At homes, studios, parks and gyms around the world, people roll out their mats, take deep breaths, and go through stretches in a calming revolution known as yoga. With a history spanning 5,000 years, rooted in India, yoga’s popularity has spiked in recent years. From bustling cities to tranquil towns, people of all ages and backgrounds are incorporating yoga into their daily routines to find strength, calm and connection.
What started as a simple search for relaxation turned into a lasting passion for Paly sophomore Anita Schaunberg, who found both strength and serenity through yoga.
“I started doing yoga about a year ago at CorePower Yoga in Town & Country because I wanted something that would help me relax while staying active,” Schaunberg said.
Yoga isn’t just a series of stretches and poses for her; it combines physical movement, controlled breathing and mindfulness to create a calming connection. The word yoga itself means “to unite”, symbolizing the connection between your body and your mind. In today’s hectic world, yoga provides a way to slow down as screens, tight schedules and stress fill our days. Most yogis are first drawn to the mental and physical benefits that come with the routine. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, yoga “improves strength, balance, and flexibility” and “helps back pain, eases arthritis, and benefits heart health” for older individuals.
But the mental benefits can be just as powerful and for some — exceed the physical benefits. According to a study by Johns Hopkins Medicine, Yoga helps with sleep, reduces anxiety and leads to better moods overall. The recent rise in popularity of yoga has also impacted the younger generations.
“It used to seem like something only adults did, but now it’s super popular among teens, too,” Schaunberg said. “When I go to CorePower, there are people of all ages there.”
Over the past decade, yoga has surged in popularity among younger generations. According to NIH, in 2012, only 3.1% of children annually practiced yoga, and by 2022, that number shot up to 12.3%. There is also an increase in the adult community for yoga participation. According to NPR, in the last 20 years, the adult population’s yoga participation has increased from 5% to 16%.
Schaunberg is not the only member included in the growing number of teens finding calm and exercise through yoga. Students like junior Azad Muralidhara are also turning to yoga, but for some, the journey comes with unique experiences to confront.
“I started doing yoga because my mom does yoga, so she brought me with her once, and it’s pretty cool,” Muralidhara said. “And as a man in yoga, p e o p l e sometimes assume there’s something weird about it, like it’s not masculine or it’s just for girls. But that’s not true at all.”
Yoga is more than just a relaxing hobby for Muralidhara; it is a challenge of strength, discipline and focus. “I’m pretty decent at yoga and I’m proud of it,” Muralidhara said. “I can do a headstand.”
Despite misunderstandings that yoga is ‘too slow to be a good workout’ or ‘too easy to be used by athletes,’ people like Muralidhara are keen to show otherwise.
“It’s actually a really good workout,” Muralidhara said. “You do a lot of complex and intense exercise positions, and the whole thing feels like a solid routine. I feel good afterward, focused and calm.”
Sheri Mulroe, the founder of the yoga program at Paly and teacher of the class for nine years, explains how yoga is for everybody, no matter the gender or age. To some prospective yogis, the fear of a gender-based stigma around the sport can be misleading. Mulroe notes that in her yoga classes, there is a female majority, but there are exceptions.
“There have been years where I’ve had a very big contingent of boys and not just boys — varsity male athletes,” Mulroe said. “Football players, basketball players, baseball players — so it just depends on the year.”
Yoga has been female- dominated since its creation, but there has been a surge of male yoga participation in recent years. According to Indiayogashala, 72% of yoga practitioners are female while only 28% are male — but in the last four years the number of male yogis has jumped from four million to 10 million. They also noted that in certain countries, like China and India, it is closer to a 60% to 40% split.
Many male professional athletes have also recently started incorporating yoga into their daily routine such as notable athletes like Tom Brady, Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin.
“It is a workout, no matter what people say — for me, the mental part is just as big as the physical part,” Griffin told Sports Illustrated. “It kind of lets my mind be at ease and takes my mind off of whatever is going on.”
Mulroe also recognizes how some coaches encourage their players to sign up for the program. Most coaches emphasize the value of athletes getting their bodies ready for the season and Mulroe believes that yoga can help with that preparation.
“Most coaches want their athletes to work on flexibility,” Mulroe said. “And yoga can help with injury prevention.”
Yoga doesn’t solely provide benefits to athletes, though. The exercises’ accessibility is one of its biggest strengths. To many, finding a good starting point can be challenging. From crowded studios to complex poses, the first steps to becoming a yogi may be intimidating. However, yoga is one of the most accessible forms of exercise. You can start at any age, with any level of athletic ability, and often from the comfort of your own home.
At Paly, Mulroe works hard to make yoga accessible to all students.
“This is our ninth year of the program,” Ms. Mulroe said. “I started it myself — wrote the curriculum, petitioned the board and all that — because we wanted to address some of the mental health crisis.”
Yoga is a diverse genre of exercise with many different subcategories. For example, studios like CoreYoga offer “Heated Yoga”, which is more intense and directed at burning large amounts of calories.
“If you’ve ever been to CorePower, you know — even if it’s not one of the super- hot classes, you walk out drenched,” Mulroe said. “You could literally wring out your clothes, and sweat would just drip out.”
The class Paly offers puts an emphasis on learning the fundamentals while promoting mindfulness. Students practice beginner-friendly poses like cat- cow, bird dog and warrior sequences. Over the course of the class, these movements become more technical, but build gradually.
“It definitely builds flexibility, and it does build strength as well,” Mulroe said. “Some kids recently told me they definitely feel like they’re getting stronger.”
Through programs like this, yoga becomes more than just a class: it’s a space to unwind, recharge and build lifelong wellness habits. Whether practiced in a studio or a school gym, yoga’s true power comes from its accessibility, offering both physical strength and mental clarity to those willing to give yoga a try.
As yoga continues to spread from ancient tradition to modern lifestyle, its impact reaches far beyond the mat. What many deem as a niche practice has become a universal path toward balance through the work of those such as Mulroe.
From professional athletes to high school students, yoga offers a return to tranquility and a break from the stress of everyday life. Whether someone starts to build strength, improve flexibility or simply take a mental break, yoga’s beauty lies in its openness to everyone. For many, that first deep breath on the mat is just the beginning of a lifelong journey toward calm, connection and self-discovery.
