by sara | Aug 28, 2016 | Presenting
Go Go Yoga Kids: Empower Kids for Life is on the go! We are headed in September to 
Washington D.C. for the National Kids Yoga Conference. It will be an amazing event filled with inspiration and knowledge about bringing yoga to the next generation. Go Go Yoga Kids is all about that!
The National Kids Yoga Conference will include a balanced weekend of keynote speakers, panel discussions, workshops, networking, and yoga practice.
- Using yoga in the school
- Resources and tools for yoga
- Yoga research
We can’t wait! All of this knowledge will help us all continue to empower kids for life through yoga and I can’t wait to share it with you! Stay tuned!
Have you gotten your copy of the #1 New Release on Amazon? Get your copy of Go Go Yoga Kids now.
by sara | Feb 5, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
What is one job that almost any kid would love to have as their full time grown up job? I am pretty positive that a toy designer would top the list. I am very excited to 
introduce you to someone who is doing just that. Meet Erica Golub of Backyard Yoga.
Read on to win of Erica’s latest kids yoga products: Roll-a-Pose Wintertime Dice Game
I had the pleasure of meeting Erica at the National Kids Yoga Conference in Washington D.C. last Fall. I was intrigued about what she was doing and creating to help maximize the power of play in children to incorporate movement, meditation and mindfulness.
Read on to find out more about Erica’s creative process and Backyard Yoga.
GGYfK: What was your favorite toy as a kid?
Backyard Kids Yoga: I’m not sure I had just one. I was a big fan of combining all my toys. Legos, Voltron, He-man, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears and My Little Pony all mashed together in one crazy narrative. When I look back, most of my time was spent outdoors. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are playing outside with my brother and neighbors making up games.
GGYfK: We love the name Backyard Kids Yoga as it seems so friendly and accessible to all. How did the name originate?
Backyard Kids Yoga: It literally originated from my backyard. I was searching for local kids yoga classes that would fit in our summer schedule, and allow both my 
3 and 6 year old to attend together. One day I got tired of searching and decided to create it. I set up Backyard Yoga Playdates and invited friends. The private Facebook group has grown now to over 20 families and I still hold one every month during the summer. The have become my ambassadors and you can find them highlighted here.
GGYfK: Being a toy maker and designer sounds so amazing. What was the first thing you ever designed and sold?
Backyard Kids Yoga: My first product to hit the market was the Peaceful Planet Waterball that I designed while interning at Fisher-Price in 1998/99. A fun fact is that it had a cameo in the movie Under The Tuscan Sun, I think seeing my toy on the big screen may have been cooler than seeing my first toy on the store shelves.
GGYfK: Where do you get your inspiration?
Backyard Kids Yoga: Play. This is why I am such an advocate for play. Being curious and learning about new things will always fuel us and help us to grow. When you are learning new skills or just playing around, things will connect in the most unexpected ways. Getting my 200hr yoga certification started as a way for me to reconnect with myself again after my first child was born. I had no idea at the time the path those 6 months, 6 years ago, would put me on.
GGYfK:. What is the biggest challenge in designing unique products?
Backyard Kids Yoga: It depends on the space I’m designing in. If I’m designing a new stacking toy, that becomes pretty difficult since so many have been done before. With Backyard Yoga it’s a bit easier. As you know there are not a lot of resources out there for kids yoga, which is why you wrote Go Go Yoga for Kids. My toy design background coupled with my yoga experience provides endless ideas. The bigger hurdles revolve around resources.
GGYfK: Tell us about the next product you have in mind that you are excited to share with others?
Backyard Kids Yoga: Right now I’m pretty excited about a family of products coming this Spring. They focus on breath and meditation. Breathing Buddy Eye Pillows are character themed eye pillows with satin tummy’s filled with flax seed. 
They will be accompanied by a song I co-wrote and developed with super talented friends of mine. The song is my take on belly balloon breath. If you want to read more check out my article at MindBodyGreen.
The eye pillows and song will be followed by a picture book illustrating the words in the song.
These particular products are near and dear to my heart because they grew out of being a mama to an anxious little girl. The narrative in our belly balloon meditation was developed through some pretty tough bedtime talks. Sometimes little kids feel like they need to burden the weight of the world…and I will do whatever I can to create tools for kids and parents to help reconcile those feelings.
Leave a comment below Backyard Yoga’s newest products!
Roll-a-Pose Wintertime
INCLUDES:
- A laminated pose card showing 10 winter themed yoga poses
- 2 10-sided dice in dice
- Game play ideas and pose descriptions
Leave a comment below by February 10th with your favorite yoga pose for a chance to win this Wintertime Roll-a-Pose Game!
by sara | Jan 26, 2017 | Kids Yoga Lesson Plan
I was honored to be interviewed by Backyard Yoga on the inspiration behind Go Go Yoga Kids and why kids need yoga! Read on and enter to win your book giveaway of Go Go Yoga for Kids.
“I am excited to share all of the benefits and fun you can have with yoga and kids!”
-Sara Weis
I had the pleasure of meeting Sara last year at the National Kids’ Yoga Conference in Washington, DC. She had recently self-published Go Go Yoga for Kids, and her energy and spirit definitely impressed me. We have a shared passion for creating tools to help teachers, studios, and parents introduce yoga through play-filled movement, meditation, and mindfulness. Follow along as Backyard Yoga takes the time to get to know a little more about Sara and her book:
Read the full interview below:
BYY: Hi, Sara. Please tell the BYY community a little bit about yourself.
Sara: Kids, teaching, and yoga are definitely my passions. I am currently in my 17th year of being an elementary school teacher, as well as a kids’ yoga instructor and a busy mom of three.
I was able to put all of that into place with my recently-released book, Go Go Yoga for Kids. It is a complete and creative guide to using yoga with kids. This book was designed for parents, teachers, yoga instructors, counselors, and anyone who wants to introduce yoga through movement, mindfulness, and fun. It includes yoga games, pose illustrations, lesson plans, and many resources.
I have worked with kids the majority of my life, and I get a lot of my inspiration from my classroom students, my kids’ yoga students, and my own children.
BYY: When did yoga enter into your life?
Sara: I fell in love with yoga several years ago as a way to supplement my workout routine. At the time, I was training quite a bit for triathlons and half marathons. The hard training definitely took a toll on my body, and my weekly yoga class soon turned into my favorite workout of the week and the one I looked forward to most of all.
BYY: How did your focus on kids’ yoga evolve?
Sara: I became certified in teaching kids’ yoga because I wanted to have the knowledge for my school classroom, as recess and PE times were being reduced. I also loved all of the benefits that yoga brought on mentally and physically.
I loved my kids’ yoga training classes and knew at that moment that this was exactly what I was supposed to do. The one thing I found lacking from my training were the resources to make yoga really fun and engaging for kids, as well as lesson plans for those that wanted to use yoga with kids. At the time there was not much for kids’ yoga on the market for exactly what I wanted kids to experience and gain.
Kids are busy. They need to be moving. I wanted kids to have the benefit of the yoga poses, but also be actively engaged, getting their hearts pumping and having fun. I began to create kid-friendly lesson plans and themes to use with my students, such as Superhero Yoga, Lego Yoga, and trips to the ocean and jungle. They loved it and I was inspired to continue creating more and more fun yoga themes and challenges for kids.
BYY: I’m guessing this was the catalyst behind Go Go Yoga for Kids?
Sara: Yes, Go Go Yoga for Kids was developed as a way to share these lesson plans and resources so others could benefit. It didn’t happen overnight; it was months and months of planning, writing, and culminating all of my resources into an easy-to-follow guide.
BYY: What was your biggest hurdle in making this happen?
Sara: I definitely had “Mom guilt” with my own kids, as I felt like this was taking a lot of my limited extra time and energy. I don’t think my kids saw it that way, though. They are so proud of me for taking something from scratch and developing my passion. My entire family has supported me throughout this entire process.
BYY: As an entrepreneur myself, I also feel the “Mom guilt”. I find getting them involved helps. Did you find this?
Sara: Definitely. Each of my three kids has helped with Go Go Yoga for Kids. Either through being a guinea pig for my ideas, modeling poses, and even having my older daughters help with design and marketing. I know they have learned a lot along the way, and I have even seen them begin to develop their own ideas and products.
BYY: What is your vision for Go Go Yoga for Kids moving forward in 2017?
Sara: I am excited for 2017 and am in the final stages of developing my new Kids’ Yoga Challenge Pose Cards. They will be a great companion to the Go Go Yoga for Kids book. I will also continue to build partnerships with like-minded others such as Backyard Yoga. I am excited about the things that they have coming up as well. We are all better together and it is so much more fun!
BYY: How do you find time to play?
Sara: I love Backyard Yoga’s belief that you should make time to play every day, and I definitely practice that in my day-to-day life. It comes naturally from working with younger kids. My own family loves to be active and we often take our “play” outside with anything from hiking, a game of touch football, or jumping on our trampoline. Kids love it when adults get right in there with them.
BYY: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Sara. Now for the final question: If you could only teach your children 3 lessons, what would they be?
Sara: Compassion, mindfulness, and entrepreneurship. This pretty much sums up what I try to teach my kids in all that I do.
BYY: Thank you, Sara, for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us here at our Backyard Yoga community. Wishing you the best in your business endeavors, your family ventures, and your personal undertakings. Namaste.
by sara | Sep 24, 2016 | Presenting
Check out Rachel’s Empowermoms.net book review of Go Go Yoga Kids: Empower Kids Through Yoga. While you are there, Enter to Win a FREE copy of Go Go Yoga Kids with her F
un Book Giveaway.
Rachel has an amazing story of how she lost 90 pounds, transformed her life and is an amazing and active mom to her two boys. I also love how Rachel is also a Kids Yoga Day Ambassador just like Go Go Yoga Kids!
She definitely has kids’ interests at heart. Read what Rachel has to say here.
