Yoga Teacher Uniform = Leggings! Some people even consider this to be a top benefit for a full-time Yoga Teacher, a life lived barefoot in leggings! It was novel for the first year, not having to put on a suit & high heels but that didn’t last long! Role on 9 years and I have so many pairs of yoga leggings but I can’t get excited about wearing them!

Then Love Leggings got in touch and offered me a free pair of leggings to try out! Clearly, I said yes please and thank you very much. I’ve been sent LOTS of free yoga clothes in the past and usually don’t like the material, or the cut or the ethics/values of the company so I wasn’t expecting much. But I was wrong! I received my first pair of free leggings and then within a week had been back on the website to purchase 3 more pairs! And this is why I love, Love Leggings  . . .

• I can afford them! The leggings start at £12 for their everyday range, and go up to £28 for their high functioning sports leggings. Compare that to the price tag of other yoga brands like Lululemon and the price point of £78 and that’s a huge difference and they are equally as good! Plus they have free delivery.
• They fit a vertically challenged individual! I’m about 5ft2 and most leggings make me look like Nora Battey. Love Leggings come in a 7/8s length which is meant to sit just above the ankle for yogis of normal height, but for a shortie a 7/8s is the perfect full length fit.
• You can’t see my knickers through them! You wouldn’t expect this to be an issue, but a lot of yoga leggings (often including Lululemon) are see-through when you bend over in yoga poses like Downward Facing Dog, you can’t begin to imagine what I’ve seen when yoga students bend over! The material in the Sports Leggings range is fine enough to feel super comfortable and thick enough to preserve my knicker privacy – thank you very much Love Leggings!
• Magic Material for a cat owner – all my other leggings seem to be a magnet for cat fur – I don’t know what Love Leggings have done but I can cuddle my furry cat in my black leggings without the risk of rocking up at class looking like a crazy cat lady!

So in summary, if you’re a short, cat loving, price conscious, modest yogi you’re going to LOVE, Love Leggings!  These are the Leggings I ordered:

Focus Midnight Black 7/8 Sports Leggings

How to Start Your Love Affair With Marketing:

I get it, you love Yoga, you love Teaching Yoga but Marketing your Yoga Offerings – that you don’t love – in fact you probably loath it! You get that it’s a necessary evil but it fills you with dread, boredom, fear or despair!

You didn’t go into teaching yoga to be a marketing person and the usual marketing garb you see in other industries turns your stomach. I get it!

I FELT the same until I radically shifted how I see marketing, and got clear on MY PURPOSE, not my marketing purpose, but MY LIFE PURPOSE, what I am here to do, say, share, communicate in this world. And my life purpose is so simple, I’m totally clear that I’m here to spread the magic of yoga as far and wide and to as many people as possible. Why? Because I BELIEVE the POWER of YOGA can fundamentally improve each and every individual’s quality of LIFE. And you know what that means – I NEED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE WORLD & THIS MY FRIENDS IS MARKETING.

Now you’re a Yoga Teacher, I don’t need to tell you, but I am going to remind you THAT YOU MANIFEST YOUR OWN REALITY!! And this applies to marketing too. You can hate on social media and email marketing and then complain that it doesn’t work for you. You can’t bitch about Facebook and its algorithms all the while posting and hoping to see results. You can’t post on Instagram and then immediately exit the app complaining that social media is the scourge of the millennials.  Instead it’s time to upgrade your MARKETING MINDSET and fall in love with the LIMITLESS POTENTIAL MARKETING OFFERS FOR YOU TO MANIFEST YOUR WILDEST DREAMS.

I love to travel and always dreamed of having a job where I’d get paid to travel and GUESS WHAT, mindful marketing made this a reality teaching Yoga Retreats worldwide.

AFFIRMATION: Mindful Marketing Manifests Magic

So let’s dive in to creating your new MARKETING MINDSET which is formed of 3 key components:

• POSSIBILTY – you believe that what you want to achieve is possible
• STRATERGY – you are responsible for your success and create a clear plan for what you want to achieve
• CONSISTENCY – show up, do the work with consistency over time

Time for some tough questions:

• What are the negative thoughts you have about yourself, your worth, your offerings, your business that are holding you back from believing in possibility?

You NEED TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE – no more shit, inauthentic, contrived, clichéd marketing messages please!  You have to be, breath, live the message you are presenting.

Mantra: BE BEFORE YOU DO – DO BEFORE YOU HAVE

• The have – you want to see results from your marketing
• The Be – who do you need to be to get results?
• The Do – what do you need to results?

Trust in abundance – again I know this sounds like a wanky cliché but seriously NO MORE TALK about yoga being an oversaturated market. Until every human being in your town, city, fuck the entire world has the opportunity to do yoga I don’t want to hear your whining! You can’t manifest your awesome Yoga Teacher career from a place of lack, fear and judgement.

Develop your abundance mindset by:

• Start and End each day with GRATITUDE
• Celebrate others success, collaborate and support your peers
• Watch WHAT you say – the universe is listening
• Appreciate what you have, your little wins, your growth
• Use affirmations

I hope you found this useful and inspiring!

If you would like any more information, please check out Laura’s mentor-ship program here or drop an email to laura@lauragreenyoga.co.uk

L x

The Art of  Using Music in a Yoga Class

Support for Yoga Teachers Looking to Add A Little Something Extra To Your Class

Melodies, chants and song have been a part of the music in yoga for as long as yoga has existed. The ancient texts such as the Vedas & the Upanishads are full of melodious chants especially the Samaveda, which means the song of knowledge. This in addition to the vast culture of classical Indian music as seen music, song and chanting weaved throughout the practise of yoga.

The vibration of sound whether made by you, a musical instrument or recorded leaves a vibrational imprint on the surface of your body and every cell in the surface tissues receives the sound.

“Yogas chitta vritti nirodha”

 

If we take it back to The Yoga Sutras and the 8 Limbs of Yoga, the practise of yoga is a journey to stilling the thought waves of the mind so that the practitioner may achieve enlightenment. You need to ask yourself, does playing music in your yoga practise support this intention or not? Be careful to not mistake stillness and silence as the same.

For many, the skilful use of music can in fact help to calm and soothe the mind however for others, or as a result of the selection for music, it may in fact have the opposite effect of stimulating the mind as music can be thought provoking, bringing memories to the surface or evoking an emotional response.

It is also worthwhile remembering the 5^th limb of yoga, Pratyahara – to withdraw the senses. Playing music is an external stimulus which draws on the sense of hearing. However, if by appropriately working with sound we can withdraw our senses to the immediate environment around us and to the present moment we are progressing on the path towards total Pratyahara.

For me personally music is a big part of my yoga, it brings me into the ritual of my practise, it connects me with my creative flow, my soul’s dance and focuses my mind of the sacred devotional journey of yoga. Music frees me from the mundane and elevates my experience.

Nada Yoga

An ancient India metaphysical system, it is the yoga of sound and healing. It holds true that universe and all that exists in it, is the manifestation of sound vibrations, called nāda. This concept states that it is sound energy in motion which form the building blocks of the universe. In this model, by working with the vibrations of sound we can rebalance our energy for greater harmony with the world around us. Nada sound healing can be used to support healing in the energy body and physical body.

Bhkati Yoga

This is a spiritual path of love and devotion, acknowledging the divine in everything. It is practising love and gratitude for lovesake, a sweet connection to the sacred magic of this universe and our precious human lives. Music, mantra and chanting are key tools in this yogic path. Chanting and kirtan (devotional song) bring mantras alive with melody and rhythm to elevate their vibrational quality. It is the meaning of the mantra, the resonances of the vibrations and the intention of devotion that make Bhakti Yoga such a powerful and transformative experience.

To Raise Vibration

In offering yoga, we bring positivity into our communities. Simply put we want people to feel better, more alive, more present, more connected. Yoga creates an upward spiral to joy, positivity and happiness. Music is a powerful tool to raise vibrations so we can oscillate at a higher more positive frequency. Through music we can tap into our feeling centres to explore and release negative emotions we’ve been suppressing and make more space to open our heart and welcome in joy.  Be warned, though sequencing yoga asanas which can stir strong emotional reactions, such as backbends, with highly emotive music can have a huge effect on your students. If you choose this path be skilful, respectful and make sure to do no harm.

Not a Crutch

Often times newer yoga teachers rely on music in class to cover awkward silences and support them in creating an atmosphere. It becomes a crutch, and then you forget your iPod one class and panic ensues. Music is there to enhance your classes and should be as skilfully curated as your yoga lesson plans and sequences so that it is deepening, guiding or motivating your class.

Creating a Playlist

Planning the perfect yoga playlist is art and a science. You can’t just throw random songs together and expect the class to flow well.  So how do you plan a yoga playlist to elevate your class?

• Sign up to spotify premium to make your life a lot easier! The £9 / month is worth every penny and I swear Spotify knows me better than anyone else in my life!
  • Unlimited music – never buy a record again
  • No adverts
  • Stream music, create playlists, save your favourite songs, find inspiration, share with students
  • Download your playlists so that you can play on your phone in class without internet access

• How to use Spotify as a Yoga Teacher
  • Create playlists to categorise the music you like, have a playlist for each category or pace of a class
    • Centre & Connecting, Warm Up, Sun Salutation, Standing Flows, Seated/Supinne, Savasana
    • Still, Slow, Medium, Maximum
  • Start listening to music and if you like a track click on + sign to add it to your list of songs and the © to tell Spotify you like it! Also add to any of your above playlists if you really like it! This information and interaction is really important as the more Spotify gets to know what you like the better the algorithms will work and then Spotify will start recommending music for you.
    • Discover Weekly – a personalised Spotify playlist generated for you every Monday with new music
    • Release Radar – a personalised Spotifty playlist generated for you every Friday with new releases from Artists you like
  • Listen to other people’s playlists, and Browse. Spotify has it’s own playlist which you can listen to for inspiration, I love:
    • “Peaceful Piano”, “The Most Beautiful Songs in the World”, “Cinematic Chillout”, “Yoga & Meditation“
  • Now you’re building up a library of music you like start to create playlist to share publicly in your yoga classes. Start by creating a few generic playlists that you can use any time that you trust with work for you such as:
    • “Slow & Steady – a 60 Min Yoga Playlist”
    • “Powerful & Pumped – a 60 Min Yoga Playlist”
    • “Chilled & Mellow – a 60 Min Yoga Playlist”
  • Progress to creating yoga class playlist specifically for individual classes matching the theme, asanas and tempo progression of that lesson plan

Other Considerations

• Licensing, be aware of licensing laws!
• Personal Taste, you can’t please everyone, if it works for you go with it!
• Look for inspiration everywhere
• Choose songs with lyrics work with your theme
• Careful with songs with lyrics, can be really distracting
• Does your voice blend into the tone of vocals if so talk between the vocals
• Cover songs and acoustic variations of popular music work well

I hope you find this useful and come to love the addition of music to your classes as much as I do.

For further inspiration, check out my workshops pages and join me on a CPD Workshop.

Love,

Laura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR PDF ITINERARY.

In August 2018 my Husband, Simon and I did a 2-week summer road trip adventure around Iceland and it was EPIC!! Visiting Iceland certainly needs to be on your bucket list. I put hours and hours of research and planning into our Iceland Summer Roadtrip which really paid off. We got to see so much of this amazing country, experience lots of the Icelandic Culture and get really active with snorkelling, ice climbing, kayaking, horseriding and a lot of hiking! We drove over 3500km covering all the Iceland’s ring road but also getting into the much less visited western fjords. If you’re thinking a planning a trip check out my Iceland Summer Road Trip Itinerary that I put together for inspiration and my top tips. Any questions get in touch!

 

   

 

As a trainee or new yoga teacher a great way to get extra yoga teaching experience is by offering to be a cover teacher at your local yoga classes. But being a  Yoga Cover Teacher for a regular yoga class can be daunting, even for an experienced yoga teacher.  This is a topic that is covered in my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training  Course, based in Southampton, but I’ve put together a really easy at a glance guide that should help you through the most tricky of situations when it comes to covering yoga classes.

 

Start by preparing. Get as much information as you can from the yoga teacher in advance…

How many yoga students?

Demographics? Age, experience, likes dislikes.

Arrive Early! 

Aim to arrive before the yoga students start showing up. This way you have seen the space you will be in and given yourself a few moments to orientate yourself and take those Full Yogic Breaths, to calm any nerves. Trust me it’s normal to feel nervous before covering a yoga class, even after teaching for 8 years I still get nervous if I cover a yoga class here in Southampton.

As your yoga students trickle in you will be insitu, ready to greet and introduce yourself. Find out more about the students you will be teaching that class, which leads me to my next point. If you can’t get inside the room, still be early, wait outside the class room and get chatting.

Ask Questions

When chatting before the class ask people there names, repeat their name back “Hi Jane, so nice to meeting you”  and then try to use their name during class. This goes along way!

• Introduce yourself publicly once everyone has arrived and ready to start class, remember to introduce yourself using your full name so that they can connect with you through social media afterwards “Hi, I’m Laura Green, I’ve been teaching yoga in Southampton for over 8 years now and I’m delighted to be covering your class today.”
• Ask about injuries, likes, dislikes. Find out more about the type of things they would like to have in class.
• Do they like long or short savasanas?
• What about crow, or sun salutations?
• Get the students to show you the layout they normally work in
• And don’t dwell on resting bitch face (I know you know who I’m referring too!)

Be Memorable 

Aim to teach them something. It’s okay to say that the yoga class is going to be different, I am not like “Jo” but I’m certain we will have a great session! Ideas such as:

• Use a great piece of music for Sun Salutes.
• Try introducing essential oils in the beginning of the yoga practice. Make sure to ask if the yoga students are okay with this.
• Bring eye masks to use in savasana.
• Try a guided chocolate tasting meditation at the end.

When it comes to cover teaching, success comes down to a balance of charisma and skill. Charisma comes from confidence, a big smile and making eye contact. It’s easy not to feel confident when you are walking into a room full of strangers, half of which have resting bitchy face syndrome because you’re not their usual teacher but trust in your yoga, take a big breath and strut your stuff – you know you’ve got this, you know your a good teacher and they’re gonna have a damn good class with you!

Final note – don’t poach students,  word will get back to the regular teacher and you won’t be asked again. But if a student comes up at the end of class and actively asks where else you teach proudly tell them and invite them to attend one of your yoga classes.

If you want any more support in how to have a rocking career as a Yoga Teacher, check out my one:one 3 Month Yoga Teacher Mentorship Programme and I’ll have you flying in no time!