My anticipated two-month yoga teacher training to Rishikesh, India was all about immersing myself in the history and tradition of the Himalayas. Taking my practice deeper…..

Fast forward six weeks into my eight-week stay and I’m doing the Hip Hop Yoga Bop and making a sandwich out of my body! Welcome to KAY! Katie Lee sang to a group of yogis while showing us how to play “Red Light, Green Light.” What an awesome release it was to experience childlike love and laughter after six weeks of deep meditation and directing our gaze inwards. Something about Katie’s class struck a chord and a flame of interest was sparked about teaching children yoga. Blessed with an extra two weeks in India after our training and having my husband and best friend fly out and be with me was the best Christmas present EVER! And I returned fresh and eager to teach, still with a little seed of Children’s Yoga in my mind.

It’s funny how the Universe shows up and lets you know it kind of already had plans for us. Upon my return to England, another good friend of mine whose son is disabled told me about a yoga class he attended which was run by the council. Unfortunately, they were having to close the sessions as the teacher they had was too expensive. She asked if I could take over as she would like her son to carry on with yoga. After my time in India, my mindset had become a playing field of why not’s! And so I met with the coordinator, we chewed the cud, had a giggle, and gave birth to Yogini Tinies!

It was a real eye-opener and a treat to come and practice with this eclectic bunch of amazing souls as they took on cancer, ADHD, extreme physical impairments while trying to find their way in the world like any child. I loved thinking up practices each week but felt I was missing something. Like I wanted to take the kids deeper, but I just couldn’t work out how.  Throughout my two months back in England, I had kept in touch with Katie, always badgering her to see if any KAY training was happening in England when a chance email asked her if KAY would be doing any online training? And low and behold, their first online training was ready to go! High five to the Universe for already being there.

I loved every minute of my training with KAY, especially the amazing support from my mentor (another Katie!) and the forum of awesome KAY teachers. I learned so much and had so much fun that I didn’t want it to end.

How did the kids take to it? THEY LOVED IT! The dancing and singing really got them going, and I started to get questions about yoga which I was able to answer in a kid-friendly way through my training.

I have a yoga workshop coming up in October and I’ve also been super blessed to teach private classes with children suffering from anxiety and depression.

I’m not sure who gets more out of each practice, the children or me. All I can say is it all started a very long time ago without me even knowing, and I’m so glad I went along with the “Yoga Slide!”