Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast

How to choose a workshop topic (on-air coaching call)

Chasity Burleson is a brand new yoga studio owner in Asheville, NC looking for guidance in creating workshops to help her students go a little deeper with yoga philosophy. Listen as she gains both clarity and strategy in this on-air coaching call with Mado.    New freebie for listeners: Get a free download of 100 yoga workshop ideas when you sign up for Mado’s email list.    Episode highlights:    How to validate your workshop idea. How to choose a name for your workshop. Examples of effective structures for posture workshops.  Ways to structure the actual workshop content.   Links & Resources   Get the brand new 100 yoga workshop ideas download  

The difference between classes and workshops

Learn the essential differences between yoga classes and yoga workshops and how understanding them can help improve your teaching and help your students see the value of both types of offerings. New freebie for listeners: Get a free download of 100 yoga workshop ideas when you sign up for Mado’s email list.  Episode highlights:  How knowing the differences between weekly classes and workshops can help you market your classes more successfully.  Side by side comparisons on the frequency, structure, and duration of classes, vs workshops Information-based vs experience-based workshops and why you’d want to offer one or the other.  The unique opportunities workshops offer yoga teachers.  How to name & price your workshops.  Links & Resources Sign up for Mado’s email list & get 100 yoga workshop ideas download Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group  

Yoga philosophy for pain care with Marlysa Sullivan

Philosophical and neurophysiological perspectives for people in pain -  the last of a three part series on yoga and pain science with the editors of the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care.  Marlysa is a physiotherapist, yoga therapist, Assistant Professor in Yoga Therapy and Integrative Health Sciences at Maryland University of Integrative Health, and holds an adjunct position at Emory University, where she teaches the integration of yoga and mindfulness into physical therapy practice in the DPT program.  Stay tuned to the very end of the episode for a chance to win a copy of the book. All entries need to be submitted by midnight on Tuesday December 17th, 2019.   Episode highlights:  How yoga philosophy relates to pain care and what it offers for working with people in pain.  Using scientific language vs. using the yoga language – how both are helpful and when to use them.  Reductionist thinking as a tendency of scientific language and how yoga philosophy can counterbalance this tendency.  How yoga teachers can be responsible in our relationship to science and communicating the many benefits of yoga to the public.  What it means to approach yoga therapy top down or bottom up and examples of each  Specific examples of how to bring yoga philosophy frameworks into your yoga classes and how it serves people in pain.   Links & Resources Marlysa’s website  Purchase the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes  Enter the book giveaway on Instagram

Yoga for People in Pain with Shelly Prosko

Explore tangible and practical ways yoga teachers can think about pain in order to improve their teaching and support people in pain.    Part two in a three-part series on yoga and pain is a conversation about specific yogic practices for people in pain. Guest Shelly Prosko is a physiotherapist, yoga therapist, educator and pioneer of PhysioYoga with over 20 years of experience integrating yoga into rehabilitation. Shelly is also one of the editors of the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care. Stay tuned to the very end of the episode for a chance to win a copy of the book. All entries need to be submitted by midnight on Tuesday December 17th, 2019.   Episode highlights:  Why it’s helpful for yoga teachers to understand pain.  How yogic frameworks - the philosophy and other practices - can be applied to helping people with pain.  This difference between awareness and mindfulness and why we need to know the distinction.   The role of self compassion in pain and exploring the definition, different expressions, and stages of compassion.   The koshas and how they relate to the experience of pain including one example of a practice for each of the 5 koshas.    Join us again next week for part three of the series all about yoga philosophy and pain with Marlysa Sullivan.    Links & Resources Purchase the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes 

Pain Science Basics with Neil Pearson

This week’s episode kicks off a series of conversations about yoga and pain science with the editors of the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care. The guest for part one in this three part series is Neil Pearson. Neil is a physiotherapist, yoga therapist, and Clinical Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia. Neil and Mado discuss the basics of pain science, the different ways we experience pain, how the yoga tradition views pain, and how this can be appealing to health care professionals.    Listen to the very end of the episode for a chance to win a copy of Yoga and Science in Pain Care. All entries need to be submitted by midnight on Tuesday December 17th, 2019.   Episode highlights: Defining pain and the ways we can begin to talk about such a multidimensional experience. The role of pain as protective mechanism from a pain science perspective.  How yoga teachers can open a dialogue with health care professionals. What science says about being a part of a community and the effect it has on pain. Guidelines for yoga teachers who teach group classes to support and respond to students communicating some level of pain.  Different relationships to pain as it related to wanting to achieve the more difficult/extreme asanas.  How to learn more about pain science if you are interested in bringing it into your yoga teaching.   Join me again next week for part two of the series where I talk to Shelly Prosko about the specific practices we can use to help people in pain who show up at our yoga classes.    Links & Resources Neil’s website Pain Care U  Lifemark First Five Steps  Purchase the book, Yoga and Science in Pain Care Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes

Paths to traveling the world as a yoga teacher [On air coaching call]

Jill Phoenix wants to make the leap into teaching yoga full time but doesn’t want it to feel too much like work and wants to preserve her passion for yoga. She also dreams of traveling more. In this on-air coaching call, Mado helps Jill zoom out a bit and offers some different perspectives on teaching remotely and how she can realize her goal of teaching yoga as a career and traveling the world.  Episode highlights:   The value of a transition phase, what it is and how to use it to plan graduated, sustainable steps in the direction of your long term goal.  How to market your brand new classes at new studios or locations.  Different paths for how to make a living teaching yoga while traveling What it means to build your audience and create a platform for your offerings online.  Tips for working in the yoga and wellness fields that go beyond teaching classes and workshops/retreats.   Links & Resources Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes 

Win/win relationships between teachers and studios

Mado explores the sensitive relationship between yoga teachers and yoga studio owners and managers and how we can navigate these relationships with integrity.  Episode highlights: The causes and the effects of placing restrictive policies around what yoga teachers can share with their students in class. Real stories and experiences of the yoga teacher and yoga studio dynamic.  Considerations about boundaries, agreements, and contracts between teachers and studios. What it would actually look like for studios and teachers to have win/win relationships.   Links & Resources Episode 23: Teacher centered yoga studio business model with Kaya Mindlin Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes 

Who should I trust online (about yoga)

Mado shares how yoga teachers can discern who and what to believe when there are so many opposing perspectives being proclaimed with equal confidence online. If you’re wondering where to turn for reliable information and how to parse through the different perspectives to figure out what is right, tune in for this week’s episode.    Episode highlights:   The challenge of sifting through all of the confident and conflicting voices online. The importance of examining our own relationship to social media. Why content designed for social media is so compelling from a neuroscience perspective.  How we can apply yoga philosophy to hold space for multiple conflicting truths. Links & Resources   Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes 

Why new students don’t return to your classes

Mado shares reasons new students might not be coming back to your classes and solutions to help you attract the people who truly want what you are offering. This information in this episode will help yoga teachers build their class attendance faster and find their authentic voice as a yoga teacher.    Episode highlights:   Reasons people don’t come back that have nothing to do with you as a teacher  The most common ways that yoga teachers make their students feel uncomfortable without realizing it and the quick fixes for this problem  How to make sure that the advertising for your class is as accurate as possible The importance of naming your classes and considerations for choosing a class name  How to talk to your regular students to get feedback on what they enjoy and get out of your classes Links & Resources   Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes 

Are you making these yoga niche mistakes?

Honing in on your niche is a powerful tool for reaching more people and making a bigger impact with your yoga teaching. However, many yoga teachers don’t truly understand why and how to choose their niche. In this episode, Mado explores this topic and the common mistakes that might be undermining your best intentions in choosing your specialty as a yoga teacher.    Episode highlights:   The benefits of specialization as a yoga teacher today Five common mistakes and misunderstandings about choosing a niche  Being too broad vs. too narrow with your niche  What to do when you want your classes to be inclusive but also target a specific group of people Tips for choosing a niche organically, how to listen for clues, and what questions to ask yourself   Links & Resources   Episode 58: Lessons on burnout and spiritual bypassing from The Bhagavad Gita Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group Sign up for the email list and get 100 yoga class themes