Stockport yoga studio brings yoga to the youth with its first ever Kids Club

Four Noble Truths is a yoga studio with a difference.

Founded in 2021 by Manchester-born Jivamukti yoga teacher and former professional dancer Stacey Parkes, Four Noble Truths – 4NT to its regulars – has garnered a loyal and dedicated following in its short existence.

Nestled away in an old mill in Stockport, the space is unlike any other yoga studio you’ll find in the city. And this uniqueness extends to Stacey’s teaching style, with the studio’s members knowing and cherishing her for her humour, unabashed honesty and relatability.

The energy radiating from Four Noble Truths is palpable. But recently that energy came from a slightly different source.

Over the Easter break this year, the studio’s clientele were smaller and much louder than its regulars. Because for one week, it was transformed into a conscious wellbeing club for local children aged 5-12, where they could take part in  wellbeing activities and practices such as yoga, meditation and dance.

The screams and cheers of excited children and pre-teens filled the studio and its uniquely-decorated walls, which – quite literally – have Stacey all over them;  they are decorated with her old dance costumes, photos of family and friends, records and nicknacks.

Stacey’s world

By entering the studio you really are taking a step into Stacey’s’ world.

Despite the many benefits these kinds of practices are known to bring, getting the 4NT Kids Club up and running hasn’t been plain sailing. The initial aim was to offer yoga as part of the school curriculum, but Stacey had to lower her ambitions after facing pushback from schools.

“A lot of the schools don’t want to introduce it as a method of wellbeing; they want to bring it in as a PE lesson,” says Stacey. “But what we promote is so much more than a physical attribute, so trying to convince schools to part with the money to bring people in to teach this is hard.

“Even though wellbeing is so big and the curriculum is archaic, there’s still no movement towards introducing wellbeing,” she continues. “But there should be because there are over 250 children waiting for CALMS appointments, waiting to be diagnosed – and what are we doing to help them in schools?”

Low-income families

In typical fashion, though, Stacey simply took matters into her own hands. The first step was seeking funding from Stockport Council in order to provide 20 funded spaces for children from local low-income families, as Stacey believes that no one should be left behind when it comes to wellbeing.

This extends to the studio’s regular yoga offerings, with a weekly community class taking place every Wednesday evening in the studio and further community programmes running throughout the year.

As soon as the Kids Club was announced, the demand for something of its kind in the area was abundantly clear.

Fully booked

“We pretty much booked out straight away,” says Stacey. “Because obviously people see a need for what we’re doing, and it’s pretty much the only club of its type.

“The funded places really give us an opportunity to push it into schools in the borough, especially to low-income families and children who might never have an easy access route to wellbeing practices,” she continues. “They might never have heard of something like a sound bath or board breaking.”

In fact, it was during the board breaking session when the children really seemed to come alive. Led by empowerment specialist Maria Deetz, the session involved the children being asked to write down their negative emotions towards something on a small board before karate chopping it in half in front of the group.

To say the cheers from the children were deafening as each presented and smashed their board  would be a gross understatement.

Someone to listen to

“It’s so important to just have someone to listen to you when you’re a kid,” says Maria. “Just asking them ‘what does the word confident mean?’ and asking them how they feel and what stops them from being confident, then writing down the words on a board and getting them to smash that board. The look on their faces and hearing them say they feel amazing afterwards, that’s an incredible feeling.”

At a time when diagnoses of neurodivergence and behavioural disorders amongst children are at an all-time high and mental health services at an all-time low, integrating wellbeing activities into children’s daily lives feels particularly pertinent.

A few of the children enrolled in the club even have varying diagnoses of their own, and some even proudly declare and share theirs with each other here in what clearly feels like a safe space for them to do so, without fear of judgement or mockery.

“Seeing the relationships that they’re making,  they’re obviously looking for connection and not finding it in school or feeling left out, and here they all seem to be gelling together really nicely,” says Stacey. “You know, kids will be kids and they can clash at times but they’re all being very good.”

With everything she does, Stacey is always looking for things to improve and expand upon. “We’re learning; this is our trial run,” she says. “What we want to do is go to another borough next year and have two running at the same time and keep adding to it,” she says, pausing briefly before concluding with a wry smile, “until we’ve taken over the world.”

You can donate to Four Noble Truths’ GoFundMe to help fund more community classes and offerings in the studio

Four Noble Truths, Floor 3, Hallam Mill, Hallam Street, Stockport, SK2 6PT