Ex-pat Brit brings yoga to teens

An Auckland-based British expat and yoga teacher is aiming to bridge a gap in the market with a new yoga community project aimed at teenagers getting ready for life after education.

The project will bring together yoga movement, mindfulness, and meditation, with a focus on encouraging the next generation in the workforce to be mindful and use meditation techniques in their everyday lives, something Nina Rogocki, the 33 year-old Brit behind the project and the founder of The Soul Laundry, has been practising for almost four years.

Ms Rogocki came up with the idea for Yoga, Mindfulness and Meditation for Teenagers after noticing that the majority of yoga practices aimed their classes at either adults or young children.

“There seems to be a gap for the generation I feel need it the most – the teenagers and older school-age children who are getting ready for life after education and, in many cases, entering into the big wide world, often with little guidance.”

The six-week programme will cover yoga, breathing for meditation, and mindful meditation in weekly hour-long sessions, with the introduction of open discussions as the course progresses.

Ms Rogocki is starting the project in Auckland but eventually wants to take it into schools and colleges across New Zealand.

“I want to work in communities that haven’t usually got access to this kind of thing. I want to try to steer everyone to a good place.”

Ms Rogocki is currently raising money to purchase equipment and hire a space to run the classes on Pledge Me, the New Zealand based equity crowdfunding platform, and is offering business mentions, and the option to send teens to her six-week course free of charge as a thank you for helping to fund the project.

More information on the Yoga, Mindfulness, and Meditation for Teenagers project can be found on her Pledge Me page.