9 ways to teach Kids Yoga and Mindfulness in a socially-distanced world

By Lara Hocheiser, Flow and Grow Kids Yoga Founder with Kathryn Boland, Flow and Grow Kids Yoga Social Media Manager and Content Contributor 

Are you interested in teaching kids yoga and mindfulness, but worried that you won't have a job because of COVID? 

The truth is that the industry has changed a lot in response to COVID, and many opportunities are still out there. It takes adaptiveness, open-mindedness, and creative thinking to take advantage of them! 

Ways to teach Kids Yoga and Mindfulness in a socially-distanced world

• Virtual pre-recorded

There is a growing need for virtual classes online, which we explore in-depth during the Business of Kids Yoga course as part of the 95-hour kids yoga teacher training. For example, in recent months Flow and Grow Kids Yoga has partnered with virtual class platforms to offer our classes online. You’ll learn to film classes during our training, as well, with plenty of chances to practice and hone your filming skills! You'll also continue to get feedback on your filmed classes so that you can keep improving them. OurBusiness of Kids Yoga course also helps participants better understand what job opportunities are out there in the Kids Yoga field more generally. 

• Selling online on platforms 

People can sell lesson plans and content online through theTeachers Pay Teachers platform, for some proceeds. You can also upload lesson plans and pre-recorded classes on Teachers Pay Teachers or other similar sites for residual income, which is evergreen.

• Live online classes 

Setting weekly live online class provides a much-needed service for children who are missing their live classes. If you invest in your teacher training, you can pay back your investment this way. It feels good to quantify how many you'd need to teach to pay back yourself back prior to making a profit.

Zoom classes are not the same in-person teaching. Yet there are still ways to make it feel connected and special. Online classes are stepping stones that we can take to be prepared for a time when we can hopefully be on site again. They are also a possible business model going forward regardless of school re-openings and COVID in the future.

• Outdoor classes 

As we've learned more about COVID, we now understand that the risks of spreading it are much less outside (as well as masked). Some activities have therefore moved outside -- including yoga. This approach may only be feasible for certain months of the year is some areas of the country, though others may have warm enough weather for outdoor yoga year-round, To consider -- where can you hold such a class? How's the noise level? Is it busy? Is it easily accessible via public transit and/or car (is there parking?)? 

• Virtual school programming 

Schools are taking all sorts of classes to the virtual space, and yoga can be one of them! Who might you know who can connect you with a key decision-maker at a school or school district? In our Yoga and Mindfulness in Schools course, we help participants understand how to navigate school systems to offer yoga and mindfulness in various kinds of educational settings. So much of it is about building relationships!

• Projecting more needs for homeschool and non-traditional school styles

Even if things don’t go back to normal in 2021/2022 and schools have new scheduling forever, it means morning and afternoon programming will be crucial for parents. 

• Forest and Tinker Garden have gone virtual 

These platforms offer even more partnership possibilities, granting access with large audiences that can convert to local, outdoor, and in-person classes. 

• Grants 

Explore available grants in your area! You can help an organization apply for it. That revenue can provide jobs such as professional development for teachers and special student support. 

• Recreation center budgets

Recreation centers had already allocated funds for programming before COVID hit. They still need to book something and still have the cash to do so! What connections to those centers can you leverage? What relationships can you build? How can you pitch these classes -- online, outdoor/socially-distant, et cetera?  

• Professional Development online

Flow and Grow teachers have already been booked to serve schools for assemblies and professional development online in lieu of in-person visits. There will likely be an ongoing need for this, given the challenges that teachers are facing with working in a COVID world (personal and professional). Schools with grant money that they would otherwise lose are perhaps even more likely to buy this kind of programming. 

Where there's a will, there's a way, goes that old adage. If you want to teach Kids Yoga and Mindfulness, COVID doesn't have to stop you. This work can still fill your heart and soul -- and your wallet!