Yoga for Youth

In 1998, Koren Paalman launched the first yoga program for credit at an inner-city high school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, pioneering work that demonstrated yoga’s transformative power for young people long before it became a mainstream wellness practice. For over two decades, she’s refined her approach to teaching youth, creating a methodology that meets young people exactly where they are.

Iyengar yoga helps young people grow to their full potential, physically, mentally, and emotionally. The practice strengthens their bodies while sharpening focus, building self-control, and developing healthy coping mechanisms for life’s inevitable stresses and challenges. Research shows yoga redirects attention, improves concentration, and increases emotional regulation, skills that serve youth far beyond the mat.

Koren’s classes create a sensitive, supportive, and inclusive environment where every young person feels welcomed and capable. Drawing on decades of experience working with diverse youth populations, she understands how to make the precision of Iyengar yoga accessible and engaging for developing bodies and minds. Through fun, energetic sequences and creative exploration, students discover what their bodies can do while learning to quiet their minds and trust themselves.
Whether teaching stressed high schoolers, energetic middle schoolers, or curious elementary students, Koren brings the same rigor and compassion that defines all her teaching, adapted to meet the unique developmental needs of each age group.