How To Sequence a Delicious Hip Opening Yoga Flow Sequence

I’ve been playing with this delicious hip opening sequence this week.

This sequence is a well-rounded flow yoga class for all levels that take an “around the world” tour of the hips: opening the front, sides, and back of the hip joint. Rather than sequencing to a peak pose, this anatomical intention of this sequence is rather to mobilize the hip joint in all directions.

Energetically, this sequence is lunar rather than solar. Solar energy is like a blast of sunlight: direct, fierce, and forceful. Lunar energy is more feminine; when we embrace the sacred power of the feminine, we invite surrender, receptivity, creativity, changeability. The strength of the moon is equally powerful, but she moves like water or air. Rather than focusing on long holds and fixed alignment, invite your students to move in spirals, loops, and undulations. This is an “unsticking” sequence, where practitioners find the energetic flow to release densities in the body.

A few tips:

  • Make sure they’re breathing. As this is a more cooling, lunar practice, you can invite exhales through the mouth rather than consistent ujjayi.
  • Every practitioner’s hips are different; students should be encouraged to embrace their own unique structure and capacity.
  • Focus on flow and feeling rather than getting poses “right”
  • Help practitioners get out of their head by playing music that invites movement and softness
  • Use juicy language to evoke a nourishing practice (words like yummy, delicious, nourish, sense, connect, enjoy, delve, carve, explore, etc)
  • Create a theme to get students out of the head and into a nourishing state of surrender/receptivity
  • Soft joints (bent knees, bent elbows: find more “buoyancy” in joints)
  • Props: two hard blocks, one chip foam block (for under knee in low lunge, or to sit upon)

If I had to choose a peak, it would be upright pigeon (more on the two pigeons here), but really the intention is the hips.

Sequence

Opening

  • Sukhasana
  • Add in cat/cow seated undulations, sufi grinds (make a circle through hips) – change legs and repeat
  • Cat/Cow
  • On forearms and knees, take hips in circles
  • Downward dog, forward fold, walk to front of mat, uttanasana, roll up Tadasana

Warming Up – Surya Namaskar

  • Surya namaskar A x 3 (offer lots of modifications, etc, focus on breath)

Warming Up – Flow One

  • Do first part of surya namaskar, but step right foot back to low lunge
  • Low lunge flow: low lunge to half splits (flow between poses), probably hands on blocks
  • Step back three legged dog (open hip, do hip circles)
  • Step forward, come up to warrior two: flow exalted to side angle (focus on movement of hips)
  • Hands down, step forward to a baby standing split (standing leg bent)
  • Uttanasana, roll up, shoulder rolls etc
  • Repeat second side

Warming Up – Flow Two

  • Standing pigeon (standing ankle to knee, opening outer hip)
  • Release leg to step back to a high crescent lunge
  • High crescent lunge version 1: add side stretch
  • Hands down to blocks, keep back thigh lifted, flow from lunge to modified pyramid (similar to first flow but with back knee lifted)
  • Step back three legged dog
  • Step forward, hand to inside of front leg for side angle, option to bend elbow (making it a bit more like a modified lizard, as if you were going to bind – but don’t) Option to take top arm on giant circle.
  • Hands down, step front foot halfway back for a modified vasisthasana (turn on outer edge of back foot, you’ll be facing the right side of mat; this variation opens outer top hip)
  • Hands down to inside of foot, play with glueing front knee to outer right shoulder and taking baby chaturangas (arm balance prep)
  • Complete vinyasa, include a few breaths in an accessible backbend (sphinx, locust)
  • Step right foot to front of mat, standing splits
  • Uttanasana, roll up, shoulder rolls etc
  • Repeat second side

Intermezzo

  • Malasana
  • Bakasana

Warming Up – Flow Three

  • Standing pigeon (standing ankle to knee, opening outer hip), option for eka pada galavasana
  • Release leg to step back to a high crescent lunge
  • High crescent lunge version 1: add backbend
  • Hands down to inside of leg, lower back knee, lizard (option to lift leg)
  • Lift back leg, optional eka pada koundinyasana play
  • Step back three legged dog, open hip
  • Step forward side angle pose to half moon
  • Forward fold at top of mat
  • Uttanasana, roll up, shoulder rolls etc
  • Repeat second side

Working to Pigeon

  • Surya namaskar to downward facing dog
  • Lift right foot up, step forward: anjaneyasana with backbend and thigh stretch
  • Awkward pigeon (lizard with external rotation of front thigh to stretch outer hip)
  • Hands down, modified vasisthasana (turning to right)
  • Okay this part is a little wild:
    • Lower hips (facing side of mat)
    • Draw bottom leg in (right leg is on top in ardha matsyendrasana) – take twist (toward back of mat)
    • Stack knees (still facing side of mat): gomukhasana
    • Come out way you came in, but draw right knee into chest, extend leg under you to the left for Brigid’s Cross (right leg is straight out to side of mat, left leg back behind you, forward fold/twist towards front of mat; this creates big IT band stretch on right leg. Think revolved half moon – parivrtta ardha chandrasana – but laying on floor)
    • Come out the way you came in, optional wild thing
    • Downward dog
  • Second side

Backbends and Peak

  • Spinx to cobra (mobilize upper back)
  • Saddle or supta virasana
  • Upright pigeon – nom nom nom – feel free to do with hands on blocks and lifting UP into backbend (the backbend pictured may be a bit extreme for most folks). Practitioners should lift away from floor rather than sit into the left hip.

Cool Down

  • Cooling pigeon (or swan, figure four, etc)
  • Wide legged forward fold (upavista konasana)
  • Cobbler’s pose (baddha konasana)
  • Seated pranayama: chandra bhedhana (cooling, yum yum)
  • Savasana

Enjoy this yummy hip opening exploration!

Let me know if you have any questions at all. Happy Hips!

Want more? Check out my continuing education courses in Yoga Sequencing and Teaching here.

How To Teach Yoga Anatomy Like a Rock Star

I love teaching anatomy in yoga teacher trainings. LOVE IT. Sharing the mystery and miracle of the human body is incredibly inspiring and satisfying. However, teaching anatomy in a yoga teacher training course can be difficult, and it’s easy to fall into traps that can turn anatomy into a drag!

Top mistakes I see?

  • Cramming in too much information
  • Failing to teach the application to the yoga asana practice
  • Teaching names, not function

And I know, my dears, that we are not always set up for success. Often the anatomy portion of a 200 or 300 hour training is shoved into one weekend (who can remember their femur from their fibula after six hours of lecture??), which leads to brain overload for the students and a lack of relevance to the rest of the program.

So step number one for success:

Whenever possible, teach anatomy in bite-sized chunks.

Ideally, an anatomy session should be two hours max, and should directly relate to the other content (asana) that is being taught. Do your best to fight for a sane schedule. What good is including anatomy in a program if the students can’t remember it?

Teach relevance, not details.

What’s more important: remembering the names of the knee ligaments, or understanding why pigeon pose is hard on your meniscus?

Avoid bogging your students down in seductive (and irrelevant) details. Do they really need to know the word, “talus?” Focus on the big picture, and apply the anatomy that you teach immediately to the practice and teaching of yoga asana. For example, you would want to consider:

  • Why is understanding the labrum of the hip important for warrior two?
  • Why is understanding shoulder impingement relevant to chaturanga?
  • What is happening to a woman’s body in third trimester that may affect asana modification?
  • How does blood pressure relate to inversions?

Applied anatomy is the only kind that counts. For every module you teach, ask and answer, “how is this information relevant to a general yoga practice?”

Focus on the Scope of Practice

Dr. McCoy from Star Trek used to say, “Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a Klingon navigator!” Well, in this case, we are yoga teachers, dammit, not chiropractors or physiotherapists. Relieve students of the pressure to know everything. New teachers are afraid of hurting their students (for most of us, this is one of our greatest fears). However, you can’t possibly learn enough about anatomy in twenty five hours to have more than a layman’s understanding of the human body. While I am a firm believer in studying anatomy (yes, yes, more please!), we have to encourage our students to be realistic about their expectations. Help your trainees understand that their scope of practice as yoga teachers is to teach a healthy population a safe and effective yoga practice, and to offer students common sense modifications when appropriate. That’s it.

Inspire

The human body is amazing! As anatomy teacher trainers, we have the privilege of helping students understand the magnificence of the human body. What astonishing work! Have you seen a human tendon? Exquisitely beautiful. Have you considered the relentless and steadfast beating of the human heart (85,000 beats a day for your entire life)? How awe-inspiring. How about the mysterious electrical machinations of the nervous system? Sorcery!

If you are excited about sharing this mystery, your students will get excited too. Share your passion and enthusiasm. Not only will your energy make teaching anatomy fun, it will inspire your students to connect more deeply and respectfully with their work as asana teachers. After all, as hatha yoga teachers, we use the physical body as a vehicle for divine expression and transformation. How marvellous to appreciate the mysterious depths that lie within us  – right at our fingertips.

Teach well.

Plan your lessons carefully. Be clear why this information is relevant and important. Use photos and videos (respecting copyright of course) to make the anatomy visually exciting and understandable. Incorporate group exercises and fun activities that will bring the anatomy to life.

To get some inspiration and see how I do it, check out one of my free anatomy lesson plans. Plan in advance how you will get students out of their heads (memorizing details and words) and into their bodies (applying anatomy to the practice). Experiential learning is where the anatomy will best stick.

Happy teaching!

How To Demonstrate Poses Effectively for Your Yoga Students

Stopping a class to demonstrate a complex pose is an excellent tool to teach key alignment points, inspire your students, and convey important information. While providing a visual guide to your students can be very useful, there is an art to creating an effective demo. Check out these five tips to rock your demonstrations and inspire your students.

Move Your Students

The first step – and the one most often neglected by teachers – is to move your students to where they can see you. Oftentimes teachers get shy about stopping the class. Be bold! Moving students can be like herding cats; they often don’t want to move (or don’t realize that they need to). Be clear about moving your students to where they can see you. Take charge of the room.

Do It For Them

This is a no brainer, but don’t demonstrate for yourself. Make sure the demonstration is for the benefit of your students. Check in with them through making eye contact, nodding, and looking for affirmative signs of understanding. Make sure they get it.

Offer Stages

Break down the pose that you’re demonstrating into at least two stages so that there is something for everyone. Affirm the goodness of each stage (“this is already a lot of work!”) so that students don’t feel badly if they can’t do the final variation. Be clear about how students should know if they should move onto the next stage. For example, say, “if you can keep your leg straight, then you can move onto…” rather than a vague invitation such as, “if you feel comfortable…” The more specific you are, the more you will empower your students to effectively evaluate their own practice.

Inspire without being a jerk

Doing a demonstration can be an opportunity to inspire your students to a new level of practice. But make sure to inspire them without demoralizing them or showing off. Remember: the demonstration is for their benefit. You want them to think, “I want to do that!” rather than, “I could never do that.” You can inspire your students by being clear and specific about the steps they need to take to ultimately do the pose. Even if they can’t do the final pose, they will feel empowered that they can see the route to get there.

Give Three Takeaways

After a demonstration, summarize the key points of the pose by giving your students no more than three simple take aways that will help them do the pose well. They won’t be able to keep more in their head than three! The art of great teaching is knowing how to be simple.

Happy teaching!

Market for success: what blockbuster movies have to do with being an entrepreneur

The Force Awakens cost $245 million dollars to make. And it cost between $100-150 million dollars to advertise.

More than one-third of their total expenditure on that movie was in advertising.

Surprised?

Even though The Force Awakens seems like a no-brainer for success, Disney invested more than $100 million in promotion. And this percentage is typical of major motion pictures, who routinely spend 1/3 of their production costs again to market their films. In the case of The Force Awakens, the investment was well worth it: Disney has raked in more than $2 billion dollars in global sales. Now while we don’t all need to go out there and make $2 billion dollars, the lesson from this blockbuster is applicable to all of us: it’s not enough to be awesome; to be successful, you must significantly invest in advertising your awesomeness.

You cannot take success (and word of mouth) for granted. Disney didn’t sit back and say, “Well, heck, everyone in the world has been waiting for this movie since those terrible prequels; we’ll be fine!” It’s no longer enough to create a great product and hope people hear about it. In a noisy world, only the loudest and most persistent voice gets heard. Marketing – for better or worse – is an essential component of doing business. Here are four tips to get you started.

Rule of Thirds

If you are an entrepreneur and doing a lot of your work yourself, then it’s important to allocate some substantial work time to growing your business and online presence.  Spending time and resources on marketing can feel counterintuitive; after all, I’d much rather spend three hours developing and editing curriculum than figuring out how to promote my Facebook page!

Do the “rule of thirds” reframe to shift your perspective.

You may have heard of the rule of thirds in photography: divide your frame into thirds and place your object of interest along an intersection. Now you can think of the rule of thirds for your marketing strategy. One third of your resources needs to go into marketing. Not only your money, but your time. If you’re working a nine-hour day, spend three of it on your marketing strategy. For the agile, DIY entrepreneur, this may mean that you spend a couple hours each day engaging with social media. Plan on spending a third of your budget on advertising and promotion.

Cross-promote

The big blockbuster movies don’t pay out of pocket for their advertising: they cross-promote. By partnering up with other vendors and products, they help to defray their own marketing costs with a little win-win. Take a lesson from the big boys: find similar vendors who would find an alliance with you advantageous and create partnerships that help you both.

Delegate

As entrepreneurs, we often feel that we need to do everything to get our small business to run. But once you accept that marketing is a high priority, you may realize that creating a team of helpers can save you time, money, and effort. Hiring a marketing strategist can help you to make sure that you are putting your precious time and effort in the right place. There’s nothing worse than spending a lot of time on marketing, only to have your strategy fail. Consider how much your own time is worth. If you can hire someone to do some legwork for you at the right price, having some marketing hands in you corner may help you to focus on what you do best. Use automated services like Planoly and Hootsuite to batch your advertising tasks and save you time.

Be consistent

Marketing can be exhausting. However, it’s not just the loudest horn that gets heard; it’s the most consistent horn. Set yourself up for success (and avoid burn out) by creating a slow and steady marketing strategy that allows you to stay in for the long haul. Cultivate patience. Be the consistent horn.

Regardless of whether you have a $100 or $1 million dollar marketing budget, the lesson is the same: marketing oomph is essential if you want to be successful.

Take it slow, have a plan, delegate when possible, and shine your light!

Are you a yoga educator? To hear more on marketing your educational courses, check out Marketing For Success.

Yoga Teachers: How To “Teach” Rather Than “Lead” Your Classes

Leslie Kaminoff was once asked if 200 hours was enough time to learn to teach yoga. “No. You can lead a yoga class after 200 hours,” he said, “but not teach.”

What did he mean?

Leading vs. teaching

Someone who “leads” a class is a guide.

Imagine that you are going on a trip through the jungle. A guide will give you a map and send you on your way. “Head towards that mountain, then turn right at the waterfall!” A teacher is more personalized and hands on. They will go through the jungle with you, tell you when you’re taking the wrong path, and give you bandaids for your blisters.

To think of it a different way, “leading” a class means that you are instructing your students in the “what” (poses, techniques, positions). “Teaching” a class means you instruct your students in the “how” (actions, techniques, tips).

Now, leading a class is no small accomplishment! You must put thoughtful sequence together, teach your students the general form of poses (what they look like), and move them through the practice safely. But if you want to take your teaching to the next level, you must begin to instruct your students how to do the poses. You must transition from being a guide  – to being a jungle master.

One of the most effective ways to elevate your teaching? Teach actions.

Actions

I have been auditioning yoga teachers for years, and it’s surprising how many teachers (even those with several years of experience) do not instruct beyond the bare minimum of the general form. The teachers may be charismatic, have a stellar personal practice, and play a banging playlist, but if they cannot teach actions, I don’t think they’ve arrived yet at their potential.

Teaching actions means teaching the muscular engagements that are necessary in order to wring the full potential and intention from a yoga pose.

Consider:

  • what is the intention and purpose of this pose?
  • what are the muscular engagements that will bring this pose to life?
  • what are the opposing muscular engagements that work against each other to deepen the pose?
  • what is rooting and what is lifting (more on root-rebound here)?

If you want to teach a class, then you must consider the internalized actions that move the pose (and the student) from being partially present to fully engaged.

Which actions should I teach?

Every pose has almost unlimited actions that you could teach.

But if we taught all the actions within a pose, we’d be sitting in warrior two for an hour (which would make your students angry). To teach well, you want to prioritize cuing the actions that are specifically enlivening to the pose. For example, if you’re teaching warrior two, you are going to want to teach the heck out of the external rotation of the front thigh. After all, that is a unique action to that pose that brings warrior two to life.

You can also prioritize teaching the actions of the pose that will ultimately help your students embody the peak pose. For example, if my peak pose is wheel, it’s a good idea to teach the heck out of the shoulder stability throughout the class in order to help students cultivate the necessary awareness in the upper back.

How To Start

Taking your cuing to the next level takes some conscious planning. Before your next class, take some time to determine and write out the key, enlivening actions for several poses including the peak. To avoid defaulting to old cuing habits,  slow down your teaching to incorporate teaching actions into the fabric of your teaching style.

Observe your students, and see how your words are landing. Begin to personalize your teaching of these actions so that you can offer your students the individualized feedback they need to embody the pose more deeply. In other words, you’re not just offering feedback to students based on the position and shape of the pose; but look more deeply at their bodies to see and feel how they are engaged. Not only will this deepen your students’ experience of their own bodies, looking more closely at individual bodies will help improve your ability to see action and alignment.

Once you start seeing and cuing actions, you’re no longer a yoga guide; you’re in the jungle, baby.

Happy teaching!

Yoga Teachers: Why Losing Followers Is Great For You

You send out your Mailchimp campaign. Without fail, within the hour, the unsubscribes start coming in.

As ET says to Elliot, “Ouuuuuuuuuuch.”

Whether it’s a Mailchimp subscriber, Instagram follower, or Facebook liker, losing a fan can feel like a hit to the heart. The negative voices start chiming in:

  • what did I do wrong?
  • why don’t they like me anymore?
  • what did I post that was a turn off?
  • why am I such a loser?

Rest assured, my friends, we’ve all been there. Even Ryan Reynolds gets an unsubscribe occasionally. But contrary to what your bruised ego may be saying, losing followers is actually very good news. Here are the key takeaways you can keep in mind.

You Can’t Please Everyone

Embrace your individuality! Trying to please everyone leads to vanilla poo. While losing followers may mean that you initially seem less popular, it’s actually a good sign that your message is becoming more specific and you’re finding your target audience. If you’re doing your job right, not everyone will like you. Seriously.

Find Your Tribe

The more specific and authentic your message, the easier it will be for your tribe to connect with you. Be bold, be real, and you will give your true audience an opportunity to find you. The more that your messaging is clearly “you,” the more opportunities you will be creating for them to connect.

Be Patient

If you start getting real, it may take your people awhile to find you (“awhile” as in like six months, a year, two years). Don’t lose heart. Be consistent with your message and your sharing, and – over time – you will start to develop the crew that really resonates with your offerings.

Don’t Take It Personal, Now

Finally, don’t take it personally. I’ve personally unsubscribed from newsletters that were perfectly inoffensive for any number of reasons:

  • I moved away.
  • I was double subscribed with a different email.
  • I didn’t need the service anymore.
  • I decided to do a social media cleanse of everything in my inbox for other reasons.
  • I was in a bad mood when I got the email.
  • Etc.

If you’re trying a new marketing angle or shifting your tone, give yourself at least three to six months before you evaluate the longer term impact of what is happening with your marketing channels. Be patient, be consistent – and most importantly – be YOU.

If you want more info on marketing immersions and teacher trainings, check out the online course, “Marketing For Success”.

For Yoga Teachers: How To See Your Students In A Yoga Class

When you’re learning to teach yoga and you begin to understand the principles of alignment, a whole new world opens up. All of a sudden, the hidden actions of the yoga practice are exposed like Illuminati secrets in a Dan Brown novel. The code is suddenly everywhere!

When this happens, it can be very tempting (especially for A-type students) to dive in – eagle-eyed – and start “fixing” student. But before you zero in with well-intentioned zeal, take a mental “whoa, Nelly!” and consider these five guidelines.

1. See the whole student.

Before you fixate your beady eyes on your student’s misaligned knee in warrior two, step back and see the whole picture. See the whole human.

  • What’s your student’s energy?
  • What’s their facial expression and emotional aspect?
  • How’s their muscle tone and tension?

Remember that this student has a life outside of the yoga class (job, family, stresses, love, loss). When you take time to see the whole student, you will be less likely to treat him or her like an object and more likely to approach them with good intent. At the very least, you’ll have the opportunity to take a breath and think, “Is this assist really going to elevate my student’s experience?” If the answer is no, then move on.

2. Speak to the foundation first.

We usually become fixated on what seems most obviously out of whack. While it’s normal to see the most blatant misalignment, pause and look to the student’s foundation. It’s amazing how much compensation can happen in the hips and upper body when the foundation is off-kilter. Look at the feet first (or hands, if they are weight-bearing), and work upwards from there. A well-adjusted foundation can shift the entire expression of a pose.

3. See the good.

Before you jump in to correct, notice what your student is doing well. Although I’m not shy about assisting students, it’s nice to give a positive note first: “Marjorie, good work with the straightness of your back thigh. Now, roll that right hip down a bit. Awesome!” Seeing the good first trains us to mentally affirm and celebrate our students’ progress and share that positivity with them. Students grow best when they are confident; by training yourself to see their good efforts, you will support them to celebrate their own.

4. They’re doing the best they can.

Remember: your students are doing the best they can. Sure, they may benefit from your intervention and loving support, but they have come to yoga class, gotten on their mat, and started to move. Some days, just getting to class is a triumph. As teachers, it’s important to remember that their presence in class is a testament of their dedication to their self care and the practice.

5. Be patient.

They’re not going to get it all today. Don’t fuss over the fine details. Your students’ practice will evolve at just the right pace for them. And sometimes, that may feel really slow. (My teachers are still giving me the same assists I was getting fifteen years ago. Learning to change our bodies is a slow, organic process.) Remember, aiding your students’ progress is your privilege, but ultimately their practice is their responsibility. Support and affirm their work, but give ownership of their practice back to them.

Happy teaching!

For what to do next, see, “Three steps to give a verbal assist.”

Yoga Teachers: How To Ask For A Raise

Let’s face it; no one really likes talking about money.   

Unfortunately, if you avoid financially advocating for yourself, you’ll likely end up not only settling and undervalued, but also underpaid! Often the problem isn’t that clients and employers won’t pay what you’re worth; it’s that you won’t ASK!

Whether you are thinking of raising your rates, asking for a raise or negotiating in a new position, I can’t stress to you the importance of valuing yourself and your time.  

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. ”

– M. Scott Peck

This is easier said than done, especially in the wellness world where there’s often negativity and guilt associated with desiring financial prosperity. So first and foremost, you must stop believing that you don’t deserve to be well-compensated for helping people!

If you’re like me, you probably have a history of valuing yourself at a certain level. And when you even THINK about asking for more, those voices in your head star to chime in: 

  • What if they say no or I lose clients?  
  • What if I don’t give enough value to be worth that?
  • What if I’m not good enough?

This is just fear talking. Our inner fear voice will try to keep us in a certain comfort zone where we don’t have to do anything too hard or too scary. Unfortunately, we often allow fear to win  – and end up losing potential revenue by accepting being underpaid.

Remember: it’s normal to feel afraid when you start to take a stand for your own value. However, feeling uncomfortable doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it nor that something is “wrong”. Everyone feels afraid when they do something beyond their comfort zone. The butterflies in your stomach will not magically go away  – and are usually a sign you are moving in the right direction. It’s up to you to decide to push through the fear. Also, know the longer you put the conversation off, the bigger and more overwhelming it will become in your mind.

Once you’ve mastered your mindset, here are a few tips for the actual conversation:

Be yourself.
You don’t have to be overbearing or aggressive to be a good negotiator. Find an authentic voice that allows you to advocate for yourself with confidence and convey your value with sincere intent and conviction. You can take a strong position without being tough or defensive. Learning to speak authentically while holding your boundaries is a powerful skill to use in all areas of your life.

It’s normal to ask for an increase.  
It’s not greedy or selfish to ask for a pay raise. Prices go up incrementally over time for nearly every product or service and it’s expected.  You’re not asking for a favor, just fair compensation for your work.

Do your research.
Make sure you know what the market rate is for your services. Be sure to consult multiple sources since you aren’t the only one who undervalues their services! It’s useful information to have whether you find you’re underpaid or at the top of the market.  

Be prepared for the conversation.
You don’t want to “wing it” when discussing your financial future.  Take the time to think about why you’ve earned a raise or rate increase.  You don’t need to go overboard with a detailed presentation feeling you have to “convince” the employer or client, just connect to your value and the good work that you do. You will be able to speak more confidently in that mindset. Also, have a dollar amount in mind. If you’re raising a client’s rate, be specific as to what the new rate is and if you’re asking an employer for a pay raise know what you will and will not accept.  

Be prepared for a “no”.
If you’re increasing individual client rates, you may end up losing a few. There’s a saying, “Some will.  Some won’t. Who cares? Who’s next?”  It’s about eliminating a scarcity mindset versus being cold or uncaring. You want to attract the “right” clients for your services and be OK letting those that don’t fit go elsewhere. The “right” clients see the value in your work and are willing to invest time and money.

If you’re negotiating your salary with an employer and you get a “no”, don’t give up.  This is an opportunity to get direction and feedback on what it will take to get the raise or salary in the future.  

Act as if you’re negotiating for someone else.
People are typically better at asking on behalf of others versus negotiating for themselves. When advocating for other people, you’re more likely to hold your ground and worry less about judgment or outcome. Use that knowledge and skill to your advantage!

I hope this is helpful!  If you want to talk further about negotiating your rates or salary, I’d love to speak to you.  Click here to schedule a 20-minute complimentary one-on-one consultation with me.  

How To Handle Yoga Students Who Don’t Listen

You’re teaching warrior two. Your student, let’s call him Joe, decides to work on his press handstand instead. Then you’re teaching crow and Joe decides that this is a great time to do some supine hip openers. On the day that you decide to do a prop heavy wall class, Joe tells you with some asperity that he never uses props.

So, what do you do when your yoga students ignore you and do their own thing?

Well, friends, I’ve been ignored by a lot of students for a lot of different reasons over the years, and rule number one? Do not take it personally.

Do not take it personally.

I used to become very grouchy when students did their personal practice in the middle of a group class. Here I was, trying to teach power, and Gertrude was practicing restorative in the corner, surrounded by bolsters. Being a little control freak (and taking myself just a wee bit seriously), I was miffed that students would come to my class and not actually, well, listen.

Why They Do It

However, over the years, I have learned that students may ignore you for some pretty good reasons:

  • they yearn to be in their yogi community, but can’t physically do what you’re offering
  • they can’t do power, but this was the only time on the schedule they could come do now that their kids are home from school
  • they’re dying to practice handstand, and simply won’t do it on their own; the class gives them motivation to practice
  • they’re pregnant or injured, and didn’t feel like announcing it to a huge classroom of people
  • they actually told you that they were injured last week, and you forgot
  • they have a head injury
  • they really didn’t think you’d mind

Bottom line?

It doesn’t matter why they’re doing their own thing. It’s fine that they’re doing it. (After all, didn’t you tell them at some point to listen to their bodies?) When you get that gremlin feeling in your gut about it, check in and see if it’s your ego that is calling the shots. Because the last thing that you want is to get in a pissing contest about who’s right in a classroom of yogis.

What You Can Do

My teacher Chris Chavez is an amazingly charismatic teacher (I don’t know how anyone wouldn’t hang on his every word). But even Chris has had self-practicing students in his class. He says: “I don’t give it energy.”

“Don’t give it energy.” – Chris Chavez

If someone is doing their own thing, well, that’s just fine. Turn your attention to the students in the room who are interested in what you’re saying and pour your energy to them. You don’t have to ignore your self-practicing students, but it’s appropriate to put your energy in the direction of those who are listening. This will send a message to your class that hey, it’s no big deal, they don’t have to worry about Gertrude and Joe! If you’re okay with it; generally they will be too. They will follow your lead.

When To Intervene

While I’m pretty chill about people doing their own practice in class, I will intervene in a few cases.

If the student is a danger to themselves or others. 

If Joe is doing handstand and about to fall over onto his neighbour yogi, I will not hesitate to publicly tell him to stop. Sometimes loudly and from across the room. If a yogi can control their advanced poses, well, then okay! But the moment someone could get hurt, the party is over.

If they are a distraction to students.

As a teacher, our role is to protect the class dynamic. When one person’s behaviour begins to make other students uncomfortable, then our role is to step in and intervene. That’s part of our job. And we’re really the only one in the room who can do it.

If they’re in the front row.

Sometimes more advanced yogis love to take the complex version of every pose. They turn every sun salutation into a handstand practice, and twisted chair into firefly pose. In my heart, I give them high fives for their dedication and stamina. But if they insist on setting up their mat in front of a bunch of beginners, I’m going to have a chat with them after class and ask them to please set up their mat in the back.

Beginners need role models in a group class; they don’t need to be intimidated or confused by complex variations. Any yogi worth his or her salt will understand and not mind setting up his or her mat discreetly.

Got any thorny class questions? Email me at info@rachelyoga.com and let’s do a post about it!

Three Must-Follow Rules For Marketing a Workshop or Teacher Training

Wouldn’t you love to know the magic formula for advertising?

I’d love someone to take me aside and say, “Psssst….put in $500 worth of Facebook Ads, three blogs posts, eight Instagram stories and you’re golden!” Yay! Mystery solved!

No such luck. Marketing is a fickle beast and every campaign is different. But while there may not be definitive recipe for maxing out attendance in your programs, these three must-follow rules will set a solid foundation to help you on your way. They seem simple, but you’d be amazed at how easy it is to miss these three basic principles!

Check it out.

Rule #1: go to where your people are.

Find out where you connect with your community and go find them there. By “your people,” I mean your ideal student. Not everyone. Your very specific, quirky, and unique ideal student.

In the virtual world, check out:

  • Where they hang on social media: Facebook? Instagram? Snapchat? Pinterest?
  • Do they hang out in online forums or Facebook Pages?
  • Are they reading blogs or online periodicals?
  • Are they participating in conversations in sister industries like naturopathy?
  • (Also find out where your competitors are making an online splash; chances are, there’s a strong community of students there!)

IRL:

  • Which studios are they at?
  • Where do they live?
  • Are they at neighborhood coffee shops, restaurant, juiceries?
  • Are they reading periodicals, listings?
  • Are they working with other service providers (chiros, naturopaths, retail vendors)?

And once you know where the majority of your people are: go there. Presto, this is where you should focus your energy.

Rule #2: build community before sales.

In social media, the number one mistake that people make is advertising to a cold audience. Social media is not a sales platform; it is a community platform. As my Instagram mentor said, “Compel, connect, convert.” This means that you put your party online, invite people to your party, and then you eventually tell them that – hey! – you’ve got something for sale that they might like.

Like Captain Picard says, “Engage!”

To create community on social media, it has to be a two-way street.  If you’re just posting your own stuff without connecting to what’s going on with other people, they are going to feel the lack of love. Engage with your community through discussions, commenting, and showing that you care about their lives and their photo of that really cute kitten.

Rule #3: Tell people what you’re doing.

Sometimes half the battle with marketing is just opening your mouth!

People won’t know about your offerings unless you tell them. It can be super uncomfortable at first to tell people what you’re doing if it feels like you’re just making a sales pitch. Reconnect to your greater purpose for creating your course (for a free course that helps you with this, check this out), and your mission as a yoga teacher. Feel the power of your mission in your bones. Think about your experiences as a student and how transformational it has been for you to work with your favorite teacher! Now, imagine that you are providing that same amazing experience for your students.

When you remember why your work is so darn important, you’ll realize that sharing it is just another way to deepen your connection with your peeps, and help make the world a better place.

Now go be successful!

For more how to’s on marketing, check out “Market For Success.”

Three Steps To Register for Yoga Alliance

Registering for Yoga Alliance is a pain in the ass.

And the bottom line: registration does not mean that a program is any good. Yoga Alliance lacks the manpower to enforce or monitor the standards of its schools, so being approved is unfortunately not an indicator of quality. However, if you’re running a teacher training, I usually suggest that you pay up and register. (If you’re registering as a teacher, however, it’s a toss up whether or not it’s worth it.)

Here’s why:

  • most students recognize and look for the affiliation
  • it’s currently the most widely recognized affiliation, at least in North America
  • it forces you to do some legwork that can be darn useful

If you’re new to creating education, the registration process can seem overwhelming. Here’s how to keep it simple and make the process work for you.

1. Brainstorm Your What

Step one: do a giant brainstorm. Think about your ideal student and what they will be able to DO and KNOW at the end of your training. Imagine your perfect graduate: how are they showing you that they understand your material? (Bonus: How to Avoid The Great Mistake.) Think about their actual teaching performance (cuing, voice, teaching skills) as well as what they need to be able to draw up on in knowledge (anatomy, philosophy, ethics, business, sequencing).

Then, group your brainstorm content into the Yoga Alliance buckets:

  • Techniques, Training & Practice – this includes all asana work, cuing, teaching skills, in class practice and asana labs
  • Teaching Methodology – this is a smaller bucket and includes “how to teach,” sequencing, and the business of yoga
  • Anatomy/ Physiology – includes both physical and subtle body
  • Philosophy – includes philosophy and ethics
  • Practicum – includes practice teaching, evaluation, class observation and class assisting time

I highly recommend that you use a spreadsheet for this (excel, Google Sheets, Numbers) and use one line for each primary learning requirement. We’ll call each of these a “topic.”

2. Brainstorm Your How

For each learning requirement, write a brief description of how the students will learn. Examples:

  • “Though discussion and lecture, students will learn to apply Ayurvedic principles to their class plan and create a targeted sequence for each dosha”
  • “Through discussion and practice teaching, students will learn strategies for teaching a multi-level class in a group class setting.”

Your “how” might include activities like lecture, group discussion, practice teaching, partner work, practice, powerpoint, or worksheets.

3. Estimate The Time

For each topic, take a guess at how many class hours you will allocate to this topic. You may have several lessons that fall under one topic, so you may allocate five hours to learning about Ayurveda, even if it’s broken up in your course into five one-hour sessions. You can designated these hours as “contact hours” with your Lead Trainer (registered with Yoga Alliance), contact hours with a non-lead Trainer (doesn’t have to be registered with Yoga Alliance) and non-contact hours (time they spend on the topic in the form of homework or outside the classroom).

Register!

Your sweet little spreadsheet now includes – in a wonderfully organized way – all the information that you need to get registered for Yoga Alliance. And you’ve also managed to take a good first draft at organizing all your course material.

Expert Tip: Register early

Don’t wait to complete writing your course before your register. Register early in your creation process so that you can start marketing your course as “Yoga Alliance Registered”as soon as possible! You’ll want to market your course at least six months in advance, so get registered first, start your marketing, then take your sweet time to build your awesome program while the buzz increases.

For more information on how to register for Yoga Alliance, check out this course that takes you step by step through the whole process (and includes sweet templates to make life easy! Yay!).

Don’t Let Procrastination Get In The Way Of Growing Your Dream Business

Erin’s dream is to grow her yoga business, put together a series of workshops and create her first retreat.  She is a talented and inspirational teacher with adoring clients who often ask about her next event. In fact, several months ago, Erin announced to clients that a date for the retreat would come soon.

I had the pleasure of taking Erin’s class last week, and we grabbed a coffee after class to catch up. I asked her when the retreat was happening.  Uncomfortably she said,

“Oh, I know, I’ve been meaning to set a date, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve been so busy lately.”

If I weren’t a life coach who knew Erin well, I would have sympathized with her “too busy” story and moved on, but I can recognize an excuse a mile away.  So I continued the conversation,

“I know how much you want to grow your business and creating this retreat is a big dream. What is keeping you too busy to get this going?  Can I help you talk it through?“

Quietly Erin said:

“I keep promising myself to set a date, weeks fly by, and I make no progress.  Every time I start to look at locations, I get overwhelmed, confused and stuck. What’s wrong with me?”

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Erin, she’s just being human and stuck in the trap of procrastination.  We chatted a bit and got to the bottom of what was blocking her. Erin got teary and explained the painful internal conversation running through her mind daily:

  • “What if no one signs up?
  • Why would someone pay that much money for a retreat with me?
  • I may be kidding myself not be able to put together a great experience for clients.  
  • Maybe I’m just not ready to do something on that level?”

Ouch. No wonder Erin was stuck. Her procrastination was just the voice of fear and self-doubt yelling louder than the sound of her dream!

The trouble is, the negative voices stemming from fear will not just go away on their own. Erin will not wake up fearless one day so what IS the solution to procrastination?

Since this is one of the most frequently asked questions I hear as a coach, I decided to put together a free e-book:

Typically when we feel fear, the mind interprets it as a sign to stop because we’re going in the wrong direction. Ironically, the reverse is true! What we are most afraid of is typically the very thing we need to do to move forward and achieve our goals.

Taking action may feel scary, but the trick is not to let fear stop you. You have to get comfortable being uncomfortable and not always knowing the answer. Every time you push through fear, you get stronger and more confident. Growth requires getting out of your comfort zone. I promise you nothing extraordinary was ever accomplished in your comfort zone. Also, know there is a direct correlation between the level of your achievement and the ability to deal with being out of your comfort zone.  

I hope you find this guide helpful.  Please reach out to me with any questions or comments at christine@christineyoungcoaching.com  

I would love to hear from you!

PS: Each week I offer a limited number of 20-minute complimentary consultations.  I would be happy to help talk you through what’s underneath your procrastination.  Just click here to go directly to my calendar and schedule your free 20-minute session.

Are You Ready To Run A Yoga Teacher Training?

So how much do you need to really know to offer a teacher training?

This is a great question – and one that is not to be taken lightly, especially when teacher trainings seem to be cropping up almost everywhere!

Here are five questions you should take to heart before you jump in.

What’s my intention?

Why do you want to create a teacher training?

Which of the following resonate:

  • It’s my dream to share my passion for yoga with everyone
  • I love teaching teachers
  • It’s a great additional stream of revenue
  • My students are asking for it
  • I want to be on a beautiful retreat island for a month
  • Everyone else is doing it, so shouldn’t I be, too?

While it’s not a problem if the idea of revenue or having a destination program is part of your “why,” unless teacher training and education is a core value in your heart, you won’t have enough gas in the tank to make it through. Have a heart to heart with yourself to get to the root of your intention. If you feel it in your heart that creating a teacher training is part of your mission as a teacher, then that’s a sign you’re headed in the right direction. (To go in-depth through this process, take my free online course, which includes everything you need to think about before you decide to create a training.)

How’s my energy?

Creating a teacher training – if you want to do it well – will take a lot of time, effort, and love. Is your “why” strong enough to see you through the the hard parts? Can you commit to taking the time that will be necessary to create a quality training (about 8-10 hours a week for four months to create a 200-hour). Do you have the bandwidth to commit, and are you willing to create space in your life to make this happen?

Is there a need?

Is there a need in your community for a teacher training?

Are students asking you, “when are you going to do this program?” Before you commit to creating a program, find out if it will serve your community. There may be other offerings (retreats, workshops, immersions) that are a better fit. Ask your students, put out a poll on social media, and get some feedback. Do some research in advance to see if there will be an audience. Now, we can never know for sure, a bit of due diligence can save your a lot of time and effort.

Am I ready?

Being a trainer doesn’t only require that you have expertise to share; trainers must also be role models for their students emotionally and professionally. Stepping into the seat of the teacher trainer requires that we look at our own habits (being late, procrastination, emotional reactivity), and be willing to do the work to elevate ourselves. While this is an enormously exciting opportunity for personal growth, it is not for the faint of heart. Said frankly, your own crap is going to come up. Are you ready to do the self-work to be a leader?

What’s in my way?

One of my teachers said, “if you’re asked to teach, then teach.”

We often don’t feel ready to take the leap to leadership. However, feeling ready and being ready are two different things. Fear is often a sign that we’re engaging in a process of self-discovery and growth. Drill down.

What’s really in your way to making the leap? If it’s fear and self-doubt, then it’s time to cast those aside and take a  jump forward. We never “feel ready.” Leap and you will create your own net. After all, you’re here on the planet to grow, not just be comfortable!

Happy creating!

You can also check out my companion article, “What you need to think about before you create a teacher training.”

I’ve Known Yogis Who Are Assholes

I’ve worked in the yoga “business” for about fifteen years. In addition to being a teacher, I’ve managed teachers, administrated studios, and run teacher trainings. So I’ve seen a lot of personalities.

And some yogis are assholes.

Sweet as pie at the front of the classroom, dark as an eastern storm behind the scenes. And not just young yogis, but veteran yogis who you’d think would have reached enlightenment if their scorpion pose were any indication. To the point where I’d look at them and think, “hey, isn’t this stuff working on you?”

Here’s the deal.

Yogis are human. Now some of you are going, yes, duh, we knew that, but I think that there is still a bit of mystical reverence for yoga, as if the practice can’t help but make you more spiritually awakened. Surely these yogis who have been refining their practice for twenty years must know something a bit more than Joe, who just showed up in the class wearing socks. And yoga is better spiritually than jogging or doing Crossfit, right?

No, people, no.

It’s not just doing yoga that is important. It’s how you do it that counts.

Yoga is different from jogging and Crossfit in that self-reflection is built into the practice (that said, I think it’s perfectly valid to “jog as a yogi” and practice mindfulness in any manner of other disciplines). But as I have learned on the farm, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. Just because self-reflection is built into the yoga practice doesn’t mean that everyone who does yoga – including these teachers – is self-reflective.

Are you doing yoga so that you can arrive in the moment, soften your heart, quiet your mind, and feel your feelings? Awesome. Afterwards, you will probably feel squishy inside and you might stop to help the little old lady cross the street. Are you doing yoga so that you can instagram your handstand? Well, you might be in so much of a hurry to put that puppy online that don’t see the old lady in the first place.

Let’s talk about fancy poses. Fancy poses are awesome. You try them, they kick your ass, and your consistent efforts eventually lead you to an achievement. You feel good and proud and you are a living demonstration of human potential. Awesome, I love you, I want to give you kisses and high fives. Yes, my darling, Instagram that shit and share your light.

But where I see the fruits of your practice is really with that little ol’ lady.

How are you in the world after you practice? How do you feel in yourself after you practice?

This is an internal reality check, my dear, that only you can do. To truly know if your practice is working, look to how you act in the world. As one of my dear (non-Instagram famous) yoga teachers said, “What’s the point of yoga if it doesn’t make you a kinder person?”

Use Transitions To Transform Your Practice

I stick my butt out.

I don’t mean to, but somewhere along the way in high school, I learned to stand up straight by lifting my ribcage up and forward rather than actually find axial extension. (You rib poppers know you who you are, my brethren).) My lumbar curve became more pronounced, my sitting bones flared back, and presto chango, thirty years later and I have tight hip flexors and a tight lower back.

I believe that yoga practice is not about fancy poses (no matter how much we like to drool on the insta-web), and a consistent practice gives us a foundation the chance to see our patterns in action. Not only do we see our physical patterns (oh! I’m popping my ribs again!), we see our mental patterns as well (oh! I’m dwelling on my ex again!).

Usually we get into a pose before we notice that something isn’t quite right.

I get into warrior two and then I “fix” it by lengthening my sitting bones. But this is a little like constantly training our bodies to do the sub-optimal action, then impose a layer of tension over it to “fix it.”

Here’s what I’m playing with:

Integrate your new body pattern before you transition.

Transitions are typically when we mentally check out. After all, we’re moving, we’re supposed to get all the way over to triangle pose, thank you very much, can’t you see we have stuff going on here?

But when we integrate before the pose, our body gets to set a new habit pattern in advance. Rather than “fixing it,” we arrive in it. And what this might do is change how you do the pose completely. Instead of doing it the old way and adding something on top of it, you’re arriving in a new way.

Here’s how you give it a try:

Choose a thing that you do habitually that you’re curious to change.

If you’re not sure what it is, consider some of the following possibilities. Do you:

  • flare your ribs (like me!)
  • overextend your lumbar (me again!)
  • over tuck your sitting bones
  • collapse your inner arches of your feet (a classic)
  • elevate your shoulders (I think this is all of us)
  • habitually tighten your jaw (I do this, too).

Maybe one of these rings a bell for you.

If you’re not sure, consider if there are any cues that your yoga teacher always gives to you. “Brenda, relax your forehead!” or something like that.

Now here’s the thing: just choose this one thing. You’re not going to pay attention to a lot of other stuff in your practice, and you may lose sight of some other alignment/breathwork temporarily in order to bring this one thing to focus.

As you practice, make this one habit change your focus. Find it in the transitions; incorporate it before you move.

All this may mean working more slowly through your asana. Enjoy the time 🙂

Off that mat: see if you can notice the habit pattern throughout your day. Before you go and “fix yourself” take a breath and see if you can relax into the more open and aligned position.

Curious about how to teach transitions? See here.

What you need to think about before you create a teacher training

So you’ve been teaching awhile, and you love yoga. You’d love to share the deeper aspects of the practice with your students. And maybe you’ve even been asked by your students when you’re going to be offering a teacher training.

Should you?

Here’s what you need to think about before you create a training.

Does education align with your personal mission?

Not everyone needs to offer a teacher training. There are many ways to contribute to your community, and you may be more passionate about offering retreats, classes, privates, or immersions. Step back and consider your big picture.

Does your community need a teacher training?

If you live in a community without a reputable, local training, then there may be a high calling to create an offering. But if there is already a lot of competition (and they are good programs), then perhaps there is a different yoga offering that could meet your student’s desires. An immersion, philosophy intensive, or asana progressive may be a better match.

Do you have the skills to be an educator?

Teaching people to teach requires a different set of skills than teaching a public class. As an educator, you need to be focused on structure, learning objectives, time management and meaningful assessment. You must become very clear about the “how” of good teaching, not just the “what” – this is, if you want to create a training that is effective rather than just a nice experience for your participants. There are resources you can use to develop these skills (my Create Your Training course, for example), but you’ll have to be willing to put on your left-brained hat for a good period of time.

Holding space

Running a teacher training isn’t just about teaching skills; it’s about holding space for people to move through a personal transformation. The teacher training room can become intense and emotional. As a trainer, you have to be willing to create a safe and compassionate space for your yoga trainees to be heard, held, and supported.

Time

Creating a 200 hour training takes a boatload of time and project management. Are you they kind of person who can set measurable and tangible goals? Do you have time now to set aside 5-10 hours a week to commit to this endeavour? Again, you can work step by step and complete your program at your own pace, but you’ll need to be a self-started and stay motivated to stay on track.

If you love education and are committed, then dive on in! Creating a teacher training is an extraordinary learning experience to clarify your teaching style and become very clear about the skills required in teaching.

For help determining if teaching a training is right for you, check out my free course: What to Consider Before You Create A Teacher Training. 

The Biggest Mistake Teacher Trainers Make – and How You Can Avoid It

I call it the Great Mistake.

And I’ve made it. A lot.

Here it it:

As a teacher trainer and educator, it’s natural to want to give your students a lot of information. After all, we are content experts and we have a lot of great stuff to share. So when we’re creating trainings, we usually start by making a list of all the content we want to cover. What do we know, and how can we talk about it. As if the point of the training is to transfer what is in our heads into our students’.

This is the great mistake.

The great mistake is thinking that training is about what we teach.

It’s not.

Training is about what the student can do.

The great mistake is thinking that training is about what we teach.

It’s not.

Training is about what the student can do.

When you are creating your training, start with the end in mind. Rather than think about what you want to teach, sit back, have a latte, and really think about what you want the student to be able to do as a result of your time with them.

  • What new tasks can they perform, or perform better?
  • How will you know if they “get it?”

Even in a knowledge-centred training (where you want them to “know” or “understand” stuff), there is a way to evaluate your student’s performance by seeing something that they do.

When you switch your teaching focus from what you know to what your student can do, you may suddenly find that your in-class time needs to look radically different. You may not need to teach everything that’s in your head. In fact, you may teach a lot less content in some ways. And perhaps all of sudden you realize that, wow, you actually need to teach something entirely different than you originally thought to get the performance result from the student that you really want.

Ask: what do you want your student to be able to do as a result of the training?

By asking yourself this simple question, you are setting yourself miles ahead.

Put the student’s performance first, and create your training from there.

I’ll Meet You at the Door: Accessible Yoga

At the yoga center where I sometimes teach in New York City, a woman called wanting to register for a four-week introduction to yoga course. She asked to speak to the manager. She wanted to know if it would be okay for her to come to the course because she was blind, and she had a dog. The manager said, “Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be okay?” The woman said, “Well, I called many yoga centers and I was told no, that I couldn’t attend.” The manager said, “Just come. I’ll meet you at the door and make sure everything goes smoothly.” The woman completed the course, and all went well. She has continued coming to classes, and she told other blind people about the yoga center and so, those other people came. In fact, the yoga teacher friend who relayed this story to me, also told me that she had recently been teaching a class and at the end, she was shocked to realize that a dog had been in the room the entire time. She hadn’t even noticed.

What does it mean to make yoga accessible? Can it really be as easy as saying yes?

Of course, there are reasons for the “no”: Insurance. What if she gets hurt? What if I don’t know how to teach her? What if something happens with the dog? Maybe the other students will complain?  What if…what if…. The mind can come up with a myriad of reasons not to do something. Maybe the reasons are justified. Maybe they are simply fear. I don’t know. I do know about the feeling when you hear no. No, you can’t come in. No, this is not for you. No, you don’t belong. Somehow, I think most of us know about that feeling in some context. For me, that feeling prompts questions: Who is yoga for? Who belongs in a yoga class? Who can be comfortable attending, and who is excluded? What is the purpose of your own yoga teaching?

In September 2015, I attended the first ever Accessible Yoga Conference in Santa Barbara, California. The conference was born out of an idea to come together and share knowledge and experience around teaching yoga to people who didn’t usually have access to yoga. It had wonderful speakers, like Matthew Sanford of Mind Body Solutions; panels, like What a Yogi Looks Like: Yoga, Body Image and Diversity; and classes and workshops about how to teach to specific communities and how to welcome difference in your class.

Two things struck me about this conference. One, I noticed again and again. It was the inspiration of the attendees. The joy of joining all types of people with all types of bodies, just being together without barriers. Practicing yoga, all of us, together. It wasn’t a problem. It was a relief. As the keynote speaker, Matthew Sanford noted, “this is humanity disguised as a yoga conference.”  

The other thing was that the conference itself engaged those questions of purpose and access. As Jivana Heyman, founder of Accessible Yoga says, “if you have a body and a mind, you can do yoga.” He doesn’t say, “if you have this or that kind of body and this particular kind of mind.” The question arises, then, how do we open beyond our own conditioning and limited beliefs? For me, I was eager to discuss and grapple with these questions among people who were also thinking about and working with these issues. I left energized, inspired, and motivated, which was the true gift of this conference.

Accessible Yoga has tapped into a longing for community and a wish to share the offerings of yoga. From that first conference, the attendees and presenters have continued sharing their resources, stories, and ideas. It sparked a global network which has grown to over 450 Accessible Yoga Ambassadors and 21 Facebook groups in 10 languages. In addition to numerous Accessible Yoga Trainings around the world (over 20 in 2018), this year there will be two conferences: one in Toronto, June 22-24 and the other in Germany, October 19-21.

Sometimes in our zeal to be good yoga teachers, to be helpful, we sometimes forget that our students are people. They are not problems that have to be managed. We don’t have to have all the answers. We can ask questions. We can work things out together. Sometimes we can just be together. Maybe the best thing that we can do is to open ourselves, our heart to this humanity. And say, yes. Yes, there is a place for you here. There is a space open. Come. I’ll meet you at the door.

For information about Accessible Yoga, please visit:   http://www.accessibleyoga.org

Awesome Tool The Entrepreneurial Yogi: The Interactive Quiz That Gets You Leads

Yoga teachers are entrepreneurs.

In addition to teaching, we have to do our own marketing, manage our bookkeeping, create our own products, and be our own graphic designers. We’re one-woman (or man) shows. And in my yoga-preneurial life, I sometimes come across new tools that I’ve found that can be useful for our work.

Here is one that I love. It’s a quiz from the people at Interact and it’s designed to get you leads (and newsletter subscribers) by getting people to take a quiz. Now, until this time, I’ve been doing what most of us do: throw up a newsletter invite on my site and hope for the best (bless you Mailchimp!). However, I have been wanting to create something more interactive for my visitors – and I also wanted the capacity to add people to different newsletter lists depending on their interests. Interact lets me do both.

Interact Quizzes are easy and intuitive to build. They’re visual, fun, and there are a ton of templates made to make it easy for you to create. You can make branching quizzes (one question leads you down a particular rabbit hole), personality tests, scored quizzes, or assessments. You can link up your favorite newsletter provider to the quiz results (I use Mailchimp, but they integrate with a lot of others, like Infusionsoft, Constant Contact, and MadMimi to name a few) so that your quiz participants can be directed to sign up for your newsletter service before they get their results. And (this is super cool), you can add them to different lists based on their answers to different questions! In other words, you can get really granular and have people on a few different lists by the time you’re done. Wow! And isn’t it more fun to get people involved with your site a bit before you hit them up for their email address?

Of course, after they’ve done the quiz, you can give them your grand call to action (“get my free yoga class,” “find where I teach,” or “get my free ebook”).

Now, I just popped this quiz onto my site a couple days ago. Interact gives you several different integration options (add it to your announcement bar, make it a pop up, send people a direct link). After I put the quiz into my site, I also shared it out on social media and added it to my newsletter.  Since then, I’ve gotten about 500 quiz views, 50 quiz starts and 11 newsletter conversions. To give you an idea,  I generally get one new subscriber a day. And I just got eleven in two days. So…that’s cool (!). While the jury is still out to see if the quiz performs better over time,  I’d say that’s a decent start!

Also (and this is very awesome), when I look at who has taken my quiz, I can see how people answered the questions, which gives me excellent intel about why people are coming to my site and what they’re looking for. Interact is containing to build out their reporting features, which will make it easy for you to see how people are reacting to your quiz. On the technical side, Interact integrates seamlessly with WordPress (my platform). Yay! You may need a bit more elbow grease if you use a different platform, but mine is simply plug and play.

Best of all, it’s free. Yes, you can buy the fancy version for money, but almost all of the cool features are available in the basic version.

If you’re curious about using quizzes to help engage and build up your community, check it out.

 

Yoga Teachers and Money: why you’re underpaid and what you can do about it

It’s hard to make a living as a yoga teacher.

We run across town from class to class, trying to cobble together enough money to make a living wage. New yoga teachers often teach for free to gain experience, and a decent starting wage is usually around $30/ class. Even veteran yoga teachers rarely make more than $80, unless they’re profit sharing with the studio.

If you’re not happy with your earnings, perhaps its time to do a re-think.

Untangle Old Beliefs

One of the reasons that yoga teachers frequently struggle is that we suffer from a misguided belief: “I can’t get paid to do what I love.”

Many of us took a yoga teacher training because we wanted to deepen our practice – not because we wanted to teach professionally. As a result, our motivation to teach comes from a desire to share our passion rather than make a buck. Because we love what we do, we may feel that we don’t deserve to get paid.

“There is nothing wrong with getting paid well for work that you love!” says Christine Young, a life coach based in New York City. “Clients will value the work they do with you even more if you respect your own time and worth. Charge accordingly to the results you provide – they’re worth it.”

Think about it: if you love what you do, then you will invest time, money and resources to be even better at it. You show up with enthusiasm and go the extra mile for your students.

Suggestions:

  1. When you’re setting your rates, do a pre-think about the experience and value that you will be providing to your clients.
  2. Consider the financial and emotional commitment that you have made in becoming a teacher: your investment in your 200 hour, your life experience, your continuing education. By acknowledging the investment that you have made, you may feel more confident in the worth of your offerings.
  3. Consider your own expenses. As a yoga teacher, you are responsible for several expenses, including professional dues, continuing education, taxes, music, travel, and insurance (to name a few!). Remembering your financial output will help you feel more firmly grounded in what you need for input.

Rethink “Spirituality”

“Yoga is a spiritual practice, so don’t be so materialistic.”

While yoga may be a spiritual practice, we live in a world where we need to pay the bills. Even gurus would take gifts from students in order to support their need, to…oh, eat. An honest exchange of goods and services is part of living in our society.

Setting reasonable prices is part of participating in this flow of energy.

“Think of money from a spiritual context. What you put out there you receive. If you are putting out a great service, the universe wants to return the favour financially.” – Christine Young

How to set your rates

To determine your fair market wage, start with objective research. Find out how much yoga teachers are generally paid in your local area by canvassing teachers and studios. It’s also a good idea to find out the criteria by which wages are set. Some studios will pay everyone a flat rate, while others will scale wages based on criteria such as:

  • experience
  • number of students who come to class
  • seniority
  • perceived commitment to the community

Once you’ve completed an objective analysis, it’s time to do an internal check with your gut.

When you’re setting your rates, do you feel that the exchange is equitable? Setting your rate too low can result in you feeling smaller, powerless, or diminished. Setting prices too high may feel like grasping, desperation, or self-importance. Check out how different prices feel to you in your body; often you can get a good sense of what feels appropriate by trying a few different numbers on for size.

Fiscal Realities

Bottom line? Most yoga studios aren’t very profitable. The hard reality is that yoga studios don’t have a lot of leeway to offer their teachers a great income; revenue from public classes alone usually won’t pay the bills. Unless a yoga company has been able to leverage a popular teacher training (Bikram, CorePower, Yoga Works) or successfully implement a certification track (Anusara), it will not reach the profit margins enjoyed by similar businesses in other sectors.

If you wish to improve your personal income but don’t want to teach more than twenty classes a week, then consider creating other revenue streams. These streams could be yoga related:

  • yoga project management (ie: running a yoga program for a corporation, club or school)
  • corporates
  • privates
  • retreats
  • workshops
  • teacher trainings
  • online courses
  • online classes
  • specialty yoga (acro, partner, kids, prenatal, yoga therapy)
  • coordinating and working with other organizations (a holistic health centre)
  • owning or managing a studio (however, see “bottom line,” above)

Or they may not be.

If you love teaching yoga, but enjoy the financial stability from your day job, then why not do both? Yoga teaching is a forgiving and flexible side career, since most people love attending classes after working hours. Teaching part-time will also help you avoid the most dreaded yoga injury: teacher burnout.

Love to hear from you.

How do you manage balancing yoga teaching with creating financial stability?