GET STARTED TEACHING PRIVATE YOGA
Table of contents 4........................
What Private Yoga Means To You
5........................
The Anatomy Of Private Yoga Lessons
8 ........................
Designing Customized Yoga Sequences
10.......................
The Art + Science Of Kickass Homework Assignments
13 ........................
Creating Long-term Client Relationships
6 ........................
A Pep Talk From Kate
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WHAT PRIVATE YOGA MEANS TO YOU Ever wonder what the heck makes a private lesson a private lesson and not a group yoga class? Or how you can differentiate what you do in your own, organic and authentic (us yogis love that word) way without being a copy of some other private yoga teacher or worse, model everything you do off of their unique approach until you lose your own voice? Before we dive into the topics, do a little journaling behind what you consider key concepts of private yoga. Why would someone partake in a private yoga lesson over a group offering? What is the benefit of individualized work? Why are you called to do 1:1’s (it’s okay if it has a little bit to do with wanting to quit your 9-5, but dig deeper, too!)?
THINK…
I FEEL…
I K N OW…
I DESIRE…
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LESSON 1: THE ANATOMY OF PRIVATE YOGA LESSONS Journaling feels good. Let’s transition into the art behind designing a private yoga lesson. The body of a private yoga session is beyond the instruction that you offer as a private yoga teacher. Though the bulk of a private lesson is spend on the instruction component (asana, pranayama, meditation) there is also other elements that are contained within a private yoga sessions.To make the elements accessible and easy to remember (so you can focus on being present and focusing on your private yoga client) I’ve outlined a handful of phases for you to follow and make your own.
Resonance
Resonance is the relationship part of the 5 R’s. The way you resonate with yourclient is synonymous with developing and deepening a relationship with them. Welcome: Start with a warm welcome for your client — make a connection and establish this as the ritual that begins your one-on-one work with your client. Set the tone: Set your tone by commanding your role as teacher. Establish your presence by welcoming them, laying out your props and paperwork, and sitting aside your client, ready to begin. Set up the space: Continue to evolve resonance by setting up the space you are working in with your client. If it’s your client’s home, instruct them where to put their mat and what elements they should have. If you are in a neutral space or a space where you own or rent, take the same ownership over this process. Communicate goals and focus: As the final part of your first R communicate the intention or sankalpa behind the relationship and in particular that singular session. Notes: Bonus blog post: Cultivate Conversation With Clients >> http://bit.ly/1OmNwJu
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Reflect
As you transition into part two of the 5 R’s, your focus is to reflect. The reflectionphase is for you to check-in with your client and information gather.
Check-in: Start the 2nd phase of the 5 R’s by checking in with your private client.Ask them highly focused questions to uncover what has been going on with them since their last session and to connect with them.
Assess progress: Check-in to see how their yoga experience has been since their last session and verbally ask about their progress.
Review homework: Use the information you gather from the first two elements to educate how you plan to review their homework — either verbally or having them physically move through the sequence.
Information gather: Information gathering is an essential part of reflection and a key part of teaching private sessions. We’re part detectives as private yoga teachers! During this phase, learn to use focused questions that elicit an answer from your client especially as you move through their homework.
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PLAYSHEET: YOUR ANATOMY OF A PRIVATE YOGA LESSON As you transition into part two of the 5 R’s, your focus is to reflect. The reflectionphase is for you to check-in with your client and information gather.
Before
What steps do you take before you teach to prepare, plan, and set the tone for your teaching + your client’s experience:
During
What key components and elements are part of your teaching during the body of a private yoga lesson:
After
What steps are crucial to your session wrap-ups and to support you in making sure you are structured and ready to teach a great lesson next time:
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LESSON 2: DESIGNING CUSTOMIZED YOGA SEQUENCES Ultimately the quality of the teaching you share with your clients is the catalyst for change in their lives. Many other things contribute to their experience with you and with your refinement of being a professional private yoga teacher, but at the end of the day – the yoga is the real change-agent and star. Learning to customize an experience for a specific person based on their communicated wants and the uncovered needs you’ve learned about from inquiry is a complex but learnable skill.
Here three tips for learning to sequence to the individual:
TIP 1: Create a solid intake and assessment
We cover the components of both in the homework segment, run back there and check it out!
TIP 2: Knowing range of motion ROM (range of motion) is a really great way to assess how symmetrical
your sequences are and where your clients have imbalances. Bonus: it’s an incredible way to learn the intricacies of anatomy and will set up apart from other yoga teachers.
TIP 3: 3 C’s The three C’s are – Commonalities: We tend to have a very specific type of client we work with and specialize in helping (this is what I call our perfect-fit private partner). What types of sequencing commonalities come up for your perfect-fit private partner? What commonalities do your clients have? Think goals, injuries, lifestyle indicators. Core Concepts: You have a unique teaching philosophy and core concepts that inform your teaching. Your philosophy includes your approach of poses you sequence and in what order, how you include meditation and pranayama, and the way you approach adjusts and assists. What are some of the foundational beliefs you have about teaching? Get specific. Creativity: Get creative when you know the commonalities and core concepts. Combine poses, create new approaches to teaching a specific movement. Customize your sequences and instructions to what your clients individually need based on conversation, research, and consulting range of motion and goals. How can and do you infuse creativity into your sequencing? Where do you see this show up?
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PLAYSHEET: CLIENT CASE STUDY SEQUENCING Give yourself some sequencing homework and ask yourself how you’d approach some very specific situations, client needs and wants, and teaching opportunities. Take the time to uncover more information from books, blogs, and your education to design a customized sequence that addresses your client’s imbalances.
Client #1: Notes about their needs:
Your approach to sequencing for them:
Client #1: Notes about their needs:
Your approach to sequencing for them:
Client #1: Notes about their needs:
Your approach to sequencing for them:
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LESSON 3: WHEN IT COMES TO HOMEWORK: DON’T-FORGET-TO-DO-THIS Customization is what makes the benefits of private yoga sessions obvious and helps people have wins in their practice. There are two key assessments that allow you to understand how you will approach private yoga lessons with your clients and design individualized homework based on their needs. What are the two assessments? Intake The focus on an in-take should be to identify who your client is on a non-physical level. What habits do they possess, what are their needs and desires from a yoga practice, and what is their energetic, emotional, and body history. The method for in-takes can be a pre-session questionnaire, but more personal and successful is a conversation that you weave through a dialogue about these very topics. Example topics (and some sample questions):: 1. What is their lifestyle like? >> How do they spend their time? >> What do they do for a living? >> What are their health patterns like (sleep, eat, rest, self-care)? >> What is their energetic presence and will to follow through? 2. What is their heath history like? >> What is their current physical state? >> What information do you need to know about their past medical history? >> What are they currently rehabbing in their body? >> What physical goals do they have in mind? 3. Who is this person? >> What are their frustrations, challenges, and desires? >> What plagues them and how can yoga help them? >> Who are they on a personal level? >> What are they looking for through the practice of yoga? Focusing in on the intake, what comes up for you?
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Assessment The assessment is an opportunity to physically assess your clients range of motion and physical abilities. Client assessments are done during an initial assessment as a measure of someone’s mobility but also can be done periodically to assess progress and measure goals. The key to nailing an assessment as a private yoga teacher is to consider the range of motion that are present in the human body and distill it down to a sequence of movements. As a rough outline, you can follow these movements and mobilities in this order: Warm up postures that unveil: >> clients movability >> posture >> breath control Modified sun salutations that assess: >> spine movement >> ability to move with breath and direction >> strength of upper body Dynamic postures that address range of motion in: >> hips >> shoulders >> lateral movement Seated postures that analyze movement in: >>small joints >> other parts of the body not yet explored through traditional asana >> any joint mobilities that need more exploration Considering the ‘assessment’ phase, what notes do you have?
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PLAYSHEET: DESIGNING YOUR APPROACH TO HOMEWORK The kind of homework you as the teacher gravitate towards sharing is (paper, videos, sequences, a library of information to digest, audio):
The type of homework you guess your client would benefit best from is (see above):
Your philosophy around homework is (frequency, length of time, intensity): You plan to review homework in this way (at the beginning of each session, periodically):
The support you’d like to include for your clients (email, phone, check-ins, mentoring/coaching sessions):
Your plan to help clients adhere and achieve success with completing the homework (goal setting, coaching, making it small + deliverable):
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LESSON 4: CREATING LONG-TERM CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS Not all of us will work long term with every client. This is normal and to be expected. But there are some ways to set up the foundation so that we are creating the environment for people that you want to work with long term to stick around and that you want to work with as well. The first thing is to have them at “hello”. Make sure you’re attracting them to you through your website, workshop, group classes, and inbox. How do you design and market workshops so that the ‘right’ kinds of clients attend? How are you group classes promoted and created in a way that marries your private yoga approach together with group experiences?
How is your email/inbox experience one that ushers in the perfect-fit private clients and vets out the rest?
Also, have measures in place to make sure they are a good fit such as: •Meeting in person •Applications •Pre-screening phone calls •Asking crucial questions to see if they align with you •Considering if you’re uniquely positioned to help get them to that place •Creating a robust referral network It’s important to think about how to create the environment to make relationships long term. Design packages and programs that will cater to that long term type of relationship, even if that means that people will decide not to do it because of the time, energy, money that it requires. That will get them off the fence and make room for long-term people.
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PLAYSHEET: AUDIT YOUR OFFERINGS When you consider your private yoga packages right now, are they built to attract and maintain long-term private clients? If not, what needs to change?
Does the length make sense for long-term clients? Is the cost an investment that attracts people ready to do this work long-term?
What elements and support is included in your packages that assists your clients in staying the path for the long run?
What are things can you note about your package design?
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A PEP TALK FROM KATE Hey private yoga teacher, Making the decision to start by showing up, telling the Universe you are ready to work with 1:1 clients, and getting cozy with what you do and don’t know is the key to your confidence and getting started as a private yoga teacher. Teaching individualized yoga sessions is not for everyone, but I have a feeling it’s part of your secret formula. I believe in you and trust that the little leap now will have huge rewards for you and your future private clients. Yours in all things private yoga,
Kate
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