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The mention of yoga teacher training conjures up a bundle of images and ideas, many of which are inaccurate or at least incomplete. So today host Rachel talks with returning guest Dana Diament, lead teacher of the Yoga Medicine 200hr Teacher Training, about common misconceptions and misunderstandings about yoga training. In this episode, we discuss what personal qualities are (and aren’t) important for aspiring yoga teachers and unpack the realities of the training experience and how you might feel afterward. If you have been wondering if you should embark on yoga teacher training, this episode is for you. Show Notes: Myth #1: All yoga teachers must be… (pick your adjective) [2:21] Who should do a yoga teacher training? [2:22] Being yourself when teaching yoga [5:31] Charisma and comfort speaking to a group [12:07] Myth #2: Yoga must be all you do and care about [17:51] Myth #3: There’s only one pathway to teaching yoga [20:13] Myth #4: Yoga training is all about personal transformation [25:46] Myth #5: All yoga teacher trainings are the same [31:30] Myth #6: Yoga teacher training is fun and easy [35:48] Myth #7: You won’t be nervous to teach after teacher training [41:19] Myth #8: You’ll know everything about yoga [44:16] Myth #9: You’ll feel confident and complete as a teacher [48:02] Key takeaways [52:34] Yoga Medicine 200hr Teacher Training options for 2024 [55:27] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine® 200hr Yoga Teacher Training Connect with Dana Diament:          Facebook | Instagram | Yoga Medicine Online | Raia Collective You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-103. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today's hosts Tiffany and Katja return for a deeper discussion of fascia and pain. Recently, fascia is being more generally acknowledged as a pain generator, especially of one specific type of pain: myofascial pain. In this episode, Tiffany and Katja discuss the mobility of fascia, look at fascia as a sensory organ, and explain the influence of fascia on pain mechanisms. Listen to this episode to learn how to interact with and influence the fascia and what this information can teach us about implications for pain and mobility disorders. Show Notes: Understanding the complexities of pain [3:21] Myofascial and skeletal pain [4:47] Utility of trigger points [11:26] Mobility of fascia [15:19] Implications for yoga practice [21:37] Mobility of fascia a myofascial pain [28:20] Myofascial pain and mobility [31:31] Tools for treating mobility disorders [38:20] Fascia as a sensory organ [42:18] Proprioception and hypermobility [48:10] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Fascia Pain Continued Overview Myofascial Release Training Yoga Medicine® Online Yoga Medicine® Podcast Episode 19: Fascia & Pain Connect with Katja Bartsch:          Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-102. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.  

In the yoga world, as elsewhere, opinions seem more polarized than ever. Today we’re making space to explore one popular all-or-nothing topic in the wellness sphere: whether our practice is intended to create comfort or offer challenge. Host Rachel explores the delicate balance yoga teachers seek between challenge and comfort and the compassion required to do so with returning guest Aisha Fakhro LAPHP, LNRPC, a licensed psychotherapist and yoga teacher who specializes in working with anxiety, trauma, grief, relationships, stress management and personal growth. Listen in as we compare, and perhaps reconcile, the case for the comfort of safe and welcoming practice spaces with the growth we might experience from venturing outside our comfort zones. Show Notes: Do we even need to know what students need? [3:58] The case for comfort: who we become in welcoming & inclusive spaces [5:53] The case for courage: challenging our comfort zones [12:15] The need for safety with the challenge [16:19] Empowering students to choose what they need: it starts with us [20:33] Compassion as the thread drawing extremes toward each other [25:46] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher Connect with Aisha Fakhro:           Instagram | Soft Strength Podcast | Aisha Fakhro   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-101. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Many yoga students and teachers feel part of a culture and tradition we don't fully understand, leading to the necessity for open, honest, and potentially uncomfortable conversations about the wider context our practice exists within - including its long and complicated history and its intersections with culture, commerce, and politics. Today host Rachel is joined by Firdose Moonda - a journalist, academic, yoga teacher, and researcher - to explore some of these intersecting issues, and offer an introduction to important definitions and common misunderstandings about the practice.  Listen in to learn about the historical and cultural context of yoga and its contributions to our unique and individual in-body experiences. Show Notes:  Firdose’s early experience with yoga; the drive to deeper study [3:22] The inspiration for Firdose’s new Yoga Medicine course [6:40] Definition and geographical origins of yoga [9:38] Politics and privilege in yoga [12:21] Is yoga actually intended to make us feel good? [17:10] Is yoga really for everyone? [21:59] Chakras, and other concepts we misconstrue as part of yoga tradition [24:52] Acknowledging varied individual embodied experiences of yoga [29:11] Yoga’s origin and religious association; implications for appropriation [36:47] Valuing ongoing education for its own sake [41:19] Yoga’s relationship to colonization [47:15] Details on Firdose's new Yoga Medicine course [49:24] The most powerful three words yoga teachers can say [52:29] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga & Politics Online Course Episode 21: South Asian Teacher Panel Connect with Firdose Moonda:           Instagram | Souldier Yoga   You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-100. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Katja and Tiffany dive into the importance of dynamic mobility training and its broader applications. Stretching is always a loaded topic. There are lots of different opinions and broad research available, with new research being released regularly. In this episode, we talk about the newer research on dynamic stretching and how it relates to athletic performance and injury prevention.  Listen in to learn the purpose of stretching, how to incorporate dynamic stretching before exercising, and the different psychological aspects of different stretching modalities.  Show Notes: Static stretching before sports [2:31] Purpose and type of stretching [5:15] What is dynamic stretching [9:00] Dynamic stretching and athletic performance [15:08] Injury incidence and dynamic stretching [16:09] How much range of motion (ROM) do we really need? [22:55] Mechanisms of ROM increase [27:15] Mechanisms – balance and proprioception [33:39] Psychological aspects [39:34] How to use different stretching applications [44:04] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga for Athletes Teacher Training Online Dynamic Stretching Overview Connect with Katja Bartsch: Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-99. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

There is no shortage of strong opinions on what areas of study are appropriate for yoga teachers and students. The study of anatomy is one that, at times, inspires controversy - so today hosts Tiffany and Rachel dive into the pros and cons of using anatomy in yoga.  We discuss the challenges of using anatomical language and the risk that a simplified model might be confused with reality. We also debate whether emphasizing the physical could detract from more subtle aspects of yoga practice, as well as how it might provide a shared experience to more deeply connect us to life, each other, and ourselves. Listen in to explore some of the drawbacks and advantages of studying and teaching anatomy in the yoga world. Show Notes: Does anatomy study limit the concept of yoga to the purely physical? [2:31] Anatomy is a simplified model of a complex and individual reality [7:55] Anatomical language is not familiar to most students [13:26] Recapping the main drawbacks of studying & teaching anatomy [19:56] We all experience life through our physical body; why not learn about it? [21:07] Anatomy study is one lens through which we can know ourselves better [25:52] Anatomical language can be learned and is shared with medical/ movement professionals [28:36] Anatomy study supports intelligent and effective teaching [32:03] Anatomy study can inspire curiosity, reverence, gratitude, and wonder [39:42] Final thoughts, a reminder of the big picture, and Yoga Medicine resources [43:18] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Core Curriculum Bundle Shoulder: Anatomy, Dysfunction, & Application Yoga Teacher Training Hip: Anatomy, Dysfunction, & Application Yoga Teacher Training Spine: Anatomy, Dysfunction, & Application Yoga Teacher Training Sequencing with Purpose Yoga Teacher Training You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-98. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Tiffany and Katja talk about a topic that always draws a lot of interest: the female menstrual cycle. The pair discuss new research around athletic performance throughout the cycle, offering new angles that go beyond the fluctuations of female sex hormones. They focus on new findings that consider the importance of psychological aspects in this context. Listen in to learn some new perspectives on athletic performance and the female cycle and ways to use yoga to support your menstrual cycle. Show Notes: Assumptions of menstrual cycle-based training [3:51] New research on performance during menstrual cycle (MC) [6:52] Who participated in the study [10:44] What was tested for in the experiment [14:18] Results of the latest research [16:19] Further considerations on inclusion criteria [18:57] The complexity of studying the female cycle [21:24] Performance vs. training [23:38] How yoga can help to work with the MC [25:42] Importance of the nervous system in training [27:12] Limitations of current research [30:43] Individual experience “versus” research [33:03] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Athletic Performance Menstrual Cycle Overview Yoga for Athletes Teacher Training Female Health Yoga Teacher Training Connect with Katja Bartsch: Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-97. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Most of us have experienced the all-too-familiar gap between wanting to change something in our lives and actually doing it. In today’s episode, returning guest Alison Heilig breaks down the most common barriers to behaviour change with host Rachel. Alison shares how behaviour change is not about self-control or lack of, and is instead a set of learnable skills. We discuss the importance of setting realistic expectations and explain why habit initiation is more important than habit completion. Listen in to learn how to turn a fixed mindset into a growth mindset, and how to create systems to support your goals for lasting change. Show Notes: Motivating people with a different approach to change or challenge [2:57] Barrier #1 to follow-through: is it really lack of self-control? [7:19] Recognizing a fixed mindset [11:20] Discerning between fixed mindset and acceptance [14:55] Growth mindset eases perceived time pressure [18:00] Where can yoga teachers intervene with a fixed mindset [20:28] Emphasizing effort over outcome to empower students [25:21] Barrier #2 to follow through: Behaviour change skills [28:32] How your “future self” helps you learn to tolerate discomfort [31:49] Just get started: how habit initiation is more important than completion [38:06] Managing overwhelm with intentional prioritization [41:49] Barrier #3 to follow through: No system [46:44] Barrier #4 to follow through: Unsupportive environment [52:35] Barrier #4 to follow through: Unrealistic expectations [1:02:30] Final takeaways [1:10:04] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 32: Harness Your Potential, Yoga for Athletes Yoga for Athletes Teacher Training Connect with Alison Heilig: Facebook | Instagram | Alison Heilig | Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-96. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Feel pressured to make your classes new and exciting? More complex? More demanding? Today hosts Tiffany and Rachel offer tips for yoga teachers who are ready to work smarter, not harder, when crafting class sequences. In this episode, we talk about the importance of starting with a clear focal point and a base class template, and the benefits of reusing past sequences. We also discuss the two parts of the creative process and what to do when you are sapped of inspiration. Listen in to learn how to save time and energy with a simple and systematic sequencing process that brings your ideas to life. Show Notes: Pressure to craft the “perfect” sequence for every class [1:10] Tip 1: Start with a clear focal point or intention [4:30] Thoughts on Peak Pose sequencing [15:40] Tip 2: Plan your classes, but hold your plan loosely [17:43] Thoughts on building a curriculum over time [21:10] Tip 3: Use a base class template [24:23] Leaving space in your sequence [27:05] Tip 4: Use a systematic sequencing process [32:17] Tip 5: Keep and reuse your sequences [38:23] Fear our focal point won’t be relevant to every student [42:36] How we record sequences and ideas [48:44] Working with the two phases of the creative process [53:40] Sources of inspiration when you’re out of ideas [55:32] Learning to sequence versus using a set sequence [1:01:41] Key takeaways, being of service [1:05:44] Upcoming Yoga Medicine Sequencing Teacher Training [1:08:55] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Sequencing with Purpose Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Medicine Podcast Episodes: 05: Yoga & Sustainability 74: Yoga for All 92: Right Brain Skills for Yoga Teachers You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-95. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

In communication, stories and symbols have the capacity to reach us in ways that facts and figures do not. So today host Rachel dips her toes into Hindu mythology with returning guest Steph Wall. In this episode, we talk about the importance of mythology and its links to many of the poses we know and practice. Steph also offers advice on how to introduce symbolic stories into classes where students have varied beliefs and experiences. Listen in to learn what mythology can teach us and how to incorporate it into your yoga classes. Show Notes: Steph’s first introduction to mythology [4:01] Steph shares one of her favorite Hindu myths [7:05] Stories offer us insight into ourselves [14:58] The challenge of sharing stories about gods and goddesses [18:45] How to start sharing mythology in your teaching [22:02] Tips for sharing Hindu mythology with students of varied faiths [26:41] Mythology and mystery versus an evidence-based approach [31:02] Final takeaways and Steph’s upcoming classes on Yoga Medicine Online [36:08] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 59: Explore the Dark Side Connect with Steph Wall:          Instagram | The Kali Collective | Facebook | Yoga Medicine Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-94. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Today hosts Tiffany and Katja talk tips for keeping calm under pressure. This episode is all about choking up or freezing under pressure, which can apply to so many different situations whether you’re a yoga teacher, a presenter, or an athlete. We talk about the mechanisms behind choking under high-pressure situations and offer tools that you can use to prepare yourself for situations where you might encounter hyperarousal, distraction and excessive self-focus, which can get in the way of your performance. Listen in to learn what is happening in your body when you face pressure and what you can do to mitigate the negative effects of performance jitters. Show Notes: Mechanisms behind choking under pressure [5:59] Tools to counter hyperarousal [11:21] “Pressure as privilege” mindset [18:50] Tools to prepare for distractions [21:47] Pre-performance routines for athletes [27:48] Reframing internal worries [31:41] Interventions for paralysis by analysis [33:55] Minimizing explicit knowledge of specific movements [37:47] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Calm Under Pressure Overview Connect with Katja Bartsch:          Facebook | Instagram | Kalamana Yoga | Yoga Medicine® Online Guest Teacher You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-93. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.

Yoga teachers love a good training. When in doubt, many of us tend to look for more technical skills – more evidence, more information, more protocols and strategies. But what if the true magic of the teacher-student relationship lies elsewhere: not in perfection, but in presence. Today’s episode hones in on right brain or relational teaching skills, which are less about WHAT we teach and more about HOW we teach it. Our guest, Sandy Raper, is a long-time yoga teacher, teacher trainer, author and mentor. In this episode, she shares her right-brain teaching tips for both new and experienced yoga teachers with host Rachel. Listen to this episode to learn the difference between left brain and right brain skills, why you should let go of your plan to leave space for next time, how to build trust with your students, and the vital importance of remembering your “why.” Show Notes: Our tendency to lean into left brain teaching skills [3:05] Left versus right brain skills [4:51] Tips for new teachers: leave room for “next time” [8:35] Build trust with students: presence and progress, not perfection [14:37] One-on-one versus group teaching skills [23:13] What keeps students coming back? [33:28] Supporting longevity as a teacher [37:22] How to develop right brain skills [45:40] Final reflections [53:46] Links Mentioned: Watch this episode on YouTube Connect with Sandy Raper:           Sandy Raper | Beyond Yoga Teacher Training Podcast | Facebook | Instagram You can learn more about this episode, and see the full show notes at YogaMedicine.com/podcast-92. And you can find out more about insider tips, online classes or information on our teacher trainings at YogaMedicine.com. To support our work, please leave us a 5 star review with your feedback on iTunes/Apple Podcasts.