“But how do I find new potential private clients?” ... is the question I get asked most often. 

I have lots of suggestions for teachers wondering how to grow their private practice AND the truth is that I very rarely take on new clients myself these days.

Over the last few years more and more yoga teachers have worked to create their own teaching offerings outside of a studio setting, and I think this is a great thing! While I absolutely value the community space a yoga studio can create, I also think creating learning opportunities for students

I’ve been collecting your questions over the last few weeks, and I’m so happy to share this Q+A episode with you today! (It’s an off-the-cuff, casual vibe. I think you’ll like it!)

Hello! After a long maternity leave I’m back in front of the podcasting mic and so excited to be here. This episode is quite a departure from our usual conversations about the craft of teaching yoga.

The culture we live in is overrun by systems of oppression like racism and late stage capitalism and the way we teach and practice yoga must take that into account. 

One of the most downloaded episodes of this podcast is Episode 59: ROM, Neuroscience + Yoga with Garrett Neill. In that episode we talked about the difference between Active Range of Motion and Passive Range of Motion, the three main barriers to range of motion that show up in our joints

Much of a yoga practice can, from the outside, look like very little is happening. In a meditation practice it might look like we are just sitting there, but as we all know, that “just sitting there” can be a wild experience and a potent place to make friends with ourselves. 

The historical teachings of yoga have incredible lessons for our modern world. Understanding and unpacking the ancient teachings is a lifelong process, and those of us lucky enough to practice, study and teach yoga must investigate how these teachings can shape our worldview.

It is quite possible (even likely!) that you have students in your group classes who have given birth in the last year (or several!), and are just getting back to their practice. Do you feel comfortable and confident in supporting those students?

I know that questioning whether the practices of yoga have a political aspect to them is a popular conversation, even controversy. But from my reading and study of the yogic and Buddhist teachings, there is no way to see dharma as separate from the world we live in, and with the world we live in being so full of injustice, that makes the teachings inherently political.

I imagine by now you’ve probably heard that over 65% of COVID misinformation is spread by just 12 people, and those 12 people are almost all from the wellness community.  As yoga teachers we may loosely (or closely) identify with the wider wellness community and so addressing these issues is important! W

In teaching yoga and asana we end up working with bodies quite a lot. Many, if not most, of our students will likely  be dealing with some kind of discomfort, whether it be the aches and pains of modern living, or full-blown, diagnosed injuries. 

Today is our 100th episode and to celebrate we have two very special guests! Joining us on the podcast are two nationally renowned professors who are experts in online learning and teacher education, and... they also happen to be my parents.

In The Mentor Sessions Sangha we have been having a robust conversation about online yoga class library memberships. These are very popular now, and can be a great way to diversify your teaching income and support your students.  They also require a decent amount of work to set up, there are an endless number of ways to organize the process and the pricing for these offerings are all over the map.

When you think of teaching a trauma-informed yoga class, what comes to mind? Do you think of teaching a special class for a specific population, like veterans recovering from PTSD or survivors of abuse in a shelter? Those are populations that certainly benefit from a very well trained and thoughtfully trauma-conscious teacher (and specialty class!)

As you are well aware, we are living through a devastating public health crisis and masks and vaccines are our most important wellness tools right now (BY FAR). We know from our spiritual study that we are all interconnected, and none of us are truly well unless we are all well.

What kind of rules have you been taught about the safest way to twist? What do you teach your students about the best way to rotate through the spine? Today we are taking a deep dive into these questions and I couldn’t be more excited!

I have a special treat for you today! I’m going to introduce you to one of my own teachers, Kearsten Lyon! Kearsten (she/her) is the founder and owner of an extended health care clinic called Total Movement Therapy based in Toronto, ON and sees clients virtually all over the world.

I often feel like marketing is hard, and the things the “experts” tell us to do are slimy and also don’t work. You feel me?

That’s why I’m so excited to have Mado Hesselink (she/they) on the show today!

Teaching yoga to kids has the potential to be incredibly impactful for kids and their communities, but there are many challenges that arise when we try to take the deep and meaningful teachings of yoga and make them developmentally appropriate without losing the heart of the teachings!