Seriously. Not that I'd mind looking a little younger, but teens are under a lot of stress and possesses with few coping skills. The college admissions process is more competitive than ever. Students vie for top grades often while juggling jobs, extracurricular activities, family responsibilities and more - not to mention issues such as bullying, dating, drinking and drugs.

Every time I hear of a teen suicide or deadly teen car accident, my heart aches. As a community, what can we do to help our teens handle grown-up stress when they're still just kids?

Susan Simon, owner of Harmony Pilates & Yoga in downtown Apex may have an answer: free yoga classes for teens every Friday night at 7 p.m.

"We felt compelled to offer teens a safe place to go where they can be together as a community, connect with one another and learn healthy skills for stress management, hopefully inspiring them to make better life choices," says Simon.

Instructor Erin Donovan teaches the class each week. She knows two families who have lost teens to suicide. Those devastating losses compelled her to take action.

"I am a big believer in karma and helping others. I had been hearing stories of teens committing suicide, attempting it, doing drugs, getting into trouble, and I felt it was something I was supposed to do," she says. "If we want to make this world a better place, we can't just talk about it or put it on a bumper sticker; we have to act on it every day."

Brooke Evans, 16, a junior at Cary High School has been attending the classes every Friday night for the past few months. Her friend discovered a flier in the guidance counselor's office, and the two girls decided to give it a try.

"We just showed up, and it turned out to be really awesome," says Evans. She admits it gives her friends a good plan for Friday nights. "It's very easy to go do things that probably aren't healthy for you," she says. "It's just such a good way to end the week."

As it turns out, yoga is transferable. What Evans is learning in the studio, she takes with her. A few weeks ago, she had a stressful timed math test at school. "I wasn't able to finish, and I was really upset; it was embarrassing because I was at school," she says

Evans asked her second period teacher to give her a just a few minutes to herself; she was able to use some of the techniques she's learned to hit the reset button and return to class. "I calmed down so much; it was really good."

That's the whole idea, says Simons, to foster calmness and accept yourself as well as others.

"We stress non-judgment and that we are all equals so there are no cliques," says Simon. "Teens from different schools and backgrounds are becoming friends. They comment that this is the only quiet time they get.

Some say learning the stress management has helped their grades improve because they know how to make themselves calm before tests; it helps some sleep, feel more confident, more self assured and teaches them to love and accept themselves."

Sounds good, right? The only bad news is that the class is full, although Donovan says she never turns anyone away.

"Some weeks we have 18 teens nearly mat to mat. It's beautiful," she says. We would challenge other studios to offer the same to the teens in their communities. This is what the teens are teaching us, that there is a need for this on a much larger scale."