In this week's extended episode, I chat with Trisha, founder of Wigglebums, about all things trauma informed practice 📽️Watch the chat here.

We discuss:
Why Wigglebums created a course about Trauma Informed Practice.
What the word 'trauma' means in this context.
What Trauma Informed Practice is and why it is important in kids yoga classes.
Key things that kids yoga teachers do to make their classes more trauma informed.
Trisha also talks about the course for kids yoga teachers.

Check out the course here.

I'd love to know your thoughts on this.
Is there a topic that you would like to discuss about children's yoga or well-being?
Reach out to [email protected] to share your opinions and ideas.

                                           📽️ Prefer video? Watch it here

Have you considered delivering a yoga or mindfulness session for a community group such as guides or scouts?

This is something that I have done before and I think it can be a really lovely thing to do for a number of reasons.

In this blog. I’m going to share with you reasons why I think it can be great and also I’ll answer some frequently asked questions about this subject.

Why do it?

1. It can be really fun to teach these groups. You may even have been to a club like this yourself as a child and it might feel good to ‘give back’.
2. It can be a fabulous way to make connections. Scouts and Girl guides are really big organisations,  Squirrels, beavers cubs, scouts, explorers in the scouts and Rainbows, brownies, guides, rangers in the guides. There is a really big age range of children and adolescents that go to these groups. There are often multiple groups in the same city- it might be worth finding out your local groups. It is a great way to become more ‘visible’ in your community- you can share information about other services that you offer that might be of interest to them. For example, you could give fliers out about classes or workshops that you run in the local area.
3. There are lots of badges that these groups work towards that yoga and mindfulness skills can fit into and your skills are a perfect fit!

Questions I’m often asked:
 
Should I charge?
This is a really personal one. I know many people do this for free as they may know the group, perhaps their child goes there. My own personal opinion of this is there needs to be a fair energy exchange.  For me, if I give my time, energy and resources (driving their and back use of my equipment etc) and there is no energy given back to me – I feel resentment. I personally do charge for these experiences, but some don’t and you may feel like there is a fair energy exchange in sharing details of another class or service that you are trying to promote. It really is a personal thing and you need to do what feels good for you.
 
How do I manage behaviour?
Meeting groups of kids for the first time can be a bit overwhelming! Here’s some tips:

• Find out if there are any children or issues that you should be aware of prior to the session.
• Watch this video about boosting behaviour or read this blog
• Try and set up either before the children arrive or ensure that the children are occupied elsewhere while you get yourself organised. This helps you feel calm and prepared rather than trying to set up when children are all everywhere!
• Keep it super simple! Don’t have too many different props to use or too many different games, if you have too much going on, you are more likely to forget what you are up to and feel stressed!
• Keep it safe If you don’t know the children, avoid anything that could be dangerous (this means no acro-yoga!). Make sure you have a risk assessment and insurance in place.
• Keep it YOU. It can be really tempting to ask advice everywhere about what to include and for ideas for plans, but I recommend sticking to a simple structure that you know works for you. If you don’t have a plan that works well for you, check out this planning grid that I use.

 
What should I teach in the session?
It depends! Make sure that you know the outcomes that the group are hoping you will meet. There may be some aspects that you need to include for children to achieve a certain badge.  Other than that teach what you are comfortable with! What has worked for you with this age group before? What do you love to share?
 
Sounds great, how can I do it?
Check out these links here:
Scouts local groups
Girl Guides local groups
Find your local groups and get in touch with them 😊
 
Reaching out and working in the community can be really great for growing your business and also your confidence. Consider if this is something that you would like to do and how it could work for you in your kids yoga business.

I'd love to hear from you, is this something that you have done? How has it worked for you?

Would you like to work with me? Email me [email protected]

                                    📽️ Prefer video format? Watch here

Sometimes, when I teach yoga in schools, I get requests for children to sit out of yoga due to religious concerns from the parents.

I am not here to discuss whether or not yoga is a religion, but if you are interested in reading more in this area, you might find the blog by Yoga Journal interesting here.

In this blog I'll be sharing my approach to this situation. As always, I am not saying this is the best way to handle the situation, I'm just sharing my own experiences.

For me personally, it is really important to be sure about what you do and don't deliver in your kids yoga lessons and why. For example, I don’t say Namaste, use Sanskrit, or chant within my classes because this doesn’t feel aligned to me. I'm not at all saying that it is wrong to do these things; for you, they may be inextricably linked and an important part of your practice. What I am saying, is that you should be clear in your own mind about your approach and why you choose to teach the way that you do.

If you are working with schools where parents may not have necessarily chosen for their child to be in your class, it is important that you are clear about what is and isn’t taught in your yoga classes.

Communicate Yoga isn’t well understood by education settings and parents, so you need to make your approach clear in your communication with them. Perhaps by providing a letter (there is one of these in the editable document bundle) for the school to give to parents. Ensure that you communicate clearly what you do or don’t include in your lessons, for example, in my yoga for PE lessons, I focus mainly on physical and mental health. We practice movement and breathing, but I don’t really talk much about the spiritual aspects of yoga. As I already stated, I personally avoid using Sanskrit and chanting as this can be misinterpreted. Be clear about what it is that you have been employed to teach. What is the purpose of the lesson? For example, if it is a PE lesson, there is no reason to be talking about chakras.

Be flexible a school that I work in had some students who were asked to sit out of yoga due to religious reasons. I shared with the school the letter about yoga and religion, but this didn’t change the situation for some children. The school knew that the lessons that I deliver are beneficial for both body and mind and wanted all children to benefit. We decided that the best route forwards was to change the name of the classes from yoga to well-being lessons, I altered the language that I use in the lesson to ‘mindful movement practice’. This feels like the right thing to do in this situation, as the children still benefit and the parents don't feel a conflict with their own religious beliefs.
 
Be true to you yoga is a very personal practice and each of us approach it differently. However you approach your kids yoga lessons is fine, but it is important that you share your style and what is included and excluded if you are employed by a school to teach.
 
As yoga teachers, we know that yoga has 8 limbs and is not just about movement practice (you might find this blog a useful explanation of this.) 

It can be perceived as an exercise or a spiritual practice or both.

If you are going to be working with a school, teaching yoga, the most important thing is to have a conversation about what their motivation is for booking a yoga class is and ensuring that you are both on the same page.

📧If you would like some support with this email me about working together [email protected]

⌚If you would like to save time and receive the letter that I use in schools about this topic, get the editable documents bundle here 

📽️ Watch the video here

I'd love to know your opinion on this

x Julia

As a yoga teacher, I’m sure that you spend time reflecting on your classes- what went well, what didn’t, what you are going to change going forwards etc.

But do you do the same for your business?

I think it is REALLY important to regularly reflect on what is working and what isn’t.
Three reasons why NOW is a great time to spend some time reflecting on your kids yoga business:

1. It’s a new financial year and a great time to reflect back on last financial year and what has been great in your business and plan for this year and set any goals and intentions. Hopefully, you’ve got some numbers to look at and use as a basis too.
2. It’s Spring, energetically a fabulous time to plant some seeds for growth following your reflections.
3. It is now the summer term in schools (in the UK), schools will be making plans for the next academic year.

I thought it would be helpful to share with you one of the ways that I reflect this time of year. It’s a really great process that I love to do myself so I’m excited to share it with you.
It is much easier to show you the method, so watch the video for a super easy, really useful reflective process.

Download the free tool here and follow the steps in this video.

I'd love to know your thoughts on this and if you found it useful.

Would you like to work with me? Email me!

                                                 Check out the video here
As it is stress awareness month, I wanted to talk about it as it is something that I have experienced first- hand many times in my life. Sustained stress can lead to burnout, anxiety and/ or depression and other serious health concerns such as heart disease. When teachers are stressed, it can also have a negative impact on the children that they teach.
I left teaching in a primary school due to stress. I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and I struggled to cope even part time teaching with young children and a husband who works away fairly regularly. I thought that teaching yoga would be less stressful and although there are some aspects that make this true- it certainly is not without stress. Over the past 7 years, I’ve had to learn how to build my business in a way that supports my mental health and I thought I’d share some of these 'learnings'  with you today.

1. Get to know yourself REALLY well! What things bring you stress? What is your ideal way to work? I think that when we create our own businesses, it is an extension of who we are as people. Things arise that we hadn’t really noticed about ourselves and we can’t ignore them anymore!  Maybe journal/ meditate on these questions:

• What things make me feel stressed?
• Are there any times in my week when I feel stressed?
• If I could create my working week any way I liked- what would that look like?

 
2. Create space in your diary – however this works for you. For example, a lot of my work is in schools, yet I try and ensure that I am not in schools for the last week of term. This is because I have my own children too and I find that this ‘buffer’ enables me to start holidays on a more even keel. I also try to have at least one day a week where I don’t ‘people’. This is personal, so whatever feels ‘spacious’ to you is the right thing here. This links back to my first point- get to know yourself really well!

3. Reflect regularly Consider if the things that you currently do in your business are things that you want to do and are worthwhile. Sometimes we can get really caught up with the way that we do things, because that is how we do them. It can be really helpful to take a moment to pause and think about- do I actually WANT to do this? Is it worth my time and energy? And don’t be afraid to change up anything that needs changing- this is your business and you get to do it in a way that works for you. More on this next week😊
 
 
As people who are working with children, I believe that it is really important to put your mental health first. When we meet our own needs we can better impact the lives of the children we teach.If you are feeling stressed about any aspect of your business, check out my ‘Stress Less Hour’ where we get an hour to talk about any aspect of your business that is causing stress for you and we can work together to find solutions.
 
I’d love to hear from you- what’s your experience of stress?
What things help you be less stressed in your business?
 
Email me at [email protected]