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19 Books Every Yoga Teacher Should Read

By Lifestyle & Wellness, Yoga Teachers

Learning is an important part of teaching yoga, and there are a ton of great books out there!  The ancient texts give us valuable insight on the philosophy of this incredible practice while modern books can teach us more about anatomy, business, and other elements of yoga. Whether you’re just getting started on your yoga teacher certification, or you have been teaching for years – here are 19 books that every yoga teacher should read.

 

25 Books Every Yoga Teacher Should Read - Online Yoga Teacher Training Certification

1. The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is a classic ancient Indian story about a dialogue between Warrior Arjuna and his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna. As Arjuna sets off into battle, he begins to seek answers about important questions about life from Sri Krishna.

19 Books Every Yoga Teacher Should Read Bhagavad Gita

 

2. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Patanjali

This classic book, written over 4,000 thousand years ago, is one of the most important texts on yoga philosophy today. The Sutras detail ancient yogic philosophy on every day life, ethics, meditation, and spirituality.

 



3. The Upanishads

The Upanishads is another important and revered ancient text about yogic wisdom and philosophy. Enlightened sages share wisdom about consciousness, spirituality, and a deeper look into the relationship between the Self and the Divine.

 

4. Perfectly Imperfect: The Art and Soul of Yoga Practice by Baron Baptiste

This book by Baron Baptiste, helps yoga practitioners learn important fundamental lessons about yoga. It helps readers understand the true trans-formative aspect of yoga and go beyond what their imagined idea of a “perfect yogi” is. It also hits on points about flowing, dealing with life’s challenges, intuition, and being open to the spiritual and emotional growth that yoga can create for us.

 

5. Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews

Written by internally recognized experts on Yoga Anatomy, this book is a great reference for yoga practitioners and teachers. It gives readers an understanding of the structures and anatomy of the body. It also explains how anatomy relates to different key yoga poses.

 

6. The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga by Amy Ippoliti and Taro Smith

An excellent guide for yoga teachers that details all the different aspects of running a yoga business today. It includes, business basics, marketing, social media marketing, communication, finding new opportunities, and how to run a successful yoga business.

 

7. Teaching Yoga: Essential Techniques and Foundations by Mark Stephens

This book is filled with vital topics including yoga philosophy and history, styles of yoga, tools and techniques for teaching, 108 poses, breathing techniques, and class sequencing basics. It’s a great book for new and old teachers, or just practitioners looking to deepen their knowledge.

 

 

8. Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar

B.K.S. Iyengar’s book touches on the emotional and spiritual development of yoga. This book is filled with wisdom and stories from his own personal life to reveal the important treasures that yoga helps us to develop internally. It also touches on how yoga helps us to overcome our challenges in life and also leads us on a journey to a deeper sense of wholeness.

9. 21,000 Asanas by Daniel Larceda
One of the most complete books on yoga poses, this book illustrates beautiful photographs and probably every single yoga pose that exists. The book is organized into sections of types of poses including seated, standing, backbends, inversions, and more. It also details modifications, a brief description for each pose, and spiritual associations for the poses.

 

 

10. Meditations From The Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison

This book includes 365 daily reflections as a way to take yoga practice off the mat and into the world. This book really helps to support every yogi in their personal yoga journey through its daily teachings.

 

 

11. The Mindful Brain by Daniel Siegel

Written by internationally acclaimed best seller, Daniel Siegel, this book helps to connect science with mindfulness. It details how mindfulness helps our physical bodies, our overall health, emotional health, and also mental health. It teaches how we can use a more focused mind to improve all areas of our lives.

12. Yoga Therapy Mark Stephens

This book explains how yoga practices can be used to heal a number of common ailments and injuries. Using ancient yoga, Ayurveda and modern medical research, Mark Stephens offers a lot of practical tips that any yoga teacher can use to further their yoga teaching.


13. The Complete Guide To Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark

This book offers a detailed look at the practice and philosophy of Yin Yoga. It includes practical techniques, 30 Yin Yoga poses, anatomy, and more. Another must have for yoga teachers looking to deepen their yoga knowledge.

 

14. The Yamas and Niyamas by Deborah Adele

A great resource for yoga teachers, this book is a modern look at the ancient Yamas and Niymas of the eight-fold path of the Yoga Sutras. It even offers a self-study section after each chapter that teachers can use for philosophy discussions in their classes.

 


15. The Key Muscles of Yoga by Ray Long

This colorful book offers three-dimensional images of yoga poses to detail the different muscles, tendons, bones, and tissues used in each pose. Each illustration also includes detailed descriptions of the anatomy behind each pose. A great visual and educational guide for teachers looking to deepen their anatomy knowledge.

 

16. The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

In this book, yogi Desikachar offers his own practical outlooks on yoga poses, breathing, meditation, and philosophy. His book gives us a way to view ancient yoga practices in a way that we can relate to in modern day. It’s a great book that truly gets to the heart of what yoga is all about.

 

17. Ayurveda by Sahara Rose Ketabi

A great book that goes over all the different aspects of Ayurveda including the history, philosophy, and Doshas. The author explains what the ancient practice is, how to use it today, food choices, diet, and lifestyle choices. It also includes healthy recipes and yoga poses for Ayurveda healing.

 

18. The Path Of The Urban Yogi By Darren Main

This wonderfully modern book details how we can use yoga to change the way we perceive our experiences and relationships. It helps us all be able to find ways to integrate yoga into a busy Western world. It is filled with humor and wise teachings that any yogi can apply to their daily life.

 

19. The Heart of Meditation by the Dalai Lama

In this book written by His Holiness, we learn about what is truly at the heart of meditation – Compassion. A great edition to a spiritual practice, this book helps to outline how to cultivate and practice more love, kindness, and respect for others.

 

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06/06/2018
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How To Do Dancer Pose: 7 Alignment Tips

By Yoga Teacher Training

Dancer pose is a fun yet challenging balance and back bending pose that requires the combination of strength, flexibility, and stability. Dancer pose enables us to be more focused, calm, and can promote better balance in our lives. It also grounds us and keeps us rooted. With the opening of the chest and back bend, it is also invigorating and opens us up to new possibilities in our lives. It stretches our chest, shoulders, hamstrings, quads, spine, and hips. At the same time, it strengthens our ankles, shoulders, core, and larger leg muscles.

Due to so many working elements in this pose, it can be a very intimidating pose to attempt especially for newer students. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself in this pose. It is okay to fall from time to time when practicing Dancer pose. Be playful with the pose and get comfortable with getting outside of your comfort zone. Dancer pose will always look different from person to person so try to focus on how the pose feels in your body instead of how it looks. Your balance and flexibility with this pose will develop with patience and practice over time.

How To Do Dancer Pose

1. Begin in Mountain.
2. Begin to shift your weight onto your right foot.
3. Bend the left knee back behind you, allowing the left heel to come towards your left side glutes.
4. Reach your left hand back and grab your left foot inner ankle. If this is too difficult to reach, you can use a strap by bringing it around the top of your left foot and grabbing hold of it with your left hand.
5. Bring your opposite hand, right hand, up towards the ceiling.
6. Find a focus point to keep your gaze and balance.
7. Press into your grounded foot and activate your core to keep you balanced.
8. Begin to tilt your torso forward and at the same time begin to lift the right foot away from the body. Keep the chest open.
9. Bring the back foot up as high as is comfortable for you, working to get your back thigh parallel to the ground.
10. Hold for several breaths. To release, come out of the pose slowly. Lower your back foot down and come back to your Mountain pose.

Alignment Tips For Dancer Pose

1. Firm Your Foundation

Ground down and firm your standing leg without locking it. Engage the larger muscles in your legs – the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles to protect the knee and also increase your balance. To do this, imagine feeling the kneecap of your standing leg lifting upwards; this automatically activates your upper leg muscles. You can also prep for this by strengthening the muscles in your legs. By increasing our strength we also increase our balance. Try prep poses that tone the legs such as Chair, Goddess, High Lunge, Warrior 2, Warrior 3, or Warrior 1.

2. Root Down In Your Foot

Firm down through all four corners of your standing foot. Aim to feel the ‘lift’ of the natural arch in your foot. By doing so, it will keep you more balanced in this pose. This works because the weight distribution of our bodies will even out through our feet, ankles, and surrounding leg muscles.

3. Square The Hips

In this pose, there is a tendency to want to want to rotate the body towards the side of our lifted back leg. This can take us off balance and can injury our lower back, knees, and hips. Work to get your pelvic and hip area squared to the front short edge of your mat. This will give you a better foundation and allow you to balance better on your standing leg.

4. Open The Chest

As you lean forward and come into the back bend of Dancer pose, one way we can avoid compressing the spine is by broadening out through the chest. Keep the chest lifted upwards and draw your shoulders down and away from the ears.

5. Draw The Lower Belly & Ribs In

As you lean forwards in this pose, draw lower belly in and also knit the ribs in. This will keep your torso from falling too far forward and also increase your balance.

6. Focus On A ‘U’ Shape In Your Back Bend

You want to think of creating a soft ‘U’ shape with your back bend instead of a sharp ‘V’ shape. This will help you to avoid compression of your spine. If you ever feel any sort of pain or pinching, ease out of the pose gently. All parts of our bodies are connected so a way we can deepen our back bend is working on stretching the surrounding areas; the abdominal and pelvic area. Some good prep poses you could practice to increase your flexibility in these areas are Camel, Bridge, Upward Salute with a slight back bend, and Wheel.

7. Be Patient & Ease Into It

Keep in mind, try to not focus on how the pose looks and avoid comparing how your Dancer pose looks to others. Be mindful and always work within the limits of your own body. With time and patience, you will be able to achieve whatever expression of the pose you wish. If you move too quickly in and out of the pose, you could run the risk of injuring your knees, hips, and spine.

More Tips For Beginners

If you find you have trouble balancing on one leg, you can try using a wall or chair for support. Work on just lifting your back leg up and grabbing the foot without leaning forward or coming into a back bend (think of just a simple standing quad stretch). As you work to gain flexibility in your quads and balance in your foundation, you can ease into the pose slowly.

If you find you have have difficult grabbing your back foot with your hand, you can also try using a strap for assistance. To do this, loop one end of a strap around the top of the back foot and the other end in your same side hand. Increase your shoulder and arm flexibility will also aid you in being able to grab your back foot with your hand. Try prep poses that stretch the shoulders and arms such as Downward Facing Dog, Camel, Eagle, Child, Cat, and Cow pose.

Advancing The Pose

To advance the pose, you could try bringing both hands overhead and grabbing hold of the lifted foot with your hands. When grabbing hold with both hands, be mindful to keep both arms knitted into the body, with elbows close to the ears. Be mindful to keep your shoulders drawn down your back.

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05/26/2018
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7 Yoga Poses For Stress Relief

By Yoga Teacher Training

Stress is something we all deal with on a daily basis especially in today’s fast paced world. Fortunately, there are a number of tools we can use to combat stress including yoga. Yoga relieves stress by improving the quality of our breath, calming our central nervous system, improving our mood, and also releasing tension in our muscles.

All yoga poses overall can reduce stress but certain specific poses have an amazing ability to significantly relieve stress almost instantly. Stress causes low energy in the body so it’s important to take it easy. Avoid high energy poses and focus more on grounding and restorative poses.

For even added stress relief, you can hold yoga poses for longer periods of time.

Poses To Help With Stress Relief

Here are 7 poses to help reduce your stress levels – please feel free to incorporate these poses into your lesson plans where it may help others.

1. Child

women demonstrating pose with her forehead resting on floorThis restorative pose relieves sore and achy back muscles. It also helps to stretch the lower and upper back muscles.

Begin in a table top position, with your arms reaching out straight in front of you or by your sides. Sink your hips back towards your heels. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths, and repeat as many times as needed to fully relax and stretch the lower back.

2. Easy

women demonstrating her yoga poseEasy pose helps to ground us and relax the body. Adding meditation or mantras are another great way to enhance this pose for relaxation. Breathing exercises or pranayama can also be practiced in Easy for stress relief.

To begin, sit upright and cross the legs comfortably. Root down into the sit bones evenly and lengthen up through the crown of the head. Keep the eyes open or closed and simply focus on your breathing. Stay in Easy for several breaths or for a few minutes.

3. Supine Twist

demonstration of yoga pose on women laying on the groundTwists are a great way to detox the body and relieve tension in our muscles. Because we are lying down on our backs in this particular twists, it creates an even deeper sense of relaxation in the body.

To begin, lie down on your back. Draw the knees into your chest and allow them to gently fall over the right side. Keep your shoulders pressed to the mat as you allow your head to gaze in the opposite direction as your knees. Stay here for several breaths before releasing. Switch sides.

4. Standing Forward Fold

demonstration of folded tree poseFold poses in yoga naturally help us to relax because it creates a sense of surrendering and peace in the body. Standing Forward Fold allows helps us relax by bringing more blood flow to our brains and stretching out tight muscles in the legs.

To begin, stand in Mountain. Begin to hinge forward at the hips and allow the fingers to reach towards the ground. Keep the knees slightly bent or straighten them. Let the head and neck be soft and keep length in the spine. Hold for several breaths before slowly releasing back up.

5. Wide Legged Forward Fold

demonstration of women pose with hands flat on the groundWide Legged Forward Fold is another great fold that helps to create a sense of peace and surrender in the body. It also helps to stretch the hips and legs, releasing tension in those muscles.

To begin, step the feet out wide about 3 to 5 feet apart. Bring your hands to your hips and begin to hinge forward at the hips. Allow the hands to reach for the ground, a block, your shins, ankles, or toes. Stay here for several breaths before slowly releasing back up.

6. Pigeon

demonstration of women holding one leg folded posePigeon is an amazing pose for stress relief because it helps to ground ourselves and also deeply stretches tight hips.

To begin, start in Downward Facing Dog or a table-top position. Bring the right foot in and place it down on the mat behind the right wrist. Extend the left leg back on the mat with the top of the left foot resting on the mat. Stay here or to deepen the pose, begin to fold towards the mat keeping the spine lengthened. Hold for several deep breaths before slowly releasing back up. Switch sides.

7. Savasana

demonstration of women practicing resting poseSavasana is the ultimate relaxation pose. Adding pillows, blankets, and aromatherapy are some great ways you can enhance Savasana for added stress relief benefits. You can also do Savasana for longer periods of time, for example up to 20-30 minutes to really relax your mind and body.

To begin, lie down on your back with your arms comfortably by your sides. Let the feet relax comfortably and close the eyes. Focus on your breathing and enjoy the stillness.

05/26/2018
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5 Yoga Poses For Core Strength

By Yoga Teacher Training

Core focused sequences are often a favorite among yoga students because of the universal desire to have a flat and toned tummy. But strengthening the core has many health benefits too. The core is a central part in our body that helps to stabilize us and keep us balanced in our yoga practice. The teaching cue, ‘activate the core’ is used in virtually every balance pose. Keeping the core strong is also a good way to improve your yoga practice because it will help with your alignment and prevent injuries to your lower back. Strengthening the core also helps us in poses such as Chatarunga because it takes pressure off our shoulders and wrists.

Yoga Poses For Core Strength

Read on to learn 5 yoga poses for core strength you can incorporate into your practice today!

1. Balancing Table

women who is holding one arm pose in a green top learning yoga poses for core strengthBalancing Table is a great core and balancing pose. Repeat up to 20 times for each side to activate your core.

To begin, start in a table top position. Engage the core to keep you balanced. Extend your left leg back, flexing the toes down. At the same time, extend the right arm forward. Keep a straight line through the arm, spine, and back extended leg. Hold for a breath before switching to the opposite leg and arm.

2. Boat

women in white outfit holding a leg and arm pose properlyBoat is another good core focused pose that also helps us to improve our balance. Try to challenge yourself by holding this pose for longer periods of time – anywhere between 20 to 40 seconds or longer depending on your strength level.

Begin in a seated position with your knees bent in front of you. Engage your core muscles and begin to tilt back slightly. Grab on to the backs of your thighs and begin to lift the legs up so that the shins become close to being parallel to the mat. For beginners, keep your hands on the back of your thighs or on the mat behind you. To advance the pose, you can try to bring your arms directly in front of you so that they are parallel to the mat.

3. Side Plank

demonstration of women holding one arm pose to help with yoga poses for core strengthSide Plank helps us to strengthen our side obliques, another important part of our core. Try to stay in Side Plank for 20 seconds on each side or longer.

Begin in plank pose. Lift your left arm up towards the sky. Stack the feet or place the left foot directly in front of the right foot. If this is too much for you, come down on the right knee. Stack the shoulders and keep the neck in line with your head. Engage the core muscles and pull your obliques up towards the sky. Hold and switch sides.

4. Dolphin

demonstration of women doing dolphin poseDolphin helps to strengthen our core and also our upper backs. Aim to hold this pose for 30 seconds or longer. Repeat several times.

Begin in a table top position. Lower your forearms to the mat so that they become flat and parallel to each other. Option to bring palms face down on the mat or clasp them together. Engage the core and the quads. Tuck the toes and begin to peel the hips up towards the ceiling, reaching up through the tailbone. Straighten the legs and press the heels towards the ground. Keep the spine long and broaden across the shoulder blades.

5. Plank

demonstration of how women should hold yoga posePlank isn’t known as a yoga pose but it is the beginning of the common Chaturanga pose. It is a great way to strengthen not only the core, but also our legs, upper back, and shoulders. Challenge yourself to stay in Plank for 30 seconds to a full minute at a time.

Start in a table top position with shoulders directly over the wrists. Extend your legs out straight so that you come up on the balls of your feet. Engage the quads and core muscles. Option to come down onto your forearms, if this is too much for your wrists. Keep the neck soft and the spine elongated.

05/26/2018
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How To Do Chaturanga: 3 Tips To Mastering The Pose

By Yoga Teacher Training

Chaturanga is an integral pose in any yoga sequence – often done several times in a class. It can also be one of the most challenging yoga poses to master. It is important to learn how to properly do this pose because doing this pose incorrectly over and over again can create serious shoulder and wrist issues. Chaturanga is a combination of arm, core, upper back, and wrist strength so building strength in these body parts are key. Building strength in these areas will help to create optimal alignment for the pose.

The best way to practice is by starting off with a modified half Chaturanga on the knees. This pose is done with the exact same alignment principles as Chaturanga – the only difference is that it is done with the knees on the ground. Everything else; the core, shoulders, arms, upper back, and hands should be fully engaged as in the full expression of the pose.

How To Do Chaturanga

1. Start in plank pose with your wrists directly under your shoulders. If this is too much for you, you can come down to the knees and do a modified half Chaturanga.
2. Engage the leg muscles and core muscles.
3. Begin to roll forward slightly on the toes – this will help to bring the arms down to a 90-degree angle.
4. Keep the elbows hugged into the body and ribs. Begin to lower the body down slowly.
5. Keep the upper shoulder and back muscles engaged to keep the chest from collapsing down towards the mat.
6. Bring the arms perpendicular to a 90-degree angle so that the elbows are pointed back towards the feet.
7. Pause and slowly come down to the mat with control.

3 Tips To Mastering Chaturanga

1. Engage The Upper Back Muscles

Chaturanga requires that our upper back muscles are engaged to help support the upper body from collapsing down. To work on strengthening your upper back muscles, you can do push ups or practice Dolphin pose. Dolphin pose helps to target and strengthen muscles in our shoulders and upper back.

2. Squeeze The Elbows In

Squeeze in or hug your elbows into your ribs. This will support your arms and activate different muscles in your arms, for example your triceps and biceps, for more precision and control.

3. Use The Core

Your core will help to support your spine and protect your upper body from collapsing down. Keep the core tight and engaged when doing Chaturanga. To practice strengthening your core muscles, you can hold plank for 30 seconds to a 1 minute or practice Boat pose several times.

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05/26/2018
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11 Qualities Of A Great Yoga Teacher

By Yoga Teachers

“Great” can be a subjective term to many people, but in the world of yoga, there are certainly common qualities that make some teachers stand out from others. Every yoga teacher is going to be different with their own qualities that make them unique. In this blog post, we will be going over 11 qualities that make yoga teachers unforgettable in a positive way.

1. Authentic
Great yoga teachers are always authentic in their teaching. This means not striving for perfection or trying to be someone that you are not. We’re not perfect human beings as yoga teachers, so it’s okay to make mistakes from time to time. The more you show up as your authentic self, the more you’ll be able to connect better with your students and create a following with them.

2. Be Present
Great yoga teachers always teach to who is in front of them and stay present when offering guidance and cues. This means sometimes having to stray away from a lesson plan that you might have created, if you see that it’s not working for who is currently in your class. Leading classes requires a degree of flexibility and sometimes you may need to change up your sequence or offer more guidance on a certain pose if you see that your students need more help with something. By staying present, you can be aware of these things and be able to adapt more quickly in your teachings.

3. Communication
Communicating with your students is one of the most important skills you will need as a yoga teacher. Communication will be your key to connecting with your students. As teachers, we are often guiding students in our classes through our verbal teachings cues. It’s important to be fully educated on teaching cues and how to communicate these to your students in a way that is clear and that they understand.

4. Flexible
A good yoga teacher is prepared but is always flexible in their teaching style and sequences to cater to students of different levels. Thinking outside of the box in your classes can help to bring flexibility and creativity to your sequences. If you find that your students are not responding well to the way you sequenced Dancer pose for example, you could take the time to break this pose down and demonstrate how to do this with some prop variations. It might throw off your pre-planned class sequence but your students will definitely appreciate you being flexible in order to cater to their needs.

5. Personable
Being personable, warm, open, and inviting will help your students to connect with you. From a business perspective, it will also help you build your class audiences. Teachers who are warm and always smiling make their students feel welcome and safe in class. Stay later after your classes are over to be there for your students if they have any questions for you. Another great tip is to remember your student’s names. This will make a big impression on your students and will keep them coming back to your classes.

6. Prepared
A great teacher is always prepared for class by creating lesson plans in advance and rehearsing teaching cues before classes. It’s also a good idea to prepare what your class themes will be, peak poses, how you’ll be ending your classes, etc. Being prepared will lead to your success as a yoga teacher. Your students will also appreciate you being prepared as it will create a better class experience for them. Also to be prepared, you should always arrive early to class to help set up the room if needed.

7. Honesty
Honesty is vital to being an excellent yoga teacher. Honesty means being true to yourself and to your students. If there is ever anything you don’t know, be honest with your students and let them know that you don’t know the answer to their question. It’s okay to admit that we don’t know everything as yoga teachers.

8. No Ego
Checking your ego at the door is important as a yoga teacher. Even if you might know more than your students, always be humble and kind when offering adjustments or yoga tips. Also, keep in mind even as a teacher, you’ll always be a student first and have something to learn. Sometimes our best teachers can be our own students. The more we can remove ourselves from our own egos, the better we can be open to learning new ideas that can help us to grow.

9. Inspiring
A great teacher knows how to inspire and empower their students to evolve and grow in their practice. This could be from offering inspiring stories, quotes, or inspiring sequences. Always be on the lookout for inspiring ideas or quotes that you could weave into your classes. Help your students grow in their own personal practice by encouraging them to explore how poses feel in their own bodies versus how the pose looks on everyone else. Going above and beyond in class preparation to make your classes inspiring will help you be a successful teacher.

10. Passionate
Having a love of yoga and being truly passionate about it will show in your classes and to your students. Always be learning as a teacher whether it’s from reading books, attending classes with other teachers, or workshops. Your passion and knowledge will show in your teachings and will draw students to your classes.

11. Share Knowledge
Sharing knowledge is such an important role for yoga teachers. Sometimes it could be when you’re explaining the importance of a pose and its benefits. Other times it could be answering questions for your students after class. Remember that your gift is sharing the beautiful practice of yoga with your students. Share your knowledge with others and inspire them in their own practice.

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05/26/2018
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6 Pro Tips: Overcoming The Fear of Yoga Teaching

By Yoga Teachers

Dread the idea of getting in front of a group and leading a yoga class? Afraid of speaking in front of others? Yoga is a passion for many people but sometimes the transition from student to teacher can be a terrifying one! Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with 6 ways you can cope with the fear of teaching yoga.

1. Preparation

The amount of time and effort you put into rehearsing and practicing your yoga sequences and your classes will help to build confidence in your ultimate delivery. You may not want to jump into a retreat with 50 yogis your first time teaching – it can be quite intimidating. Preparing in front of smaller class sizes when you first start off can help build your confidence. Its important to be yourself in front of the classroom, and in order to truly accomplish this, you’ll need to find some comfort in your own skin – starting small can help you do this.

If you aren’t able to get in front of a classroom for whatever reason, you shouldn’t feel bashful about asking some other yogis or friends if they’d like to let you lead a small class for them. Ask them for their honest feedback about your teaching style and be open to any constructive criticism they give you.

You also want to make sure you plan out your lesson plans ahead of time and keep them to refer back to. Having detailed class sequences that you’re familiar with will go a long way in building confidence in your delivery.

2. Connect With Your Students

One way to help alleviate your pre-class jitters is to connect with your class. Getting to class early, and talking with the students beforehand can go a long way in helping to familiarize yourself with the class and remove some of your fears. Ask your students for feedback about what they liked about your class and what they would like to see more of. Again, be open to any constructive feedback they give you. Its important to be comfortable in your surroundings so connecting with your students will help you.

3. Stay With Your Breath

Breathing is an important part of yoga, but also an important part of presenting. As you slow down and connect with your breath, it’ll help you pace yourself, slow your heart rate, and ultimately relax. Focus on your breath – get lost in its motion and let its power release you from the anxiety of your task at hand. Fear by its nature lives in the present but is rooted in our perception of the future. Focus on controlling your breath and your thoughts will shift from the future to the present, where they should be. In addition to alleviating fear, breathing will help you keep pace in the delivery of your lesson plan. Allow your breath to absorb the silence when it comes, and drown out the sound of your fear consciousness.

4. Transform Fear To Excitement

I know someone who once used to say “it is not fear that gives me the jitters, it is excitement!” It is interesting how we as humans, with awareness, can channel our jitters into excitement rather than fear. To help you, focus on the positives of sharing your gift of yoga to others. Think of teaching yoga as a positive challenge that will help you grow and evolve to reach your highest potential. It also helps to think back on your past accomplishments and how far you’ve come as a yoga teacher.

5. Use Failure As A Learning Experience

Despite what happens, continue moving forward in a positive direction. As a yoga teacher it is completely normal to make mistakes in your classes. Don’t be embarrassed and use them as learning experiences. After you a teach a class, take time to reflect on your class and see if there are any areas you could improve on. Also, take the time to reflect on the things that you liked about your class to help you clarify what you want to expand on in your teachings.

6. Be Persistent

Continue to push through your fear and keep teaching classes. The more you teach, the more confident you will become as a teacher through your experience. Remember, your gift to the world and your students is offering your knowledge of yoga – the world needs your gift! Be persistent and with time, you will find teaching classes a breeze and a less fearful experience.

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05/24/2018
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6 Creative Places To Teach Yoga

By Yoga Asana, Yoga Teachers

As yoga has become more mainstream, cities across the world have been flooded with yoga studios of all sorts. However there are certainly still people today who have limited access to yoga studios and still have a desire to continue expanding on their existing practice.

Creative Places To Teach Yoga

class where teacher is looking for places to teach yogaMaybe you’re looking to start teaching, but don’t have the resources to open your own studio? Or perhaps you live in a rural area without a nearby yoga studio? Or you might live in a smaller town without any openings at your local studio for new teachers. Today we’ll look at some alternative creative ways you can build a classroom outside of a yoga studio and find places to teach yoga.

1. Clubs or Community Centers

Humans are social by nature, and it’s no surprise that every city has tons of clubs and community centers to choose from. Schools, churches, social clubs, sports clubs, event based groups – all of these are potential resources for you to offer your yoga classes to. You could reach out to the person who manages the club or organization and pitch them the idea of setting up weekly yoga classes with their members.

2. Outdoor Yoga

Outdoors is a great place to practice! People love being outside, especially when the weather is nice so this is another great way to attract people to yoga. You could find a local park, beach, or any other open outdoor area to use as your outdoor yoga classroom. Invite friends or advertise online through social media, blogs, or outdoor flyers to attract students to your outdoor yoga session! This is a great opportunity to spend some time outdoors in nature.

3. Fitness Centers

group of yoga people helping teacher find places to teach yogaIf there isn’t a yoga studio nearby, or you can’t find open teaching opportunities – another option is a fitness center or gym. There are lots of fitness centers that build classes around specific time frames including early morning, afternoon, late afternoon, and evening. Fitness studios and gyms are great opportunities to teach to a bigger audience because you’ll often get people who are completely brand new to yoga. This is another great way for you to help spread your knowledge about yoga and expand your student base.

4. School Gymnasiums

One consistent you’ll be able to find within any community is a school! Contact your local schools to see if they would be interested in having a yoga instructor come teach during gym sessions or even during class. You can market it as something great for the community and to also help improve their students’ overall well-being.

5. Online

It is a different dynamic dealing with people online than it is in person of course, but the internet has provided a great tool for people all over the world to connect with one another! It can be a great place for you to teach and connect with new students. By providing an outlet to reach a bigger audience, you could even expand your teachings to students around the globe.

6. Corporate

You can help people relieve work stress through workplace yoga! Workplace yoga is a growing trend around the world as companies are becoming more mindful about corporate wellness for their employees. You could offer lunchtime or afternoon classes or even a workshop about yoga and meditation at the workplace. The office can be a fantastic place for you to share your gift of yoga knowledge to others.

05/24/2018
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6 Tips For Picking Your Yoga Class Playlist

By Yoga Teachers

There’s a lot of debate about the use of music in yoga classes today. Most traditional classes use music that fits the tone of their class, while some teachers argue against the use of music all together. While there be alot of different opinions on what is best – we believe that there is really no right answer.

women practicing yoga in order to get a Yoga Class PlaylistMost information today related to music in yoga is meant to support a specific objective, or the opinion of one person – but yoga is universal and also a very personal practice. What one teacher prefers may be different from the next.

Choosing Right Yoga Class Playlist

With all these differing opinions, we’ve created a simple guide for you on how to build your next yoga class playlist.

1. Choose Ambient Music

For many people, yoga is a way to access to their own personal sanctuary. A place where the rest of the world stops and an internal peace calmly rises from within. A ton of studies have been conducted into the power of sound as a way to help provide focus and inner peace. Ambient music can help to quiet the conscious mind, providing an avenue for the deeper parts of a yoga practice to arise. If you’re looking to provide a calming and meditative experience to your class, ambient sounds can be a valuable tool.

2. Use Themes

Themes can be a powerful way to inspire your students in their personal practice. Choosing a yoga class playlist that relates to your class theme is a great way to create an empowering class experience. If you have a class theme that focuses on balance, you could choose calming ambient music to help balance the mind, or you could even use songs with lyrics related to balance. Another example would be if your class theme was inner power or confidence, you could use more uplifting and energetic music with your sequence. Planning your music with your class themes is a great way to create a better class experience for your students.

3. Choose Appropriate Music

As a teacher, using your creativity and personal preference when picking your list is great. However, it is important to keep in mind the style of yoga you are teaching when curating your music list. A high cardio power yoga class might be better suited with upbeat and lively music. At the same time, a restorative yoga class might need a more calm and quiet play list. A vinyasa flow class could have a mix of calming music for the warm up and cool down and more upbeat music during the peak poses.

4. Use Music With Lyrics

Often time yoga teachers will avoid music with lyrics for a number of reasons. But sometimes lyrics can actually pull the listener into the song and away from their internal self. Voice is a powerful entity. As teachers, we strive to find a voice that caters to our students. If you do choose to use music with words, make sure it’s appropriate to the theme of the class. Another option is to choose music with light lyrics but mostly instrumental music.

5. Time Your Playlist

teacher in a class working on her Yoga Class PlaylistAnother consideration when picking your yoga class playlist is the structure of the soundtrack itself. As a yoga teacher, you’re leading your class on a journey, and you want to provide a soundtrack which will complement this experience. Think of the different sections of a well sequenced yoga class – the intro, the warm up, peak poses, cool down, and Savasana. In each of these sections, your students will experience something different. For example, the intro and warm up is most likely going to be calm and slow. In contrast, the peak pose section may be more upbeat and lively.

6. Volume Is Important

The volume of your music is also important when planning a yoga class playlist. You want to make sure the music is not too loud where it drowns out your instructions or distracts the class. Use a good quality speaker for your classes and make sure the volume is timed for each of the different sections of the class. For example, you may have the volume turned down a bit for the intro and warm up section of the class and then turn it up a slight notch for the peak poses. Once you get to the cool down and Savasana, you’ll want to turn down the volume again.

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05/21/2018
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