Portland Public Schools Kids Yoga Teachers: Teacher Spotlight June 2021

Aleksandra

“I love seeing quiet kids coming out of their shell and becoming a leader of a yoga game or activity. Getting in touch with what they feel and our inner weather forecast are big highlights as well.”

Aleksandra is the owner of Spiral Tree Yoga and had her own family yoga studio in Portland for many years. She is now pursuing a PTA degree and hopes to bring a therapeutic physical therapy lens into her future [yoga] classes. Aleksandra teaches yoga at Rosemont Wellness Center in Portland, and when not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her two children and their pets Koko (cat) and Luna (dog). 

Carrie

“The 3-5th grade students are challenging themselves with poses that strengthen the core and teach balancing, and are quickly improving on the toughest one of all- savasana, being still and silent.”

Carrie has been teaching yoga to children and families for over 10 years, using mindfulness and movement based methods along with expressive art, which reinforced her desire to become a mental health therapist. She recently completed her MS in Counseling from USM, and now works at Rise Up Center for Growth and Wellness in Brunswick, specializing in youth. She witnessed the invaluable benefits and skills learned from a child’s yoga practice—a mind/body awareness and connection, regulation skills, an outlet for self expression, and learning about self and others through imaginative play, plus much more! Carrie lives with my partner, two incredibly amazing kids that attend the Portland Public Schools, two cats, five hens, and a rooster, and she is currently way in over her head trying to turn her yard into a native landscaped habitat for all creatures to enjoy. 

Jess

“I have loved working with the kiddos at the Root Cellar. I especially loved watching them grow as individuals and learn yoga. As an assistant teacher, I also learned so much from the lead teachers and can’t wait to put that into practice.”

In addition to her role as yoga teacher, Jess serves on the Sea Change Yoga Beliefs and Values Committee. She is an activist, birth worker, Reiki practitioner, artist, mother, and plant lady. Jess is deeply committed to bringing yoga, reproductive health & overall wellness to humans in all stages of life, bodies, abilities, and lived experiences.

Lucinda

“The honor, and privilege I feel to share safe space with these children is invaluable. These kids yoga classes have provided children the space to get in touch with what is going on inside of their bodies if they choose to...it is so important to still feel connected to each other and to self.”

Lucinda, known by many as Lulu, has been teaching yoga for three years. She aspires to teach in a compassionate, comfortable, and understanding way, to help her students unwind, tune in, and really listen to their bodies throughout class with the hope of that ripple affecting their lives off the mat. In addition to kids yoga, Lulu teaches public, trauma-informed classes through the Bridge Studio: Art of Awareness and to women in transitional housing for Sea Change Yoga. Her plan is to teach folks in the yoga community about yogic philosophy and help people become more aware of the richness, depth, and roots of the practice. 

Sara

“Some highlights…have been students gaining confidence with leading the group in yoga posture instruction and guided meditation, students learning to embrace rest and relaxation, and students discovering how to "go inside" and identify their feelings and needs.”

Sara’s favorite part of teaching kids’ yoga at the Root Cellar is connecting with kids’ innate sense of playfulness, spontaneity, and joy. In addition to her kids yoga classes, Sara teaches prenatal yoga, postpartum yoga, and yoga for women. On a personal level, Sara is expecting her first child in early September. She lives in Gorham with her husband and two kitties, Oliver and Lilly. Learn more about Sara at Light of Pine.

Sea Change Yoga jumped in at a critical time as a community partner with Portland Public Schools (PPS) for the past school year, providing 8 weekly kids yoga classes at The Root Cellar for students from East End Community School on their remote school days. Molly Myers, Academic Supports and Transition Coordinator at PPS, shares, "Sea Change Yoga [has] provided an essential space for students to feel safe, seen, and supported. From the beginning, Sea Change Yoga leaders and teachers worked to increase capacity, adjust programming to meet student needs, and collaborate with the other partners to provide programming to meet both the academic and emotional needs of students."

At the end of this challenging school year, we want to take a moment to recognize the stalwart group of Sea Change Kids Yoga teachers who have brought an abundance of creativity, patience and love to their classes for the last ten months. THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts!