Teens today are carrying a lot.

Yoga, at its heart, is not about performing poses perfectly. It is about returning again and again to the simple act of noticing.

Yoga is not something you arrive already knowing how to do. It is something you learn slowly, through practice.

The poet Mary Oliver writes: “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

It is a simple instruction, but also a profound one.

Just outside the entrance to the studio, a small sign hangs that reads: Come as you are.

It’s a simple message, but it holds something important for me.