Aditi is one of the Yoga Buggy’s lovely teachers. She has been invaluable with her support lately for our Community Zoom Yoga (CO-ZO-YO!) classes that we launched for kids and families during the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Aditi has a relaxed, playful and friendly teaching style, often involving songs, stories and games. She is a remarkably accomplished woman: on top of teaching yoga, Aditi is a successful business person, is studying to become a counsellor, AND is a mother of two sweet kiddos. The Yoga Buggy sat down to chat with her and ask her a few questions about her path.
TYB: Aditi, you grew up in India, the birthplace of Yoga! Did you experience yoga growing up?
AJ: I actually did. My grandma would suggest that I get up early in the morning and practice with her. Many times, we would practice Pranayama [techniques and exercises to regulate the breath] at different camps, workshops especially at Temples or other community places of gathering. I never considered it as a profession though. I played with it off and on. I moved to Canada in 2005. To escape cold Canadian winters, I joined Bikram Yoga and that was first time I experienced 'Hot yoga' per se and went back in 2010 to delve deep into the practice. As luck would have it, my first formal training actually happened in 2013 in Kelowna, BC through Tandava Yoga in Kripalu Lineage. I have not looked back since.
TYB: What brought you to teaching yoga?
AJ: A lot of different life experiences. Yoga mat is my happy place. I've personally experienced its benefits big time and definitely want it to be part of my children's lives in some way or form.
TYB: Your kids seem to love teaching with you! What do they think about yoga?
AJ: They definitely have fun with it at times. They are still evolving and don’t understand a lot about it yet. I want to keep it casual for them, something they can come back to again and again. My daughter thinks it's a good way for her to calm down and Om likes the acro stuff that we explore together at times.
TYB: You are currently pursuing graduate studies in counselling. Do you find an intersection between yoga and counselling?
AJ: Absolutely. Being a yoga teacher for so long did inspire me to add more tools in my kit to help individuals and families. Mindfulness based stress reduction approach is becoming more and more popular in the Psychotherapy world and draws heavily from Yoga and meditation. Many grounding and calming techniques for issues like anxiety and depression are inspired from Yoga. Somatic therapy also has some parallels with Yoga. I love that these fields offer so much in terms of emotional regulation and depend on each other in some ways.
TYB: Aside from teaching, you are a successful business woman in your own right! Please tell us about your YouTube journey.
AJ: Being a YouTube partner has been quite a journey. I started in 2011 and became a partner the same year with opportunities to connect with my audience globally at a large and monetize my content. I have passion to teach and I loved sharing what I knew with people at a larger scale. Things in the Youtube world and social media in general are constantly undergoing change; competition is becoming stiff so it's challenging to stay on top of things all the time. Hence I decided to pursue other passions and work on growing as a person and parent both personally and professionally and do things that give me joy and excite me at a deeper level.
What advice would you like to share with new/aspiring kids' yoga teachers?
Stay connected with your inner child and never stop learning and growing. Let's keep spreading love of yoga, movement and mindfulness at the grassroot level so the world can become a better place to live :) and coming generations are full of resilience, strength and peace.
You heard it here folks! Want to bring kids’ yoga to a school or community space in the Coquitlam area and have the fantastic Aditi as your teacher? Connect with us here at The Yoga Buggy.
The Yoga Buggy relies on the generosity of our community to bring Yoga to more Kids. Please click here to join our by donation online classes. Hope to see you there!
