Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast

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.
Get a free download of 100 yoga workshop ideas
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.
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Are your words secretly sabotaging your students? Many yoga teachers unknowingly use language that creates limitations and fear in their students. This episode explores the subtle ways your words can impact your students' physical and mental experience of yoga. Learn to identify and eliminate fear-based cues, cultivate confidence through positive communication, and empower your students to embrace their unique abilities.
 
Episode Highlights: 
 
01:25 How fear-based cues can hold your students back, while a focus on your students' strengths and unique abilities will help them progress more quickly.
06:02 How cultural norms influence our perception of discomfort and how to navigate 
10:06 Common nocebic cues and learn how to avoid them.
17:59 Practical tools to cultivate confidence and help students own their practice.
21:26 How to handle common challenges and ethical dilemmas that arise in the yoga class setting.
31:09 How anatomical knowledge empowers you to release fear-based language while teaching with precision and confidence.
 
Links & Resources
Anatomy Bites Website
Libby’s Website

Bodies come in a beautiful variety of shapes and abilities - and this means they have different needs. So how can you provide a positive experience for unique individuals during a group class? Dr. Libby Hinsley is back on the podcast to discuss strategies for adapting your teaching for diverse bodies and abilities.
 
Episode Highlights: 
How to change your yoga sequence on the fly and still provide an excellent class
Understanding anatomy and movement to uplevel your confidence teaching people with different physical abilities
The key to accommodating multiple levels in your class
Building blocks of human movement
How to simplify and slow down so you (and your students) can savor practice
The difference between “complicated” and “advanced
 
Links & Resources
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Anatomy Bites
 
Episodes with Libby
Yoga & Self Massage
Q&A with Libby
Anatomy Myths
Hypermobility & Yoga

Self-care is essential for yoga teachers - but easier said than done. In the fast pace of modern culture, our role has partly become a cheerleader for self-care. Yet, many of us live with life circumstances that cause us to neglect our own self-care. In this week’s episode of the podcast I demystify the idea of self-care and offer a simple way of thinking about it that will help you understand how to implement it in your own life.  
A simple way of describing self-care from a yoga perspective.
A review of the structure and function of the human nervous system and how it relates to self care.
Why understanding the nervous system is helpful for yoga teachers. 
How the modern self-care movement oversimplifies self care and portrays it in a misleading and potentially harmful way. 
Additional ways to think about and practice self care that are more effective and accessible. 
How to talk about self care with your yoga students.

Centering your values when you set goals can help you create a sustainable, inspiring business. In this episode, you'll hear some of the structures I use personally to move forward in my business without compromising my principles. 
 
Episode Highlights: 
03:01 Finding the Sweet Spot: Logic & Intuition in Goal Setting
06:03 Why Knowing Your Values is Key for Choosing the right Goals
7:01 Values Check In Ritual
11:53 Goal Setting Step-by-step
12:33 Stuck in a Rut? Try This Unexpected Brainstorming Trick
14:15 From Dream to Reality: Scheduling Your Goals for Success
17:39 Goal-Setting Inspiration: Real-World Examples to Get You Started
24:19 How to Evaluate & Refine Your Goals
 
Links & Resources
 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group 
Sign up for Mado's email list and get a free download of 100 yoga class themes
 
Book Recommendations
The Artist’s Way
The 12 Week Year
 
Tag @yoga.teacher.resource on Instagram to celebrate your accomplishments!

This episode from 2019 was inspired by a facebook post I made on the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group. I was having my own moment of doubt and decided to share in order to help normalize the experience for other teachers. The response was overwhelming! That post has gotten the most comments in the group so far. It made me realize that there is a need for yoga teachers to hear that they are not alone when they doubt and to understand where the doubt comes from and what to do about it. 
Highlights
Why self-doubt is getting more and more prevalent among yoga teachers
The positive aspects of impostor syndrome
What to focus on in your teaching during moments of doubt
My personal process for self-care when I experience doubt

Yoga is a system of moral philosophy that has long been overlooked by Western scholars and appropriated by the fitness industry. Dr. Shyam Ranganathan, author of Yoga: Anticolonial Philosophy provides context for the dissonance between modern yoga and its roots. We discuss how to frame yoga practice authentically, how philosophy is the unifying force between varied practices, and why decolonization requires embracing discomfort.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 Yoga and personal agency
05:53 The role of philosophy in understanding yoga
09:52 Challenges and rewards of yoga practice
15:34 The problem of modern yoga
22:15 Defining colonialism, philosophy, and ethics
26:12 Understanding Yoga: Capital Y vs. Small Y
28:27 Why embracing dissonance is key for decolonization
29:14 Philosophy's role in decolonization
31:26 The physical and emotional impact of philosophy
40:53 Teaching yoga in a capitalist society
46:32 Conclusion and further resources
 
 
EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES:
Yoga Philosophy
Book: Yoga: Anticolonial Philosophy
Yoga: Anticolonial Philosophy Study Group
Follow Dr. Shyam Ranganathan on Instagram @yogaphilosophy_com
Follow Dr. Shyam Ranganathan on Facebook
LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe

Many yoga teachers struggle to maintain their personal practice once they start teaching. In this episode, I explore the challenges yoga teachers face in maintaining their personal practice after transitioning into teaching. Consistent personal practice is crucial for embodied knowledge, confidence, and self-care. We all face obstacles to staying consistent like time management, life changes, and even burnout. Tune in to hear my perspective on how to overcome those obstacles and develop a sustainable personal yoga practice that nourishes your teaching and your life.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 Why many yoga teachers struggle to maintain their personal practice
01:05 Why a personal practice is essential for yoga teachers
02:18 Defining a personal practice
03:29 Benefits of a personal practice for yoga teachers
05:42 What a personal practice looks like
11:14 Overcoming obstacles to a consistent practice
14:32 Motivation and discipline
17:16 Adapting your practice to life changes
18:21 Evolving with your practice
LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe

Michelle Cassandra Johnson explores the kleshas—the five afflictions that cause suffering—within the framework of modern challenges ranging from racial injustice to climate change. Through personal stories, insights on yoga philosophy, and practical advice, Michelle offers a roadmap for understanding and addressing the root causes of suffering both individually and collectively. This conversation will inspire yoga practitioners and activists alike to engage deeply with their practice and strive for personal and social transformation.
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 Introduction to the kleshas
2:10 Levity as sustenance for deep work
04:45 Why Michelle chose to write about the kleshas
06:55 A primer on the kleshas
14:36 How the kleshas confront our assumptions
16:32 Pain and the kleshas
24:35 The kleshas and social change
42:14 Teaching the kleshas in yoga
 
 
EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES:
Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Book: Illuminating Our True Nature
Illuminating Our True Nature Book Club
Illuminating Our True Nature Course: The Five Afflictions
Illuminating Our True Nature Gathering and Practice
Follow Michelle on Instagram @skillinaction
LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe

In this Q&A style episode, I answer listener questions sent via social media and my website. Topics include managing expectations as a substitute instructor, creating body awareness in beginners, discomfort in studying anatomy, and building a sustainable business with corporate and private clients. Listen in to hear my thoughts on how much to explain your teaching style when you substitute teach, the best ways to help beginners, and how to build a clientele from the ground up. 
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 Introduction to the Q&A format
01:20 What to do when you substitute for classes that are very different from how you teach.
04:53 The best way to support new students who have been mostly sedentary
10:09 How to handle physical reactions to studying anatomy
14:54 How to build a clientele of private and corporate clients
23:57 How to encourage clients to commit to weekly or bi-weekly sessions
28:31 Conclusion and call for more questions
LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource 
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe