WORCESTER, Mass. — Lisa Casillo and Ava Dussault are more than just mother and daughter — they’re also teachers and business partners.

This summer, Casillo and Dussault started “2 Mindful Girls,” a wellness organization located at 31 Harvard St. in Worcester, that creates yoga and mindfulness products and educational programs for children.

“What we’ve been trying to do is children-specific,” Casillo said. “We thought it would be a good activity for kids to jump on to instead of something competitive. We want to introduce children to yoga in an engaging way.”

For the past five years, Casillo has taught social emotional learning, mindfulness and yoga to public school students from kindergarten through the fourth grade. She completed her 95-hour children’s yoga certification with a trauma-informed background and is certified to teach yoga to children, tweens, teens and people with diverse abilities, in school and other settings. 

“We incorporate social emotional learning as a special, like going to gym,” Casillo said. “What I found is that they’re really interested in learning about mindfulness and yoga, but it has to be engaging and hands-on.”

Yoga practice. Photo by Ava Dussault.

Casillo has had students within her school program who started with her as kindergarteners and are now in the fourth grade. She said that she’s seen them grow and benefit from her crafts and exercises.

“They still seem interested,” Casillo said. “I think as the years go on, I could see the result of them saying ‘that’s an energizing breath, that’s a calming breath.’” 

Dussault is a junior at Providence College, where she is pursuing degrees in elementary and special education, as well as psychology. She received her 95-hour children’s yoga certification in the spring of 2020. She also became Zumba- and Zumba Kids-certified in 2019. 

Casillo said that Dussault’s tools as a yoga and mindfulness instructor have come in handy as she works in the Rhode Island schools.

“A lot of the teachers and principals in Rhode Island, they’ve asked her to incorporate yoga into the day,” Casillo said “They’re actually very impressed that she knows mindfulness techniques and yoga, and the kids ask what pose they are learning today, and what breath.”

Students and their mindfulness crafts. Photo by Ava Dussault.

The two have forged their resources and social emotional learning skills together to create a mindfulness and yoga experience that allows children of all ages and abilities to express themselves.

The duo makes their classes interactive with props, like balancing birds the kids can put on their hands, or pom poms they pick up with their feet.

“My dad told me to do [the poses] every day and show them to everyone,” said 8-year-old Kayla Singh. “I’ve started doing them in the evening. I did a video of it once, and I was proud of myself.”

Singh said that she’s going to start doing yoga with her mom now as well.

Kids also learn about their breathing. One activity includes crafting a stick with different colored beads, so that they can count their breaths and visualize the steps.

Glow-in-the-dark yoga. Photo by Ava Dussault.

This summer, Casillo and Dussault are hosting two-hour camps with changing themes for kids, the most recent being “Glow in the Dark.” Sasha Jaquith, who has attended three of the 2 Mindful Girls programs so far, said her favorite theme has been the “Circus.”

“Probably because of the games,” said Jaquith, who is 9 years old. “We played ring toss. We did a balancing one. We did yoga for your feet — we picked up pom poms with our toes.”

Jaquith said that she thinks the yoga practices help her with her ballet, especially as she starts to do more classes that are more focused on balance.

All of this work helps the children focus, join a community and work on overall mental strength.

“I just think it’s something that’s a good way for children to socialize and learn about life skills like friendship and getting along with other people,” Castillo said. “In the fall, it will be more about mindfulness and yoga, interweaving like breathing and yoga poses with themes like gratitude during Thanksgiving.”

In the fall, Casillo said that they plan to host classes for two nights a week after school, in addition to possibly a Saturday class.

To see upcoming programming and sign up for yoga or mindfulness classes, visit 2mindfulgirls.com.