Tween Yoga Instructor Among Youngest to Be Certified

Twelve-year-old Jaysea DeVoe has become one of the youngest yoga instructors in the U.S. and is said to be the youngest certified female teacher after completing 200 hours of training through Yoga Alliance.

“Pursuing a vocation early is not only encouraged but expected in the DeVoe family,” according to CBS8. Jaysea’s two brothers are sponsored in their respective sports of surfing and free diving. “They only go to school three days a week and we told them ‘You have to figure out what you want to do and you’ve got four days to do it,'” says Rick DeVoe, Jaysea’s father. “‘And hopefully by the time you graduate high school, you have a career path chosen,'” Reuters reported.

DeVoe teaches at Bergamont Spa in Encinitas, California. Having practiced yoga since the age of nine, Jaysea plans to make teaching yoga a career. But Jaysea’s ambitions don’t end there; DeVoe also hopes to start a yoga mat business, according to Reuters.

Yoga is among the perks and “freebies” offered as an incentive to employees by some Silicon Valley tech companies. According to a report by Fox News Insider, the IRS is now considering taxing these incentives. What started as an effort by tech companies to draw better employees to Silicon Valley has now spread throughout the country to a variety of industries. Benefits of these perks are touted by employers as benefitting not only employees and businesses, but also customers and stakeholders, as happier employees produce a better product. 

Should the government’s ever-increasing need for revenue lead to taxing these benefits, employers will have to consider whether to continue to provide such value added services to their employees or find a new way to attract the best talent.