by Kara-Leah Grant A few months ago I wrote an article stating that if you teach yoga, you must have a daily self-practice. That article was widely shared, and read. And it triggered some strong reactions. There were comments, and emails where people shared with me the reasons why they couldn't practice yoga every day. Some of these teachers were only teaching one class a week, on top of working 50+ hour jobs, and they were often teaching disadvantaged groups. They felt like what they were … [Read more...]
How to Maximize Your Potential as a Yoga Teacher
by Neal Ghoshal When I started teaching Yoga thirteen years ago I thought I'd be showing anybody who turned up to class a few Yoga postures and hopefully they'd enjoy themselves. Yet Yoga seems to have its own plans and it's own drive. Teaching Yoga has lead me on unexpected journeys and to unforeseen places. And it appears to be the same with many who come to Yoga - at first, we do not realise the power and the beauty of the practice to transform our lives. A few years down the line we … [Read more...]
Shiva Rea on the Evolution of Prana Vinyasa Yoga {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant She's sometimes referred to as "the Madonna of Yoga" - at least, that's what Vanity Fair called Shiva Rea when she did a desert photo shoot for them in 2007. But magazines love catchy monikers and as someone who grew up idolising Madonna and has studied with Shiva... the two women are nothing alike. "I'm not sure what exactly what they were referring to, whether it was my boldness, but I'm not into being a yoga celebrity at all. At all! Humility for me is a really important … [Read more...]
Teaching Yoga? You Must have a Home Yoga Practice. Here’s why
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently on social media, a yoga teacher was talking about the difficulty of fitting in going to yoga classes with her busy schedule, and admitted that her home yoga practice was poor. This teacher displayed zero awareness of the importance of a personal practice for anyone who teaches yoga. She's trained as a yoga teacher. Which implies that the yoga teacher training she completed didn't hammer home the importance of a personal practice for those who teach yoga. She's not … [Read more...]
An Interview with Tom Myers of Anatomy Trains on the New Anatomy of Interconnectedness
by Kara-Leah Grant Back in 2001, movement specialist Tom Myers published a book called Anatomy Trains. In it, he put forward an idea that was to forever change the way that people understood "stretching" - a systems-oriented view of our musculo-skeletal anatomy. That is, that when we stretch, we're not just stretching separate and individual muscles, but that we're also working with fascia, which is a webbing overlaid and connecting all muscles. This book was born out of the work that Tom … [Read more...]
Reflections on Teaching a 12 Hour Yin Class
by Nik Robson On Sunday the 17th of January I taught Yin Yoga continuously for 12 hours. My experience that day was paradigm shifting and has led to me creating a new way to offer my teachings. We need not limit ourselves to linear, hour or even 90 minute yoga classes when possibilities are infinite. Imagine Socrates back in the days of Ancient Athens, sitting around all day with an openness to share his philosophy with anyone and everyone. This is how I'm now offering my Yin Yoga … [Read more...]
The Ethics of Teaching Newly Learned Material in Your Yoga Class
by Kara-Leah Grant Once, I taught a weekend workshop to an eager group of students, including the studio owner and some teachers from the studio. My style of yoga and teaching was fairly different to the usual style on offer at this particular studio. My offering was lapped up and everyone enjoyed the workshop, excited to have a new way to approach yoga. So far so good right? This is exactly the kind of response one wants from teaching a workshop. A day or two after the weekend, one of the … [Read more...]
How to Avoid Putting Someone off Yoga for Life in Your Yoga Class
by Kara-Leah Grant Yoga might be one of the faster growing pursuits in the West, but there's still plenty of people showing up to class, having one - or multiple - bad experiences and being put off for life. And unfortunately, that initial interaction with a studio and/or teacher can set the tone for the way someone will forevermore think about yoga and 'yoga people'. Yes, there can be difficult first-timers and it takes two people to co-create a situation. But in the yoga room, the onus is on … [Read more...]
Tara Judelle on Journeying to the Centre of the Body through Yoga {Video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant Meet Tara Judelle, an international yoga teacher and featured teacher with Yogaglo. Tara has over 27 years’ experience working with movement, and now focuses her yoga classes, and her own practice, on the discovery of embodied anatomy. I had the pleasure of attending a weekend workshop with Tara last November, at a time I was beginning to become disillusioned with the yoga I was finding. Tara restored my faith in yoga teachers. She taught 100% out of her own practice, … [Read more...]
The Tapestry of Yoga Cueing: Four Keys to Mastering Yoga Teaching
By Michelle Jayne, Yoga facilitator, therapist & coach "Step your foot forward and stretch your arms up." I looked around the studio I was practicing in, trying to figure out if we were still on the right leg, or without warning, this had changed. "Square your hips forward, breath in, stretch your arms, breath in, bend your front knee, and take one more breath." Hang on a second, I hadn’t had a chance to breath out, and if I continued listening to the teachers cueing, I was about to faint … [Read more...]