Stacey Louise
~Founder & facilitator of Inspired Kids Yoga & Calm Fairies
When I declared as a child that I wanted to be a teacher, I didn't predict that my career path was going to be such a meandering one. I always knew I wanted to work with kids, but it took me a while to find the right modality.
I started off on the logical pathway with a Bachelor of Education (Primary). After the first year I had an alarming realisation this wasn't the right context for me to teach in, as it didn't address the whole child's development in the way I felt was important.
I changed direction, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Communication (Drama and Screen), with the vision to create a children's TV show to teach kids how to move their bodies and think positive. This dream led me to work at Network TEN for five years in TV studio production on live to air news and a preschool program called “In The Box”.
During this time, I was experiencing anxiety attacks and a doctor recommended that I try yoga. Yoga was my saving grace. It not only gave me the joy of movement that I had felt as dancer throughout my entire childhood, but it gave me a sense of calm that I had never experienced before. It was Yoga that carried me through the darkest of days when I was later diagnosed with a chronic health condition.
Feeling the stress of the TV industry impacting my health, I left my job in 2005, did my first Yoga Teacher training course, and started my own business where I offered yoga & fitness classes for both children and adults. I have since taught yoga in primary & high schools; child care centres; sporting teams; yoga studios & clinical settings.
Four years after starting my own business, my love for yoga and the beach took over and I moved from the city of Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, to focus on regaining good health and to start fresh with a new business.
In 2008, I took a leap of faith and flew over to California for AcroYoga teacher training with the co-creators Jenny Sauer-Klein & Jason Nemer. Being one of the first four certified AcroYoga teachers in Australia brought great opportunities.
I toured around Australia teaching workshops; at cool festivals like Woodford Folk Festival; and I even peformed on national TV. Check it out
To this day, I love teaching AcroYoga in my kids and teens classes and bringing the elements of conscious communication; trust and community into my classes & teacher training courses.
Studying Yoga Therapy with Radiant Light Yoga in 2010/11 forever changed me. Not only did I move forward on my own health journey, but I evolved as a teacher.
It allowed me to take a further step from teaching fitness and yoga classes with kids in a mental health ward to working in my weekly role as a Yoga Therapist in a children's hospital ward which is now known as "Calm Fairies" as well as working one on one with kids in a more therapeutic capacity.
In 2012 I delivered my first 3 day Inspired Kids Yoga Teacher Training which has now grown into a full 95 hour Yoga Alliance Registered Children's Yoga Teacher Training. The intention has always been to ensure that the training is authentic, heart centred and focused on teaching the tools that kids need in their daily life to feel calm, courageous and compassionate.
I delivered modules for Level 1 and 2 teacher training with Being Yoga, which helped me to refine my skills in articulating complex yogic concepts into terms that are easy to understand for large groups of people with various experience levels.
For five years, I presented Yoga Therapy classes at Yoga Fest to hundreds of students who have come away feeling informed and inspired to better their health with yoga. This led to me write a feature article and Yoga Therapy sequence to benefit thyroid and adrenal health and landed me on the front cover of Yoga Life Australia magazine.
My time working in TV was not wasted, as I have been able to put my TV skills to good use with the production of the “Light Up Little Lights Kids Yoga” series which streamed on Food Matters TV & "Gaia" TV and is stocked in libraries around Australia.
It was a delight to be the Kids Yoga teacher at Wanderlust festivals in Australia and New Zealand. Holding a space for the little yogis to give their bodies and overstimulated minds a chance to rest within the frenzy of the festival is so rewarding.
In October 2021, my creative Kid's Yoga class to the storybook, "Peppa Loves Yoga", featured in the "Peppa Pig Practices Mindfulness" campaign and appears on the official Peppa Pig YouTube channel; Kidspot magazine Facebook page and Save the Children website.
As the only Yoga Therapist working with children in a hospital setting in Australia, I knew it was time to create a legacy. In 2019, I launched "Calm Fairies" to train up more Calm Fairies to work in children's hospital wards around Australia.
Qualifications
~ Registered Senior Level Yoga Teacher (Yoga Australia)
~ Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (Yoga Alliance)
~ Registered Children’s Yoga Training School (Yoga Alliance)
~ Yoga Therapist working in Children’s Hospital wards (since 2005)
~ Short courses in : Trauma Informed Yoga for Children; Play Therapy; Meditation; Zen Thai Massage
~ AcroYoga Teacher
~ Kidfit Instructor; Group Fitness Leader; Personal Trainer (Cert 4 Fitness)
~ Bachelor of Communication (Theatre/ Screen Production)
~ Bachelor of Primary Education (first year only, not completed)
~ Currently studying a Diploma of Counselling
Career Highlights
~ Founder of “Calm Fairies” hospital program & app
~ Presenting a Yoga class on Peppa Pig You Tube Channel
~ Producing a Kids Yoga video series that screened globally on Gaia TV
~ Teaching Kids Yoga at Wanderlust Festivals at Sunshine Coast; Melbourne; Sydney; NZ
~ Travelling around QLD teaching over 80 workshops for Kindy teachers in 2022 & 2023
~ Presenting at C & K early childhood national conference
~ Teaching Yoga at All Hallows Girls School for 14 years
~ Teaching AcroYoga around Australia
~ Performing AcroYoga on national TV
~ Part of the Being Yoga Teacher Training team (Level 1 & 2)
~ Presenting Yoga Therapy at Yoga Fest
~ Presenting calm tools to nurses & pharmacists in hospital
~ Being a Yoga teacher at the EndED (Eating Disorders) "House of Hope" mindful studio
~ Teaching Yoga to children in a refuge for domestic violence survivors
~ Working in Network TV production
~ Positively impacting the lives of thousands of people over 2 decades
"Stacey is not only an amazing yoga teacher, but she is a beautiful human being. Her passion is contagious and her light shines bright"
~ Mila
Kids Yoga Teacher Training Graduate
Beyond all of my qualifications, it is my PASSION for teaching and being with kids that allows me to shine brightest.
Although my career path has been a meandering one, it has led me to be in this perfectly prepared place to guide you.
It is my heartfelt intention to teach kids and teens the tools they need to feel calm, courageous and compassionate and to INSPIRE people like YOU to join me in this mission.
Namaste. Stacey.