Author: Rachel Scott

How To Cue A Yoga Pose

When you’re just beginning to teach, trying to figure out what to cue in a yoga pose can be overwhelming! Sure, you obviously have to get people into the “shape” of the pose, but then what?

Here are three things to think about when you are cueing a yoga pose to keep you on skillfully on track.

1. Common misalignments and risk factors

Once you get your students into the “stick figure” version of the pose (I call it the “general form”), it’s time to think about the important intrinsic muscular actions that will help bring the pose to life.

The most obvious actions to cue are the ones that will keep the pose safe for your students. Before you teach, think about how the pose feels in your own body. Make a list of common misalignments and risk factors that you can address.

Consider:

What are the common defaults that tend to happen?
What will you cue to proactively protect against them?

For example, in warrior 2 (virabhadrasana 2), the front knee usually falls inwardly. In this case, you could cue students to “wrap the front sitting bone down to the floor” or “steer the knee toward the pinkie toe side of the foot” to keep students in proper alignment.

2. The purpose of the pose

Each pose has a unique purpose. You can think of this as the pose’s flavor. For example, warrior two (virabhadrasana 2) is all about the external rotation of the front thigh, high crescent lunge is about opening your hip flexors, and crow pose (bakasana) is about the connection of your inner thighs and lift of your core.

Consider each pose’s unique purpose and flavor within your sequence. What are the unique qualities of this pose that you wish to share? Why is the pose part of your sequence, and what does its shape offer your students that other poses do not?

3. Where You’re Going

Finally, consider your entire sequence. I sequence my classes according to a peak pose sequencing style, where we are mindfully building and opening towards a particular peak pose. If you are building towards a peak pose, consider:

What are the essential elements of my peak pose?
How can I teach the essential actions of the peak pose in this pose?

For example, if your peak pose is handstand (adho mukha vrksasana) and you are teaching chair (utkatasana), you may wish to focus squeezing the thighs together, which will be essential for effectively practicing the inversion. If you are teaching warrior 2 (virabhadrasana 2), then you may wish to focus on the stabilizing actions of the shoulder girdle (ie: drawing the ribs in as you anchor your shoulder blades onto your back). After all, core connection and scapular awareness will both be very important when you are having students weight bear on the hands and going upside down.

Final Thoughts

Finally, look around! One of the easiest ways to determine what to cue is to look at your students and speak directly to what is needed. Start at the foundation (what is touching the earth) and work your way up. You will almost always find something that you can immediately cue that will help them to thrive in their posture.

How To Plan Your Yoga Teacher Training Schedule

Planning a yoga teacher training? Not sure what format to use? Here are some tips to get you thinking about your schedule in the most effective – and marketing friendly – way.

1. Plan with your students in mind

Who are your ideal students for your training? What is their life like? Do they work 9-5, or do they have flexible schedules? Do they need their weekends free for family, or is a Saturday/Sunday schedule perfect? Do they want to get away on a TT retreat for three weeks, or parse out the information over several months?

If you’re not sure what your community needs, consider sending a survey as well as asking potential students less formally. Proactively tailoring your format for your students will ensure that you are creating a program that people can actually attend.

2. Compare Formats

In a nutshell, teacher training formats are either long form (also called part time) or intensives (think full time). An intensive is usually 3-4 weeks long and runs for up to 12 hours/day. (Some teacher trainings try to get students certified in two weeks, which would require days that run from 7 AM-10 PM – eek).

Despite the challenges of working 9-5 and attending a full-time program, the intensive format is surprisingly popular! It’s perfect for students who are:

retirees with no 9-5 obligations
university students (during breaks)
those who have a flexible work schedule (personal trainers, service industry, consultants, etc.)
those in life/job transition

A part time program (usually these run over weekends and some combination of additional evenings) are perfect for students who:

love a slower, more integrated pace of learning
work 9-5 and need their weekdays free

You might also consider what I call a blended format, which combines elements of both the part time and intensive format. In a blended format, you break your training down into 4-5 day segments, then run these segments from Thursday-Sunday (or Wednesday-Sunday). In this kind of program, you may run your program once a month for four months to complete your full training.

A blended format can support 9-5’ers (they don’t have to take as many days off as they would in an intensive, since the TT is primarily over weekends), but can also appeal to students who have to travel long distances to take the training (they only have to travel five times, rather than every weekend).

3. Evaluate Tolerance

If you are running a 200-hour Yoga Alliance training, then you need to have 180 contact hours in the classroom to adhere to their standards. When are you considering schedule your days, I find the ideal length of day is no more than eight training hours (so 8-5 with a one hour lunch). Six hours feels even more civilized. Running a longer day is taxing not only for the students, but on the faculty as well.

If you are one faculty member holding space for the entire training, you will want to consider how you can manage your days so that you are not worn out (in other words, plan your days carefully and ensure that you’re not lecturing the whole time). If you have several faculty on your team, then manage their schedules carefully to support the preservation of energy. I’ve single-handedly run a 200-hour intensive; it’s not easy!

4. Consider the logistics of your training space

Check in with your proposed training space and find out if there are any scheduling requirements that you will need to work around. Often, trainings occur in spaces around public classes. If you are working around classes, don’t forget that you will need a buffer of at least 15 minutes before and after the class to allow for the flow of students. Checking in with your training space ahead of time will ensure that there are no disconcerting surprises where you suddenly lose classroom time.

5. Holidays!

When you are scheduling your program, look at your dates and compare them to the holidays. Not everyone may want to come to teacher training on Mother’s Day! There are pro’s and con’s to scheduling your training over statutory holidays; while some students will appreciate the time off, others will have reserved those holidays for family time (again, here is a great question for your survey!). Generally speaking, don’t schedule your TT over any major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s) as you will have a lot of absences and grouchy students needing to make up work. If you do schedule training over a holiday like Mother’s Day, proactively address the scheduling issue and offer sensible make up options to students so that the students feel supported.

Have questions? Schedule a free chat and let’s hear!

How To Be A Professional Yoga Teacher: Your Studio Relationship

Being a professional yoga teacher is hard work, and much of that work takes place outside the classroom. To have career longevity, you must develop good working skills with your studio management.

I have spent fifteen years managing yoga teachers at three different multi-location companies. I’ve auditioned teachers, hired them, had performance conversations, managed their subs, reviewed their classes, changed their schedule, and – occasionally – fired them. And I’ve also been on the other side of the fence, and been a yoga teacher for hire at a wide range of studios.

I wrote a post awhile back on “How Yoga Studios Can Keep Their Teachers Happy.” When it came out, one of my friends – a studio manager – sighed and said to me, “You know, Rachel, we love our teachers…but they can drive us absolutely crazy too. Some are so hard to work with. Can you write a post on that?”

Here are five tips to for being a professional yoga teacher and keeping your relationship with your studio in top form.

1. Be Your Own CEO

Yoga may still smell a little bit of the 1960’s hippie counter culture that brought it over to North America, but it is now big business. And if you want to create a yoga career with longevity, you have to take yourself seriously. As one of my friends advises, “Don’t be a flakey hippie.” I’ll offer more specific pieces of advice below, but “Be Your Own CEO” is the essential idea. Take your career as seriously as you would if you were working at a bank, a hospital or a law firm.

The more you treat yourself like a professional, the more you will uphold your own sense of integrity, and ultimately, the more professionally that you will be treated.

2. Don’t Sub Out Classes For Silly Reasons

Managing subs is one of the most time consuming tasks a studio faces.

Now, everyone needs to sub out classes occasionally; it’s completely understandable if you’ve come down with the flu or need to take your friend to the hospital. However, it’s very hard on the studio when a teacher subs out frequently or at the last minute. Subbing out classes undermines the studio experience and the teacher’s ability to build community. When a teacher subs out their class, it sends a message to the student that 1. you don’t care, and 2. consistency doesn’t matter. If the teacher doesn’t bother showing up every time, why should they? If you want to build your classes and reputation, then you must show up.

Depending on your studio’s subbing protocol, either you or your studio will be finding your sub. Either way, a last minute sub is disruptive. If the studio is finding a sub for you, then they have to drop everything in order to find a replacement. They will be very stressed out and it will take away from their time to do other work. At a smaller studio, your inability to show up may mean that the studio manager or owner has to step in and teach, which will likely throw their life plans into disarray (trust me, you don’t want to be the one to ruin “date night”). Even if you are finding your own sub, they still usually have to update the website, track the change, and deal with disgruntled students.

Managers aren’t usually jerks; they want to help their teachers out when it’s a real emergency. But if you cry wolf and sub out your classes when (forgive me, but these are real excuses I’ve heard), “the moon is in retrograde,” “it’s such a nice day,” or “I just got mad, free tickets to this concert,” then you are undermining your own professionalism, your community, and the financial success of the studio. Over time, this will not be sustainable.

3. Do The Professional Things

When you treat yourself as a professional business owner, you will do the other things that support your business besides just teaching. This may include:

Invoicing accurately and on time,
Communicating professionally,
Showing up at community events,
Upholding studio policies,
Not talking smack about the studio to students,
Leaving your personal life at the door,
Being kind and courteous to other staff,
Helping maintain the yoga space (neatening up blocks, blankets, and keeping things nice),
Being a studio ambassador: know about studio events (sales, workshops) and understand the passes that students may purchase.

4. Be Of Service

Teaching a class isn’t about the 60 minutes of class time for which you are scheduled; it also includes 15 minutes before and after your class in which you can connect with your community, set the class up for success, and answer questions. Don’t be the yoga “rock star” who breezes in, plops down, and just starts teaching. Show up early and stay late. Take time to get to know your students. I know that sometimes we have to hold space and run the teaching show, but remember that the class experience is not about us. It’s about them.

5. Be A Team Player

I know it’s challenging to feel like you’re part of a team when you are a contractor. Understanding the challenges that come from running a yoga studio can give you context on why you may paid what you are paid, and how to have conversations around your own needs, even when they are difficult.

Respect and professionalism go both ways: when you take your own yoga career seriously, treat your studio with respect, and show up as a professional, you will open the doorway to having the open and courteous conversations that are important to you. For example, conversations around changing your schedule, taking time off, or getting a raise. When you have shown the studio that you care about the success of the community and upholding the standards of the business, they will be more receptive to working with you when your needs are at stake.

One Caveat

Not all studios are created equal, and not all studio owners are great managers. If you feel that you are in a position where the studio owner lacks integrity or professionalism, you may choose to quit. Make your exit as graceful as possible. The best practice is to give the studio owner lots of notice (a month is ideal). Even if the studio isn’t upholding their professionalism, you can uphold yours, which will give you a deeper sense of your own professional worth.

Questions, comments? I’d love to hear!

How To Practice Headstand Safely

Headstand is a wonderful pose, but has suffered a rash of bad press ever since the post on “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body“. However, when done intelligently, it provides the practitioner with an opportunity to remain in an inversion for an extended period of time. Unlike handstand and forearm stand, a skilled practitioner could safely remain in headstand for several minutes.

Benefits and Risks

According to Iyengar, headstand (sirsasana) is the “King of all Asana,” which “develops the body, disciplines the mind, and widens the horizon of the spirit” (Light on Yoga, 1976). While western medicine may not be on board with the widening of the horizons of the spirit, there are several benefits to inverting.

Inverting your body can have several happy effects:

lymphatic drainage from the feet
blood returns to the heart
lowering of blood pressure (by stimulating the baroreceptors in the neck, the body will lower your blood pressure to compensate)
cultivate upper body strength
when done properly, cultivates lower body strength
change in perspective
can be energetically grounding.

For the healthy practitioner, headstand can be a wonderful asana. However, you may wish to avoid inversions if you have:

high blood pressure (while your body is very good at regulating the blood pressure in your brain, you may want to be cautious)
history of stroke
glaucoma, or recent eye surgery
cervical spine injury/whiplash
hiatal hernia (leaky valve between stomach and esophagus)
a bun in the oven (while it’s not intrinsically “bad” to invert, prenatal students can have a much higher blood volume and less stable joints, which can make inversions less than ideal)

Here are five tips to set you up for headstand safely.

1. Don’t use your head

Although it’s called headstand, it’s better to think of the pose as forearm stand. Casually putting a heap of weight on top of your head isn’t a great idea. The cervical spine isn’t meant to be weight bearing (that’s what our feet are for!). When you are starting out, it is better to put your weight in the shoulder girdle through the forearms than weight the top of your head. Keep the weight on the head light. Yes, eventually you may put more weight on the head, but why not use the nice strong muscles of your shoulders, back and chest while you’re starting out? In other words, don’t use your neck! If you have a particularly long neck (making it hard to de-weight your head), then use props to “make” your arms longer. And until you develop the strength to lift your head off the floor, don’t be in any rush to use your head as a key pillar. Practicing dolphin (head off the floor) is an excellent way to build up strength (and hey, it’s an inversion too) and prepare for the full pose.

2. Keep the curve of your neck natural

When you place your head on the floor, put the top of the head on the floor (not the forehead or back of the head). Imagine you are right side up and carrying a stack of books on your head. Where would they need to be positioned on your skull to balance? The intervertebral disks of the spine are happiest and best aligned when the cervical spine has a slight lumbar (inward) curve. Since we want to keep the neck happy, keeping this natural curve when adding weight is the way to go.

3. Work the upper back

Since you are bearing weight through the shoulder girdle, the position of the scapula (shoulder blades) on the back is very important. Lift the shoulders up away from the ears and draw the shoulder blades slightly towards each other to widen the collarbones and draw the upper back in. I usually prepare for headstand by training my upper back to move inwardly through backbends such as baby cobra, locust and baby cobra.

baby cobra
locust variation

4. Go Slow

Headstand is like the grandpa of inversions: slow and dignified. Unlike handstand, it’s not appropriate to kick up exuberantly into headstand. It is a lesson in patience! Instead, go step by step (here’s a video) through the pose and cultivate your abilities over time.

5. My Favorite Cues

“Press down through your forearms.” This is my favorite cue (you’ll see I use iterations of this same cue all the time in this pose). This cue will help anchor the foundation, lift the shoulders and de-weight the head and neck.
“Lift your upper back in and up.”
“Root through your forearms to lift your hips.”
“Root through your forearms to lift your shoulders up.”
Once up: “Press through your forearms to lift through the legs.”
“Squeeze your legs and reach up through the insides of your feet.”
“Hug the outer hips in.”
Usually, students need help with avoiding a banana shaped torso: “Draw your front ribs in and lengthen your buttocks to your heels.”

Happy Practicing!

Be A Better Teacher Trainer: Say Less

When we are faculty, we think our job is to tell students what we know.

This is a recipe for disaster.

A studio owner recently spoke to me about the problem with this very issues: “One of our faculty – he’s so smart and experienced. But a student asks a question that’s off-topic, and suddenly everyone is going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. The students don’t cover the material that they are supposed to, and they just get confused.”

That faculty member was undoubtedly trying to do a good (answer questions, give details, and share his knowledge). But in fact, he was making what I call, “The Great Mistake.”

The Great Mistake is when we focus on what we say to students, rather than focusing on what the students can actually do. It’s understandable that we would make this mistake. After all, in public yoga classes, our job is to be a “sage on the stage,” holding space and directing the show.

However, in teacher training, your skill often lies in what you don’t say.

Students know far less about your topic of expertise than you; if you inundate them with too much information, they will experience “cognitive overload” and fail to learn.

Here are five tips to keep you on task, and maximize your students’ ability to learn.

1. Know your learning objectives

Learning objective describe specific and measurable learning outcomes. What do you want students to be able to DO at the end of your time with them? Your learning objectives are your north star. Keep the end in mind in order to stay on track and avoid extraneous information.

2. Change your role from sage on the stage to “guide on the side”

Rather than see yourself as the expert, instead re-position your role to one of being a coach. Your work – rather than being about relaying the content that you are teaching, should be refocused on the skills your students can demonstrate. This shift in perspective will help to re-orient you to put the learner at the center. It will also take the pressure of you! With this shift, you don’t have to prove that you are a knowledgeable expert; your focus can remain on the students’ ability to perform.

3. Defer non-relevant topics

Rabbit holes are so tempting! Students will often come up with juicy questions that are not be part of the learning objectives or the flow of the content that you are teaching. Validate the student’s interest, but be relentless about postponing conversations that don’t serve your immediate learning objectives.

“Great question, we’re actually going to cover that shortly, so hold tight.”
“That’s an excellent conversation to have, and we’ll get there when we discuss ethics next week.”

If the topic is too far afield – or only pertains to that student’s personal interest rather than the class discussion at large – then don’t be shy about holding the boundaries of the class:

“That’s an interesting question, but beyond the scope of what we can really discuss today. But I’d be happy to chat with you about that one on one or share some resources with you that you can check out on your own!”

4. Use a question box

One great way to manage questions is to use a question box. A question box in any repository where students can anonymously drop any questions that may have come up for them. Not only is this a great way to defer irrelevant conversations, it also gives students a safe and anonymous place to ask about topics that may seem unclear and can give you a sense if students are understanding the material.

5. Hold questions

If you are trying to manage time effectively during a lecture, then ask students to write down and hold their questions til the end of the session. This will help you get through the material. Often, students find that their question is answered later during the lecture, and that they no longer need to ask the question anyway. You could save space to answer questions yourself at the end of the lecture, put students into group to discuss the “muddiest point” with their peers, or collect all the questions, determine the common themes, and circle back when there is more time.

As a trainer, silence can be golden. Remember, at the end of the day, the success of your training isn’t about what you tell your students; it’s what they can do that counts.

How To Support Emotional Yoga Students

Four tips for yoga teachers on supporting emotional yoga students.

Yoga is a practice where we can invite students to arrive authentically in their bodies, minds, and feelings. For some practitioners, there aren’t many safe spaces to connect to their feelings. When they arrive on the mat and begin to experience their sensations – maybe for the first time in years – yoga students can become emotional as unexpressed feelings rise to the surface. For me, many times the first few moments I arrive on my mat will bring me to tears, as I become more present to whatever is going on. Even if I’m not particularly sad, sometimes simply being present is poignant enough to cause me to cry. We don’t need to be happy to practice yoga.

Our issues are in our tissues.
Bernie Clark

Most often, feelings will arise when students are moving into a quieter space and are softening to what is arising. Through any feeling may be disconcerting, the most obvious emotional expression is sadness and tears. Here are some tips to create a safe space for supporting emotional yoga students.

1. Acknowledge The Process

If students are not used to feeling emotions (or if they’ve been conditioned to suppress them publicly), they may feel ashamed and embarrassed by their feelings. What an enormous kindness to create a space where feeling their emotions is normal, and in fact, healthy! Create an inclusive space by acknowledging the process to the whole class. For example, you may say, “When we do hip openers, it can be common for strong feelings to come up as we start to unwind deep, habitual patterns of tension in the body” or “It’s normal to start to sense feelings and sensations; give yourself space to let anything that comes up to arise, stay with your breath, and notice that the feelings will shift and change.” Simply acknowledging that feelings may arise will help create space where students can feel that they are “normal.”

2. Acknowledge Your Students

This one requires a little finesse. Often, emotional yoga students will try to hide the fact that they feel emotional (ie: crying) in class because they feel embarrassed. While I will never intentionally single anyone out or draw unwanted attention to them, at the same time there are ways to sensitively acknowledge students who may be having lots of feelings.

Simply placing a tissue box near a student is a way of saying, “It’s okay, I see you, and it’s okay to need a kleenex.”

If you do hands on assists, then giving students a stabilizing press when they’re in child’s pose can be a way of making non-verbal contact.

3. Lots Of Emotions

If a student is having an emotional moment, it may not feel safe to lie with their front body exposed in savasana or to be in motion in asana. If I notice a student is struggling, I will invite that student to come into child’s pose or a prone position where they can feel “hidden” and have some privacy. You can address the class generally, “hey everyone, child’s pose is an option here!” (giving your student a graceful way to take the pose without anyone really the wiser), or you could suggest the option to the student privately in a low tone of voice.

4. Manage Your Class

If a student is visibly or audibly upset, other members of the class will become distracted and be concerned about them. If a student is obviously struggling, you cannot ignore it. At that point, you have to consider protecting the emotional safety of the whole group. Frankly, this level of emotionality is very rare in a public class. However, if a yoga student is obviously emotional, I ask the student to come into child’s pose and focus on their breath. In this situation, I am more interested in using yoga tools to calm the student down than processing feelings. In my experience, coming into child’s pose is usually enough to support students to transition out of a more intense experience.

If this does not resolve the situation, then put the rest of the class into a resting pose, and find out what is necessary to support the student. I treat this kind of situation in the same way I would treat a student who injured themselves physically in class. It must be addressed before the rest of the group will feel easeful about moving forward. If you have desk staff, you may consider asking the student if they wish to take some privacy outside of the class, and leave them in someone’s care.

The most common displays of emotion that come up are tears and sadness. Displays of anger are never appropriate in a group class setting. If a student is behaving in a manner that threatens the emotional or physical safety of another student, then the student must change their behavior, leave the class, or the class must be stopped.

5. Know Your Limits

We are yoga teachers; not therapists or counsellors. While it is within the scope of our practice to create a safe and supportive space for students to experience their feelings, it is not our purview to diagnose, treat, or manage extreme emotional distress. If you have a student who needs additional support, consider referring them to a professional with those skills.

How To Be A Great Teacher Trainer: How To Motivate Your Students

This is part 1 of a 3-part series on motivation.

We’re lucky in the yoga world: we have students who want to be there!

In yoga teacher trainings, students have voluntarily decided to show up at (at whatever ungodly hour ) in order to participate in a yoga teacher training course. Why? Because they love yoga. They want to be there. Our students are what we call “intrinsically motivated.”

Intrinsic motivation is an energizing of behavior that comes from within an individual, out of will and interest for the activity at hand. No external rewards are required to incite the intrinsically motivated person into action. The reward is the behavior itself.
– Michigan State University

Unlike the employee obligated to attend the Food Safety or Sexual Harassment course, our students have usually paid good money to be in the room. However, this doesn’t mean that we can just relax and assume that their motivation will continue unabated!

By deliberately incorporating motivational techniques into your lesson plans, you can turn your “nice” teacher training program into an “amazing” and engaging experience for your students. (PS: If you missed it, here’s how you avoid the great trainer mistake.)

John Keller (and an emeritus professor at my alma mater, Florida State University) created the ARCs model to define the components that contribute to student motivation. By understanding these factors, you will set yourself up for success as a trainer, and learn how to recover a situation that has gone sideways.

In this article, we’re going to unpack the first Keller principle: Attention.

Attention

Attention refers to getting your students’ interest. Attention has three parts:

perceptual arousal: use surprise to gain interest
inquiry arousal: ask stimulating questions to gain interest
variability: use a variety of methods in presenting material (e.g. use of videos, short lectures, mini-discussion groups).

In a nutshell, “attention” means that you can use storytelling, anecdotes, humour, or a devil’s advocate approach to get your student’s creative juices flowing.

How does this relate to a yoga teacher training?

In almost every course that I teach, I start by asking the students a question. Not only does this draw upon the prior knowledge (see the activation principle), but it also helps to get students actively engaged in the learning process. I don’t want students to passively and absorb a lecture; I want them to wrestle with real life problems and take a personal interest in the learning content.

Doesn’t it seem far more interesting to ask a class, “what would you do if someone came to your yoga class dressed in a bathing suit?” than to drone on about dress codes?

In a yoga teacher training, you may have students with you for up to fourteen hours a day (yikes!). We cannot rest on our motivationa laurels. Deliberately plan for opportunities to include personal anecdotes, shake up the learning environment, and ask provoking questions. Rather than stick to just one method of content delivery (god help us, not another lecture or practice!) see if you can incorporate a wide variety of stimulation and media options, such as audio, powerpoint, demonstrations, or written activities.

Attention Tools

storytelling
humour
ask for or provide real life examples or scenarios
ask thought provoking or complex questions
change the pace suddenly (surprise)
change your delivery method (audio, video, written, research, hands on, role play, creating a skit, have a quiz show…shake it up!)

Incorporate the Attention Principle into your lesson plans. Even adding in a small personal story into your training content can can have a huge impact on your learner’s engagement and lead to better learning outcomes.

Five Yoga Poses To Stretch Your IT Band

You know the IT band: the swath of connective tissue that runs from your outer hip down to your lower leg. That IT Band.

Anatomically speaking, the IT band isn’t really a “band” at all. Although most anatomical pictures (like this one) depict it as a segment, it’s actually part of a greater fascial stocking that wraps around the entire thigh. The IT band is intrinsically connected to your pelvis, your femur, and your lower leg. Ultimately, it’s part of the great webbing of connective tissue that weaves throughout your entire body. This means that tightness in your outer leg may not be just about your poor IT band, but about constriction in the fascial network further up or down the chain (like your lower back, calves or feet).

Composed of connective tissue, the IT band is supposed to be tight in order to stabilize your pelvis. That said, it can get too tight, constricted, or adhered, and cause problems like outer knee pain. As I’ve gotten older, my IT bands have become increasingly gnarly; stretching them (or the muscles that attach to them) has been helpful in maintaining a happy pelvis. If you regularly engage in uni-planar activities such as running, cycling or hiking, your outer hips will almost benefit from some attention.

Here are five poses to help you out.

1. Supta Hasta Padangustasana C

This pose is a doozy. Grab a strap or towel.

Keep your right hip DOWN as you cross your foot towards the left side of your mat.

Lie on your back.
Draw your right knee into your chest and put your strap or towel around the ball of your foot.
Extend your foot to the sky.
Straighten your leg and engage your quads (we want the quad engaged to plump up against the IT band)
Straighten your left leg along the floor; scrub the heel forward and press your thigh done. Work, super model.
Now, hold your strap in your left hand and tuck your right thumb into your right hip crease (top of your thigh). That hip is going to want to hike up. Pull it towards the end of your mat (your left heel) and anchor the hip down into the mat.
Keeping your right hip on the ground, cross your right foot towards your left shoulder – you do not need to go far.
Stretch the diagonal line from your right hip through your right big toes. Straighten your legs actively.
This should make your eyes water.
Hold for 2 minutes. YES! 2 minutes.
Change sides and repeat.

2. Ardha Hanumanasana (half splits…with twist)

Come into ardha hanumanasana with your right foot forward.

Now, walk your right foot to the left side of your mat, across your body.

Press the inner foot forward as you actively pull your outer right hip back.
Firm your quads (they must work here)
Press your heel down and pull back through the outer right hip, almost as if you could pull your right sitting bone towards your left thigh.
For more excitement, keep your left hands down, and use your right thumb to pull your outer right hip back and in.
Stretch your leg.
Hold for 2 minutes, yes, 2 minutes.

3. Revolved Triangle Pose

Lather, rinse, repeat. This is the standing pose version of the last two poses.

I recommend using two blocks.

Press down through the big toe mound of your front foot as you draw your outer hip back and in. Again, we are capitalizing on the diagonal stretch through the tissue of the leg. Use blocks as you need to lift your chest, and do your very best to straighten and engage your legs.

As you add the twist, keep your spine aligned with the midline of your mat.

Hold 90 seconds per side. Whew!

4. Thread the Needle

This pose stretches the muscles that attach to the IT band. Getting them some slack can take the pressure off.

Thread the needle stretches the outer glutes.

Cross your right ankle over your left knee and draw your left knee into your chest. Stay here for at least 90 seconds per side.

5. Gomukhasana

Similar to thread the needle, gomukhasana stretches the outer hip. However, because the thigh is crossed more medially, the stretch will feel different. I actually find that sitting upright in this pose (without forward folding) stretches my Tensor Fascia Latae, which is an internal rotator on the front of the hip that also connects to the IT band. If your knees don’t like gomukhasana, then repeat thread the needle, but cross your right knee more towards the midline to change the directionality of the stretch.

Gomukhasana. Forward fold from here to stretch the outer hips.

Glute medius and maximus.
TFL and the IT Band

The proof is really in how you feel afterwards.

Take a stroll around. For the next day, how do your hips feel? Does the stretching help? If you feel as if your outer hips/knees are still constricted, it’s a great idea to go visit a physiotherapist or registered massage therapist and let them give you feedback. A physio may discover that your constriction is triggered from a different part of your body and can help you adjust to create more slack in the fascial chain; an RMT can help to release adhesions or constrictions that aren’t accessible by stretching alone. Or (and this may surprise you), you may actually need to tighten up your outer hips more rather than stretch them! Weak outer hips can be as cranky as tight outer hips. For any persistent pain or issues, go see a specialist and get some personal loving care.

How To Step Forward From Downward Facing Dog

How To Practice and Teach Stepping Forward From Downward Facing Dog

When To Use

We often incorporate this transition casually into our sequences, but it is not easy! It’s harder to step forward from downward facing dog than it is to step back into a lunge from the front of your mat. The stepping forward action is really only appropriate for:

vinyasa classes
flow classes
power classes

So if you’re teaching a hatha or more gentle class, there’s no need to use this transition. It puts a lot of weight on the wrists, requires core strength and hip flexibility, and can feel needlessly discouraging.

Benefits of the Transition

However, if you are working in a flow/power style, this transition gives you lots of flexibility to create fun transitions from downward facing dog into your standing poses.

This transition is also an excellent preparation/education for arm balances (such as tittibhasana) and inversions because it

trains the hands/wrists to grip the floor
cultivates the student’s connection to the strength and lift of the back leg
trains the core and pelvis to lift UP, and
trains scapular protraction moving apart, which helps create upper core lift and shoulder stability.

Why It’s Hard

This transition will be difficult for you if you have short arms and long legs. Sorry, my friendly T-Rex’s, but your bodily proportions will make a difference. This transition will also be challenging if you have limited hip flexion (ability to draw your knee into your belly. Limitations in hip flexion may be caused by compression at the front of the hip, either due to the shape of the joint, or simply having more material (belly, thighs) to work around.

So there are some very good reasons why you may struggle with this transition while your bendy friend next to you makes it look like a breeze. It’s not equally easy for everyone.

That said, there are a few ways that will help to maximize your own personal capacity to work this transition gracefully.

In a nutshell, stepping your foot forward with fairy-like lightness requires that you create enough space between your chest and the floor to clear your foot.

Here are five tips to get you closer.

1. Use your back leg to lift your pelvis

It’s easy to forget about the back leg. After all, it’s way back there. Out of sight, out of mind. However, you need the back leg to work in order to get the necessary lift in the pelvis. Lift your back heel way up, roll onto your big toe, and lift your back thigh as high as possible. These actions will help you to get the pelvis high enough to clear space under your body.

2. Use your arms to lift your chest

To create space between your chest and the floor, you must spread your shoulderblades apart. Think cat pose. Widen and lift the upper back as much as possible. If you try to step forward without lifting your sternum up into your back towards the sky, you simply won’t have the lift through your chest to bring a foot forward.

3. Adapt for your hips

Not all hips are the same. Try this. Lay on your back and draw your knee into your chest. How far can it come in? Try taking your knee wider to the side. Can you get it further into your chest/ribs then?

Find your personal sweet spot for bringing the knee into your chest. This may mean that when you step forward, you will take your knee a little wider to the side in order to get more height through the thigh.

Also, take a note: if you relax the front of your hip, can you draw the knee in further? Sometimes the engagement of the hip flexors can actually impede the ability to get the thigh close to the body. If this is true for you, then when you step forward, see if you can downtrain the hip flexors a little bit, keep them more relaxed, and scoop up more from the abdominals. It’s not the easiest thing to do (because you need the flexors to turn on a bit to make this move), but worth playing with.

4. Yep. Core.

The core is important here insofar as it helps to lift your pelvis and your chest up. Also, the hip flexors (which some say are part of the core) will be working to draw the thigh up to your chest. So yes, some abdominal work is required. But they are part of the larger picture of making a “cat back” and getting your hips as high as possible.

5. Hands and Triceps

Use your hands rooting down to help you get more lift up through the chest. Press through your palms and straighten your arms. Remember, you need every precious millimeter of space between your chest and the floor for this transition, so don’t lose any of it by bending your elbows. Engage your triceps to fully extend your elbows and find maximal length through your arms. To feel what it’s like to have truly long arms, try your transitions with blocks under your hands for a few practices. Then see if you can incorporate that feeling into the transition moving forward.

Here’s a video with some visual explanations.

This transition may never be easy, but it can become more easeful over time. Happy playing! And remember, do this transition slowly for best results; momentum doesn’t count 😉

Improve Your Yoga Practice By Doing Less

I know you. I see you, my yogi friend. You want to be a better person, you want to do good. And maybe – like many of us – you think that doing better means that you have to work harder.

But here’s the irony: at some point, you have to work less to move ahead.

Let me share a story. I’ve been seeing a speech pathologist to clear up some bad vocal habits (teaching public yoga classes and teacher trainings for fifteen years can wear on the voice after a time). At my last appointment, she looked me (as readied myself to “be a good student”), and said, “What do you think about EASE?”

I immediately flinched. Ease? No, please say something else. Tell me what to do, tell me what action to take, but please don’t tell me that I have to “let go,” or “release” or some hippy nonsense like that.

But of course, that’s exactly what was needed.

Why We Get Tense

Over time, we all get knocked around a bit by life. We fall in love, and get hurt. We fail, and we armour up to hide our vulnerability. We laugh to hide our feelings, we smile to hide our fear. We develop compensatory patterns to deal with any variety of challenges: emotional, physical, and mental. We call these habits of tension our “personality.” Yogis may refer to them as samskaras, or deep, habitual patterns of conditioning. In your yoga practice, you may be all sthira (effort) and no sukha (ease).

We all have these tension patterns. And once you’ve been walking around on the planet for thirty years, these patterns of tension may start to have unforeseen side effects. You may start to develop back pain. Or maybe you become emotionally withholding. Maybe you’re in a relationship rut and don’t know how to break the cycle. Or maybe you have vocal issues.

Unfortunately, we can’t overcome these engrained habits through direct effort. That’s like adding a layer of “effort cement” on top of a faulty scaffold. The only way to find a pathway to greater functionality is to ease up and untangle the essential patterns of tension that have gotten you there in the first place.

This process can be enormously disconcerting.

When you come from a culture that encourages “working harder to get ahead,” letting go feels all wrong. In fact, letting go is actually harder than doing more (take that, workaholic brain!) because it takes incredible vigilance and care to inhibit your conditional patterning from arising.

While my vocal situation illuminates the particular challenges of unwiring a physical dysfunction, unwiring emotional and mental triggers provide a similar challenge. (In fact, they’re all the same thing.) Like my vocal habits, the emotional patterns that have served you well in the past may now be getting in the way of how you want to move forward.

However, letting go of these habits derails the familiar pillars of support and “self-ness” that have guided you thus far in your life. Inhibiting a defensive smile of politeness may feel as vulnerable as taking off all your clothes. Because, in a way, you are. You are taking off the layer of tension that you somehow associate with self-protection and “you-ness”.

Letting go of my throat tension isn’t just about releasing some physical muscles. Letting go unravels a sense of “Rachel-ness” to which I have become identified; it unhinges a sense of my own perceived I-ness. However, when I do inhibit that tension, I am in a greater space of possibility and presence.

Being present gives us the opportunity to “de-scaffold” ourselves from the layers of habitual reaction that will otherwise guide our actions and responses. When we become present, we can practice (practice! practice!) relaxing and opening to what is really going on. How do I really feel right now? If we can gently inhibit our conditioned responses of tension and reaction, then we are suddenly awake to a world of complete possibility. And while this is a little being thrown out of a window without a parachute, it’s also the only place where you really get to see the sky.

Your challenge?

More ease. In your yoga practice, but also in your life. Be willing to relax in the moment without immediately grabbing for the conditioned responses that may feel safe. Explore the no man’s land, and see what arises.

How To Keep Your Yoga Teachers Happy

Yoga for Knee Pain

At some point, most of us will experience knee pain. The knee joint is essential in propulsion and weight bearing and experiences a lot of wear and tear over a lifetime. My knees first started getting angry at me from over twisting the joint in ashtanga yoga, then got angry when I started wearing a heel lift (that was a mistake!), and again flared up when I did too much jumping at a dynamic yoga retreat. Oops. Our knees – sweet little modified hinge joints that they are – are subject to forces both from our hips and from our feet. When things go astray in the ankle/calf or the hip, the knee can suffer.

In addition to an acute impact injury, knee pain can be caused by a wide range of factors:

wear and tear over time and wearing down of connective tissue (arthritis, inflammation)
bursitis (inflammation of bursa through friction or pressure)
meniscus injury (small cartilaginous discs in the knee that are injured often through twisting at the joint)
ligament tear (you have 4 major knee ligaments, including the ACL, which may be torn or severed through impact and abrupt twisting)
patella pain (the knee cap is pulled “off-track” from it’s happy place)
tendonitis (the quadriceps tendon that holds and slides the patella against the front of the joint is inflamed and irritated)
hypermobility, where the connective tissue around the knee is too loose and permits structures to move inappropriately
IT band tightness (the connective tissue band that runs along the outside of the thigh to the shin becomes overly tight, causing pain or rubbing the femur bone)

To manage your knee pain, you must first go see your doctor or your physiotherapist to understand why your knee hurts. Clearly, yoga will not be helpful for your if you have an undiagnosed ACL tear. Also, someone who is hypermobile will need different physical medicine than someone who is chronically tight. However, if you are a relatively healthy practitioner looking to maximize the good effects of your yoga practice for your knee, then here are five tips for practice to protect this essential joint.

1. Don’t do crazy poses

Yoga has lots of nutsy hip opening poses like lotus or hero’s pose, where you bend the knee and then rotate your hip. While hip opening is one of yoga’s benefits, sometimes practitioners will over-enthusiastically transmit that hip twisting into the knee. That’s a no-no. The knee – although it’s a modified hinge joint and can twist – generally likes to be treated like a pure hinge joint. When you’re practicing positions like hero’s pose, pigeon pose, or lotus pose, make sure to treat the knee like a pure hinge joint. Pretend you can’t twist it. That will help you keep the forces aligned through the joint effectively.

2. Stabilize

The muscles surrounding the knee stabilize the knee. Strengthening your hamstrings and quadriceps can help your knee to function better. Poses like purvottanasana (stretch of the east), bridge, and locust can help strengthen the hamstrings and glutes, while poses like chair, utthita hasta padantusasana A (without holding the leg up) and standing warriors can help strengthen the quadriceps. (A caveat here: strength training exercises such as squats and bridging may be more effective for you than yoga. I love yoga, but it’s not a universal panacea.)

3. Mobilize

Overly tight quadriceps, hamstrings, and IT bands can also cause problem. Issues can also arise from tight calves and tight hips (the tension transmits through the connective tissue and affects your knee). Yoga is an excellent practice for supporting mobility. Try these:

Glute/hamstring opening:

forward folds
reclined hip stretches (see, yoga for back pain)

Outer hip stretches (IT band, piriformis):

figure four/thread the needle
cow face pose
pigeon – very carefully
my favorite: reclined hip stretch where you take the foot across the midline of the body – yikes.

Inner thigh/groin stretch

happy baby
lizard pose
wide legged forward fold
cobbler’s pose
janu sirsasana

Hip flexor/quadricep stretches

high lunge
low lunge
saddle
thigh stretch

4. Avoid unsupported hyperextension

Check out the front leg hyperextension! Back out and engage the muscles around the joint.

If you are hypermobile (can extend your joints beyond straight), it’s very easy to “sit” in your joints without engaging your muscles. Rather than fully extend your joints, keep a slight bend so that you must engage the muscles around the joint rather than rely on ligamentous stability. Watch in in poses such as the following straight legged poses:

triangle
pyramid
standing forward folds
warrior 3 (standing leg)

5. Avoid pain, unless directed

There are different kinds of pain. The discomfort that you encounter when you stretch your overly-tight IT band is intense and teeth-gnashy. This, however, is good pain and is useful for your functionality. However, the sharp pain that you encounter in your inner knee when you squish your meniscus is bad pain. If you are encountering pain and you don’t know what it is, then you need to go see your physiotherapist or doctor and find out what is going on. Once you are empowered with this information, you can more effectively use your yoga practice as a tool for improving your strength and flexibility. Until then, listen to what your knee is saying and avoid movements that create or increase discomfort or pain levels.

We love our knees, and want to be practicing with them for a long time!

Happy practicing!

Studio Owners! How To Keep Your Yoga Teachers Happy

Teachers are the life blood of your yoga business. But they’re also one of your biggest expenses. So how do you keep yoga teachers happy? Check out these five strategies for keep the face of your business happy.

1. Be transparent about your costs

Look, the yoga business is not wildly profitable. Competition and costs make running a studio challenging. However, do your teachers know this? Chances are, if your teachers think you are raking in $25 per student head in their class, they’re going to get a little bent out of joint if you can’t give them a raise. A little information about real studio costs and teacher pay rates can go a long way. Let teachers in on the realities of running a studio (for instance, that you’re not earning $25 a head for a drop in, but more like $11). Honesty helps get everyone on the same team.

2. Be transparent about their prospects

In most careers, employees (or contractors) have a sense of their career path. Because of the nature of the business, yoga studios tend to be much more shady. Usually there is no clear pathway forward teachers earning a raise, but nebulous ideas about “generating community” and “abundance.” Be straight with your teachers about their prospects and give them tangible that they can strive for. “When you hit at least 18 people per class, Sharon, that’s our sweet spot.” Or, “We only have a few workshop spots this season, but we can talk about next year.” Find out what their goals are, and let them know what needs to happen in order for them to move forward.

3. Give them perks

Most yoga teachers love continuing education. Even if you can’t give them a high hourly rate, an easy way to create some love is to give your teachers discounts on visiting teachers and trainings. Your teachers get more training, your workshops have more people, your visitors feel popular, and you create some good vibes at your studio. Now, I know that your margins are tight, but do what you can. Give your teachers heavily discounted or (preferably) free classes at your studio. Nothing raises studio morale and community like when having teachers practice in class with their students.

4. Listen

It’s easy to get frustrated when teachers seem to complain. But listen carefully. Teachers are on the front lines of your business and interact very closely with your students and your studio space. They are your best eyes and ears. Studio not clean? Walls look dirty? Mats starting to smell? If you make it clear that you love an open dialogue, your teachers can give you valuable information that you might otherwise miss. Rather than taking feedback personally, treat your teachers like your own team of secret shoppers who can give you valuable intelligence on your business. Giving them a voice and helping them to feel valued will also go a long way to create good lines of communication and positive feelings.

5. Treat them like people, not commodities

A cornerstone of teacher happiness (indeed, any employee’s happiness) is feeling valued. Take a little time to connect with teachers one on one. Attend their classes – not to give feedback, but to simply show them that you value them as a teacher. When you do give feedback, make sure to lead with the positive and emphasize what you think they are doing well. Be proactive about acknowledging key teachers for their contributions. It’s very easy as a studio owner or manager to be focused on the business or – when you’re interacting with teachers – to focus on what needs to fixed and improved; make a special and proactive effort to share the positive stuff, too. A little personalized acknowledgment can go a very long way.

Immediately Improve Your Self Esteem

Is Teaching Yoga A Good Career?

I get this question a lot from students who are considering doing a teacher training, or from graduates who are wondering if they should quit their corporate day job. They wonder, “Can I really have a yoga career?”

Here’s the thing: it depends what you mean by “good.”

Here’s what’s good about being a yoga teacher:

heartfelt connection to a community
sharing what you love
you must practice in order to be a good teacher (so it keeps you on track with your own wellness)
you are engaging in a rich and elevating philosophy of life and living
it’s a life if continual learning, self-examination, and growth

Here’s what sucks about being a yoga teacher:

you don’t get paid a lot (see this article for info on how you’re paid)
you have to scrap to get more money (see here on how to ask those questions)
you usually have to run around town to different studios in order to make ends meet
if you want to only teach yoga classes, you’ll probably need to teach between 20-30 classes per week to make a living. I did this for two months one time and then decided never to do that again.
to resist burn out, you’ll need to create different streams of income that aren’t only pay-per-hour

Here’s my personal advice: if you want a yoga career – if this is your passion and it’s all you want to do – then you must do it. You will be sad if you don’t, because your dharma is calling you. And if your passion changes in five years, at that point then you must allow yourself to be resilient and flexible enough and allow yourself to be moved in a new direction.

If you love yoga, but you also love having financial security, then blend your yoga with a more traditional way of earning income. Yoga is so forgiving that way! A “yoga career” can look like anything! I know amazing teachers who teach twenty-four classes a week and I know amazing teachers who only teach three. I’ve usually taught anywhere from 5-8 classes per week, combined with a more managerial/educational leadership role in the yoga biz. The combination approach has worked for me and allows me to use different parts of myself in my work, which I like.

Let yoga SERVE your life. Don’t let yoga BECOME your life.

Yoga is a tool to your own personal development, health, and well-being. A yoga career can take so many different shapes. Listen to your heart, listen to the needs of your whole self, and listen to your energy. Stay aligned with joy. And the right relationship with your teaching and your career will naturally arise.

business

How Do You Do Yoga At Home

Practicing yoga has never been more accessible! But even so, getting a yoga at home practice started isn’t always easy. Here are five tips to get you started.

1. Create a practice space

Your home practice space doesn’t have to be fancy. While it’s luxurious to have a designated space that’s only for yoga, your practice space will probably double up as something else (for example, when I practice at my sister’s, my “sacred” practice space is actually the living room floor!). If you’re able, de-clutter your space and add something that brings you a feeling of zen (a candle, a picture, a plant). Putting a little energy into your space will help it feel special and important.

Having a designated practice creates an imprinted memory. Over time, as you practice in that same area, you will create some good energy there, making it easier for you to transition into a zen mind state.

2. Don’t sweat the props

Yoga studios have lots of fun props – bolsters, block, and straps. At home, use pillows, books, and towels instead! In fact, you don’t even need a fancy mat (I’ve been known to just practice on the carpet or to throw down a big towel). The wonderful thing about yoga is that there is nothing that you need to make it happen. You only need yourself.

3. Get a team

The hardest part of your home yoga practice is just starting! However, these days, it’s easy to put a team in your back pocket. With so many free online resources (like Do Yoga With Me, for example, where I teach), you can easily find a class that fits into your life and your skill level. If you’re not sure where to start, try a beginner level class.

Here are a few of my classes you can check out right here:

4. Start with five minutes

Your yoga practice can be just five minutes long. That’s it! On days when you feel busy or overwhelmed, just make it to your mat and commit to five. Often when we start a mini-practice, we realize that all the crazy voices in our heads (“You don’t have time,” “There’s too much to do!”) are simply anxiety voices. They often fade when we simply take a few deep breaths. And if you really only have five minutes, then great. In my experience, a quick 5-10 minute practice can be as profound and nourishing as a longer practice.

5. Let yoga fit your life

People often ask me questions like, “when should I do a home yoga practice,” “how long should I practice,” “how often should I practice yoga at home?” The answer is, “when you can!” Yoga can fit into your life and support what you need. Your home yoga practice can look like many different things:

a ten minute wake up practice in the morning
a twenty minute practice after you get the kids to school
a thirty minute practice on your lunch break
a fifteen minute practice to get ready for bed
a 75 minute Saturday afternoon practice

The yoga practice can fit into your life, beautifully. There’s no “right” way to do it. Feel free to ask me any questions, and happy home practicing!

Yoga Practice for Back Pain

“So what brings you to yoga?”

“My back!”

So many of my students have started coming to yoga to help with their back issues – and for many, it’s helped! While there is no specific set of yoga postures guaranteed to fix an unhappy back, yoga can often help alleviating some of the triggers that lead to back pain. (Check out this article from one of my favorite physios: Is Yoga Really Good For Your Back.) Caveat: yoga is like any medicine: the wrong dosage for the wrong ailment and medicine can become poison. Dealing with injuries require patience and love. So if you have back pain, see your physio and make sure that the following exercises support your health.

Movement and exercise in general – whether you’re walking, lifting weights, rock climbing, or doing hatha – is good for you on so many levels that it’s almost like swimming in a fountain of youth. What yoga does very well in particular is facilitate low-impact mobility and stretching. The following poses help to both stretch and strengthen your back and hips.

1. Downward dog

Downward dog is the ultimate happy back pose. When done properly, it puts the back into mild traction through the opposing action of the arms and legs. Now if you’re a beginner, or have really tight hamstrings, then I’m going to suggest that you do downward dog at your kitchen table. Put your hands on the counter, walk back until you make an “L-shape” with your body. Then press your hands firmly, stretch your chest towards your hands, bend your knees a titch, then pull your hips back into the center of the room. Actively pull yourself in two directions. Like you’re on the medieval rack, but this time it’s nice. What we’re going for here is some decompression through the spine. As a bonus, we get a hamstring and calf stretch. Hold for ten (long, slow) breaths.

2. Hamstring stretch

Supta hasta padangustasana. That’s a mouthful.

Yes, this old chestnut! The hamstrings can sometimes pull your pelvis under, which puts your spine in an unhappy position. Stretching them out can help relieve some of this pull through the back line of your body.

Pictured is my favorite way to do this stretch, because your spine is supported by the floor. That’s nice. Use a strap (or tie, or towel) around your foot. Keep you right hip anchored down and REACH through your heel to STRETCH the back of your leg. Hold for 2 minutes. Yes. 2 minutes. Set a timer. To the get maximum impact out of this, add a little quad work and really try to straighten your leg.

3. Figure four/ thread the needle

Figure four stretches your outer hips, which can often get tight and cranky.

your outer hip muscles: glute max, medius. Minimus is hidden under there, as is piriformis.

Either these muscles are weak and cranky because you haven’t been using them enough, or they are tight through lots of use (that’s my joggers, hikers, bikers). So if you haven’t been strengthening these guys, I’ll suggest that you may want to visit your friendly personal trainer or physio and see if they’re working the way that they should.

4. Locust

A little back strengthening is in order! Locust pose strengthens your spinal extensors. And the good news is, there’s a variation for everyone. Use a strap (or leave your hands unbound) if you have any shoulder issues. Reaching the arms forward is more challenging; this this with discretion. Also, this is a rather low-key, strengthening backbend; “bigger backbends” aren’t better and in fact may not work for all bodies. Do five sets, holding each repetition for 3-5 breaths. You will feel your back engaging, but if you feel any sharp pain, choose a more moderate version or leave your legs down.

5. Back stretch, child’s pose

Nom nom. Rest your hips back on your heels and BREATHE into your lower back. If this is too intense or hard on your knees, take happy baby instead:

Basically, we’re looking for a stretch that gently widens and spreads your back. (If you’re more flexible, a rag dog forward fold can also fit the bill). I like happy baby because it also helps to open up the adductors (groin) muscles.

Conclusion

Functional fitness is about small daily acts. It’s about showing up every day – even if it’s just for 10 minutes – and taking care of your body. This is a perfect little wind down for the end of the day, or a good mid-afternoon stretch (I don’t recommend stretching in the morning; we’re too tight from sleeping). Also, join me on Do Yoga With Me (it’s free!) for some practices that can support back happiness.

anatomy

How To Run A Yoga Studio

Six ways to stay in the black

Surviving as a yoga studio is hard. I know: I’ve been behind the scenes at Yoga Works in New York City and YYoga in Vancouver, Canada. Both of these entities are what we would call “corporately owned yoga:” they have multiple locations managed from a central business and central corporate structure.

You’d think that with pass prices going up, yoga studios would see a greater margin for profit. However, that’s often untrue. Rent, staff costs, teacher costs, laundry expenses, equipment costs, and cleaning can start to eat into your profits. Here are six tips for beating the curve.

1. Cut costs

I know, I know…obvious right? However, those small costs can cause a slow hemorrhage that drags you under. You may find that your students grumble when they don’t have the nice shampoo, but they’re really there for the yoga, right? If you’re opening a studio, consider that including amenities like showers (which will require shampoo, conditioner, water, cleaning and laundry) may not be your best investment and will require you to fork over more money in maintenance. Many times, students prefer to pay less for their monthly nut even if that means showering at home. If you do have luxury add ons (or say you’re a hot studio, and a shower feels like a must have), then keep it simple and charge appropriately.

2. Charge more

Again, obvious. But let’s say that you’re renting mats. Are you really charging what it takes to source them, clean them, and dry them? Figure out your true costs. Even if you’re trying to keep the yoga fees low, charge appropriately for add on services.

3. Focus on what you do well

If you’re a mom and pop shop, the reason that students will choose you over a corporate studio or gym is because of the feeling of your studio (like more yoga-ish and authentic) and the intimacy of your community. Don’t compete where you can’t win (amenities, number of classes, bells and whistles). Do what you CAN do really really well. Have community events, encourage teachers to connect with students, and focus on the roots of yoga. Differentiate yourself by doing what a gym or corporate studio can’t: focus on individuals and create an authentic, yoga-delish space.

4. Get lean

At most corporate studios, staff – not teachers – signed in students. However, unless you’re doing a booming business, most smaller studios do well to have (trustworthy) teachers take on this task. It reduces your costs and provides an additional touchpoint for the teachers with the students for community. (However, I’m going to leave the sticky question of whether teachers are independent contractors or employees in your company for you to figure out.) If you do have staff, my experience is that they are very busy during sign in, and then are often under utilized in down time. For a smaller studio, it may be cheaper to have one full-time manager than to have five rotating staff members. When your manager is not signing in classes, they can manage payroll, social media, retail (if you have it), and everything else that goes along with running a studio. (And if this person is you, then you must take the bonus point very much to heart.)

5. Diversify your products

You need a high priced product that can boost your revenue. Teacher training (which nets you at least 3K per student) is a product that helps keep many studios afloat. Invest in creating a branded, customized training, schedule it smartly, market it well, and you’ll have a cornerstone for your revenue for years to come. Not only does it flush out your revenue, it builds and reinforces your community. You run a training, the students start posting on social media and create your buzz for you. You hire your graduates, which then incentivizes students to take your course. Create a passive stream of income by putting some simple courses or classes online. This will never be your meat and potatoes (there are too many people doing it already), but it will help expand your brand and give your students a way to stay connected when they can’t be at your studio in person. Be smart and be lean, but get a toehold in the marketplace.

6. Schedule smartly

Set up your schedule smartly. When can your people come? Close the studio when no one needs to be there. Most studios run early morning classes, lunch time classes, and evening classes. But if your demographic is a bunch of stay at home parents, they may love coming in just after they dump the kiddies at school (9:30 AM). If you have a bunch of 9-5’ers, you may want to tuck in a 50-minute lunch time class (not one that is too sweaty!) so they can squeeze in some yoga over their break. Find out what your community needs and go from there.

Bonus: Don’t do everything

Yes, I mean, don’t try to be everything to everyone, but more specifically, I mean, don’t YOU try to do everything. In a smaller studio, owners almost always start out by doing everything themselves. They teach, they manage, they’re the staff and the cleaning crew (see #4). You must practice some serious self-care and learn to delegate if you want to stay in for the long run. Remember why you started your studio (because you love yoga!). You didn’t start it to become a frenzied, overworked person who never actually gets to take a yoga class. Set up clear boundaries: take a day off, delegate smartly, protect your energy, and let things slide occasionally.

Then take a good look at your students’ happy faces after Savasana. That’s almost as good as kombucha.

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Five Things To Do Once You Finish Teacher Training

So you’ve just finished your 200 hour yoga teacher training. Now what?

Here are five things that you should do to get your yoga teaching engine running.

1. Keep practicing

One of the biggest mistakes that new yoga teachers make once they graduate is to focus on teaching to the exclusion of practicing. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard yoga teachers lament that they didn’t have time to practice. However, your yoga practice is the backbone and inspiration for your teaching. Make it a priority to keep your practice as a sacred part of your schedule. In the long run, your commitment to your personal practice will sustain you. It will also keep you from a cardinal yoga teaching mistake: demonstrating while you teach to get a mini-practice in.

2. Practice teach

Practice teach wherever you can. The large corporate studios for which I’ve worked (Yoga Works and YYoga) won’t even look at you until you have 1-2 years of teaching experience under your belt – and for good reason! It takes awhile for all the content goodness of your 200 hour to seep into your bones. After I graduated from my 200 and 500 hour training, I volunteered at Yoga Works in New York City to get my teaching chops up. Worry less about pay (though here are some tips on that particular subject) and more about getting your skills honed. Here are few options:

your local community centres
your friends
your family
at your office, or your friends’ offices
smaller yoga studios: by donation classes
volunteer organizations

3. Get insurance

Yoga insurance costs about $200 a year. You’ll need it before you teach at most studios. However, go ahead and get it right up front. I’ve never had to lean on my liability insurance, but you are definitely better safe than sorry. And you don’t want to wait to get it if you get a job offer, right? Make sure your insurance covers you for at least 2 million, and that it is valid where you plan on teaching. For example, if you decide to teach in Mexico, you want to make sure that your insurance is good there.

4. Clarify your mission

Why do you want to teach yoga? What does yoga give you that you want to share? As you practice and teach, you will start to develop what studio managers call your “teaching voice.” This vague terms is a combination of factors: your tone, your physical presence, and your teaching style. What kind of class experience do you create? Are you passionate about alignment, or do you want students to focus on their breath? Are you energetic and personality driven, or do you fade into the woodwork to give students space for their own experience? Your particularly mission (WHY) you teach will begin to help you shape your teaching voice, which will help you identify yourself more clearly in the market place.

5. Plant seeds

So you know you want to teach at the funky studio down the street? Well then it’s time for you to become part of that community! Attend classes, find out who’s running the show, and make friends with the regulars. Be honest with management about your intentions: “I’d love to teach here. What do you look for in your teachers?” Get to know the decision makers. At some point, you’ll be ready to audition.

Bonus: Patience

The Yoga Sutra say that practice is “consistent, devoted, and for a long time.” Your teaching is no different. See the big picture: your yoga teaching may become a wonderful companion activity that lasts for your entire life, ripe for exploration and evolution. There’s no rush. Enjoy the transition. And the journey.

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