I see this discussion popping up here and there regularly on yoga teacher groups. As with many things, there are teachers, who strongly oppose demonstrating in class. And there are those, who think that demonstration is absolutely necessary. 

Typically, beginners teachers feel more comfortable demonstrating. This is simply because they need more refining of their verbal cues and more confidence in giving hands-on assist. 

So what should we do in a class?

New yoga teacher - what’s next?

As I moderate a few yoga groups on Facebook, I often see new yoga teachers asking for help and guidance in regards to starting their new exciting teaching career. And by new teachers I mean anyone who just did their training or up to 2 years into their teaching journey. 

Is that you? Then read further :)

As I celebrated 12 years of teaching yoga this October 2018 I contemplated on how rapidly our industry has evolved and grown.

I remember the easier years when in 2010 I opened a yoga studio in Amsterdam, and it took us just 3 months to start breaking even. I remember days when I would teach massive workshops of 30-40 people in each without having a big name or being a yoga celebrity just 3 years into my teaching career.

Today, however, things are different. The yoga market is saturated, there are many more yoga teachers nearly done with their training and are eager to join our teaching sangha. This is the reason why these days we have to be creative, innovative and business-like if we want to succeed.

So I decided to look for people who approach this business creatively, people who look outside of the box and come up with great ideas.

My first interview is with Casey Castro, the owner of Sydney Yoga Collective.

What makes your heart beat? What makes the planets spin and fly through space? What makes you breathe?

According to ancient Indian knowledge - it’s all thanks to prana. Roughly translated from Sanskrit as breath, life force or energy. It flows through our body through Nadis, which are energy channel (Nadi is also translated as “river”).

There are three main channels in our energy body, all of them running from the base of the spine all the way up to the crown of the head. The 7 points where these channels cross - is where prana creates whirlpools or wheels of energy - chakras (translated from Sanskrit as “wheel”).

What makes me a Yoga teacher versus a Yoga instructor?

A yoga instructor is someone who simply leads a class. You hear your instructor directing you what pose is next, to step a foot forward, to lift an arm up.

An instructor merely leads you through practice, giving you a feeling that you’ve worked out. A yoga teacher is actually TEACHING you how to do poses. How to position yourself in space, what to engage, where to relax. Coming out of a class with a teacher, you can say that you have learnt something and gained a valuable piece of information. Be it alignment, philosophy etc.