Dear Yoga Teacher

If you've ever finished teaching a yoga class and thought, "Was that any good?" you're not alone. A lot of new teachers assume confidence comes from more certifications, more books, or consuming more information from Instagram. But as Alison Pounds discovered, information alone doesn't always create clarity. In this conversation, Alison shares how she moved from feeling a...

If you’ve ever taught a yoga class and felt so unsure of what came next that you couldn’t fully focus on your students and what was going on around you, you’re not alone. Sequencing creates a strong foundation for clearer cueing, better presence, more student connection, and more freedom to move around the space. In this episode, you’ll learn why sequencing matters so much for your growth as a tea...

If you've ever thought of sequencing as simply putting poses together in the "right" order, this episode will expand how you think about putting your classes together. Sequencing does far more than make a yoga class flow – it builds trust. In this episode, we talk about why sequencing is a foundational teaching skill, how thoughtful sequencing prepares the body safely, creates struc...

It can be a struggle to get students to show up to class. Some weeks you have eight students, other weeks nobody shows up, and it can feel like your class size is just based on luck. While some things are beyond your control when it comes to your class size, in this episode, we talk about five concrete things you can do as a yoga teacher, to build your classes over time and get the students who do...

If teaching yoga has started to feel more like a grind than something that fuels you, this episode is for you. We talk about what it feels like when your energy dips, motivation drops, and when showing up for class starts to feel harder than it should. In this episode, Caitlin gets honest about her own experience feeling burned out from teaching and shares 5 practical ways to find your way back to...

Many yoga teachers feel the pressure to endlessly adjust their teaching style, class content, pace, and even voice, thinking it’ll make everyone happy. But the reality is that you can’t please every student and trying to do so will flatten your teaching. In this episode, we dive into why chasing everyone's approval backfires, and why teaching from your authentic style is what actually creates...

There will be moments throughout the year when your class numbers drop, but a dip in class numbers is not always a reflection on your teaching. In this episode we talk about why teaching smaller classes can be a good thing and how they can actually make you a better yoga teacher. What we cover: Why yoga class attendance naturally ebbs and flows throughout the year  Why low attendance isn't a...

If your students tell you they loved class every week, that's lovely. But it's probably not making you a better teacher. In this episode, we’re talking about feedback and why most yoga teachers aren't getting enough of it after they graduate. We go into why "great class!" doesn't count as feedback, and how to get REAL feedback instead. Whether you've been teachin...

You finished your 200-hour yoga teacher training and earned your certification. You graduated full of excitement and enthusiasm, but then somehow that started to shift into overwhelm, you don’t actually know how to start, and you got stuck wondering if you're truly ready to teach. And somehow, weeks turned into months without stepping in front of a class. If this sounds familiar, you're...

If you have finished your teacher training but still feel really unsure about how to make your classes feel and sound more like YOU, this episode is a game-changer.  In this episode, we talk about finding your voice as a yoga teacher —both literally (how you actually sound in class) and figuratively (what you want to stand for and how you teach).  Working to develop both is what moves you from goi...

What if the key to becoming a better teacher was not by teaching more, but by spending more time on your own mat? In this episode, we talk about why your personal practice isn't a nice-to-have — it's what keeps your teaching grounded, fresh, and sustainable long-term. I share where I went wrong early on in my teaching career and what a real, nourishing self-practice actually looks like i...

Teaching yoga is hard, and not just for the reasons most people talk about.  In this episode, we talk about why the challenge of teaching yoga is often less about your skills and more about your relationship with yourself as a teacher. Learn 3 ways that will help make teaching yoga feel a bit easier, and learn practical ways to ease the mental load so you can actually enjoy being at the front of t...

Welcome to the Dear Yoga Teacher podcast. In this first episode, I share what you can expect from this podcast going forward and why I created it in the first place. I also share my story — from a hesitant and bored beginner to a confident yoga teacher, teacher trainer and teacher mentor. My path to get here was not a straight line. I made plenty of mistakes along the way, and now you get to learn...