsyendrāsana)

Hold: 1 minute each side

How to come into it. Sit with both legs out in front. Bend the right knee and step the right foot outside the left thigh. Inhale tall, and on an exhale turn gently to the right, left arm resting against the right knee, right hand on the floor behind you. Lead from the belly, not the neck. Unwind slowly and switch sides.

Wring out the old day to make room for the new one. A clear body helps make a clear mind.

Why this pose, this season. Twists gently compress and release the belly, which feels like a physical clearing-out — a bodily version of Saucha. Creating that sense of internal clarity helps a cluttered, over-full head feel more spacious and ordered, ready to focus.

10. Child’s Pose  (Balāsana)

Hold: 2 minutes

How to come into it. From hands and knees, bring the big toes together and let the knees widen. Sink the hips back towards the heels and walk the hands forward, resting the forehead on the mat (or on stacked fists or a cushion). Let the whole back body soften and breathe into the back of the ribs.

When it all gets to be too much, you’re allowed to fold up small and rest for a moment. Then you can begin again.

Why this pose, this season. Child’s Pose is the great settling shape: bowing the forehead to the floor quietens the mind and draws restless energy down and in. It’s the pose to return to any time change feels overwhelming, and a natural place to pause and re-gather before rest.

11. Legs-Up-the-Wall  (Viparīta Karaṇī)

Hold: 3 minutes

How to come into it. Sit sideways against a wall, then swivel to swing the legs up it as you lie back, so the body makes an L-shape. Rest the arms by the sides, or one hand on the heart and one on the belly. A folded blanket under the hips is lovely. Let the legs be completely passive.

Nothing to organise, nowhere to be. Let the day’s busyness drain out of your legs and simply be held for a while.

Why this pose, this season. This gentle inversion is one of the most reliably calming poses there is — it rests the legs and heart and deeply settles an over-active nervous system. For a Vata-heavy, over-scheduled autumn, it’s the perfect wind-down, and many teens find it helps them sleep.

12. Final Rest with a Steady-Rhythm Breath  (Śavāsana)

Hold: 4 minutes

How to come into it. Slide away from the wall and lie flat on the back, legs comfortably wide, arms a little away from the body, palms up. Blanket over you if the room is cool. Let the breath settle into an easy, even rhythm, and feel the whole back of the body supported by the floor beneath you. As you rest, let one small anchor for tomorrow come to mind — a regular bedtime, a proper breakfast, five minutes on the mat — and picture yourself keeping it.

Underneath all the change, there is always a steady beat: your own breath, the solid ground, the rhythm of your days. You can always come home to it.

Why this pose, this season. Ending flat and fully supported gives a mobile, airy Vata system the grounding it craves, sealing in the practice’s steadiness. Quietly choosing one daily anchor turns the session into Dinacharya — the Ayurvedic art of steady daily rhythm — and rehearsing the intention makes it a little more likely to happen.

Carrying the Practice Into the Week

If you only have five minutes on a hectic school morning, do three things in this order: Grounded Easy Seat with a quick check-in (one minute), two or three rounds of Sun Salutation to build steady energy (two minutes), and Standing Forward Fold to settle the mind (one minute), finishing standing tall for a few breaths. That’s a complete rhythm — arrive, energise, steady.

Then take the theme off the mat by choosing one or two anchors to keep this month — that’s Dinacharya in practice. Ayurveda’s classic ones suit school life perfectly: a consistent sleep and wake time (the single biggest steadier of Vata), regular meals rather than grazing on the go, a set spot and time for homework, and a screens-off wind-down before bed. Build them the Tapas way — one small anchor at a time, kept most days, rather than a dramatic overhaul you can’t sustain. And keep a little Saucha going: a tidied desk and a packed bag the night before make the morning noticeably calmer.

Tapas: one small anchor, kept most days. Saucha: clear a little space, inside and out. Dinacharya: a steady daily rhythm to return to. Structure isn’t the opposite of freedom — it’s what makes room for it.

A note for parents and teachers

Transitions unsettle teens even when they seem outwardly fine — new demands quietly raise the background level of stress. The most supportive thing an adult can offer is predictability: steady mealtimes, a protected wind-down before bed, and a calm, unrushed morning wherever possible. Rhythms are caught as much as taught, so keeping your own routines visibly steady, and treating structure as kindness rather than control, gives a young person a solid edge to hold on to while everything else is changing.

Meditation – The Tree in the Wind

Time: 6 minutes.

Best used: At the start of a big day, before bed during a busy week, or any time change leaves you feeling scattered, anxious, or unable to settle.

Sit cross-legged on a cushion or upright in a chair, both feet on the floor. Spine long, shoulders soft, hands resting where they’re comfortable. Eyes closed, or gaze low and unfocused.

Take three slow breaths through the nose, making each exhale a little longer than the inhale. Feel yourself arrive.

Picture yourself as a tree in early autumn. Up in your branches, the wind is busy — leaves turning, twigs shaking, everything moving. That wind is all the change around you right now: the new timetable, the shifting friendships, the noise in your head about what’s coming. Don’t try to stop it. Wind is just what autumn does.

Now bring your attention down, out of the branches, to your trunk — solid, steady, holding firm while the top of you moves. Feel your sitting bones and your feet as the base of that trunk, heavy and grounded on the earth. Rest your attention here for a few slow breaths. The wind can do whatever it likes up top; down here, you are steady.

Now send your awareness deeper still, into your roots, spreading down beneath you into the dark, firm soil. With every out-breath, feel them reach a little deeper and hold a little stronger. These roots are your anchors — your sleep, your meals, your people, this practice — the steady things you return to whatever the weather. Name one of them to yourself now, and feel it hold.

Rest for a few breaths as the whole tree: leaves free to move in the changing wind, trunk steady, roots deep. You are not choosing between moving and being still. You are doing both — and that is exactly how a tree survives an autumn.

When you’re ready, feel your breath return to an easy rhythm. Open the eyes. Notice your seat, your feet, and the steadiness you can carry into whatever comes next.

You don’t have to stop the wind to stay standing. Roots deep, trunk steady, leaves free to move — that’s how you stay yourself through anything that changes.

Why this works. The tree gives teens a clear, memorable image for the exact skill this season asks for: staying grounded while everything moves, rather than either rigidly resisting change or being blown around by it. Naming a personal anchor within the meditation quietly plants the idea of Dinacharya, and the strong grounding imagery directly settles the light, mobile Vata energy that transitions stir up.

Breathing: Balancing Breath

Sanskrit: Nāḍī Śodhana Prāṇāyāma

Time: 5 minutes (around 8–10 rounds).

Best used: Before study or an exam, Alternate Nostril Breathing is for when your mind feels scattered or anxious, or as a reset between the busyness of the day and a calm evening.

This breath balances and steadies — it’s one of Ayurveda’s go-to practices for calming Vata and settling a restless, over-full mind. You gently breathe through one nostril at a time, which creates a slow, even rhythm that’s hard to rush. Sit comfortably with the spine long and the shoulders soft.

Rest the left hand in the lap. With the right hand, you’ll use the thumb to close the right nostril and the ring finger to close the left (fold the first two fingers in, or rest them on the brow). Take two natural breaths, then begin.

  • Close the right nostril with the thumb and breathe in slowly through the left.
  • Close the left nostril with the ring finger (both now closed for a moment), then release the thumb and breathe out slowly through the right.
  • Breathe in through the right. Then close the right, release the left, and breathe out through the left.
  • That’s one full round. Keep going — in left, out right, in right, out left — for around eight to ten rounds, letting the breath stay smooth, quiet, and even.
  • To finish, release the hand and take a few natural breaths through both nostrils, noticing how the mind feels.

Most people feel a little more centred and clear afterwards — like the two sides of you have come back into step. That balanced, even feeling is exactly what a day full of transitions tends to knock out of us.

In through one side, out through the other, over and over — a slow, even rhythm you make with your own breath. When the world feels lopsided and rushed, this is how you bring yourself back into balance.

Why this works. Slow, alternate-nostril breathing lengthens and evens out the breath, which calms the nervous system and steadies a scattered, anxious mind — making it a natural fit for focus before study and for settling Vata. The deliberate, rhythmic pattern gives a busy mind a simple, absorbing task, drawing it out of the future-worry spin that change tends to trigger.

A note of care. Keep the breath gentle and never strain. If your nose is blocked with a cold, simply imagine the pattern instead, or skip it until you can breathe clearly.

If you only have one minute. Four rounds — in left, out right, in right, out left — with the eyes closed. Enough to feel a little more balanced before you walk into the room.

Reflection – The Rhythm Pages

Time: 10 minutes (or 3 minutes if you write only one prompt).

Best used: At the start of the week or the start of term, or any time you feel scattered, behind, or unsure where to begin.

This is a short writing practice rooted in the ideas from the article above: the Gunas (noticing whether you feel restless, sluggish, or steady), Saucha (creating clarity by clearing what clutters), and Tapas plus Dinacharya (building steady daily rhythms through small, consistent actions). One prompt helps you notice where you are, one clears some space, and one sets a single anchor to hold on to.

Find a notebook or open a fresh page. No phone. Set a timer for ten minutes. Don’t edit as you go — let the writing be a little messy and honest.

Three prompts

Prompt 1 — Where am I right now? (The Gunas). Check in honestly. Do you feel wired and scattered, with too many tabs open (a lot of Rajas)? Flat, tired, and stuck (more Tamas)? Or fairly steady and clear (Sattva)? Write down which one is loudest today, and one thing that might be feeding it — too little sleep, too much screen, too much on. Just naming it starts to loosen its grip.

Prompt 2 — Clear one thing (Saucha). Pick one small thing cluttering your space, your schedule, or your mind — a chaotic desk, a bag you repack every morning, a commitment you dread, an app you leave feeling worse from. Choose the smallest one. Write down one clearing action and when you’ll do it. Clarity outside tends to bring clarity inside.

Prompt 3 — Choose one anchor (Tapas & Dinacharya). Name one daily rhythm you want to keep this month — a consistent bedtime, a proper breakfast, a set homework time, five minutes on the mat, phone out of the bedroom at night. Just one. Write down exactly when it will happen and what will remind you. Small and steady, kept most days, is how real change is built.

You don’t steady a changing life by controlling all of it. You do it by choosing a few small anchors and returning to them, again and again, until they hold you up without your having to think.

Why this works. Naming your current Guna builds the self-awareness to notice what’s out of balance before it tips into overwhelm. Choosing one concrete clearing action makes Saucha doable rather than daunting. And committing to a single specific, time-anchored habit reflects what actually works for behaviour change — small, consistent, cued actions — which is Tapas and Dinacharya in practical form.

FUNDRAISING

I bought some meditation cushions yesterday.

I have a little button, a ”widget”, in my web browser from an organisation called Give as you Live.

Before buying the cushions I clicked on the button, then carried on as normal.

Later I received a message saying, “you have raised £2.21 for the Teen Yoga Foundation”. It was that easy.

Over 2000 people see this page each month, if you all clicked it would quickly add up!

As Christmas comes you may be making online purchases, if you set up the Give as you Live button, then the places you buy from will make donations (the percentage varies) to us.

All you have to do is click on the button! We would really appreciate it, as every donation helps!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED…

You first need to sign-up on the ‘Give as you Live’ website. Choose Teen Yoga Foundation as your chosen charity.  Then, you just need to enter a few details about yourself and you’re all set to start raising free funds!

Once you’ve signed-up, download the Donation Reminder “widget” to your browser.  When you visit a participating online store (there are thousands),you click on the widget and it asks if you want a percentage of your purchase to raise money for us.  You click ‘yes’ and shop as you normally would.

You won’t typically see anything different on the store’s website, but as long as you’ve clicked on the widget, they’ll know you’re a ‘Give As You Live’ online shopper.

And that’s it!  They will email you to let you know how much has been raised.

Why not try it now? Sign-up on the ‘Give as you Live’ website 

Inspiration from our blog…

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