The signature method
The COMPAS Framework
A compass for the inner world.
My signature whole-child wellbeing method that uses yoga in its fullest sense, not only movement and poses, but breath, mindfulness, emotional awareness, mindset, connection and inner strength. Built on nervous-system science and child development. Delivered through play children love.
Every child has a Northern Star
Inside every child is a place of calm, confidence and inner knowing. We call it their Northern Star.
Sometimes life feels like a storm. Big feelings, busy rooms, exam pressure, too much energy or not enough words. The light isn’t gone; it’s just hidden behind the clouds.
Most children are told to “calm down” hundreds of times before anyone shows them how. COMPAS is the how: six capacities, practised through movement, breath and story, until finding the way back becomes something a child can do on their own.
That’s the difference between soothing a child and equipping one.
It wasn’t invented. It was needed.
Over the years of teaching, I kept noticing the same thing. Children are often worried about expressing themselves. And what I really wanted them to leave with wasn’t a nice memory of a class. It was something they could reach for when life gets difficult.
So I wanted every class, every story, every breathing exercise, every movement to build practical life skills, while children were having fun and feeling like they were on an adventure.
Eventually, all those pieces came together into one framework.
That framework became COMPAS.
And it matters now more than ever. Our children are growing up in the most overwhelming information environment in history: AI that answers before they finish wondering, feeds built to hold their attention, endless versions of who they could be. We can’t slow that world down. What we can do is strengthen the child inside it. The skills no machine can hand them are exactly the ones COMPAS trains: knowing what they feel, settling their own storm, aiming their own attention, and staying true to who they are.
The more artificial the world becomes, the more valuable the inner compass.
Marketa, founder
The six points of the COMPAS
The wheel is what children build over time: six capacities, practised through play until they belong to the child.
Calm & Connection
(with Compassion)
Emotional regulation · Presence · Belonging
We begin by grounding: breathing, settling, tuning in. Children learn to notice how their body feels, calm their inner world, and build a compassionate connection with themselves and others.
Optimism & Openness
Growth mindset · Curiosity · Adaptability
Through playful storytelling and sensory experience, children soften tension, explore imagination, and open the door to curiosity, confidence and joy.
Movement & Mindfulness
Physical vitality · Inner stillness · Yoga
Dynamic yoga sequences, warrior poses and balances build focus, strength and body awareness. Movement becomes the pathway into stillness.
Purpose & Positivity
Values · Meaning · Motivation
Children explore their Northern Star: what makes them unique, strong and proud. They learn to connect with their purpose and claim their inner power.
Awareness & Acceptance
Self-knowledge · Empathy · Kindness
We slow down and notice feelings with kindness. Children learn to understand emotions, respond rather than react, and meet challenges without self-criticism.
Strength & Self-Belief
Confidence · Resilience · Perseverance
This is where transformation lands. Through empowering practice and uplifting language, children recognise the courage already inside them, building confidence from the inside out.
COMPAS in action: what happens in a hard moment
The wheel is what children build over time. This is how it works when a feeling gets big, in a session, a classroom, or at home.
Calm the Body
Breath and grounding to regulate the nervous system first.
Open Safety & Connection
Trust and emotional security before anything else is possible.
Move the Emotion
Safe, structured movement to release the overwhelm.
Pause for Awareness
Simple language for noticing what’s really there.
Acknowledge Effort
Strength-based reinforcement that builds confidence.
Strengthen Self-Belief
Helping children internalise “I can handle this.”
The compass is non-linear by design: like a real compass, a child can pick it up from any point. An agitated child starts at Calm. A doubting teen starts at Strength.
The rhythm itself is the teaching: children’s nervous systems learn that activation can always find its way back to calm, and practised weekly, the sequence becomes an inner map they carry everywhere.
Play on the surface. Science underneath.
Bottom-up, not top-down
Young children can’t think their way out of big feelings; the thinking brain goes offline first. COMPAS works through the body: breath, movement and rhythm speak the nervous system’s own language.
Regulation before reflection
Every session moves between energised and calm states in a safe, guided rhythm. An ESDM therapist who observed a session described these transitions as “seamless, creating a safe and nurturing rhythm for the children to follow.”
Story makes it stick
Children don’t remember techniques; they remember adventures. The Northern Star, the storm, the compass: these images carry the tools home. Parents regularly report children explaining the Northern Star weeks later, unprompted.
Repetition builds the pathway
One workshop plants the seed. Weekly practice across a term is where regulation becomes a skill, which is why school and centre programs run as term partnerships.
Who it helps
Ages 2 to 12
Kids For Yoga
The Magical Journey
Childcares · primary schools · vacation care · family workshops
Ages 12 to 18
Teens For Yoga
The Empowered Path
High schools · HSC programs · private teen sessions
Same compass, different journey: content, language and challenge grow with the child.
“Her intuitive use of strategies aligns beautifully with developmental and therapeutic principles... Her sessions are inclusive, creative, and therapeutic by nature.”
Sarah RandallEarly Start Denver Model (ESDM) therapist“They’ve been telling me all about the Northern Star and how it guides them like a compass... such a special concept for children.”
Hugo & Elizabeth YoungParents, Google reviewPut a compass in your child’s hands
Tools they’ll use today, and for the rest of their lives.