Could this woman save your family’s sanity?
wondering how to keep the kids healthy when trapped inside by freezing weather and the Covid disruption? If you discovered Cosmic Kids in the first lockdown, then you already know the answer lies with a chirpy woman in a blue onesie. While some of us were starting the day with Joe Wicks and his burpees, many more of us were seeing our kids miraculously doing downward dog, inspired by Jaime Amor (the woman in the onesie) promising ‘yoga, stories and fun’.
Her secret, she says, is to keep it ‘wonky and weird’. Children tend to agree, which is why she’s been hailed ‘a modern-day Mary Poppins’. ‘It’s an honour,’ grins Jaime, 41, over Zoom from her Henley home, ‘because Mary Poppins is an absolute master at bringing the wonk and the fun.’
Jaime and Martin (her partner in business and life) posted their first yogafor-kids video in 2012; after drama school, Jaime had worked as a children’s entertainer and then started to incorporate yoga poses into the stories she told kids.
The videos were steadily getting around 100,000 views a day, and then came lockdown. When schools closed in March 2020, Cosmic Kids went global, with daily views rocketing to 1.25 million. Jaime was profiled in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, which called her ‘America’s gym teacher’. ‘It’s like we were waiting in the wings,’ she laughs. ‘We’d been putting out yoga videos each month, and always wondered if there would be a moment where it would suddenly take off. We never thought that it would be down to a global pandemic.’ She avoids being recognised in the street by having a specific look in her videos (the onesie and the bun) because, when she is spotted, people expect her to be endlessly cheery. ‘There’s definitely a game face I have to put on,’ she smiles.
Even more impressively, once the kids are hooked by yoga adventures based on Frozen or Star Wars, Jaime delivers mindfulness via her Zen Den meditations. ‘The big challenge is to not make it like learning TV, because kids sense it, they smell it,’ she explains. ‘It’s got to be fun.’ Jaime hopes to get Zen Den into the curriculum, creating something ‘that a teacher could use in a specific way for social and emotional learning’.
The world of Cosmic Kids now includes books, an app and live events. If you’re in London, you can book to do yoga with Jaime at the Royal Festival Hall in February half-term. But the archive of videos remains on Youtube because Jaime feels that ‘yoga is something everyone should be able to do. It shouldn’t have a price tag.’
Next up is a collaboration with the European Space Agency. Samantha Cristoforetti, the first female commander of the International Space Station, contacted Jaime and asked her to design a plan of zero-gravity yoga that she can do in space. ‘She’s going to report back for us, and it will be so great for kids to see how yoga can help you in all spheres of life,’ says Jaime. ‘Especially girls, because Samantha is a woman, a mum – and in charge of the ISS.’
She says the reaction from parents has been ‘waves of gratitude’ for providing guilt-free screen time. Kids are actively embracing yoga and meditation – and we’ll say namaste to that.
Visit cosmickids.com to download the Cosmic Kids App for ad-free yoga and mindfulness videos for kids. Or try the Cosmic Kids Yoga channel on Youtube