
Our Program
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little om BIG OM brings fun yoga and mindfulness classes to kids & families around the Madison-area! We bring our mobile program to studios, schools, libraries, camps and other locations around the community.
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Our team of talented instructors use playful and creative activities to teach the many asanas (poses) of yoga and principles of mindfulness to kids of all ages. We feel strongly that exploring yoga should be a positive experience for kids, and it is our goal to introduce our students to skills and strategies that can help them on and off the mat!
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A yoga practice can increase awareness and focus, improve physical fitness and posture, improve breathing techniques, reduce stress and increase confidence, and we love offering kids opportunities to benefit in these ways at a young age. Kids love our classes because learning new ways to use their bodies and minds is exciting and rewarding, and we love seeing our students building confidence in themselves!
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We use songs, games, props/toys and stories to explore these class components:
Warm Ups
Standing Active Asanas (Poses)
Yoga Games and Partner Activities
Sitting/Lying Asanas (Poses)
Pranayama (Breathing Exercises)
Relaxation and Mindfulness (Yes! Relaxation. Kids learn to calm themselves and hold still!)
Our Team
Jamie Gale
Founder & CEO
Jamie Gale is the Founder & Owner of little om BIG OM and just loves seeing proud kids in tree pose who also know how to take deep breaths like pros. She loves working with small yogis, moving, learning, and having fun on the yoga mat while exploring the power of the mind and the breath. She holds her BA in Spanish and a Certificate in Business from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is certified to teach yoga to children through Karma Kids Yoga, Rainbow Kids Yoga, Yoga Education Institute, and YogAutism. Jamie is also an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, is certified to teach yoga to adults through Yoga Education Institute and completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training through Zen Yoga Garage. Jamie is also the Co-Director of Creative Soul Camp and Founder of BOSS MAMA, a professional and personal development network for business-owning moms, as well as a Co-Founder of Meet Me in Child's Pose, a kids yoga teacher training for adults who want to bring yoga in the lives of the children around them. Jamie also owns a podcast network, Lit Path Studios, where he produces and hosts podcasts, and leads a training for summer camp staff called The Star Counselor. When she's not connecting kids and families to yoga through little om BIG OM or running her other programs, Jamie can be found chasing around town with her three energetic kids.
Meghan May
Director
Meghan May is the Director of little om BIG OM in addition to being a lead instructor. She began her practice of yoga when she was a student at the University of Iowa, where she graduated with her BBA in Marketing. She began going to yoga classes as a form of exercise, and soon discovered there were more than just physical benefits from her practice. The mind-body-spirit connection was something she couldn't walk away from. She continued her practice at home and in different studios, as she and her family made several moves. Meghan has been an instructor with little om BIG OM since 2017, teaching the full range of classes for toddlers through teens. Meghan completed her 200-hour RYT and graduated from the Balanced Breath School of Yoga - an affiliate of Integrated Yoga Therapy in 2015, and she completed the Meet Me in Child's Pose Kids Yoga Teacher Training. Meghan has a gift of connection with all ages. Her favorite part of being a little om BIG OM instructor has been helping students connect with their bodies to find coping mechanisms for worries or anxieties while getting the wiggles out. In her free time, Meghan loves to move her body, do puzzles, go on adventures with her family, travel, and of course get to her mat and connect with herself.
Mia Hicks
Director of Inclusion and Outreach & Yoga Instructor
Mia Hicks is the Director of Inclusion and Outreach at little om BIG OM as well as one of our most experienced kids’ yoga instructors. She is passionate about the benefits and importance of yoga and movement for children and uses her own practice to help her stay centered, focused and happy. She believes that yoga and mindfulness are incredible tools that all children (and adults) deserve access to. Mia has over 15 years of experience working with kids of all ages, including seven years as a dual language instruction classroom teacher for Madison Metropolitan School District. She has her Master’s Degree in Literacy Education from UW-Madison and completed her 200-Hour RYT. Mia is currently working toward her PhD through UW-Madison. Mia is an educator and lifelong learner who is passionate about education as a tool to empower all students, especially those from historically marginalized groups. She is excited to continue working to improve access, diversity and inclusion in the local kids yoga community and to help more kids become self-aware and comfortable with their bodies. She also enjoys running, playing with her dog, trying new restaurants and reading. Her favorite part of yoga is savasana - of course!
Colleen Condon
Instructor
Colleen Condon loves connecting with kids and families through the magic of yoga. Colleen has seen, as a kids' yoga teacher and as a school social worker, yoga empower children to live from their inner strength and in greater harmony with others. With a Masters in Social Work from UW-Madison and 12 years of studying yoga and mindfulness, Colleen's students have been some of her greatest teachers, inspiring her to truly show up for life with an open heart, understanding, healthy boundaries, and a playful spirit. Her two-year-old son is constantly adding to those teachings and helps Colleen practice a full-spectrum yoga every day! Learning from all that is around us, honoring the light that lives within, and sharing it together--this is the yoga that Colleen embraces. Colleen completed her 200 hour RYT through Ritam Healing Arts Yoga with Saul David Raye and is certified to teach Trauma-Informed Yoga.
Weslie Cymerman
Instructor
Weslie Cymerman loves her time with children every day. She has been a teacher for 12 years, and currently teaches Health and Wellness at Wingra School in Madison. Weslie began her yoga practice 15 years ago and has been exploring it with curiosity, joy, and compassion ever since. Play and exploration of yoga with children is entirely natural and exciting to her, and she feels honored to have the opportunity to spend her time with little om BIG OM. At home, Weslie has a toddler who loves making animal growls and a baby on the way. Weslie has her BS in Elementary Education from UW-Madison, is a Certified Children's Yoga Instructor through Rainbow Kids Yoga and has completed her 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher Certification.
Kristy Guitian
Instructor
Kristy Guitian’s favorite things are sunshine, ice cream, laughing and yoga. As both a yogi and a pediatric nurse since 2016, the two have finally merged! She has a deep passion for teaching children how to navigate the highs and the lows of their lives through understanding their bodies, how it connects with their mind/emotions and how to have FUN! In her early years of practicing yoga, she enjoyed the physical benefits for her body. However, as time has progressed, the mind-body connection has been what fuels her love for the practice and keeps bringing her to the mat time after time. This is what she is most excited to teach children and families. Kristy completed the Meet Me in Child’s Pose kids yoga teacher training course and is looking forward to practicing yoga with you and your littles!
Melinda Miles
Instructor
Melinda Miles is a lover of all things active and all activities with young people - what could be better than teaching kids and family yoga?! She is a graduate of Purdue University where she majored in Biochemistry and was a member of the rowing team. It was with her teammates that Melinda first started practicing yoga, and she found so many physical and mental benefits that she continued at studios in Madison, at home on the living room floor (where her black lab helps demonstrate the *perfect* downward dog), with the high school rowing team she coaches, and the preschool class of 4 and 5 year olds she teaches daily at a school in Madison!
Dani Butalla
Instructor
Dani Butalla was introduced to yoga during her first pregnancy and from then on she knew yoga needed to be a part of her life for good! Dani received her 200 hr certification through Dragonfly Hot Yoga during the summer of 2017, and began teaching. Most recently, she completed the Meet Me In Child's Pose Kids Yoga Teacher Training. As a mama to littles, a former early childhood educator, and a background in social work Dani knew that little om BIG OM was the perfect opportunity to intertwine her love of yoga and working with children and families! She loves how yoga provides a space to arrive just as you are. Stepping on your mat invites the opportunity to explore movement and breath to create a stronger connection of mind and body. She can't wait to meet you on your mat!
Mo Lancaster
Instructor
Mo Lancaster’s journey with yoga coincided with her journey into motherhood. What began as a physical outlet led to a renewal of her mind-body connection. Yoga has also provided a space to introduce her own children to mindfulness through movement and breath. In Mo’s teaching, her intention is to create a safe and fun space for children to learn about their mind-body connection. Mo's goal is to teach movement and breath work in order to help children name their emotions and give them the vocabulary to discuss their social and emotional selves with parents and others. Mo has studied adult education and Theology for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Mo has always been a teacher at heart, seeking to make connections between ideas and people of all ages, including adults, children or families. Through life experiences and her work at a Madison preschool, she was led to pursue training for teaching kids yoga. Mo completed her kids’ yoga teacher training with Meet Me in Child’s Pose in August 2022 and then her Teacher Certification in March 2023.
Cloey Deignan Koelzer
Instructor
Cloey Deignan Koelzer was born and raised in the Madison area and has a true passion for working with children, creating art and writing. Teaching and engaging in yoga is also something that she is extremely passionate about - it has helped her thrive in so many ways! Cloey loves being outside in nature, hammocking, reading on the beach, swimming, hiking, etc! In addition to teaching kids yoga, Cloey is a music specialist and Club Leader for Creative Soul Camp and she is a published poet and artist. Cloey completed the Meet Me in Child’s Pose Kids Yoga Teacher training before joining the little om BIG OM teaching team!


