Flexibility helps in business, yoga

HITTING THE MAT: Om Kids Yoga Center owner Elyse Rotondo instructs daughters Scarlet Rotondo, left, and Lola Rotondo in her Pawtucket studio. Elyse Rotondo is a former fashion executive who switched to teaching, eventually opening the studio last year. / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT
HITTING THE MAT: Om Kids Yoga Center owner Elyse Rotondo instructs daughters Scarlet Rotondo, left, and Lola Rotondo in her Pawtucket studio. Elyse Rotondo is a former fashion executive who switched to teaching, eventually opening the studio last year. / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT

In the true spirit of entrepreneurship, Elyse Rotondo has taken a calculated risk with her lifelong passion for yoga and has opened her own studio. The venture has the added benefit of being unique; it is Rhode Island’s first yoga studio devoted exclusively to children. Located at 999 Main St., in the Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket, Om Kids Yoga Center caters specifically to those 18 years old and younger.
A former salesperson and executive in the world of fashion in Manhattan, Rotondo moved to Rhode Island with her husband in 1999. With no fashion-industry comparable to New York, she returned to school to get a master’s degree in elementary education while also starting a family.
“Before I moved I spent one year teaching in Brooklyn and I come from a family of teachers, so it was an easy choice,” Rotondo said.
She soon entertained the idea of returning to teaching, when through friends she came in contact with Shari Vilchez-Blatt, the founder of Karma Kids Yoga. A former advertising director, Blatt abandoned an executive lifestyle to open five yoga studios in the New York City area and specialize in teaching children. “I had been doing yoga since about 1995, and a light bulb just went off,” Rotondo said. She then took 100 hours of certification training through established facilities such as Karma Kids and Easeful Body Yoga Center in New York and the Radiant Child in Virginia.
“I found it easy because I have the teaching background and know how to handle large groups of children. Then it’s just a matter of keeping it fun and innovative,” the 44-year-old Rotondo said.
With the help of a $20,000 microloan from the South Eastern Economic Development Corp., Rotondo opened the studio in January 2011.
The studio is open Tuesday through Saturday. Toddler and pre-school classes, ages 2 to 4, are conducted in the mornings, and classes for children and youths aged 4 to 18 begin after 3:30 p.m. Classes are an hour long, can be purchased in blocks of 5, 10 and 20, and can be used when convenient. “They don’t expire after a certain amount of time; that way our classes are flexible, no pun intended,” she said. Like many new businesses, marketing and advertising play a large role in getting the word out to the public. Word-of-mouth, school demonstrations, wellness fairs, and health and wellness blogs and websites have so far been the mainstay of her public relations.
She is a strong advocate for the practice. “There are the physical benefits, but I also found that on the days I was doing yoga I was more relaxed and in a better mood,” she said. “For children, yoga is something they can take into adulthood if they choose to. Kids get the same benefits from yoga as adults; strength, flexibility, confidence, stress management, self-control and self-esteem,” she said.
But it’s more than that. Classes for young children also discuss values that coincide with yoga, such as being kind and a good friend, having patience and compassion. Children by nature can be very active, a trait that isn’t conducive to conventional yoga, so Rotondo takes a different approach. “We address that through play. The yoga is hidden in what we do; we’re moving, we’re dancing, imitating animals and telling stories.”
Children seven and younger often fabricate a yoga adventure and incorporate several poses in their story. They are encouraged to use their imagination. Sometimes they may play a game, other times they create it. An imagined trip to Hawaii for example, will include leis and sunglasses, Beach Boys music and yoga, where a warrior pose is perfect for surfing. “We make it fun. They take control of the class and they love it,” she said. “Every class is different.”
Students make their own specific goals and work toward achieving them. There is no competitive component, which leads to their belief that “yoga is practice, not perfect.”
Teen classes are a transitional class between children and adult yoga, where more challenging and flowing sequences, restorative yoga postures and deep relaxation exercises are practiced. Strength and flexibility are studied and the end result is a healthier mind-body relationship.
“I think that 75 percent of children who have one class sign up for more,” she said. “As long as it’s fun and interesting, children will want to come.” •

COMPANY PROFILE
Om Kids Yoga Center
OWNER: Elyse Rotondo
LOCATION: 999 Main St., Suite 702
Hope Artiste Village, Pawtucket
EMPLOYEES: 1
YEAR FOUNDED: 2011
ANNUAL REVENUE: WND

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