We were lucky to catch up with Mary Montague recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with education – we’d love to hear your thoughts about how we can better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career

I would love for meditation to be taught in schools, in the simplest way and accessible to all. Here are examples of how it could be implemented:

1.) After lunch, students come into their classroom where the lights are dimmed and soft music is playing. They sit at their desks for 2-5 minutes in silence. Then academic work begins.

2.) Before a test, students are given 2-5 minutes of silence to close their eyes and connect to their breath. A moment of calm. Perhaps the teacher reads a visualizing, guided meditation, where students imagine themselves performing their best on this test. Then the test begins.

3.) When conflict between two students arises, the teacher instructs them to separate and take a break in a meditation corner, for 2-5 minutes, in stillness and silence. Then the teacher and the students come together to discuss the conflict.

I’m also very passionate about time-blocking and creating healthy habits from a young age, so I’d like for teachers and parents to help kids create systems for this. For example, with older children and teens, instead of saying, “You’re on your phone too much!” you can instead help them schedule time to be on their phone. Perhaps set a timer. Then discuss how the schedule is working for them and help them adapt.

Mary, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my professional career at 22 years old, as a Special Education Teacher (Kindergarten – 5th grades) in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. This was my dream job right out of college. I truly loved all eight years of this work. I made great friends immediately, I loved Los Angeles, and I felt lucky to work in a tight-knit community. I taught students with mild-moderate disabilities, with up to 28 students on my caseload each year.

During my last few years, I developed the habit of taking reformer pilates classes every morning before work. I grew up (in Australia) as a serious dancer, primarily Ballet, so pilates came naturally to me and it felt good and familiar in my body and mind. I would get to school around 8am, feeling the endorphins from the pilates class. My mood was elevated, my posture was aligned. I felt accomplished and energized.

As the students came into my classroom at 8:30am, I often felt like the first 30 minutes of the day was a less productive “warm-up” period. It wasn’t until 9:00am that I felt their energy increase with the focused concentration required for meaningful academic instruction.

I would sit on a big pilates ball instead of a desk chair and my students knew I loved pilates. A couple times they asked me to teach them. So one morning when they seemed lethargic, I announced, “Let’s do some Pilates!” I taught my students some stretches, some strengthening exercises, and some mindful breaths. They loved it. I loved it. Their energy was focused immediately. We then started our academic work from this aligned energy and it was a success! I continued with this each day. I knew I was on to something. I thought, maybe I can teach Pilates to kids, one day, officially?

I earned my Pilates teaching certification and started teaching an afterschool class and a couple private clients at their homes. This gained good results and interest. I continued my certifications, first in children’s yoga, then the 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher certificate. I recently completed a Transcendental Meditation Training too.

In May 2015, to summarize, I took a leap of faith and started my own business. Every baby step and little action gained momentum to create a full-time roster of clients and schools, and building a small team of teachers to reach more students. We call my program “POGA” which is a made-up word combining pilates+yoga, with meditation and mindfulness sprinkled in. Now eight years in, I personally teach over 500 children within school classrooms per week, and my team of teachers expands the number beyond that. In 2021 I published my first children’s book!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I wrote the first draft of my Children’s Yoga Book in 2017 and spent a few years timidly sharing the manuscript with family and friends, trying to learn how to get the book published. In November 2020, I attended a Yoga Retreat led by Ashley Shubert. I met a new friend, Shelby Hoefling there, who had recently self-published two children’s books. I told her that I had written a children’s yoga book and I asked her for tips on how to self-publish. She generously gifted me a course taught by Jacky Lamenzo that guides you through every step of the way. Jacky recommended an editor, Sarah Welch, who helped me feel extra confident in my text. I asked a few more editors to provide feedback, and most importantly I lead some of my students through the story (pre-illustrations) and they offered me the critiquing I needed the most! My students had big smiles during their favorite parts, laughed when they recognized the repetitive pattern of the yoga flow, were able to retell the story’s theme back to me (check for understanding!), and they let me know which parts didn’t flow well for them (which were then edited). I wanted an LA-based illustrator so that we could work together in-person. The first illustrator I hired was the wrong match. She tried her best but she didn’t know yoga postures personally so it felt misaligned for her to draw. Later, I found Naira Tangamyan, who I adore, via Thumbtack. We shared two in-person meetings and countless emails, and she brought my book to life! Lastly, I worked with Praises Designs for the final graphics and to prepare the files for printing. Additionally, so many friends and family helped with feedback and favors along the way. From there, I uploaded to KDP (Amazon’s self-publishing program) which is accessible to everyone! It was surreal to receive my Amazon package in the mail a few days later.

This first book, “Damien the Cow: A Yoga Story for Kids!” serves families, schools, classrooms, childcare centers, yogis and non-yogis, ages 3-8. It reads as a picture book; the yoga poses are simply optional. It also incorporates breathwork, a mindful lesson about friendship, and a final resting pose.

I still teach academics to a few private clients, primarily reading, and it brings me great joy to use my book as a resource for children learning to read, whilst practicing the yoga components, simultaneously. It’s my two careers, combined!

My second book is now in the works! The drafted manuscript includes ten guided meditations for children. Last week I sent the manuscript to my same editor, Sarah, who is a brand new mom to her son, Mark. This was her initial response:

“I loved reading these and imagining myself reading them with Mark in a few years. Just my personal experience, but I can’t imagine I’m alone: As a new parent, I hear and read so much about how important social-emotional learning is and how important it is to be sure I’m teaching Mark to be in touch with his feelings and regulate his emotions. But I hear very little about how to do that, and when I go looking for tools, it gets very overwhelming very quickly. This manuscript, though, makes it feel totally possible to teach those skills and have those conversations. I’m super excited to see it come to life.”

This made my week! I am super excited to birth this book out to the world. I believe it will be an exceptional resource for children and parents. If you know an agent/publisher who may be interested in working together, I would be honored to receive an introduction.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Because I am a former Special Education Teacher and I have hands-on experience with classroom management, I’m able to deliver effective lessons within school classrooms. My experience working with children with disabilities helps me to scaffold the curriculum to ensure success for all ages and ability levels. I love to build a rapport with all sorts of little personalities! I have a strong reputation in Los Angeles, particularly within the Beverly Hills community, and I would love to expand to New York City.

Contact Info:

• Website: mandmpilates.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandmpilates/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-montague-231b3b29/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mary_montague
•  Damien the Cow: A Yoga Story for Kids! on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Damien-Cow-Yoga-Story-kids/dp/B09MYX1LN6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Z9QHHSE9X8PE&keywords=damien+the+cow&qid=1692678331&sprefix=damien+the+cow%2Caps%2C293&sr=8-1
• Newsletter: https://marymontague.substack.com/