A Yoga Franchise for Kids Stretches Bodies and Minds Imagination Yoga uses storytelling to encourage kids to move through a series of yoga positions.

By Tracy Stapp Herold

A group of explorers is sailing down a river when suddenly they plunge over a waterfall and, emerging from the water, find themselves face to face with a family of warthogs. These intrepid adventurers are actually a classroom of preschoolers experiencing Imagination Yoga, a program that uses storytelling to encourage kids to move through a series of yoga positions such as the boat pose (mimicking floating down a river), seated forward bend (going over a waterfall) and cat-cow pose (yes, warthogs.)

The program got its start when Jamie Dix, an early-childhood educator and certified yoga instructor, decided to combine her two passions. Her technique worked so well that she was asked to instruct other teachers on how to integrate it into their classrooms. It was then that Dix teamed up with her siblings, Jessica McClintic and Jon Hopkins, to turn Portland, Ore.-based Imagination Yoga into a business.

They started out offering a licensing program, then switched to a franchise system in 2012. Now they've decided to offer both options to accommodate those who want to teach the Imagination Yoga program as a hobby and those who want a full-time franchise business.

"We didn't want to stifle the overall growth of the business by focusing on only one business model," explains McClintic, who serves as business director. The siblings are also hoping to publish a book soon, to spread Imagination Yoga's philosophies and techniques even further.

We asked McClintic to share some wisdom from her adventures as Imagination Yoga's franchisor and one if its instructors.

Can you really get kids to do yoga?
When people think of adult yoga, they think of quiet and calm and perfect poses. But we're never asking the children to sit still. So much of school right now is, "You must sit still and listen to what I have to say." But what we're saying is, "I want you to move your body, I want you to roar like a lion, I want you to be silly and crazy and loud with me." And because we're having fun with them, we get their attention, and it creates a platform for having these conversations that are so desperately needed.

One of those conversations is about being what you call "boldly kind." What does that mean?
A little girl came up to us in one of our classes and asked, "Do I have to be kind to a person that's bullying me?" So that was where the idea of "boldly kind" came from; it means that by looking at that person and saying, "No, you cannot treat me that way," you're actually showing them a kindness, because you're helping them understand it's not OK. Kindness doesn't have to be gentle. Kindness has to be about doing the right thing and making sure everybody is treated fairly in the world.

Why continue to teach Imagination Yoga classes yourself instead of focusing on running the franchise?
One of the things I always have to ask myself is what parts of this business do I love the most and why did I get into this business in the first place, and the reason is because I love working with children. I also love teaching adults how to work with children, and I feel like I owe it to the adults that I teach to remain authentic. At the same time, I teach fewer classes than I could, in order to be the support to my franchisees and licensees that I promised them I would be.

Do you want your franchisees to be hands-on, too?
Yes, we like them to make a commitment to teach classes themselves for at least a year, because as the leader, you have to understand what it is you're asking people to do. And in order to run this business successfully, you have to love working with children. That's the No. 1 thing I look for in a franchisee.

Tracy Stapp Herold

Entrepreneur Staff

Tracy Stapp Herold is the special projects editor at Entrepreneur magazine. She works on franchise and business opportunity stories and listings, including the annual Franchise 500.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

This 30-Year-Old's $6,000-a-Month Side Hustle Started Making Money 'Immediately' — But He's Not Quitting His Day Job

Derrick Mathy works in orthopedic surgical device sales and is on a mission to bring people together in real life.

Side Hustle

'I Was Called Crazy': This 27-Year-Old's Side Hustle Hit $30,000 a Month in Under a Year — Now It's Worth Millions

Changing regulations forced Angel Rodriguez's jet ski rental company to shut down, and the young entrepreneur had to figure out his next move — fast.

Business News

'Unprecedented in Our 53-Year History': Southwest Airlines Announces Its First Mass Layoffs Ever

The airline is eliminating 15% of its corporate workforce, including many in senior leadership positions.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Elon Musk's xAI Claims Its New Grok 3 AI Is Better Than ChatGPT and DeepSeek: 'Seeing the Beginnings of Creativity'

xAI debuted the new AI on Monday, claiming it has 10 times the computational power of Grok 2.

Thought Leaders

Cultural Fit Can Make or Break an M&A Deal

One of the most critical components for success -- cultural fit -- often falls by the wayside.