12-year-old certified to teach BUTI yoga classes
DARTMOUTH – Kallie Fournier is a business owner, certified BUTI yoga instructor, and award-winning competitive swimmer. And she’s still in middle school.
Kallie, 12, is currently one the youngest certified BUTI instructors in the country.
She’s been teaching BUTI yoga – a form of power yoga with tribal dance — since she got her certificate in October of 2017. Technically, her parents Shawn and Patti Fournier own Yoga with Kallie, LLC, but that’s only because she’s too young in the eyes of the law.
“I’m proud of her,” said Shawn Fournier, who is used to walking through the house and finding his daughter in practice. “She’s dedicated. She gets straight A’s, she swims and does this.”
Kallie, of Berkley, said she learned about BUTI yoga when she attended a class at Ritual Sweat in Dartmouth with her mom and “I wanted to try,” she said.
She did try it out, and loved it. “I wanted to keep going.”
She quickly learned the poses and routine and, because she was already athletic, “it got easier.”
Kallie teaches a BUTI yoga class to kids, ages 6 to 13, at Ritual Sweat each week, and will teach another at Blend Café & Yoga in Somerset on Saturday, April 14.
“I think they like to come and experience something new,” she said.
One of her trainers, Sasha Watson, a master BUTI instructor at Ritual Sweat, said her young student is “very welcoming to the kids,” including children with different abilities. “She's motivated. She works really hard.”
Kallie, who loves math at school, said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up.
For now, she’ll stick to teaching BUTI. Watson said when Kallie is 16, she can acquire a higher certification.
“She’s definitely a positive person in this community,” Watson said.
Email Deborah Allard at dallard@heraldnews.com.
Kids BUTI classes with Kallie
Kids BUTI Yoga pop-up, Saturday, April 14, 1 p.m., Blend Café & Yoga, 255 County St., Somerset, (ages 6 to 13), cost is $10 per child.
Kids BUTI yoga, every Friday, 4:30 p.m., Ritual Sweat, 634 State Road, Dartmouth, (ages 6 to 13), cost is $10 per child.