Today, we’re chatting with the lovely Michelle, a local mum and creator of YOGAZOO, the first kids yoga school in Perth. She tells us how she decided to focus on providing kids yoga classes and lists her top benefits of yoga for kids.
Hi, Michelle. Could you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a mother of three beautiful children Oliver, William and Lilianna and have been living in Booragoon for 15 years! I am a school teacher that completed a yoga teacher training course whilst living abroad, came home pregnant with my first child and decided that as I love children and love yoga I must teach children’s yoga!
What inspired you to start YOGAZOO? What’s it all about?
I started yoga in my late 20’s and absolutely loved it! I enjoyed both the physical benefits and mental benefits and thought this would be wonderful for children. I did some research and found no-one else in Perth was doing it at the time and thought, ‘Why not start my own kids yoga school!’ As kids yoga so heavily relies on animal poses and shapes I could not resist the name YOGAZOO!! I am so proud of what this little business has grown into and now have a gorgeous team of teachers! We now offer classes both SOR and NOR and travel to schools all around Perth.
What have you found to be the benefits of yoga for kids?
There are so many benefits however if I had to choose the main benefits they would include:
- Helping kids relax, unwind, and calm themselves
- Reducing stress in kids
- Helping kids improve their concentration and balance
- Promoting a healthy, active lifestyle in kids
- Helping kids sleep better
- Improving gross and fine motor skills
- Improving digestion
- Increasing a kid’s strength and flexibility
- Developing a child’s self-expression and self-confidence
- Helping increase a child’s body awareness
So, what’s next for YOGAZOO?
YOGAZOO works quite a lot with the City of Melville and Hawaiian shopping centres so we are often part of festivals. We also run regular toddler yoga sessions every Wednesday at Hawaiian’s Melville shopping centre which is free for parents and toddlers.
We always offer FUN and interactive school holidays workshops for kids of all ages – check out the Facebook page for information. We also love working with both primary schools and high schools bringing in our Yoga and Mindfulness in school programs. We offer a range of different programs to suit any schools budgets, timetables and requirements. I am very proud of our school program.
What are some of your favourite places or things to do in the local area?
Whenever I get the chance , I love walking the bridges and quite often take the kids to Deep Water point and Point Walter for family picnics. Favourite places to hang with the friends include Coco Belle and Cioccolato and of course Garden City! We are so lucky to live in this wonderful area of ours!
Do you have any advice for mums looking to start their own business?
Do what you love and be patient. If you are passionate about what you do it will be successful. I work from home and love the flexibility it gives me to be able to still pick up my kids from school and go to all their school events.
To learn more about the various classes available, head to the YOGAZOO website or keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates on upcoming holiday and term-based sessions.
