A girl's back with a soccer ball overhead

Oh my ACL! Why Every Girl Athlete Needs Yoga


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"We are not here to entertain. We are here to engage — body, mind, and heart."

Picture this: a 15-year-old girl tears her ACL. She rehabs. She comes back. She tears it again. And then, quietly, without headlines, she quits the sport she has loved since she was six years old. No farewell ceremony. No viral moment. Just a girl who never gets to find out how good she could have been.

This happens every day. And it doesn't have to.

The ACL crisis nobody is talking about loudly enough

Among high school athletes, girls are three to six times more likely than boys to tear an ACL. Over the past 15 years, their injury rate has more than doubled. One knee surgeon called it "probably the biggest youth sports issue in the world right now, apart from concussions."

Most of these tears don't happen from dramatic collisions. They happen in a blink — a hard pivot, a sudden stop — when a knee can't handle the force. Year-round schedules, overuse, and undertrained supporting muscles stack the risk higher with every season.

Prevention exists. FIFA 11+ — a 20-minute warm-up program — has been shown to cut ACL tears by up to 80%. And yet most youth teams still skip it. Unlike concussion protocols, it remains optional. Optional.

Yoga is another powerful piece of that prevention puzzle, and one that addresses not just the body, but everything else a young female athlete carries.

What yoga gives girl athletes that training alone cannot

💪 Body control that prevents injury

Yoga builds the hip, glute, and hamstring strength that protects the knee — plus the body awareness that helps athletes land, pivot, and stop with intelligence rather than force.

🧠 Mental strength under pressure

Breathwork trains the nervous system to stay calm in high-pressure moments — controlling chemistry, sharpening focus, and giving athletes access to their best performance when it matters most.

❤️ Heart — intuition and values

Yoga reconnects athletes to why they play — not to perform for a coach or a scoreboard, but because movement is joy, because sport is love, because the game is worth staying in for the long run.

🌬️ Nervous system recovery

Year-round sport loads the nervous system as much as the body. Mindfulness and restorative movement give it the genuine recovery window it needs to come back stronger — not just physically, but mentally.

A note to coaches

The most effective coaches today understand that winning and well-being are not opposites — they are partners. A girl who feels strong in her body, calm in her mind, and connected to her love of the game is a girl who shows up, stays in, and performs at her best — not just this season, but for years to come.

Badass, loving leaders — the ones who build athletes from the inside out — know that conflict is a goldmine, that rest is not weakness, and that inspired action only comes from an athlete who feels genuinely seen and supported. That is the culture yoga helps build. On the mat and off it.

Keep girls in the game

Research from the Women's Sports Foundation is clear: girls who stay in sport have higher self-esteem, better academic performance, stronger mental health, and greater leadership skills. The goal is not just to get girls playing. It is to keep them playing — strong, safe, and in love with what their bodies can do. 💚

Yoga is how we help them stay. Get our free guide for athlete yoga programs at www.itsyogakids.com/freebies

Stay Strong. Be Calm. Stay in the game. ⭐️

XO-Michelle

A girl in the woods tossing fallen leaves

Root Down, Let Go, Rise Up: Kids Yoga For Fall Equinox


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"The trees are about to show us how beautiful it is to let things go."

On September 22, at exactly 8:04 PM, something remarkable happens. Day and night become equal. Light and dark find their perfect balance. The Earth itself pauses, just for a moment, in the space between one season and the next. And then, gently, it tilts toward autumn.

The Fall Equinox is one of the most quietly powerful moments of the year. And at It's Yoga Kids®, it is one of our favorite themes to bring to the mat because nature itself teaches children everything yoga has always known.

What the equinox teaches children

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal" and "night" — on this day, day and night are of nearly equal length across the whole planet. That is a concept children can feel in their bodies as much as understand in their minds.

Balance. The give and take between effort and ease. The wisdom of releasing what no longer serves you so that something new can grow. These are not abstract ideas, they are the living lessons of every autumn tree, every falling leaf, every breath that rises and falls.

🌳 Root down like a tree: Tree pose in autumn takes on new meaning with roots deep in the earth, branches reaching toward the sky, trusting that we can sway in the wind and still stay grounded.
 
🍂 Let go like a leaf: Trees don't cling to their leaves, they trust the season and release with grace. What can your child let go of this autumn? A worry? A habit? A heavy feeling they've been carrying since summer?
 
⚖️ Find your balance: The equinox is nature's reminder that balance is not a destination, it is a daily practice. Equal light. Equal dark. Equal breath in and breath out. This is what yoga teaches on every mat, every class.
 
🌅 Rise up into a new season: After every release comes renewal. Autumn is not an ending; it is the earth gathering its energy inward, preparing for the burst of new life that always follows rest.

A simple Fall Equinox practice for families

This September 22, try this with your child — no mat required:

🌬️ Breathe in for 4 counts — welcome autumn in

🌅 Breathe out for 4 counts — release and rise into the new season

🌳 Stand in Tree pose together — feel your roots, feel the balance

🍂 Name one thing to let go of — a worry, a habit, a heavy feeling

✨ Name one thing you're grateful for — harvest the goodness of the year

The equinox is a reminder that nature is the original teacher, and that the wisdom of the seasons is always available to us, if we slow down enough to notice. That is slow wellness. That is kids yoga. That is the IYK® High5 Habits in their most natural, beautiful form.

Stay Strong. Be Calm. Welcome autumn. 🍂

With love, Michelle

Happy BDY letter balloons and a piece of cake

My Birthday Wish: 10,000 Leaders. 10 Million Children.


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"I wanted this 20 years ago and it didn't exist. So I built it."

September 13 is my birthday. And like every year, my wish is the same.

Train 10,000 leaders to reach 10 million children worldwide.

Not because it's a nice number. Because every child on this planet deserves access to the physical fitness and mental health tools that help them feel stronger, calmer, and more confident — and right now, too many don't have that. That is what keeps me going. That is what drives this mission every single day.

Good. Better. Best.

Kids yoga programs are popping up everywhere. And I love that. The world is waking up to what we've known for two decades that children need movement, mindfulness, and the tools to manage their own emotions and energy.

But here's what I also see: too many programs are well-intentioned and not well-trained. Disjointed pieces gathered from multiple sources. Systems that look good on paper and fall apart the moment a real child walks in the room.

Because teaching kids yoga is easy — until the wheels fall off the bus.

And then? Not so much.

What nobody warns you about

Class management is one of the biggest challenges every new kids yoga instructor faces. The reality of a room full of children looks something like this:

😤 They don't listen

🧘 They won't stay on their mat — or worse, they play with it

📢 They have loud, disruptive outbursts

🙈 Or they just hide

🌀 And every single class brings a different mix of personalities, energy levels, and needs

This is not a failure of the children. It is a gap in the training. And it is exactly why I built IYK® Warrior 1 the way I did, not just as a yoga training, but as a complete, proven system for teaching kids safely and successfully in the real world.

Warriors discover. Ignite. Protect.

The leaders we train are not just yoga teachers. They are Warriors in every sense of the word.

🔍 Discover your purpose: You came to this work because something called you. Our training helps you find the clarity and confidence to answer that call, fully and fearlessly.

⚡ Ignite your power: 24 hours. 8 modules. A complete, proven system that gives you everything you need to walk into any room and teach any child with skill, joy, and total confidence.

🛡️ Protect your peace: Class management, behavior tools, sequencing, and the specific do's and don'ts that keep every class safe, grounded, and genuinely fun (even when the wheels get wobbly).

My birthday wish for you

You don't have to gather pieces from multiple sources and hope it holds together. The system is already built — tested, proven, and ready for you. Twenty years ago I needed it and it didn't exist. So I created it. And now I want to put it in your hands so we can reach every child who needs it together. 

If you've been thinking about becoming a certified kids yoga leader today is a great day to say yes. That would be the best birthday gift I could ever receive. 🎂

Stay Strong. Be Calm. Join the mission. 🚀 (It's onsale now)

With love and gratitude, Michelle

 
 
A granddaughter laying on her grandmother in a hug

Longevity-Maxxing: How Yoga Bridges Grandparents and Grandchildren


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"Boredom is the only thing that makes you feel old."

My granny lived to 100. And one of the things I believe kept her strong, mobile, and fully alive was something we did together — yoga. Those shared moments on the mat kept her body moving and her spirit lit. They kept us close in a way that nothing else quite did. That is not just a family story. That is longevity research in action.

Meet the Nonna-Maxxing movement

The wellness world has a new obsession, and for once, it makes complete sense. Nonna-maxxing is the 2026 trend that embraces the slower, more intentional lifestyle of an Italian grandmother. Walk more. Eat real food. Stay connected to your community. Drink your coffee without also answering emails.

And the science backs it completely. Blue Zone research consistently links this kind of lifestyle — unhurried, communal, physically active by default — to lower rates of chronic illness, sharper cognitive function in later life, and measurably greater well-being. Italy leads the European Union in life expectancy. Sardinia is one of the world's five Blue Zones. The pattern is clear: movement, food, connection, and an unhurried relationship with time are the ingredients of a long and joyful life.

Sound familiar? It should. It is exactly what we teach at It's Yoga Kids®.

Why grandparents and grandchildren belong on the mat together

Here's what the research, and my own family, confirms: the intergenerational bond between grandparents and grandchildren is one of the most powerful protective factors for both. Grandchildren give grandparents purpose, joy, and a reason to stay active. Grandparents give children roots, perspective, and the kind of unconditional love that shapes who they become.

Yoga is the perfect bridge. It asks nothing of either party except presence. No scoreboard. No screen. No expertise required. Just breath, movement, and being together which is, it turns out, all longevity ever really needed.

💪 For grandparents: strength and mobility

Gentle yoga builds the balance, flexibility, and muscle strength that keep older adults independent, upright, and living fully on their own terms.

🧠 For grandparents: sharper minds

Mindfulness and breathwork support cognitive function and emotional regulation — keeping the mind as active as the body, well into later life.

🦋 For grandchildren: roots and resilience

Children who practice alongside their grandparents absorb something no classroom can teach — the wisdom, patience, and joy of someone who has lived a long, full life.

💚 For both: the gift of togetherness

Shared movement creates shared memory. The poses may be forgotten, but the feeling of moving, breathing, and laughing together? That stays for a lifetime.

This Grandparents Day — roll out two mats

You don't need a class, a teacher, or a plan. You just need each other. Breathe together. Stretch together. Laugh when someone wobbles. That is nonna-maxxing. That is longevity-maxxing.

And that is the purest form of It's Yoga Kids® — because wellness is always more powerful when it's shared. 

Stay Strong. Be Calm. Live long together. 🌿

With love, Michelle