A comprehensive certification program for teaching yoga and mindfulness to children and youth ages 3 to 18.
Why Mindfulness and Yoga
How Yoga and Mindfulness Help Kids Thrive
Explore the benefits of embodied mindfulness practices and learn how they help build resilience, support learning and cultivate healthy communities.
The Research
Learn more about the research in the field, and the work we’re doing with our school partners to evaluate our programming.
About LFY and Our Team
We have 31 incredible team members teaching kids, training adults, supporting operations, and more. Come get to know us.
Hear from the Kids
Hear directly from students about what mindfulness and yoga mean to them in daily life.
The School Yoga Project
Classes for Students
Chair and mat-based yoga and mindfulness classes for youth ages 3-18 right in the classroom.
Professional Development
Professional Development workshops for school staff to help build yoga and mindfulness in-house culture and capacity.
Family Engagement
Learn about programming and events that we offer to support caregivers and children.
Mental Health
Learn about ways we support mental health care providers individually and in school settings through education, resources, and with direct services to students.
Hear From Our Schools
Hear directly from schools we’ve worked with to better understand how yoga and mindfulness can support your students, teachers, and larger community.
Training
Teacher Certification
Explore our comprehensive teacher certification program, and learn to support and grow the inner resources of kids 3-18.
Online Learning
Accessible webinars and online courses on topics such as managing anxiety, working with teens, building resilience, chair yoga, and much more.
Live CE Workshops
Full day seminars offering 6 CE credits to Counselors, SWs, Psys, MFTs, OTs, SLPs, Educators, and Nurses
Graduate and CE Credit Courses
Educator focused online courses that offer graduate, CE and P credits.
Events
Certification Courses
Explore our comprehensive certification program, and learn to support and grow the inner resources of kids 3-18.
Live Webinars
Join us for interactive online learning experiences with a wide variety of guest teachers.
One Day CE Workshops
Full day seminars offering 6 CE credits to Counselors, SWs, Psys, MFTs, OTs, SLPs, Educators, and Nurses.
Resources
For Families
COMING SOON
We’re working hard to create a great resource center for families here. In the meantime, please consider exploring LFY founder Jennifer Cohen Harper’s book, which was written for parents, and our card decks and workbook for children.
Looking for an LFY class in your area? Check our our Teacher Directory to reach out to training graduates around the world.
Book and Card Decks
Easy to use resources for families, educators, clinicans and children + teens themselves.
Mindful Mondays
An ongoing resource that allows teachers and schools to build capacity naturally, throughout a simple and sustainable implementation program that immediately benefits kids and adults.
Articles and Practices
Explore searchable content from our teaching and learning community, including activities and practices.
Friends and Partners
COMING SOON
It’s a wide and wonderful world out there, and we think you should get to know these folks doing allied work in the field.
Contact
Join Our Email Newsletter
Understand the Pathway
Building Resilience in the Next Generation
Kids need skills to help them thrive in the world and navigate the many challenges they face. Yoga and mindfulness practices give them practical ways to increase their self-awareness, access their inner resources, and find their personal power—all while having fun!
Why Yoga & Mindfulness?
Because it Works.
There’s a growing body of research that highlights the benefits of yoga and mindfulness for kids. We’ve worked with more than 100,000 kids since Little Flower Yoga started in 2006, and we’ve seen for ourselves that when kids regularly participate in yoga and mindfulness practices, they:
- Increase their ability to focus and maintain attention
- Develop greater emotional balance
- Build physical strength and flexibility
- Access the calming power of their breath
- Have more empathy and compassion for others
- Become more responsible for their actions
Set Your Intention
Become a Little Flower Yoga Teacher & Change Lives
LFY Teacher Training is a comprehensive certification program in yoga and mindfulness practices for children and youth ages 3 to 18. Certified by Yoga Alliance, and offering up to 6 graduate level credits (through our accredited partner University of the Pacific) the training focuses on the complete physical, mental, emotional and social well-being of students.
The foundation of the training is rooted in building your own self-awareness and deepening personal practice—after all, we can’t teach what we don’t know. From there, we equip you with a wide range of activities that you can immediately implement with the kids you work with.
Our work is research-based, developmentally appropriate, culturally responsive, and centered on healing and resilience building. Trauma-informed teaching practices are integrated into all of our programs. As practitioners and educators ourselves, we are immersed in the latest developments in the field and update our curriculum regularly.
TRAINING TAKEAWAYS
What You’ll Learn
Through an innovative combination of in-person and online workshops,
as well as one-on-one mentorship, you will:
- Gain a greater understanding of the relationship between the brain, the nervous system, and the body
- Discover how yoga and mindfulness can support effective integration and function
- Learn a clear, structured framework, based on our five element methodology, that will allow you to teach an integrated experience of yoga and mindfulness in any setting
- Explore the challenges of teaching in school environments, studios, and community spaces
- Get practical information about how to set up new classes and navigate relationships with schools
- Learn compassionate behavior management skills
- Gain insight into teaching diverse populations, with a focus on teaching in schools and community spaces
- Learn to teach from a trauma-sensitive perspective
- Start or deepen your own yoga and mindfulness practice
- Receive ongoing support as you build your career
You will return home with a deeper understanding of child development, the capacity and confidence to create lesson plans that meet children’s needs, and the knowledge to teach in a safe, engaging, and compassionate way.
Who is Training For?
For Teachers, Parents & More
People from a diverse array of backgrounds and experiences attend our Teacher Training Programs. The one thing they share is a desire to give kids the tools they need to embrace joy and build resilience, regardless of their circumstances.
- Classroom Teachers
- School Counselors
- Occupational Therapists
- Physical Therapists
- Community Center Staff
- Parents and Caregivers
- Social Workers
- Psychotherapists
- Health Professionals
- Yoga Teachers
- Meditation Teachers
- Camp Counselors
- Coaches
Note: You do not need to be a yoga teacher or an advanced practitioner to attend this training, although we recommend you have some yoga experience and a basic mindfulness practice.
Where to Begin
There are two ways to participate in the workshops and courses offered through the LFY Teacher Training Program.
Dip Your Toe In
Some of our classes are available to take as stand alone learning experiences based on your interests and needs (or for continuing education). The Level 1 course (Foundations of Children’s Yoga + Mindfulness: Creating Safe and Engaging Mind-Body Experiences), Chair Yoga for Children and Adolescents, and Trauma-Informed Teaching Practices are open to anyone at any time.
We also offer online programs and webinars that have no prerequisites. If you find yourself inspired and want to learn more, you might consider getting certified.
Certification Track
If you are interested in becoming a Certified Little Flower Yoga Teacher, you’ll need to complete the following requirements: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 (in person), Trauma Informed Teaching Practices (online), Chair Yoga (online), Mentorship (online), and reading and writing assignments (at home).
In some locations, we combine L1, L2 and L3 of training into Part 1 and Part 2, which covers all of the same material. There is no required time frame for completion—you can work toward certification at your own pace.
We suggest you begin your certification training with the Level 1 (or Part 1) course. If you are unable to make it to a Level 1 course first, you could start your certification training with the Trauma-Informed Teaching or the Chair Yoga workshop, which are both available online and occasionally in person.
More Benefits
Why Train With Little
Flower Yoga?
- WE LOVE KIDS! We believe in helping children and adolescents embrace their full potential and live their lives with joy, knowing that the world holds great wonders for them and that they have great gifts to share with all of us.
- WE’VE BEEN AROUND A WHILE. We are one of the longest running youth yoga training programs. Since our first programs in 2006, we’ve trained more than 1200 teachers who have brought these tools to children in schools, community centers, studios, hospitals, shelters, detention centers, refugee camps, and more.
- WE’RE ACTIVE IN THE FIELD. Our trainers are all actively teaching in schools (and several had previous careers as classroom teachers) which allows us to get real-time feedback from the students and teachers in the classroom and stay up to date on what’s going on in the education field at large. We are regularly modifying our curriculum to reflect the latest needs and incorporate new research and information.
- WE’RE SERVICE-ORIENTED. As founding members of the Yoga Service Council, we are dedicated to working in ways that serve all regardless of circumstances, with a commitment to sharing practices that empower individuals and communities.
- WE GO BEYOND YOGA POSTURES. Our curriculum is about more than just how to have the kids roar like a lion! We teach you how to teach yoga and mindfulness in a way that includes key social and emotional skills like self-reflection, self-inquiry, and relationship building. Our goal is to create an optimal learning environment and an inclusive learning community.
- WE’RE MULTIDISCIPLINARY. Kids need representation and support from their various caregivers. That’s why we include yoga and mindfulness teachers, educators, and mental health professionals on our staff (and most of us are parents too!). We are able to offer multidimensional support to the challenges children, adolescents and educators are facing.
- WE MAKE TEACHING EASY FOR YOU. Our 5 Elements approach—connect, breath, move, focus, and relax—gives you a clear framework within which you can easily create a lesson. Teachers find this structure makes it easy to take what they learn into the classroom
I have been an educator for 30+ years and this was one of THE best trainings I have ever attended. The presenters are impassioned individuals who have deep respect for children and their development and share their passion, tools and resources with grace, intelligence and humor. They created a safe space for us to learn, experiment, ask questions and make mistakes. They also facilitated time for us to reflect, collaborate and nurture ourselves. TOP NOTCH!!!
Laurie M.
Educator for 30+ Years
Who You'll Learn From
Our Training Team
Learn from leaders in the field with a wide range of experiences and expertise.
