The Mentor Sessions
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This podcast is for yoga teachers and explores the craft of teaching yoga, as its own practice. We love asking questions about why we teach something the way we do, how we could be more expansive and inclusive in our teaching, and how we can continue to grow and evolve in our teaching practice. Occasionally we veer into other topics that affect the yoga teaching profession more broadly like..
The Mentor Sessions
1M ago
The brain and the nervous system play a HUGE role in how we integrate sensory information, experience pain and create movement patterns but this topic is not often covered in foundational yoga teacher trainings. That is why I’m so excited to introduce you to Missy Bunch (she/her), a multi-certified movement therapist who has been educating and coaching for over 14 years.
As a young professional dancer, she battled many injuries over her career and one day she found someone who studied neurology (the study of the brain and nervous system). After one session with this person, her 4-year knee pai ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
1M ago
Today I will answer a bunch of questions that you all have sent in about teaching private lessons!
In this episode you’ll hear:
suggestions for helping a student establish a neutral pelvis in daily life
advice and guidance for hands-on work in private lessons
tips for finding private clients outside of the studio
tips for when you need to make some money fast
support in lightening up a teaching schedule
how (and why!) to raise your rates
help for a private student who wants to learn to meditate, but always seems agitated when practicing
Resources Mentioned:
37: Q ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
1M ago
Teaching yoga in 1x1 settings is such a wonderful way to inspire and support meaningful change in our student’s lives. But the possibilities for what and how you could teach a private lesson are endless and as a teacher that can feel overwhelming! How do you decide what to focus on??
Teaching yoga one-on-one requires a different skill set than teaching group classes, and these unique skills are left out of most teacher trainings. In this podcast episode I’ll share the simple framework I use to teach private lessons in a way that is balancing and helpful for my students without being drai ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
2M ago
Today I will answer a bunch of questions that you all have sent in about teaching private lessons!
In this episode you’ll hear:
suggestions for helping a student establish a neutral pelvis in daily life
advice and guidance for hands-on work in private lessons
tips for finding private clients outside of the studio
tips for when you need to make some money fast
support in lightening up a teaching schedule
how (and why!) to raise your rates
help for a private student who wants to learn to meditate, but always seems agitated when practicing
Resources Mentioned:
37: Q ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
5M ago
In today's episode, we have a very special guest, Anjali Rao (she/her). Anjali is a yoga teacher, writer, and podcast host who offers profound insights into the often obscured stories and histories of yoga. An Indian American immigrant and cancer survivor, Anjali beautifully integrates yoga philosophy and history with storytelling, imagery, and poetry.
Anjali and I had a thought-provoking conversation about the sociopolitical context of yoga and its historical beginnings. We delve into topics such as the caste system, the intersections of power and access to knowledge, and the erasure of ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
6M ago
I have wanted to have a teacher on the podcast to talk to us about The Yoga Sutras for years, and I finally found the teacher we needed! Vikram Jeet Singh is here today to share an exploration of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that is both accessible and deep.
Vikram is a certified yoga teacher with over twelve years and 11,000 plus hours of teaching experience. Besides asana, Vikram also teaches courses and workshops on classical yogic texts such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. Additionally, he runs mentorship courses and workshops for teachers and practitioners to help ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
6M ago
Back in February of 2018 I shared an intimate view of a full week in my teaching and work life. I shared my daily habits and routines, the things I was working on in my group classes, and how I met each of my private clients. (Listen to that episode here!)
Well, the world at large, and my little world too, has changed drastically since then, so I wanted to share an updated version!
In this episode you’ll hear:
how I’m managing parenthood while keeping my business afloat
what has shifted in my mindset around business growth since having a kid
how I make time for my own practice in t ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
7M ago
Today I’m here to share a vulnerable update of my life lately, and some tools I’m using to teach great yoga classes even though I’m in a very challenging season. I’ll be honest, there almost wasn’t a podcast episode this month. This has been one of the hardest summers of my life and I’ve been feeling totally under water. I realized the middle of the month had already passed and I had no interviews scheduled and no ideas for a podcast episode.
But then I remembered... I’ve been teaching through it all! And I’ve actually felt great about what and how I’ve been teaching.
So today I am shari ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
9M ago
Are there poses you used to love and teach, but have recently stopped teaching for some reason?? It turns out we all have a long list of poses that we find ourselves leaving out of our classes for a multitude of reasons. We recently had a super interesting conversation inside The Mentor Sessions Sangha all about this! And on the podcast today I’m sharing an edited sneak peak of that discussion to get your creative juices flowing!
In this episode we discussed:
our priorities and choices in teaching
the importance of getting clear on the intended benefits of poses
varying perspectives ..read more
The Mentor Sessions
1y ago
In January I started sharing my group class planning process in short videos on Instagram and y’all had questions! The more I shared, the more questions I got! So today we’ve got a solo episode on the podcast where I am answering all your questions about my group class planning process.
In this episode you’ll hear:
how I try to bring recognizable sun salutation templates AND sequences that vary into each class
why a thread of physical and emotional consistency woven throughout class makes it memorable to students
a deep dive into the template I use in every class I teach
what I re ..read more