VoyageLA.com
May 1, 2017

“Meet Shana Meyerson of mini yogis yoga for kids in Los Angeles County”
by VoyageLA Staff

Shana, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I first discovered yoga, it completely blindsided me. I was working in Corporate America and getting my MBA at UCLA…and becoming a yoga instructor was the very last career I ever would have imagined for myself.

But the moment I took my first class, I knew.

Yoga spoke to me on such a visceral level that it was just a few months after my first class that I left my job and my Master’s program to teach yoga instead.

I didn’t know if I would ever earn another dollar, but I knew it was what I had to do.

Sure, I wanted to teach adults, but more than anything, I couldn’t get the thought out of my mind how different my life would have been had I learned yoga as a child. And that was my vision. To bring the amazing practice of yoga to children.

Back in 2002, the very concept of yoga for children was considered ridiculous, but, sure enough, mini yogis grew very rapidly.

When I started mini yogis, I envisioned myself teaching a bunch of classes a week around LA. That’s all.

Within less than a year, I was teaching on a global scale and with an entire staff of teachers under me in Los Angeles.

Today, my staff and I teach children’s classes all over Los Angeles County and I, personally, teach all over the world. I am one of the (if not the) only instructors on earth who teach both children’s yoga and adult yoga (through my Nonathletic program) worldwide. I teach classes as well as teacher training certifications for both programs.

Has it been a smooth road?
Overall, mini yogis have been a very smooth build, growing by about 10% annually. The only real challenge I have had in recent years is tremendous competition…most of which I ironically created myself. I have trained over 1000 kids’ yoga instructors in Los Angeles and thousands more around the world. When I started mini yogis, I was one of a handful of yoga for kid’s programs in the Western World. Now, yoga for kids is everywhere…but that’s a good thing!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
At mini yogis, we teach children classic yoga and meditation within a very fun, creative and interactive framework. Think of it as the kale in the smoothie. Children benefit physically, mentally, and emotionally…but they just think they’re having fun.

There are a lot of kids’ yoga teachers in LA these days, but mini yogis have the best of the best. All of our teachers have at least a 200-hour adult certification on top of their mini yogis certification. Unlike most kids’ programs that primarily do creative movement and call it yoga, everything mini yogis does is based in real yoga so that when children grow up, they are indoctrinated and ready for an adult practice.

We have a large program for children with special needs and really pride ourselves in changing every student’s overall quality of life. Because of my personal accomplishment in the adult yoga world, my students in particular have very advanced practices, both for asana (postures) and meditation. My kid-students are more advanced than most adult students out there!

We are a mobile studio, providing classes in people’s homes, in schools, temples/churches, camps, studios and anywhere that kids want yoga.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
There is no city better for yoga than Los Angeles. Period. No city on earth.

The yoga market is enormous and yoga awareness is vast. Of course, this creates a double-edged sword of sorts.

On one hand, the market is already strong, so the opportunities are endless and the public doesn’t have to be educated on the benefits…they already know. On the other hand, the market is supersaturated and you have to dig for the opportunities that haven’t already been seized. The first thing you have to do to start out is get teacher certification. I recommend both a children’s and an adult certification.

Then…you just pound the pavement.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.miniyogis.com
• Phone: 310.471.9644
• Email: info@miniyogis.com
• Instagram: yogathletica
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/miniyogis/
• Twitter: @YOGAthletica
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mini-yogis-yoga-for-kids-los-angeles

Originally seen in VoyageLA.com