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"When a parent is visibly upset but says 'I'm fine,' a child doesn't learn that nothing is wrong. They learn they cannot trust what they perceive."
— Dr. Aliza Pressman, developmental psychologist
May is Mental Health Month and this year, the conversation around mothers and teenagers feels more urgent than ever. Anxiety is rising among young people. Moms are stretched thin. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, families are trying to figure out how to talk to each other about what's real.
Here's what the research is telling us and what yoga has known all along.
Kids are not broken — but they are anxious
Despite headlines to the contrary, science writer Melinda Wenner Moyer's reporting in Scientific American reveals something hopeful: compared to previous generations, today's young people are more empathetic, less narcissistic, more open-minded, and more patient. Drug use is down. Youth violence has dropped. IQs have risen.
And yet, anxiety is genuinely on the rise. In a survey of nearly 1,000 Americans aged 18 to 26, 61% reported a diagnosed anxiety condition, and 43% said they experience a panic attack at least once a month. These are not fragile kids. They are capable, feeling humans navigating a world that moves faster and louder than any previous generation has faced.
What they need is not less honesty. They need more of it offered with care.
The power of naming what you feel
Developmental psychologist Dr. Aliza Pressman makes a point that every parent should hear: children develop emotional literacy by hearing us practice aloud — "I'm frustrated." "I'm disappointed." "I'm excited and a little nervous." Granular, honest labeling is one of the most powerful inputs we can offer.
This is not oversharing. It is modeling. And it is exactly what yoga teaches — to notice what is happening in the body, name it without judgment, and breathe through it. When we say "I'm feeling anxious, so I'm going to take a few deep breaths," we give our children a script for their own hard moments.
Research on emotion regulation consistently shows that suppressing what you feel — masking it — is associated with poorer mental health outcomes than simply acknowledging it. Children who learn to name and express their emotions carry less distress in their bodies. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
What Gen Z is teaching us about coping
One of the most quietly brilliant mental health trends right now is the rise of the panic pouch — a small, portable kit that Gen Z is assembling to help manage anxiety on the go. These compact kits contain sensory-grounding tools like fidget toys, essential oils, breathing reminder cards, and calming affirmations — designed to interrupt spiraling thoughts and shift attention back to the present moment.
Mental health experts say these work because paced, slow diaphragmatic breathing has robust evidence for reducing sympathetic nervous system activation — in other words, it calms the fight-or-flight response. Sound familiar? That is the foundation of every yoga and mindfulness practice we teach at It's Yoga Kids®.
Young people are not waiting to be saved. They are building their own toolkits — and they are using the body to do it. We love to see it. 💚
Build your own family calm-down kit — yoga style
🌬️ A breath card — write out a simple 4-count inhale, 4-count hold, 4-count exhale
✍️ A feelings word list — help kids name what they feel beyond "fine" or "bad"
🪨 A grounding stone or fidget tool — something tactile to bring them back to the body
💌 A personal affirmation — written in their own handwriting: "I am strong. I am calm. I can do hard things."
A note for moms this Mental Health Month
Dr. Pressman's research is clear: to help our kids' mental health, we also need to prioritize and care for parent mental health. Your regulated nervous system is the greatest gift you can give your child. Not perfection — regulation. The ability to feel something, name it, and return to calm.
That is what yoga is for. That is what this month is for. One breath at a time, one honest feeling at a time — we model the mental health skills that will carry our children through a lifetime.