Teaching yoga, and maybe especially teaching private clients is, to be candid, an unstable way to make a living. But I have done it successfully for twenty years, so it can be done! I’m in a season in my life where I have limited spots available to teach, but financially I need every single one of those spots filled every week. I have about ten standing private clients and then I have at least five spots every week that need to be filled. So in today’s episode, I am giving you all the details ab...
Jun 24, 2025•34 min
Anytime I connect with a new-ish yoga teacher I end up giving a lot of the same advice, so I collected all of it in one place, right here in today’s podcast episode! Whether you are a new teacher or an experienced one in a phase of rebuilding (haven’t we all been rebuilding lately??) this episode has all my best pearls of wisdom, hard won over the last twenty years of full-time yoga teaching! In this episode, you’ll hear: why you should start a business bank account the most important thing you ...
Jun 17, 2025•29 min
You all know that I am only minimally interested in business-- I’d much rather talk about the actual craft of teaching yoga. But we do need to make money, and if we have chosen yoga teaching as our job, we need to be SMART about business because it is not the easiest way to make a living! Having some smart foundational systems in place can make a huge difference in your yoga teaching career path, and today we have Lauren Schoenfeld (she/her) on the podcast to help us out! In this episode, you’ll...
Jun 03, 2025•44 min
More than ever our work as yoga teachers is challenging and important. We don’t want to be like this lady, right? Trying to sell people something they don’t need while their house burns down? People need yoga, but they need the kind of yoga that supports awareness, connection and care (which could mean lots of different things for different students and teachers!). People do not need the kind of yoga that encourages disconnection and shutting down. Over the last two months we’ve been exploring h...
May 20, 2025•52 min
You don’t me to tell you that the world as we know it is burning to the ground. This makes teaching yoga hard, important and strange. A few episodes back I answered the question, “ Should we talk about current events in our yoga classes ?” By essentially saying, “maybe… but most likely YES.” In that episode I talked about how important it was to have an understanding and point of view about what the yoga teachings would say about current events. I received a ton of great feedback about that epis...
May 13, 2025•49 min
Solo or with guests, I explore the craft of teaching yoga, as its own practice. I’m seeking answers to the 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. I would like to release episodes more frequently and your feedback will determine the kinds of episodes I record. I’d love to offer a bit more personal content including what I’m learning and the routines I u...
May 12, 2025•4 min
Even if you first learned yoga from your parents and your grandparents, the path to truly embodying the philosophical yogic teachings can be long and winding. Today we have a beautiful conversation with Reema Datta to share with you that explores: the path from a physical focus in teaching to a philosophical practice how kleshas impact on our spiritual growth and physical well-being how to work with the koshas in an asana practice the three-step process the vedic tradition prescribes for receivi...
Apr 29, 2025•53 min
You don’t need me to tell you what a wild and scary time we are living through. We know that the tools of yoga can be incredibly supportive in difficult times and also have things to say about the difficult times we are living in. So are you talking about this in your classes? Should you? I am, and I’ve been getting a lot of questions about it! So today’s episode is going to dive deep into this question: Should you talk about current events in your yoga classes? In this episode you’ll hear: some...
Mar 25, 2025•38 min
As I sit down to write these show notes, RFK Jr is currently in his senate confirmation hearing. By the time you read these words it is my assumption that he will be the new head of Health and Human Services for the United States, a job with incredible power. Anything is possible, so there could be a different outcome, but it seems unlikely. You might ask, “what does that have to do with teaching yoga?” And I would answer you by saying “quite a lot.” Many yoga teachers are interested in the heal...
Feb 04, 2025•55 min
Building a career as a yoga teacher is challenging because unlike many other kinds of jobs, you have to build out a career in one hour blocks, working to get and then manage each gig separately. While the explosion of online offerings and social media as a marketing tool has changed much about the landscape, there is one thing it hasn’t changed. In my view, the best way to build a career as a yoga teacher is to teach private clients. But what is the best way to find and connect with new potentia...
Jan 21, 2025•34 min
Octavia Raheem first wrote a book called Gather where she talked about gathering ancestors, gathering courage and gathering rest. Then she wrote a book, Pause Rest Be, about how rest has served as a tool for courage and resilience for her and the people she’s worked with. And lucky for us, Octavia has written a new book called Rest Is Sacred, that takes these ideas and weaves them together, taking her readers into a deep place inside themselves Octavia F. Raheem (she/her) is a wife, mother, thre...
Dec 17, 2024•54 min
I have been an active participant in the yoga industry since the early 2000s, and I have never really understood how brick and mortar yoga studios, especially locally owned ones without corporate backing, made it work. I’ve been curious about it, and I have seen a few studios run incredibly well and last a long time, but we all know those are the outliers. These spaces are so important for us as teachers and students, and for the wider community as well, but they so often struggle to survive the...
Nov 26, 2024•47 min
If you are a yoga teacher trying to make anything close to a full time income with your work, then you are an entrepreneur. Many of us resist that truth, or we at least resist some of the work that is associated with being a small business owner. That is why today I’m so excited to introduce you to Jackie Murphy. She is here to give us all a business strategy pep talk! Jackie Murphy (she/her) is the host of the Studio CEO podcast and helps yoga teachers become profitable CEOs by offering them th...
Nov 12, 2024•34 min
The learning journey I’ve been on regarding hypermobility is incredibly personal. I was plagued with nearly constant minor and serious injuries most of my life. As a dancer that seemed normal, but it was very difficult and I was often injured more than anyone else I knew. I worked so hard to “build more stability” and “get out of my patterns of gripping” and some things did help quite a bit, most notably Feldenkrais. But it was really only in the last ten years, as information about hypermobilit...
Oct 22, 2024•54 min
Holding grounded space as a teacher is one of the most important and most hard to teach skills for new yoga teachers. How can you be confident doing something you are new at? Do you need to actually be confident? What do we do when challenging situations knock us off our center? To answer these questions and more, I’m so honored to have my teacher and friend Ethan Nichtern with us today. Ethan Nichtern (he/him) is a renowned contemporary Buddhist teacher and the author of Confidence: Holding You...
Oct 08, 2024•55 min
I had a profound conversation with yoga teacher and writer Karin Lynn Carlson (she/her) and I can’t wait for you to listen. Karin is a thoughtful teacher and a beautiful writer and has so much to share on the intersection of ethics and yoga teaching. This episode is packed with both valuable insights and practical advice. We talked about implementing a code of ethics akin to those in social work and discussed problematic behavior and abuse within the yoga world. Karin offered insights about how ...
Sep 17, 2024•49 min
How to teach yoga in a trauma sensitive way is a conversation that floods mainstream yoga spaces these days. And with good reason; almost everyperson in the world has had some experience of trauma, so our yoga classes are filled with people who have had exposure to trauma. It is very easy for yoga and asana to be taught in ways that are not trauma sensitive. Being aware of teacher-student power dynamics and how they impact students with trauma is paramount to skillful teaching. That is why I am ...
Sep 03, 2024•57 min
This episode is one of the most important interviews I’ve ever recorded. Our guest, Katie Blecker (she/her) is here to talk about two of my favorite things, accessible yoga and teaching yoga. And even better, we are going to talk about the intersection of those two things in a conversation that is LONG overdue on this podcast: Making the vocation of teaching yoga accessible to all yoga teachers. Katie Blecker (she/her) is a yoga teacher, disability advocate, and visual artist. Her work as a trau...
Aug 06, 2024•46 min
The yoga world has changed so much in the last 5 years, and more and more yoga teachers are finding they need to build and create their own opportunities to teach. Even before the pandemic it was nearly impossible to build a full time career teaching group classes at studios. The pay is too low, the opportunities too rare and the workload is way too high to exclusively teach at a yoga studio. But paving your own path can be challenging, especially if you don’t see anyone like you doing it. That ...
Jul 09, 2024•52 min
Today on the podcast I am introducing you to someone very special to me: one of my most important teachers, Sara Avant Stover. I started studying with Sara privately in the fall of 2012 and what I learned from her radically altered my life path. I went on several deep, immersive retreats with her, the last one in 2016. Since the last time we saw each other Sara has suffered several very intense heartbreaks and gone deeper into her practice than ever before. Surviving these challenging times and ...
Jun 11, 2024•46 min
I believe the invitation of life is to become ourselves, live fully and freely, and then, if you are a student of yoga, to extend that full, free, safe living out to all beings everywhere. But how often do we get to see someone really do that? Today I have a treat for you: a person who is doing just that. Becoming. My friend Miles Borrero (he/him) has survived fronting a Latin rock band, riding horses competitively, acting on various stages across the US, and nannying a six-year-old. He has been...
May 14, 2024•50 min
In case you don’t know, Jivana is the founder and director of Accessible Yoga, an organization dedicated to increasing access to the yoga teachings and supporting yoga teachers. He’s the author of the books: Accessible Yoga: Poses and Practices for Every Body; Yoga Revolution: Building a Practice of Courage & Compassion; and a new book, The Teacher's Guide to Accessible Yoga: Best Practices for Sharing Yoga with Every Body. His books, classes, and trainings offer support to yoga teachers and...
Apr 30, 2024•1 hr 8 min
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 ...
Mar 19, 2024•58 min
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,...
Feb 28, 2024•38 min
Well, this is an unusual episode!! Since I released a podcast episode last year about my group class planning process I’ve been getting more and more questions about my unique teaching style. It’s been described as Buddha Dharma Meets Corrective Exercise With A Little Vinyasa In The Middle For Some Fun. It’s a specific style that has been cultivated over almost 20 years of very full time teaching, and I especially love the way it lands online and in an audio format. So this episode is a short ex...
Jan 30, 2024•1 hr 24 min
I’m sure you’ve noticed that many stock images and illustrations of yoga practitioners show a very narrow representation of bodies and abilities. Harmony Willow Hansen is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer and yoga practitioner who creates beautiful images that represent the true diversity in the student body of yoga practitioners worldwide. She created a beautiful book called You Are Strong And Worthy that showcases these images. Willow also has lots of resources available for yoga teach...
Dec 22, 2023•20 min
Teaching teachers how to teach yoga is a massive responsibility. (How many times am I going to write the word “teach” in this intro???) Many people who listen to this podcast either already are, or are hoping to be a teacher of teachers. I get asked all the time for advice on creating and leading a teacher training. I have created a very successful speciality training, The Science of the Private Lesson , and a big part of my business is mentoring yoga teachers . I have supported teachers in writ...
Dec 18, 2023•51 min
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 su...
Nov 28, 2023•53 min
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 Upanis...
Oct 31, 2023•53 min
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 ...
Sep 29, 2023•58 min
