Charlotta Martinus

Charlotta Martinus is an award-winning visionary and the world leader in the field of yoga for young people. She was awarded the Master of Yoga title, the only woman in Europe, in 2019 by the International Yoga Alliance, after her best-selling book TeenYoga for Yoga Therapists was published in 2018. With over 35 years’ experience in working with young people as a therapist and teacher, Charlotta fuses her lived experience of healthcare, social work and education with her India-based yoga therapy knowledge. With a clinical license to work with vulnerable young people, she weaves various pedagogical frameworks, such as Steiner, Montessori and the Scandinavian model together with the specific psychotherapeutic approach necessary to effect change among young people.

She has created many bespoke frameworks that have been carefully researched, which forms the evidence base of her courses. In 2015, she was invited to craft an innovation programme for Sport England who funded a roll-out of the programme to young people who would not otherwise be exposed to yoga. In 2017, the University of Westminster, invited her to create a programme for a Muslim dominant school in North London, for their PSHE curriculum, which was then evaluated as a Doctorate in Health Psychology. In 2018, she was invited and funded by the European Union Erasmus programme to create a programme for 750 disadvantaged young people across 5 countries. The outcomes of this programme were evaluated in a carefully designed research programme which were published in various Psychology Literature. In 2020 London Youth, funded by the Tampon Tax Fund, reached out about a programme design for young BAME 10-13 year old girls, to empower them to become Mental Health Ambassadors. All of these programmes showed in quantative and qualitative research that yoga was an effective tool in decreasing anxiety and increasing wellbeing in all areas of life.

Moreover, she has spoken on several occasions at the House of Commons and House of Lords on the topic and latterly was asked to produce a Rationale for Yoga in Schools, to present to government, which is available on the website. This involved a complex financial calculation, to evaluate the social and financial benefit of yoga in schools.

Charlotta continues to advocate for yoga for young people in all areas and believes whole heartedly that this is a solid and effective intervention to bring our young people in to a state of flourishing and thriving. Charlotta continues to be mentored and supported by a distinguished group of yoga therapists and medical and educational specialists in the UK, USA and India.