Angel Coughlin’s yoga studio is expanding. Along with this extra growth comes the increasing demands on her time and attention. In this on-air coaching call, Mado talks with Angel about ways she can balance her larger vision for her studio with the realities of running (and growing) a business and while continuing to being there for her yoga students who adore her. Mado also guides her with some actionable steps she can take and information about how best to utilize tools like email marketing an...
Sep 26, 2019•37 min•Ep. 72
Leslie Kaminoff is a straight talking yoga teacher who has been around long enough to have seen the tremendous shift in how yoga is practiced and perceived in the US. In this follow up to their previous conversation about the history and future of the Yoga Alliance, Leslie shares his background and yoga origin story. He and Mado also discuss the ways in which the birth of the fitness industry paved the way for what we in the west know yoga to be today. Episode Highlights: Leslie’s recommendation...
Sep 19, 2019•40 min•Ep. 71
Maintaining a consistent home yoga practice is one of the most common challenges for yoga teachers. In this episode, Mado shares the strategies she is currently using to re-establish the habit of home yoga practice after her recent travels. She also talks in detail about the science-based reasons why we struggle with our personal practice, even if we have a ton of integrity in other areas of our lives. Also included are some techniques you can easily implement to reclaim your personal practice. ...
Sep 12, 2019•20 min•Ep. 70
Mado steps outside of her comfort zone to film a video series and then goes behind the scenes to share the lessons she learned while shooting the videos. If you’ve been thinking about creating videos of your own, this episode will help you get through the learning curve of using a new technology with less stress and more success. Episode Highlights: The thought process and intention behind the video series. The 5 main lessons I learned from the experience The things I plan to do differently in t...
Sep 05, 2019•14 min•Ep. 69
Introverts make fantastic yoga teachers, but we have a few extra challenges to face when it comes to building a following. New Zealand based yoga teacher Dayna Edge is wondering whether she should open her own yoga studio or focus more on private and corporate classes. She recently resigned from her administrative job and is now looking to pursue her passion and teach yoga full time. She wants to have access to a wider range of people she can work with than she had at her previous job, but she i...
Aug 29, 2019•30 min•Ep. 68
Mado shares her experience with switching email marketing service providers, why she made the change from Mailchimp to Convert Kit, and her tips and recommendations for yoga teachers looking to begin using an email service as well as those who are ready to maximize their email marketing. Episode Highlights: Why and how yoga teachers might want to use email marketing Mailchimp’s limitations and reasons for switching to ConvertKit What the process of switching was like including migrating a contac...
Aug 22, 2019•14 min•Ep. 67
Mailchimp is the most popular email marketing platform for yoga teachers. In this week’s episode, email marketing expert Peter Akkies joins Mado to talk about how Mailchimp’s recent changes to their platform will impact yoga teachers specifically. Episode highlights: Overview of email marketing, how it has changed, and what is currently trending and effective. How yoga teachers can utilize email marketing to grow their classes. What the recent changes to Mailchimp’s services mean for yoga teache...
Aug 15, 2019•37 min•Ep. 66
Listen in on a practical and inspiring conversation about how yoga teachers can go beyond the physical in their teaching Kelly Golden, founder of virabhava yoga, shares how her teaching evolved in response to personal challenges and the surprising way her students responded when she changed her classes from hot power vinyasa to a more slow and subtle practice incorporating energetics. Episode highlights: Accessible definitions of prana and energetics. Why teaching about energy is a struggle for ...
Aug 08, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 65
Allison is opening a yoga studio and came to Mado with questions about working with her staff of teachers and finding ways to feel more centered in her personal offering of yoga. Allison feels called to work with people with injuries and often finds herself connecting with physical therapists and chiropractors. She also expresses that she is unsure about calling herself an expert and yet she feels like she has sufficient training, even to the point of feeling a little “trained out” or tired of d...
Aug 01, 2019•44 min•Ep. 64
Alex Haley, meditation teacher and assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, joins Mado to discuss the intersection of mindfulness and technology and how those of us who are interested in wellness relate to technology and our tech-driven world. They also talk in-depth about how technology impacts our teaching of yoga and mindfulness, our students, and the people we love. If you have questions or concerns about meditation apps and online teaching or are interested in how technology is c...
Jul 25, 2019•57 min•Ep. 63
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is considered standard reading in yoga teacher trainings all over the world and many scholars spend a lifetime studying the history and meaning behind this enigmatic text. This week’s episode is an exploration of why, as modern day teachers of primarily yoga posture practice, we study this ancient yogic text. Insights from this episode include: Why the yoga sutras has such a prominent place in modern postural yoga. The particular style, structure, and significance of...
Jul 18, 2019•15 min•Ep. 62
Yoga therapist and Science of Yoga author, Ann Swanson, shares insights on the intersection of science and yoga including: Why yoga as an integrated practice is uniquely positioned to make an impact on human wellness. Her struggles integrating science and spirituality - and why she now feels they are inseparable. How to weave spirituality into your classes in a subtle and accessible manner. How to evaluate stated benefits and contraindications of specific poses What she thinks about inversions d...
Jul 11, 2019•37 min•Ep. 61
Yoga Alliance CEO Shannon Roche joins Mado to discuss recently announced changes to their standards for entry level yoga teacher trainings. The conversation goes in-depth on topics of curriculum, anticipated outcomes, and even reactions to criticisms of Yoga Alliance as an organization. Since this episode is longer than normal, timestamps of the highlights and different topics addressed are included below so that you can jump to specific areas of interest: 00:02:50 Shannon’s personal definition ...
Jul 04, 2019•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 60
Rose is a new yoga teacher. Unlike many teachers, she didn’t start teaching until age 55 and because of this she feels she needs to get some help honing in on her focus area and niche. In this on-air coaching call, Mado helps Rose get clear about who she feels called to teach yoga to, plus some beautifully simple ways she can improve her classes and get her confidence up as a new yoga teacher. Listen to hear some effective and easy to apply strategies for new yoga teachers such as: How to keep y...
Jun 27, 2019•52 min•Ep. 59
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most practical and accessible yogic texts. It is about yoga in action and how to apply the teachings of yoga to real life situations. But can these ancient teachings be helpful when dealing with modern issues such as burnout and spiritual bypassing? That is exactly what Kaya Mindlin and Mado Hesselink get into on this week’s episode of the podcast. They thoughtfully discuss the causes of burnout and spiritual bypassing and how the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita ca...
Jun 20, 2019•48 min•Ep. 58
Jules Mitchell is the author of Yoga Biomechanics, Stretching Redefined and a passionate educator dedicated to bringing a positive understanding of human movement to the yoga world. Discussed in this episode: Why she doesn’t view herself as a controversial figure despite acknowledging that her work pisses people off. Her desire to re-instill the passion in yoga teachers who feel jaded. Her mission to help yoga teachers work confidently with their students who are injured, concerned about injury,...
Jun 13, 2019•49 min•Ep. 57
Self promotion is a challenge for many yoga teachers. It feels counterintuitive and contrary to the tradition of service and spiritual practice we know and love. Even trying to wrap our head around the concept of branding, while also managing the day-to-day aspects of teaching yoga, can be a bit overwhelming. The purpose of today’s episode is to offer clarity and a grounded approach to branding for your yoga business. I am joined by one of my long time coaching clients, Miranda Peterson. Miranda...
Jun 06, 2019•45 min•Ep. 56
How do we share the benefits of yoga with working class people in a way that doesn’t turn them off and is inclusive and welcoming? Topics covered in this on-air coaching call: How to become more skillful at communicating the benefits of yoga with anybody you meet. How to overcome the false or incomplete perceptions as portrayed by yoga magazines, advertisements, and social media. How to reach further into communities where yoga is not popular or is not understood. How to appeal to a working clas...
May 23, 2019•38 min•Ep. 54
Insights and surprises about yoga teachers and the yoga industry, glimpses behind the scenes of podcast production, and a vulnerable moment of self-revelation. This episode covers some of many lessons I’ve learned through producing this podcast for the past year including: The inspiration for starting this podcast - and how that initial spark has expanded into the main ways that I currently work with yoga teachers. Two common struggles that many yoga teachers face that surprised me The truth abo...
May 16, 2019•24 min•Ep. 53
Are you curious or confused about non-compete contracts? Many yoga studios are now asking their teachers to sign a document stating that they won't open a competing studio or some even require that you not teach at another studio within a certain distance. In this episode I share my thoughts on non-compete contracts including: The evolution of non-compete contracts in the yoga space. The circumstances that need to be in place before I would sign one How enforceable are they? - and what would enf...
May 09, 2019•20 min
Many yoga teachers struggle with the concept of owning a business, because we associate businesses with an unbridled (and often unethical) pursuit of profit. On this week's podcast, Joe Pace (former marketing analyst and founder of Icewater yoga) shares how yoga teachers can take lessons from business analytics and yoga to create a career that is both ethical and sustainable. Joe shares plenty of practical information, but we also dive deep on a philosophical level. Some of the things you'll lea...
May 02, 2019•1 hr 3 min
Even the most wonderful medicine can be harmful when applied inappropriately. While a daily home yoga practice can be nourishing and inspiring for many teachers, approaching it from a place of competition and lack is a recipe for injury and depletion. Inspired by an email I received from a fellow yoga teacher, today's episode explores the following questions: We try to make a yoga practice accessible for students, but what about the teacher? What does it mean if you are actually becoming less fl...
Apr 25, 2019•23 min•Ep. 50
What happened to your yoga practice when you became a teacher? Many yoga teachers are surprised by the way that the new role of teacher can actually derail their personal practice. That’s what happened to Brittany, a yoga teacher and digital marketer in Minneapolis. She went from feeling like yoga was her special refuge, to only practicing while she teaches. Now she feels lonely and lacks inspiration. In this coaching call we explore her priorities and make some choices around how she spends her...
Apr 18, 2019•33 min
Warm ups are an essential part of your yoga sequence - so how to you know if you are choosing the right poses? By listener request, I share my thoughts on the topic in this episode including: The two main purposes for warming up The kind of movement that is best for fulfilling these intentions How to choose warm up poses based on the more challenging poses you plan to teach later in the sequence. Why I think that most basic yoga poses are actually pretty complex - and how to prepare our students...
Apr 11, 2019•16 min
If you’re trying to break into teaching, this episode will cover a whole bunch of ideas of how to do so. Whether you recently graduated from YTT, are still in YTT, have recently moved to a new location, or are planning to move soon - getting started is often the hardest part. Why a yoga studio might not be the best place to start teaching - and where to find the perfect first teaching gigs. How to build trust at a yoga studio where nobody knows you (yet). The reason I recommend teaching privates...
Apr 04, 2019•25 min
Author of Yoga Anatomy and long time teacher Leslie Kaminoff shares his insider's perspective on the history and future of the Yoga Alliance and the forces influencing teaching standards in the yoga industry. Some of the topics we cover: -->What the yoga world was like when the Yoga Alliance got started and the thought processes behind their initial policies. -->How yoga evolved from a fringe activity into an industry - and how the concerns around teaching standards changed with that evolu...
Mar 28, 2019•1 hr 18 min
Katie Yandrick is a college professor and yoga teacher who wants to bring yoga and movement to people who don’t realize yoga is for them: body shape/size, economic background, varying abilities, race, and ethnicity – She wants the diversity that exists in her community to also exist in her yoga clients. Katie reached out to me for help on how to speak to those people to get them to try her classes and then also once they are in class. Some questions we dive into include: What does accessible lan...
Mar 21, 2019•37 min
Grace reached out for advice and support on gaining confidence as a yoga teacher. She's been teaching for a year and is afraid that her teacher training was sub-par, but doesn't have the funds to take another at the moment. She feels she should have enough experience by now to feel confident, so she wonders what the heck is going on? The main source for confidence as a yoga teacher The biggest reason teachers lack confidence One powerful teaching from the yoga sutras How to interrupt the habitua...
Mar 14, 2019•18 min
Learn the often neglected first steps to creating a sustainable and profitable yoga business. As most yoga teachers do not have business training, we end up really lost when it comes to creating a business around our yoga teaching. It's easy to waste a lot of time and energy on things that ultimately don't matter unless you have your foundations in place. This episode covers the foundational steps that will make sure your yoga business is solid from the beginning. If you follow the advice in thi...
Mar 07, 2019•17 min•Ep. 43
We all experience moments of self doubt and sometimes feel like an impostor - as though we are not really qualified to take the seat of the teacher and lead others in yoga. In this episode you'll hear why I think this is actually a good thing and how you can continue to serve your students no matter how you are personally feeling on a given day. Please join the yoga teacher resource facebook group for a community of supportive teachers. We lift each other up with guidance, reflection, and encour...
Feb 28, 2019•18 min
