Testimonials
Case Study – Adele Plummer – Sept 2023 Certified
I qualified in Sept 2023 with Yogamoo through their online Children Yoga Teacher Training course. Earlier this year, I was contacted by a local infant school enquiring about my offering of Yoga for children. I provided initial information and the P.E and wellbeing co-ordinator got in touch to discuss a series of sessions to support the mental health and wellbeing of their children. The children and staff had experience of Yoga online, however never in-person before.
For the school, they targeted Yoga as an enrichment activity to bring staff and children together and provide space to all in spite of a dense curriculum with the time constraints associated with that.
I delivered a programme of mat based Yoga programme to 5 classes a day for 5 weeks running from October half term up to the Christmas holidays to Reception, Y1 and Y2 children.
This full day of Yoga in school weekly included 3 morning sessions, and 2 afternoon sessions. The agreed objectives were 3 fold: first to engage in physical activity, with the discovery of the health benefits associated with a wide range of Yoga poses, second to experience a sense of calm alertness with the practice of calming breathing techniques; and third to learn techniques and tools to find this place again, i.e. regulation techniques.
Week after week, the teachers and the children were really looking forward to our face-to-face sessions, and their initial feedback after Day 1 was – ‘We had a wonderful day, all of the children are really looking forward to next week already'.
This success story was partly enabled by the leadership team being really open to the benefits of Yoga, from the headteacher to all teaching staff and the children were also therefore really excited to practice Yoga with me. A great bond with the children was built from the outset.
Yoga is an inclusive practice. I was able to support those quieter children who needed a little more encouragement to express themselves, through partner poses with interactions with me and other classmates (teamwork). Other children with special needs – for instance ADHD – had the opportunity to recognise calmness through learning certain skills. A teacher was on hand to support each session as needed, in particular for the children that required extra attention.
Regardless of varied needs, the children were very much engaged during our sessions, we built sound relationships with a good, friendly atmosphere and children were reminded of expectations at each lesson to listen and copy their teacher.
Some of the techniques used during our sessions were:
- Mindful moments – attention to the breath noticing times when the breath is more present
- Happy hearts – recognising an active body has a more happy, healthy heart
- Active movement – through stretching / Yoga poses and open discussions about the benefits of Yoga
- Calming circles-awareness of in-breath and out-breath and flow of breath for instance using feathers (this was fun)
- Quiet games, encouraging an increase in awareness and being alert (pass the ball with our hands only or pass the ball using our feet only)
- Partner Yoga – encouraging team work and support to each other
- Memory games- recapping on Yoga poses and demonstrating them to the class circle
- Active games – freeze into a Yoga pose when music stops ( they loved to sing, one class in particular)
- Story telling – using the children's imagination
The experience was so enriching that we are now discussing classes to the staff for a Christmas special workshop and we will soon be looking into a maintenance programme in 2025 to see how the children can keep their practice up and continue to develop their skills.
Adele Plummer – Dec 2024
Yogadoxford ltd
Case Study – Jemma Rollins – Dec 2021 Course
I phoned Yogamoo early December 2021, I had been looking at several Children Yoga TTC online courses to fit my needs and had a few questions to ask. I had been running businesses for 20 years in the beauty industry, in fact I had become very successful at it, launching my own courses and training others to become one of the largest training academy in the country.
However after COVID hit, this revolutionised the industry, everything went online and it was not for me. At the time, I had been thinking for a while about a career change that would provide flexibility to me as a mum and would help my child who has special needs.
Yoga practice had become very central in our family and I had started thinking about how I could teach other children too and be true to myself. This calling was becoming clearer and I had to take action.
I had questions regarding DBS, and insurance, and how we would be working together. I had wanted enough flexibility so that I could work at my own pace but equally enough support and guidance.
Talking to Laurence @ Yogamoo gave me confidence, I signed up shortly after this, and joined the December intake.
I loved doing this course! I was amazed at how logical, straightforward and easy to access the material was. I worked consistently and fairly quickly as I was able to integrate practice rehearsals within our family yoga practice. Practice is everything! After just 8 weeks, I was ready to take my final assessment live on Zoom on 4th February 2022. I was nervous but loved every minute of it.
After this, I got busy telling people about my new qualification and contacted all of the gyms and leisure centres around me. Gradually the doors started to open. Recently, I was invited by the local Leisure centre to teach a group of 20 PE teachers from my county. On a different day, I taught several groups of special needs children and I am now appointed by the Borough to teach Yoga and Mindfulness in my local schools! I will be delivering workshops for World Mental Health day soon.
My vision is coming true in less time than I thought possible. What has been instrumental to me is to pursue this change of heart with purpose and determination. I am so grateful to be where I am at on this journey at present
Jemma Rollins Sept 2022
Case Study: Laura Hebden – July 2020 Course
