Episode 34

53 mins

Loraine Rushton - Teaching Yoga to Kids and Teens

September 30, 2018

Loraine is a yoga teacher and the founder of Zenergy Yoga. She is a leading authority on yoga for children and teens. She has trained over 1,000 people on how to teach yoga to children and teens in a way that is meaningful, impactful and fun. Loraine is an active advocate of the benefits of yoga for the young.

In this episode, we learn about Loraine's background growing up in Northern England, how she discovered yoga and how developing a yoga practice helped her with some chronic health issues.

We learn how Loraine found her purpose in teaching yoga to kids. We learn the three main aspects of teaching yoga to kids, and how Loraine maintains control during a class. Finally, we hear how bringing yoga to young people can be such a powerful intervention in their lives.

As you will hear in this episode Jo and I have both had a little bit of experience in teaching yoga to kids, so it was great to be able to ask Loraine some questions we had both been absolutely dying to ask. Loraine caught up with us while she was in Melbourne to lead a teacher training, so we jumped at the chance to speak with her.

Links:
Zenergy Yoga: https://zenergyyoga.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zenergykidsyoga/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenergykidsyoga/

The Unbound Life - One-day immersion with Kara Leah Grant - https://www.facebook.com/events/540622949705765/

Highlights

Click on a timecode to play from that time in the recording.

1:54 Loraine’s background growing up in the north of England.
3:35 Feeling isolated and alone
4:40 Finding a home in Manly beach
5:05 How Loraine discovered yoga.
5:55 Loraine’s health issues, and how a prescription of yoga helped her.
9:00 Loraine’s first Yoga teacher training.
9:37 “The kids would start to join in...”
12:12 “My purpose is to work with kids...”
13:12 What is it that you love about teaching kids?
16:32 Scope of practice when teaching children
19:27 “Your energy needs to be bigger than the entire class” - Teaching yoga to teens
19:45 What’s age appropriate to teach the class?
21:34 Classrooom management.
23:51 Who is in charge of discipline, school teacher or yoga teacher?
25:56 Ask the teacher to join into savasana.
27:01 “Never hand over control of the class at the beginning of the class”
28:45 What would you like to get from this class?
29:40 A powerful time in someone’s life to intervene.
32:29 There is no failing at yoga
34:51 Are there consequences of young children (in particular on instagram) doing extreme yoga poses?
38:40 Any advice for someone teaching a mixed class from seniors down to little toddlers?
43:51 The endless possibilities of kids yoga classes
46:22 Loraine’s strategy for working with kids who don’t want to get involved

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