Yoga has been a fitness practice for decades now, but one San Fernando Valley entrepreneur has found a way to bring the ancient exercise discipline to the school classroom. Lake Balboa’s Kimberly Fujitaki said she founded Little Heroes Yoga last year with the goal of helping children self-regulate, manage stress and “live their most heroic lives” through yoga. With no brick-and-mortar location, she teaches nine to 12 classes a week throughout the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles. Lessons for infants and toddlers run $75 for a 45-minute session while teen classes cost $80 an hour. But she said her most popular classes are at in-school and after-school enrichment programs. She has contracts at six schools, including Beth Hillel Elementary in Valley Village. The number of classes and prices vary by institute and contract, yet all have the same goal — to bring peace, understanding, strength and flexibility into children’s daily routines. “The benefits in a school program of respecting your body, cultivating stillness of mind and allowing yourself to be playful are numerous,” said Mark Balfe-Taylor, director of yoga at TruFusion, a Pilates and yoga gym in Las Vegas. Yoga might not be a traditional American school sport, so marketing was key to procuring Fujitaki’s school contracts. A lot of her business comes from word of mouth, and some of the schools she works with heard about Little Heroes through parents of her yoga students. She also takes advantage of social media marketing and traditional mailers. Once a school is interested, Fujitaki talks to the principal and offers to teach a sample class. Business is booming, she said. Last year, she was teaching at half as many schools as she is today and is negotiating contracts with other schools scheduled to begin in the spring. Balfe-Taylor said successful adult and child yoga have key differences. “The class (for children) cannot be conducted like a regular yoga class as it will fail to maintain interest,” he said. “It needs to be made more playful and fun.” Fujitaki instructs her school sessions mainly at preschools, where her classes range from six to 14 toddlers, while her elementary and middle school classes tend to be larger. She also makes it a point to hold public classes such as last week’s Grateful Gathering, where parents and their toddlers practice yoga focused on gratitude and bringing families together. Yoga also teaches lessons valuable for business. “Little Heroes Yoga is for the courageous,” said Fujitaki. “By being able to practice yoga, you learn how to fall and get back out there. You learn to try your very hardest every time you come to the yoga mat.” – Stephanie Henkel