For Yoga Teachers

This episode is exploring the answer - your answer - to a question that’s probably asked in every single teacher training: Should yoga teachers use Sanskrit? We’ll look at some reasons for using Sanskrit, and some concerns around using Sanskrit, and then a few questions to help you make your own mind up. The absolutely incredible Sanskrit teacher; Hali Schwartz, coming to Yoga Hero in Leeds on 1st...

This episode is essentially the epitome of this whole podcast: When we boil it down, it’s teaching what you love and making a fair living from that. Teaching yoga should pay your rent, it should put food on the table, it should pay all the bills and leave a little left over for a buffer or a rainy day or savings…  This episode breaks down the ways that you can bring Yoga Nidra in to your offerings...

There’s so many things that we want to do as yoga teachers; including keep a steady practice going for ourselves and add to our knowledge and ability to keep our offerings absolutely great for our yogis (and all our other roles and responsibilities too!)…  This episode addresses the barriers to setting up and executing a regular Yoga Nidra practice, and - spoiler alert - it’s basically a repeating...

This episode is a very special episode - it’s a Yoga Nidra for yoga teachers .  But this is a yoga nidra with a difference. This special Yoga Nidra is designed to help you learn about Yoga Nidra whilst practising Yoga Nidra! You might - hopefully you will - be so relaxed that you feel like you’re not consciously taking the information in; like you’re not paying attention.  But trust us, you will b...

This episode is about the power of Yoga Nidra.  We’ll start off with an introduction to Yoga Nidra, before looking at Yoga Nidra’s relationship to yoga philosophy. We’ll then dive in to the understanding Yoga Nidra’s impact on the brain wave states, and we’ll finish with a summary of the benefits in the context of everything that we’ve just learned. Yoga Nidra is such an underrated, powerful, impa...

This episode is a bit different; it’s our first ever bonus episode, and it’s about my journey to becoming a full time yoga teacher.  Our last episode; episode 35 was entitled ‘how to become a full time yoga teacher’, and I was acutely aware that the yoga teaching landscape looked so different when I made the leap a decade ago, than it does now, and I thought it might be useful to dig a bit deeper....

This episode is all about how to become a full time yoga teacher, starting with a quick look at whether it’s right for you. Many people have a really romantic notion of what it’s like to be a full time yoga teacher but - while it can be an incredibly rewarding job, it is important to walk in to it with your eyes well open about the realities. There’s a harsh truth in there too, how lovely.  Then w...

This episode is focusing on balancing having a job and teaching yoga; including being really honest about what happens if and when these conflict, mindfully switching roles (I talked about the importance of this last week in episode 33: balancing parenting and teaching yoga), making sure that there is actually enough time for everything that you want to do, and what yoga philosophy says to help us...

This episode is about balancing being a parent, and being a yoga teacher.  Expect some food for thought about how you can manage and balance your unique set of circumstances, some tools and tricks and tips for balancing the demands of being a parent and a yoga teacher, and how to look after yourself in amongst all of this: how to prioritise, how to know when things are hitting the fan, and we’ll f...

How to teach yoga workshops Before we dive in to the ‘how’ of teaching yoga workshops, let’s look at the ‘why’. In the interests of full disclosure here, I absolutely LOVE teaching, and attending, yoga workshops, so expect a healthy dose of shameless passion here!    The benefits of teaching yoga workshops:  Workshops are one off, so there's no ongoing commitment. So you can deliver workshops...

You’ve worked so hard to get your yoga teacher training certification. You’ve built up a following, got experience, even built up some confidence, and now feels like the perfect time to start teaching your own classes!  It’s so exciting! You’ve got some mats, the space that you’ve found is perfect and you can’t wait… but… oh wait. People are asking how much your classes will be. And you just don’t...

This episode is a complete guide to how to create yoga yoga brand. We'll be looking everything that you need to know to create your your brand, including why you need one in the first place, how it helps you with every aspect of being a yoga teacher - because I really do truly believe that it does - and how it helps to boost your confidence as a yoga teacher.  Your yoga brand comes from havin...

You're a yoga teacher because yoga has improved your life - possibly immeasurably - and you have a desire, a need, to share that with others. Whilst asana is a hugely important part of yoga, it's not the full story, and as such, as yoga teachers, sharing the full story; the roots and the history of yoga, is probably part of the job. But it's not necessarily a part of the job that co...

What's your WHY as a yoga teacher?  If someone was to ask you: Why are you a yoga teacher? What makes you get out of bed in the morning? What's your motivation when things get tough?  Would you be able to answer them - without thinking - in a way that's completely true to you? This podcast episode is short and sweet, and is created to help you define your WHY, so that you can be and...

Setting up your own yoga classes can be completely daunting, where on earth do you start? What if people don't come? What if you invest in yoga mats and rent a space and it's.... tumbleweed? There are some simple and sensible steps you can take to set up your own yoga classes, without taking huge risks and without giving yourself loads of work to do. This episode starts off with the most...

What will people think?  What if people hate it?  What if they think I'm full of myself?  What if they know more than I do?  Does this sound familiar...?!  In 2020 we first held our Shatter Imposter Syndrome challenge, which, hundreds of yoga teachers have gone on to complete. Confidence, in the yoga teaching world seems to be something that so, so many of us struggle with. This podcast episo...

This episode is the answer to the question: Do I need a yoga brand?  Does this sound familiar?: You start practising yoga initially for a reason; to de-desk, to rehabilitate an injury, to feel calmer. You were so blown away by how much yoga improves your life, you have a calling to share that with others. You enroll on a yoga teacher training, and it quite simply changes your life. Now you're...

A little while ago, we asked yoga teachers what tips they wish they'd known when starting out teaching... This episode is a combination of those responses, plus the questions and advice we get asked most regularly. This episode is primarily aimed at new yoga teachers, but there's bound to be some inspiration for experienced yoga teachers too - we all know that going back to basics and ha...

Have you ever been to a yoga class, and the sequence was so great, that you left the class thinking, I would love to be known for my sequencing. Then, you listen to a podcast about yoga philosophy, and you think, I should really weave more philosophy in to my classes, that's definitely where I should be putting my focus. Then you're chatting to someone, and they tell you how they went to...

In this episode we’re highlighting some important considerations when you’re deciding whether to offer a physical adjustment or not.  Adjustments have been chronically abused in the past. So now, when talking about adjustments we have to start the discussion with consent. (Which should have always been the way.) So, in this episode we’ll start - at the beginning - with consent. Then we’ll look at:...

Teaching yoga beginners fills even many experienced yoga teachers with dread! You want to keep the class flowing for the non-beginners, you want to make sure everyone is safe, you want to make sure no one feels stupid by not understanding something... Meanwhile you're doing all your normal teaching stuff like making sure the music isn't too loud, getting your rights and lefts bang on, re...

Being a yoga teacher is by no means an easy job, but it really can be one of THE most rewarding, warming, amazing jobs out there. Over the last 19 episodes we've broken down how to tweak, amend and improve aspects of your yoga teaching, and running your yoga teaching business.... but to celebrate our 20th episode, we wanted to focus on the joys of being a yoga teacher. What are your joys of b...

Do you find that you have endless passion to share yoga with people, you have so many ideas fuelled by the practice of yoga but you're held back by self-doubt? You worry you have a lack of authority, a lack of knowledge, a lack of experience? You think 'why would people want to come to my classes? Why would people want to learn this from me...?!'  This is imposter syndrome, and this...

This episode is designed to be a one-stop-shop to create your considered and effective social media calendar, so that you can nail the best bits; the opportunities and the connection of social media, whilst avoiding the negative aspects; the comparison syndrome and the time drain. We starting off by getting in the strategy mindset; what do you want, and need, to achieve from your social media? The...

This episode is a complete guide to sequencing yoga classes - to take you from not having a clue what you'll teach, to knowing exactly what you'll teach, how you'll keep it flexible and respond to who's in the room and how you can teach it again and again, keeping it fresh each time!  This episode is accompanied by our free A Complete Guide to Sequencing Your Yoga Class workboo...