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Putting Yourself Out There as a Yoga Teacher

After yoga teacher training, starting your yoga teaching business is kind of like telling the world you’re a yoga fanatic.

Before teacher training the practice of yoga is highly personal, you do it for yourself. It’s glorious and indulgent me-time. At least, that’s what I felt when I first started doing yoga at the YMCA over 20 years ago.

When I realized I had become a yoga fanatic I knew the right choice for me was enrolling in yoga teacher training. Teacher training was a protective bubble of positivity surrounded by uplifting fellow yogis. When I graduated and wanted to actually teach yoga, that bubble suddenly burst. Yoga was no longer just me-time, a time to take a break from the stresses of daily life and relax. Yoga WAS real life. It was my real life and my job and I had to start telling others about it. I had to start promoting myself, something I had no experience doing and I didn’t really know where to start.

New Orleans Kids Yoga Teacher Graduating Class of 2017

The completion of yoga teacher training can be a bit of shock as you shift from student to teacher. It is a big step that can leave you a little vulnerable. You may be worried that you will turn people off by promoting yourself too much or too hard.

You Don’t Want to be THAT Person

We’ve all had the experience of having a friend or acquaintance contact us out of the blue about their new business. If we’re not interested, and the friend is insistent, it can become uncomfortable and put a rift in the friendship.

We don’t want to be that pushy person, but we also have to figure out how to put ourselves out there in a way that feels good for everyone. We all know of people “living the dream” doing a job they care about and talking passionately about it in a way that inspires. They make it look easy, not sleazy.

tweens doing tricky tree kids yoga pose NOLA — Tweens do tricky tree in the practicum of the Kids Yoga Teacher Training in New Orleans

It’s Like Teaching Yoga to Tweens

Overcoming the hesitancy to promote yourself is like teaching yoga to tweens. They can be reluctant to try yoga because it’s different or they associate it with something “not cool” and they don’t want to look foolish in front of their friends. But once they’re doing the poses and playing the games they forget about their worries and just enjoy themselves. Before they know it, class is over and everyone is hugging.

Maybe we all still listen a bit too much to the twelve year old kid inside us. The one who cares what other people think and who doesn’t want to look foolish but doesn’t want to miss the party either.

That kid also has the urge to take chances and put him or herself out there to experience something different and create a new life for themselves.

n the practicum, the class discusses the meaning of the meditation and why it is relevant to tweens. — In the practicum, the class discusses the meaning of the meditation and how it is relevant to their lives.

How to Put Yourself Out There as a Kids Yoga Teacher

In yoga teacher training we learn that it is best for beginners to start with beginning poses. And so it is with self-promotion in the business realm.

Start by Telling People Who Support You: Who When I started my business, I started with people who I knew would be supportive. I told other yoga loving people in my social circle, I told my supportive family members and I told my friends who I knew would be happy for me and believed in me enough to tell others what I was doing.

Start by Subbing: I offered myself as a substitute yoga teacher to experienced yoga teachers who needed help during their time away for holidays or courses. I approached new studios looking for people with energy.

Start by Networking: I formed networks and shared my passion for my specialty, kids yoga, with anyone who had kids, taught kids, worked with kids or was interested in kids health and happiness. I had weekly tea with another kids yoga teacher in my neighborhood and we supported each other and eventually offered a 3 hour workshop to parents. I volunteered in the adult yoga community I belonged to and soon all the other adult teachers knew I was the Kids Yoga person. I always had time to talk to parents after my kids yoga classes, and one of them told me about a Montessori School that was looking for a kids yoga teacher. I ended up working at that school as the weekly yoga teacher for 18 years!

Avoid the Nay-Sayers: I did NOT tell people if I thought they would find fault in my yoga teaching career move. That would be like me trying to do Crane Pose in my first yoga class – definitely difficult and for me, even dangerous.

Beginners are best starting with beginner steps. Build your business in a sweet and steady way.

Warrior Pose Kids Yoga Teacher Certification Toronto Ontario Canada — Warrior Pose during the practicum of the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification – Become a Yoga Warrior who leads with their heart.

Be True – Avoid Sleazy Advertising

Advertising can be designed to trick people into buying (I’m looking at you Vitamin Water!) The yogic approach to advertising which involves working with integrity to build relationships has been successful for me. This type of marketing helps people see if my offering is right for them.

Let Your Style be Known: I started blogging to show people what I am about, what my teaching philosophy is and to give readers an opportunity to figure out if they resonate with the way I do kids yoga.

Be Real, Credible, Remove the Mystery: It’s best for new teachers to not promise the moon. Let your advertising be true to who you are and describe what is unique about what you are offering. To you it may be obvious what happens in a kids yoga class, but to a new person, it is still a mystery. Let your advertising demystify your offering. Let your customers know if your kids class is challenging and disciplined helping children build focus and develop attention. Or maybe your kids class is playful and relaxing which helps children relieve stress and learn to manage anxiety. Whatever your style, develop your advertising to reflect your class, not to sound what you think it should say. You’ll attract customers who will appreciate what you offer.

Advertising that has a point of view doesn’t feel gross; it actually helps people make an informed decision.

a yoga teacher dressed as a superhero leads a yoga class for children to save the world! — Young Yoga Masters grad Marcia LeBlanc (and Cheryl Adams not pictured) teach a Superhero Kids Yoga class at the Yoga Show in Toronto. The class has a strong point of view – be the hero of your own life!

Build Slow, Build Strong. Be a Support for Yourself and Others.

I didn’t overload my stress levels as I built my new kids yoga business. I took part time jobs that eased the financial pressure. It takes years to build a business so don’t expect to build in a few months.

I literally went out of my way to meet with other yoga teachers to brainstorm ideas for classes. I got their advice on what to charge and how to get myself out there as a reliable and professional teacher and shared my experiences with them. I sought and found active communities of support. If a class wasn’t in my area, I shared it with someone in my network, and others shared classes with me.

We have a private Facebook Group for Young Yoga Masters graduates that connects grads from all years and supports our new kids yoga teachers. If you are thinking of taking adult or kids yoga teacher training, find out what kind of post-training support is offered, that helps.

If you’ve completed your yoga teacher training and are at the place where you’re ready to teach new classes but don’t know where to start, you aren’t the only one.

As you start putting yourself out there let everything that you’ve learned in yoga guide you.

It is possible to create a new career, full or part-time, without destroying all the things you love about yoga and about yourself. You might have begun your yoga teacher training journey because you were a yoga fanatic and there is absolutely no reason it can’t stay that way as it it becomes your job and your business. I say this with confidence because I’ve been living that passion for over twenty years now.

Yours truly,

Aruna Kathy Humphrys

Lead Trainer, Young Yoga Masters

Yoga Alliance Registered Children’s Yoga School

Upcoming Events

For our fellow yoga fanatics reading, we invite you to consider the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training.

Click on the link below for more details.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School — Click Here or on the Image above for more details of the Kids Yoga Teacher Certification

Join the Newsletter if you’d like to be reminded of early registration deadlines.

Research on Why Kids Yoga Improves School Performance

There was a time when school recess was considered a way for kids to burn off energy so they would sit still for book learning. Now a days, thanks to scientific research, we know exercise is indeed good for the body but it is also great for the brain.

Research shows physical activity improves memory in the elderly and encourages neuronal growth in the young.

How can we harness this type of research to convince schools, daycare centers, and parents to get enthusiastic about kids yoga? Wouldn’t it be great to have scientifically supported evidence to promote yoga for kids?

Well good news, a group of scientific researchers gathered to investigate the effects of exercise on kids’ brains and shared with the world their consensus on the benefits of exercise!

In the year 2016 this happened at the aptly named Copenhagen Consensus Conference. Researchers from eight different countries came together to issue a joint statement on the effect of exercise on kids’ health.

Kids are ready to go in the Kids Yoga Teacher Training — Taking exercise breaks, like running games in the gym, are good for kids academically.

Consensus on the Benefits of Exercise for Children from Researchers

They agreed on the easily guessable, common sense stuff, that exercise improves kids’ bones, muscles and hearts. They also agreed that the fitness levels of these in kids is a good predictor of whether or not the they will go on to develop heart disease, diabetes or other chronic diseases later in life.

8 Reasons why Exercise, Like Kids Yoga, Improves School Performance

The Copenhagen Consensus didn’t stop at the physical benefits of exercise; they reported on the mental and emotional effects of exercise. They agreed that:

Physical activity improves brain structure, brain function and cognition.
Physical activity before, during and after school improves performance in other school work.
Learning to master physical movements improves performance in school work
Regular physical activity can improve kids’ self-esteem and relationships with peers and adults
Focused physical activity creates a good motivational environment for kids
Exercise programs promote life skills and core values in kids
Two additional points that the Copenhagen Consensus group agreed on are worth highlighting. They agreed that a single session of physical activity helps kid’s brains. That means a single game of soccer, a single recess of tag, a single yoga class can result in measurable benefits to kids mental activity.
The next important point the group agreed on was that spending time being physically active doesn’t sacrifice performance in school work. On the contrary, spending time on physical activity helps overall school performance.

In other words, schools (and parents) have absolutely no good reason to declare their kids don’t have time for an exercise program because they are focusing on school work. Exercise increases performance in school work.

kids yoga teacher training, yoga for children — Even an exercise break in the classroom is good for kids brains.

Exercise to Improve Scholastic Performance

As yoga teachers we can stress the importance of exercise by asking: do you want kids to study for the sake of studying, or do you want kids to improve their scholastic performance?

Because if the aim is to create better students, then kids should spend some time with a ball instead of a pen and some time doing downward dog instead of sitting behind a desk.

You can read the full statement by The Copenhagen Consensus Conference 2016 here.

For ideas to bring kids yoga into schools, check out these two resources:

Kids Yoga in Schools – Not My Favorite Location

This is Part Two of the Series on Creative Ways to Get Kids Yoga into Schools. How can kids yoga teachers bring yoga into schools? Let’s talk! Check out why its not my favorite location and what these teachers do to bring yoga into schools. Leave a comment to give your opinion, advice, or experience on teaching yoga in schools.

For school teachers, take a look at Part One for ideas to bring yoga into the classroom.

School is Not My Favorite Place for Classes

Over the years, I’ve had many adventures teaching in schools and looking back, many of them had their challenges. First of all, there is a lack of budget in schools, it’s hard to get paid. You may get passed from one person to another trying to get answers. If you get a class going, you’ll probably have a lot of children in your classes. You may also find yourself leading yoga poses in all kinds of strange spots like hallways and beside desks.

As I built my kids yoga teaching business my preference grew for a class in a community centre, daycare, private school or studio. There were so many obstacles working with schools and their accompanying bureaucracy.

Yet with a little ingenuity, you can get kids yoga into a school and enjoy it. Many would argue, this is where the kids need it the most!

What Has Worked to Get Kids Yoga in School

Here are a few effective methods that have worked for me and other teachers to get yoga classes in schools:

Lunchtime Kids Yoga Class: One RCYT (Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher) charges $5 per child for her 30 minute lunch time class and has to cap the class at 20 kids. Her kids attend the school so she gets to see them at lunch. She can make up to $100 per class because they don’t charge her a room rental. It’s a win-win-win for all involved.

here is an empty schoolyard that has lots of space for a children's yoga class — An empty playground, soon to be filled with children.

After School Class: Personally, I’ve taught two ongoing classes by working with the school itself. One was held in the music room, It was arranged by a member of the parent teacher association so I didn’t pay a room rental. With the help of the parent, we charged per child for a series and collected the payments ourselves. I had to have a staff volunteer to supervise and that ended up being the reason the classes stopped. We couldn’t find another volunteer when the staff took a year off.

Programs Through the School: My other class was part of a joint school/city run after school program. It was one of my first kids yoga classes, back in 1999. I hope this pay rate is out of date because there were 25 kids in the class and I got paid a whopping $22.50 per class! The children came to the gym after the school bell rang, ate a snack sitting on the floor (they brought their own snack from home), then stayed for the hour yoga class. There was very little admin for the class, I just showed up, signed in, took attendance and taught. Each class usually took me about 2 hours, but I only got paid for one hour.

I admit, the after school class in the gym was the first class I dropped as my business grew. It was so much work for so little money. At the beginning of my yoga teaching, I ran around teaching 25 classes a week, making ends meet.

That class was also how I learned to get good at teaching kids yoga. When I could teach 25 kids in one class, I felt confident to teach anywhere. It was a great way to learn on the job.

kids yoga class in the gym school — Teachers in the Summer Certification get experience teaching all kinds of classes.

When I posed the questions about Yoga in Schools on my Facebook Page, I got another great idea:

A Gentle Way to Start the Day

I deliver classes before school (8-8.45 am) as a lovely gentle way to start the day. They are very popular and were requested by parents of children who dread going to school and launching straight into school work. They were also popular with children who have job share teachers as the hand-over day can be quite difficult.

I charge £3.50 (just over 5 US dollars) per session but don’t need to pay for the space so would maybe charge more if there was a hall charge. I currently don’t have more than 12 children per session so that I can give each one some attention but there is enough for some fun group games.

– Sam from Yoga Tales on Facebook

Getting Your Foot in the Door

The trick to getting into a school is to have a connection, a staff or parent (or be a parent). You’ve got to get your foot in the door before they close it in your face.

Knowing someone seems to help to get free use of the space. Otherwise some schools will charge you an hourly rate. If you pay an hourly rate please leave a comment and let us know the going rates these days at your school classes.

kids in yoga class climb on each other ot make a pyramid — This class took place in the hallway in the basement of the school.

Kids Yoga Classes as Part of Physical Education

I’ve taught a few classes as Part of the Physical Education program paid from from the school budget. These have always been one or two time classes, not ongoing. I charged between $50 – $150 per class depending on where the school was located. Other teachers I know have charged up to $350 for a one time classroom presentation.

Insight from the National Kids Yoga Conference

In a panel discussion at the National Kids Yoga Conference, I heard yoga teachers who raise funds and collect donations to cover the cost of teaching yoga in schools.

Others volunteer at a school until the school sees the value of the yoga program, then push the school to find a way to fund them.

Still other teachers insist on being paid from the beginning. By emphasizing the benefits of yoga, the teacher can be paid out of one of the school budgets for character education, phys ed, or professional development.

I’ve found getting paid by the school quite difficult, but learned that Kids Yoga Teachers can be very resourceful!

Be Reliable and They’ll Want You Back!

One thing I know for sure, if you are reliable, and people can find you, you’ll have the best chance of filling your schedule with kids yoga classes.

One of the private school’s where I teach, I’ve gone to for over a decade! It’s much easier to return to a school rather then to keep finding new classes. If the program is stress-free, they will ask you back and that is good for everybody.

Please leave a comment if you can add to the conversation on yoga in schools.

What happened when you taught in a school and how did it work out?
(post a link to your Facebook Page in the comments too)

Have you had a hard time getting kids yoga into schools?

What are your obstacles?

I suspect there are many teachers who have had challenges getting into schools, and others who have found creative ways to bring yoga to the kids. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject and if this is a topic you’d like to hear more about.

Yours truly,

Aruna
Young Yoga Masters.com

Upcoming Events and Children s Yoga Teacher Training

Business of Yoga: How Much to Charge as a Kids Yoga Teacher

In kids yoga teacher training there are two questions I get asked a lot.

The first is, “What do I do to keep the kids attention?”

And the second is, “What should I charge?”

Neither question is easy to answer because there are so many factors involved. Let’s spend some time on the second question today.

We devote about 4 hours on effective tools to grow your yoga business in the Level 2: Mastermind Certificate of our kids yoga teacher training. You’ll get a more in depth look at different teaching options and price ranges for teaching in a yoga studio, daycare, for a yoga birthday party, a mom’s and tot’s class or a family yoga class.

After starting my yoga teaching career in 1998, here are a few tips I’ve learned for setting your prices if you are wondering what to charge.

6 Factors For Deciding What to Charge to Teach a Kids Yoga Class

ONE: Years of Teaching Experience

When I first started teaching I was just eager to get experience and was happy to get paid anything to start earning income. So what I accepted as pay in my first year of teaching was lower than what I was willing to accept after the first couple of years. Once you’ve taught a lot of classes and you know you can deliver a great class, you will probably feel more confident charging more. If you are just starting out and no so sure of your skills, consider charging less so that you get experience. Based on experience, kids yoga teacher usually start their careers charging between $40 – $75 per hour.

TWO: Time

How much time will you spend on the class? How close is the venue is to you? How busy is your schedule? How easy is it for you to fit the class into your schedule? If someone wants to book me for a class that is far from my home or starts during rush hour, I quote the higher price. Remember that once you quote a lower price, you can’t raise it for a while. If they can’t afford my rate and I don’t get the job, I don’t mind not getting it because it would take me a lot of travel time. If I do get offered the teaching gig at the higher price, I can let go of one of my lower paying jobs.

THREE: Leg Work

How much leg work did you do for the class? Did you plan a special theme, special materials, or buy any extra materials for a birthday party? Did you advertise to fill the class or just show up and teach? You can charge more for doing more leg work. If you find yourself doing a lot of leg work, you may want to consider maximizing your profits by renting a room/studio and charging per child. That way you can get paid more for teaching a large class. One experienced kids yoga teacher I know offers classes at her children’s school. She charges $5/class per student and cuts off registration at 20 students. She runs an 8 or 10 week series and makes $100 per class because she doesn’t have to pay any room rental. She does the leg work of doing registration and advertising, but it is worth it.

FOUR: Frequency and Duration

How many classes are you getting booked to teach? I charge more for a one time class and give a better rate for a weekly class or series. Try giving a special rate for locations, like daycares, that books you to teach a few classes in a row on the same day so you can bill for 2 hours at a time. This will save you time running around for one hour here and one hour there. You can negotiate a rate that the daycare can afford, to keep you coming back on a regular basis. I’ve taught at one Montessori School for over 15 years and I keep my price reasonable and have a wonderful booking for 2.5 hours/week, which saves me a lot of extra leg work finding new classes.

FIVE: Their Budget

Sometimes in the end it comes down to how much they can afford. One of my favorite questions is “What is your budget?” Otherwise said, “My usual rate for this type of situation is (give your higher end rate). How does that work with your budget?” It gives you an idea of what they can afford and if you can work within their financial constraints given the other factors above.

SIX: Your Budget

Then sometimes in the end it comes down to what you can afford. You can do a lot of running around when you become a kids yoga teacher. Do the math: if you bill 10 hours a week at $50 /hour that equals $500 per week. Work 48 weeks a year, you will make about $24,000 per year.

You are not getting rich as a yoga teacher even though it may seem like $50 per hour is a lot. Remember, you won’t be working a 40 hour work week, you’ll be spending a lot of time traveling, marketing, and planning. All things you don’t get paid for directly. You’ll be able to keep this up for a while, but eventually raising your prices will be the only way to continue if you want to have a car, a home, children, health care, or savings.

Personally I have been paid, over the years, anywhere from $25 – $250 per hour to teach kids yoga. I’ve also volunteered to teach classes to get my foot in a door or because it is a good promotional opportunity. Recently a local fitness organization contacted me looking for teachers for an after school program. They start their teachers at $40 per hour.

My Recommendation of What to Charge for those who can Deliver:

Considering all these factors on the financial side of teaching kids yoga, I recommend a new Kids Yoga teacher set their rate at a minimum of $50/hour for a weekly class and $150 for a one time class.

Here’s the caveat: this rate means you can walk into the class, with your bag of effective tools, and deliver a great class. If you are worried you are going to stumble through the class, then lower your rate till you get enough experience with real kids to feel confident.

Your price can go up from there.

More Qualifications = Higher Charge

If you have other skills or training (like academic degrees, ECE or adult yoga teacher training) you can justify charging more for your services by highlighting your extra qualifications.

If you’ve taken a Weekend Training with a Practicum like Young Yoga Masters offers then you will already have some effective tools and techniques you can use in a kids yoga class. And you’ll have experienced what it’s like to teach kids and won’t be surprised or intimidated in your first class.

If you have a 95 Hour Certificate and Yoga Alliance Certification then you put yourself in a higher tier of training and can justify charging more. And you’ll be worth it to the school or classroom because you’ll have a boatload of tools at your disposal to deliver a great class.

Next Steps

For those looking to work on their kids yoga business, consider taking the Level 2 Mastermind Course with new material on building your Kids Yoga Business. If you have already taken the 95 Hour Training, this can qualify as Continuing Education Credits for RYT Yoga Teachers.

Find out when the next course is scheduled and full details here.

8 Helpful Hints for Kids Yoga Teachers During the Summer

Suddenly summer is here and for most yoga teachers, yoga classes slow down. But if you teach kids yoga and want to keep busy this summer there are many opportunities when students are off school. Try these 8 Helpful Hints for Kids Yoga Teachers During the Summer for inspiration and a prosperous summer.

1. Offer A Kids Yoga Day Camp: Many summer camps have already filled up but there are still ways to get the word out if you want to offer a summer camp. Try to poster in schools before they end (many school’s finish this week). Otherwise hit places where kids can be found like parks, swimming pools, and other kids friendly neighborhoods. Most day camps I’ve seen last a week and offer a morning program, an afternoon program, and a full day option.
  Summer doesn’t mean the end of kids yoga!
2. Teach Yoga for Another Camp: This week I had an e-mail from an art teacher looking for a kids yoga teacher for her art camp. Instead of running the whole camp on your own, find a camp in your neighborhood and see if your services are needed. Be sure to emphasize how you will make their lives easier by helping settle the kids down and burn excess energy with kids yoga.
3. Daycare Yoga Summer Program: Usually daycare centers are looking for special programs for the summer. Tell all the parents you know that you are available for summer classes and mention how much you would appreciate a recommendation at their child’s daycare. Most teacher’s find new classes by word of mouth.
4. Do Something Special in Your Current Class: This summer at a daycare where I teach we’ll be making kids yoga videos. It’s a task that requires extra work getting permission forms signed, filming, and editing video. Summer is the perfect time to pay more attention to one of your current classes and do something special that the kids will remember. We made this video in a daycare during the summer of 2007. Now four years later we’re going to make some more.

Farmers Markets: Many local markets have a space for musicians or entertainment. Try to speak to the organizers about offering a kids yoga class. Give a kids yoga class that is easy for all types of people. Have a number of standing poses ready in case the ground is wet. I like to give out a handout with a yoga pose and my next kids yoga class on it. My hope is the pose will get colored and hung on the fridge, so there is a constant reminder of my next class.
I give out Yoga Man at my promotional classes with my card or class poster stapled to it.
Solve Someone’s Programming Problem: One summer I got called in for what I playfully call a yoga emergency at the daycare. The field trip got rained out, the big trip was cancelled. If you’ve got a light schedule, drop your card off at places close to your home and let them know you can be available on short notice if they ever need you for an urgent situation.
Catch Up and Keep Up: Use the time off to get ready to contact schools and daycare centers when the school year starts. Many teachers need a slow time to catch up on all the big and little tasks that build up over the school year. For me, summer is time to update my website, create new kids yoga products, and this year I’ll be expanding my kids yoga teacher training. Pull out that list of things you’ve been putting off and check something off.
Do Nothing: And then there are times when we look at the “To Do” list and realize there is no way we are going to get all these things done. A good week or more of doing nothing is required in these situations. Take a breather to let the dust settle and see things clearly. What do you really want to do and which ideas have you moved on from? In business these “Do Nothing” times are called product development or strategic planning. When you’re a self-employed kids yoga teacher you can call it whatever you like, as long as you take some time to do nothing. If the teacher get’s burnt out, the student suffers.

This summer I have a To Do list the size of Montreal. So I’ve taken three days this week to catch up and prioritize. I think I still need a week more of Do Nothing.

It’s helping me decide on my next projects and I realize I get most excited when I think about making my video from my Kids Yoga Teacher Training into an on-line course.

I know for all my readers in other parts of the world, its not summer, so hopefully you’ll be able to store this for later. And for those who are in the last few days of regular classes, I hope you get to enjoy the sunshine. Those of us in Canada have to enjoy it while it’s here!

Will you do any of these things during the summer? Which work best for for you as a teacher? What would you recommend for new teachers? Add your own helpful hint in the comments.

How to Start a Kids Yoga Program at a School

Emptyschool — An empty playground, soon to be filled with children.

Back to school looms closer and closer. This is good news for kids yoga teachers interested in finding new classes. Here are some pointers, from experience, on how to get a kids yoga program into a school.

How Well Do You Know Your School System?
The first thing to do is to get to know your school system and curriculum and this is where we give thanks for the internet. Search your city name and “education,” “Ministry,” or “Board” until you find the official government website.

You’re about to learn a new language – the one used by your school. Write your proposal using the language from their curriculum NOT yoga language. You won’t find a single requirement for chakra opening in a school curriculum. Each school system has their own vernacular, learn it and use it as much as possible in your proposal.

Physical Education Curriculum:
What is it called and what are the curriculum requirements. In my area (Ontario, Canada) the Health and Physical Education program is divided into “Strands” (see what I mean about language!).

There are three strands in Grades 1 – 8, and four in high school. When you’ve got a good idea of how your yoga program enhances the curriculum, then who do you talk to? Usually its the Physical Education Department Head.

Class Sizes – How Many Can You Teach?
Also look on the website for the typical class size. This will help you determine how many classes you can teach at a time. If you put two classes together, one teacher can stay for yoga while the other gets to catch up on other work. It also cuts down on expenses. My area tries for 23 students or fewer in primary classes. Put your class size limits in your proposal as well as how many classes you can teach in a row.

Professional Development for Teachers:
Can you sweeten the package by adding a free class to teachers at the staff meeting if they book you for a minimum number of classes? Talk to the department head, VP or Principal of the school about how you can save them money and time.

Other Types of Education in the Curriculum:
Examples: Stress Management, Character Development, Healthy Schools initiative, Michelle Obama introduced the Let’s Move program. Tap into these with kids yoga. Please share any grants you know of in the comments!

Lunch-Time or After School Classes:
These classes usually involve charging each student enrolled. If you can get high numbers you can keep the cost down and still make a living. Approach the Parent Board at the school as a way in.

Daycare Classes:
Some regions offer daycare programs for after school. Approach the daycare manager about doing a weekly class in each room.

Make someone’s life easier.
Who ever you approach, make their life easier. No one wants a program that means more work! Deliver a great kids class. If you can’t, get the yoga and kids yoga training to do it. You’ve got to know how to manage and run a kids yoga class or you’re program won’t last.

Become a Reliable Resource for the School
Most of the places I teach kids yoga, I’ve gone to for over 7 years, some schools for 10 years! It’s better to return to a school rather then to keep finding new classes. If you make the whole program stress-free, they will want you back and this is good for everybody.

The Time is Now: The Week Before School Starts
All this information is very timely! There is a window right before school starts where the teachers are back to work but the students aren’t. In Ontario the teachers start back on Sept. 1 but the children don’t come back till Sept. 7. Find the window and go in with a proposal. Or wait a month till the back to school rush is over. You may be able to help the teachers meet their requirements.

All the best to everyone out there working to increase kids health and happiness. Please feel free to add any insights or links you have to the comments and let’s get more kids doing yoga!

Aruna Kathy Humphrys
www.YoungYogaMasters.com

More News

Kids Yoga Teacher Certification – Registration Now Open! Don’t miss out on the Young Yoga Masters Kids Yoga Teacher Training course. Its like no other! Pass on the wisdom of yoga to the future generations! Too see the upcoming courses click here.

Young Yoga Masters is a Registered Children’s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance.

If you take a Kids Yoga Training – take one that counts towards your Certification!