Passion Projects

As you can probably tell if you have perused this site, I am a very passionate person. I put my efforts behind projects that pull my heart strings and support causes that make a difference in this world.

For this reason, the Passion Project  page is here. I want to inform you of special projects I am actively involved in or am supporting on some level. If you, too, feel the same calling or have questions, you may want to check them out.

Youth Yoga School is certainly a labor of love! I started this school along with my business partners, Gayle Golike and Lezlie Ward,  in January 2010.

Our motto: Aspire to Inspire
Our mission
The Youth Yoga School’s mission is to provide yoga teachers and child-focused professionals a “whole child approach” utilizing yogic techniques for the physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being of our youth.

The Dilemma
Today, thousands of schools, teaching institutions, and studios have incorporated yoga into their daily curriculum. We found teaching yoga to children of all ages so rewarding! Yet, we experienced overwhelm and exhaustion from situations like preparing for classes only to throw your entire plan out the window, or completing our planned activities for a class and still having 40 minutes left. Also, deciding on which resources to utilize for our classes left us experiencing information overload. How do we begin to select a book, curriculum, website, yoga deck, or any other resource? It was all too much. Once in the class, we sometimes found ourselves in situation that we did not feel prepared for; for instance, children with special circumstances like autism, attention disorders and behavior disturbances. Yikes!  As  yoga teachers offering classes to children and youth, we started to ask ourselves:

What are some of the best resources in books, music, web-sites?

How can we adapt basic classes to such a wide variety of ages of children in a developmentally appropriate way?  A 2 year old and a 12 year old are worlds apart.

How can we include fun child-centered crafts and activities but still stay true to the experience of yoga?

How can we best interact with schools, and parents, and teachers so the children have the best results?

And maybe most importantly, how can we teach kids in a way that is fun for them and for us, that it not draining or chaotic?

The Solution

Thus, the Youth Yoga School LLC was born!  This training program is specifically designed to answer the questions above.  It was created from the love, compassion and respect three women have for educators who are passionate about sharing yoga with our youth. We wanted to prepare these people with our knowledge, and arm them with tested and current information. Teachers who attend the Youth Yoga School are prepared to go out into the world sharing their love of yoga, and teaching the young leaders of tomorrow.

We are all teachers in some way!

If this project calls to you in any way, please visit our calendar of training offerings.

There is more to come!