by Kara-Leah Grant Hosting a travelling yoga teacher can be a successful and profitable venture for a yoga studio - if done right! It can use up "dead time" in the studio. It opens up an additional income stream. It can bring in students that don't usually come to the studio, some of whom may come back. It can increase the exposure and awareness of the host studio in the marketplace. It can educate and inspire the studio's student base. And it can be the beginning of an … [Read more...]
Here you'll find the collected wisdom of a wide range of yoga teachers, who have been generous enough to share the many things they have learned from teaching yoga.
Hybrid Yoga Styles: Do They Enrich Yoga or Dilute It?
by Jo Stewart, Garden of Yoga A quick google search will turn up all kinds of yoga hybrids—think Bungee Yoga, Antigravity Aerial Yoga, HIIT Yoga, Beer Yoga, Vinyasa + Vino, Doga, Meowga, and Goat Yoga—and these are just a small sample of the pun-tastic world of hybridised yoga. While I might wonder how yogic some of these combinations actually are, my own classes could be on that list. I’ve also been to, and thoroughly enjoyed, hula hoop yoga and SUP yoga workshops at festivals. I’ve … [Read more...]
The Humbling Experience of Ditching Music While Teaching Yoga
by Kara-Leah Grant Facilitating retreat is always a powerful experience, not just for the retreatees, but also for myself and the other facilitators. I know that I'm going to get triggered, that my ideas and beliefs will be challenged, and my unconsciousness revealed. This is the process of retreat, and it is immensely rewarding. In the middle of the fire though, it's damned hard work. Case in point: The Heart of Joy, Bali. I’m co-facilitating with Ben Ralston. It's only the second retreat … [Read more...]
The Ethics of Sharing Another Yoga Teacher’s Work
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently I received an email from a woman I have mentored through my Forty Day Process. She asked: Ok, ethics! I have a question for you and I have never thought of asking this of any of my other teachers in the past! I have a student who was just here practicing with me in Mexico. Here is where I don't know what is right from what is wrong. I intend to support her and take her through the home practice and also to get her on the 1 Giant Mind app so she will have two … [Read more...]
Home Yoga Practice: What Counts if You Are a Yoga Teacher?
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...]
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...]
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...]