Melanie's Story
I was lucky enough to have had a wonderful baby yoga teacher George (Georgia Head of Birthlight, Bury St. Edmunds) in our local children’s centre (Eye, Suffolk) and I enjoyed her classes with both of my little ones. I could experience how we engaged with one another in class through song and had a brief moment of calm at the end of each lesson. A class format that I was familiar with from my own adult classes.
Whilst my 2 children are now in primary school, I see how much screen time they crave and how their interests are changing towards gaming and being entertained by devices. They also spend 6 hours a day in school and the time spent sitting down will only increase year on year. Not to mention increasing peer pressure, self-consciousness and insecurities. I was wondering how I could bring more balance to children’s lives and really plant a seed that supports and nurtures their development in our frantic world.
Being a keen yoga practitioner for more than 20 years, I qualified as a Toddler & Pre-School Yoga Teacher with Amy Yoga in 2021. I’ve been teaching this age group since January 2022 and have enjoyed every moment of it! It is beautiful to witness how the young ones explore their bodies with the assistance of their parent or carer or through the encouragement of their peers in nursery/pre-school settings. It has taken one teaching lesson, that I realised I’d like to open up my teaching skills to children of all ages, including teenagers.
I’m completing a teaching yoga to children & teens course in May 2022 and a teaching yoga to adults course in February 2023. Both are with the British Wheel of Yoga as I find their recognition within the UK educational sector is unique and their approach to embracing all traditions and facets of yoga the right fit for me.
I found in Amy (Amy Yoga), Christiane Kerr (calm for kids), Kari Knight (yoga for people living with cancer) and Elaine Fletcher (decades of experience teaching yoga, teaching yoga teachers and raising spinal movement awareness) amazing resources of knowledge, compassion and support.
The children and adults I have encountered in my classes this far, give me the confidence and confirmation that I am following my calling! My own family & friends are also a huge support of my work, studies and wider interest i.e. child psychology which I’m studying in my own time to support my teaching. I hope that your children will find value in my teaching and that it may help them through the pre-school years all the way through to high school and beyond. Always carrying that light of yoga and being able to shine it where they need it. Let it be in their physical bodies, their mind to calm their thoughts, to gain clarity or to regulate their emotions.
Melanie's Learning Journey
Toddler & Pre-School Yoga Teacher Training
Completed December 2021
A very heartfelt thank you to Amy of Amy Yoga in Cornwall for her guidance, her positive energy, her continued mentoring and support.
I could have not gotten started without you!!
Teaching Yoga to Children & Teens
Completing in May 2022
Christiane Kerr is an amazing yoga teacher for all ages and is particularly brilliant with children and teens. Her use of mudras is something that sparked my interest and I’ll be doing more research into that topic.
Her course is full of a child’s/teen’s physical, emotional and hormonal development and endless inspiration for designing nuturing, mindful and holistic yoga classes for children and teens.
Christiane, I’m so grateful for you to share your knowledge and experience. I’m already keen on deepening my knowledge of mindfulness with your course offered later in 2022.
Certification imminent
British Wheel of Yoga - Yoga Teacher Certificate (Level 4)
Completing in April 2023 (Regulated by the Office for Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual)
Finding a face-to-face teacher training near me and discovering such wonderful forces of yoga knowledge, appreciation for the spine and its movement as well as compassion for every person’s body – I could not have found better tutors than Kari Knight and Elaine Fletchter!
Thank you and my fellow teacher trainees to share this journey with me. I mostly wanted to take this course to underpin my children and teen teaching, but I must admit that I’m certainly catching the bug of sharing my joy of yoga with adults, too.
So far your course and your selection of fellow trainees has been incredibly valuable to my journey. I am full of admiration that you do what you do and how you do it. Your classes and guidance to transition to a yoga teacher is so helpful. Thank you!!
