Essential Conversations for Yoga Teachers

Is it winter where you live right now? While the cycle of the seasons is more apparent in certain parts of the world, winter brings its own unique challenges: shorter days, colder temperatures, and a natural tendency for your body & mind to slow down.  In Ayurveda, winter is a season dominated by Vata (cold, dry, and light) and Kapha (heavy, slow, and damp). As yoga teachers, now is the time f...

Welcome to meditation! Today is the perfect day to explore how your breath can help calm and regulate your nervous system. Guided meditation, also called Yoga Nidra, is a powerful tool for rest and renewal. It allows you to connect with your body, calm your mind, and support the natural healing & regulating processes of your nervous system. In this episode, I invite you to get cozy and listen...

 Teaching beginner classes sounds easy, but when you have a room full of students who have never practiced yoga or have preconceived notions of what yoga should be or what it looks like because of the images they've been fed. Well, teaching becomes a little bit more challenging.  So let's get into some different ways to welcome students, calm their nerves, and teach beginner-friendly cla...

Click HERE to send me a text & let me know your thoughts on this episode! Support the show YouTube : Yoga with Monica Bright Freebie: Yoga Sequencing for Different Injuries Let's connect: Check out my website: Enhanced Body Connect with me on Instagram Wanna work together? Book a Discovery Call Practice yoga in my online studio The Alliance (7-day free trial) Join my Newsletter for teache...

This year, I have loved covering different topics from yoga’s roots and history to tips on building your business. As well as anatomy info to episodes mapping out your nervous system & injury information. And it feels like I’ve just touched on the tip of the iceberg! A few of my favorite episodes have been answering YOUR questions, because honestly where do we go to get answers? There aren’t a...

Welcome to week 3 of quick self-care episodes! I’ve enjoyed talking about the many different ways for you to care for yourself. So far, I’ve talked about mental, emotional, and physical ways to embrace self-care. In this episode let’s talk about how to care for yourself professionally … I’ll share a few of the tips that I concentrate on and I hope they’ll be helpful for you too. But first, are you...

As we continue this month of quick episodes that are tailored to your health, I realize the holidays can be a lot to manage. Are you busy preparing for the holidays with friends and family? Are you planning special holiday classes or workshops? Well, while you're doing all of that, are you also taking care of yourself? This is an easy time of year to burn yourself out, however taking care of...

Teachers!!!! I am so excited for this month full of quick episodes that are tailored to your health. I realize this is a busy month for so many - Maybe your month is full of preparing and gathering for the holidays with friends & family. Or you’re gearing up to teach special classes or workshops. While you’re doing all of that you’ve gotta take care of yourself. Burnout is real & working y...

The last few episodes we've been discussing pain, how you experience it, how to deal with it, and the different types of pain. Last week’s episode was part 1 of this conversation on the effects of chronic, long-term pain on your nervous system, I walked you through the stages of the sympathetic nervous system and explained that Central Sensitization and Altered Brain Structure & Function...

Chronic and persistent pain is not just a physical sensation. Instead, it's a complex experience influenced by your brain structure, your nervous system activity and your emotional processing. And one way it reveals itself is via dysregulation in your nervous system. But how does it show up? In this episode, I'll explain it to you. So get your journals and get ready to jot down this info...

In my Yoga for Injury Management mentorship for teachers, I recently facilitated a lecture on injuries in the upper body. But you can't talk about injuries without also talking about pain. Therefore, I took some time to explain the differences between acute pain and chronic pain before getting into upper body injuries.  In this episode, I share some of that lecture with you... Listen to episo...

What is functional freeze? Functional freeze is also known as freeze or the freeze state, and is a response of the autonomic nervous system that happens when you perceive a threat, but feel powerless to act. Unlike the fight or flight response, which prompts action, functional freeze immobilizes the body causing a sense of paralysis or "stuckness." You might feel disconnected from your s...

This is a very special episode because I think we all need some strategies right about now! Get your journal and jot these down!  Whether you're listening for the first time or you've come back to this episode when you have a chance to sit for a moment, this list of strategies to help soothe your nervous system & can be utilized whenever you need them.  You could be at home or out wi...

Shoulder injuries make me think of a lack of range of motion and overhead shoulder movement. I've been reflecting on a few times when I had shoulder issues myself and couldn't lift my arm overhead.  Frozen shoulder was by far the worst because it was persistent pain over an extended period of time, which of course affected my personal practice and my every day life.  When I think back on...

In this episode, I have more questions from teachers that I want to answer that center around students feeling frustrated or irritated with their practice and how you as a teacher can help them. Just as a side note. I realized as questions were coming in, how they were similar in themes, these questions are about the energy that students give off in class and how we can address them in different c...

In recent episodes I've been talking a lot about pain, injuries and the nervous system a lot. That's because I believe it's such an important topic to discuss. Because you're a movement teacher it's important that you take responsibility for knowing and understanding how the human body moves, how it gets injured, and how students experience pain in their bodies. In this ep...

In episodes, 38 and 39. I shared different specific exercises for you to teach your students whether it's in a group setting or a one-on-one private setting to help them feel and notice and learn to regulate their nervous systems. Although we can't really physically see or know for sure if an exercise is working, we can get feedback from students regarding their well-being. For example,...

Today I have an interview with Diana Oppenheim, who is a self-proclaimed in it for life Yogi. Her goal is to help you build a more loving relationship with your body. She uses a holistic approach to wellness through yoga & somatic experiencing. As a yoga teacher, she understands that there is no protocol or prescription for life, but is willing to co-create that with you and find a path forwar...

Learning various strategies on how to target and influence this complex system of pain can be essential for how you might speak with students and teach students who are managing pain and injuries. In the last episode, I shared specific exercises and techniques, including diaphragmatic breathing, mindfulness, meditation, guided imagery, and more. These are designed to engage and regulate your nervo...

The nervous system plays a pivotal role in reducing pain, and as you and your students journey through the maze of managing it, know that it's worth understanding, so that you can have handy tips and strategies in your toolkit. Understanding how to target this complex system can be a game changer. It can influence how you might speak with & teach your students who are managing pain and in...

Pain is a complex and often misunderstood experience because it doesn't always correlate directly with tissue damage. Instead, pain is influenced by the nervous system, emotions and psychological factors , which can cause people to experience significant discomfort, even when there's little to no physical injury present. Graded exposure therapy offers one solution by gradually reintroduc...

The study of pain has seen significant developments in recent years shifting our understanding of pain from a purely physical symptom to a complex multifaceted experience that involves the nervous system, psychological factors and social conditions. As a yoga teacher, it's important to understand that asana, stretching, strengthening, and movement will not solve all pain related issues. There...

When working with students who are under the care of healthcare professionals, it's imperative that you're diligent about communicating effectively with them and their medical professionals. It should be a goal of yours that the yoga practice complements the student's overall treatment plan, especially if you're working with private clients.  I have clients with ongoing injurie...

This is part 2 of Injuries Associated with More Basic Anatomy Terms that I introduced you to in episode 32, titled More Anatomy Terms You Should Know. In the last episode (number 33) we went over injuries and conditions in your bones, bony landmarks, retinaculum, arteries & veins and it started to get a little long. Therefore, I decided not to overwhelm you and pause and make a part two. In th...

In this episode I'm going to jump back into the Additional Basic Anatomy Terms You Should Know from Episode 32 and walk you through the types of injuries that are specific to each of those terms. As a quick reminder, we'll cover bones, bony landmarks, retinaculum, arteries & veins, bursa, lymph nodes and nerves. I'm going to explain more of what types of injuries and / or condit...