About Me

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Background and trAINING

Becca Welna is a kid’s yoga instructor, 200hr certified adult yoga teacher and youth counselor who specializes in making mindfulness and yoga practices accessible to young people of all ages and backgrounds. Becca’s teachings are grounded in the knowledge that a strong inner life provides immeasurable benefits and that our communities are stronger when all youth are valued. Her calm and warm energy, with just a touch of silliness, allows her to meet kids right where they’re at.

Becca’s approach to teaching prioritizes self-compassion, self-advocacy and healthy relationships, both to oneself and others. Her 15 year background in contemporary dance provides a high level of attunement to how the body moves. Becca knows the benefits of combining creative expression and physical movement personally and her teaching is informed by this background. Dance related injuries also provide her with a perspective on the importance of developing a healthy and sustainable relationship with the body at a young age.

For 3 years, Becca worked as a teen crisis counselor at Huckleberry House, a youth shelter in San Francisco. There Becca received extensive training in trauma-informed care, restorative justice, youth development and mindfulness as a form of resilience building. Within this role, Becca worked both one on one and via group facilitation to teach life skills, provide mediation and support youth who were experiencing serious mental health challenges, homelessness, sexual exploitation and family conflict. This work confirmed the importance of strengthening resilience practices in young people and dismantling structures which recreate cycles of inequality, racism and violence. She is now works as the Community Outreach and Education Coordinator at Sojourner, a domestic violence non-profit in Western Hennepin County and is pursing her MPH from the UMN.

Select Education and Training:

Yoga Calm, 1,000 Petals, St. Paul, MN 2017

Kids Yoga Certification, It’s Yoga, Kids, San Francisco, CA 2017

Adult Vinyasa Yoga Certification(200hr) CorePower Yoga, Minneapolis, MN 2009

Dynamic Mindfulness with Youth, Niroga Institute, Berkeley, CA, 2015

The Present Moment: Neurophysiology, Mindfulness, Somatics, Emotion, Seneca Family of Agencies, San Francisco, CA 2015

Why are mindfulness and yoga important for young people?

Research into the benefits of yoga and mindfulness for young people is extremely promising. Below are just a sampling of the positive effects of yoga for kids.

  • Increases focus and concentration

  • Reduces anxiety, anger and depression

  • Enhances flexibility, strength, body confidence and awareness

  • Decreases impulsivity and emotional reactivity, strengthens emotional resilience

  • Supports executive functioning, thus improving academic performance

  • Encourages positive, non-competitive environment and cooperation

For a more extensive list of benefits of yoga and mindfulness for kids, with peer-reviewed sources of supporting research, visiting Yoga 4 Classrooms.

Mindfulness can also be a particularly helpful intervention for youth who have experienced childhood trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences. For more information about ACEs check out the CDC's website.