About Kumarah Yoga
Welcome to Kumarah Yoga, a sanctuary where the seeds of yoga and mindfulness in children are nurtured. I'm Maia, the heart and soul behind this vibrant community. My journey as a kids' yoga educator has been filled with ups and downs, challenges, joy, and a relentless pursuit of growth—both personal and communal.
My Story
My Beginnings
My path in kids' yoga began in 2013, in the playful and unpredictable world of preschoolers and toddlers. I taught toddlers, preschool, pre-kindergarten and school-age kids. It was only about one class a week, but it was a great introduction to teaching kids yoga and I learned a lot.
A year later I traveled to Kenya for month with a good friend who had started an NGO for people with physical disabilities in a small town in Western Kenya. She invited me to come to teach yoga classes to these wonderful people. While I was there I taught over a dozen classes of kid’s yoga at various schools to kids with disabilities, to kids at an orphanage, and in the village center. It was amazing and got me hooked on the excitement and creativity of teaching yoga to kids.
When I came back to Minnesota I was offered a full-time job teaching yoga at a public charter school in South Minneapolis. It felt like a huge leap, but I knew I could do it.
It was hard! Teaching high risk kids in a public school with very little teaching experience meant that I had a huge learning curve to overcome. I taught five classes a day, kindergarten through 4th grade, and it was exhausting. The kids were wild, didn’t listen, didn’t want to do yoga, had no interest in me, and I cried almost every day for a year.
But I stuck it out.I started listening more to what the kids needed. I made connections with them, built rapport, learned from my mistakes, observed other teachers daily, took critique and feedback on my own teaching, and kept on going. I bought any books and tools I could find to help me, I took more kid’s yoga teacher training programs, and I took a mindfulness course online that gave me the personal tools to find patience in the classroom.
There weren’t ANY other teachers that I could find who did what I did, but I was determined to keep going and maybe someday find a community of teachers who at least taught yoga to kids who could go on this journey with me.
The Struggle
The Breakthrough
Through experimenting and exchanging knowledge with other teachers, a breakthrough finally came – I came up with a method of teaching sequences that grabbed kids' attention and got them moving and breathing.
It finally created the invigorating engagement that I had been striving for, allowing them to learn the poses quickly, build strength and coordination, practice leadership skills, and feel centered.
With that sequence as our foundation we started building on, coming up with games, activities, and other ways to explore yoga and mindfulness together.
Kumarah Yoga’s Origins
Once I started feeling confident in my teaching I made the decision to start creating a community for kids yoga teachers. Feeling somewhat solitary in my efforts, I hoped to start a collective where we could share experiences, strategies, and insights—a place where no kid's yoga teacher would have to feel isolated.
Kumarah Yoga was born from this desire to connect with other like-minded educators, share my experiences, and inspire others.
My Training and Experience
— Franklin P. Jones
To my fellow educators, parents, and caregivers
Teaching kids yoga is about so much more than demonstrating asanas—it's about channeling classroom energy, fostering a joyous learning environment and maintaining structure amidst the ebullient chaos of childhood.
Not every young yogi takes to the mat with immediate enthusiasm, as I learned when I faced the ultimate test of my teaching mettle—the day a yoga mat flew out the window at the hand of a frustrated student.
Many moments like that one tested my patience over the years. But every time a child had a breakdown, lashed out in anger, or gave up in frustration, we tried to make it into a learning experience. We learned coping techniques, breathing exercises, and persistence.
My classroom became much more than a place to do yoga, but more a place for kids to learn how to do life. Through yoga and mindfulness, we learn about our bodies, our emotions, our strengths and our areas of opportunity.
My Mission
These moments highlight the resilience required in not only yoga but in any path worth pursuing.
They serve as reminders of the mission that drives me:
To educate and support individuals who work with kids, equipping them with the tools to teach children life skills through yoga and mindfulness in a meaningful and joyous way.
There’s no better time than now to step in and guide our children in the right direction. With love and empathy and leading by example we can help our kids learn healthy habits, gain control over their emotions, and connect with themselves and others in genuine compassion.
Wishing you light and love on your journey,
MAIA
Founder of Kumarah Yoga
My vision
My vision for Kumarah Yoga is grand in scale yet simple in essence:
I wish to be a guiding light for caregivers and professionals worldwide, fostering the growth and well-being of children through the mindful practices of yoga.
I aim for Kumarah Yoga to become a primary resource for those seeking to enrich the lives of children with presence, positivity, and peace.
Join me, and together let's inspire a generation of mindful, healthy, and joyful young yogis!
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