It's a real challenge to teach a person who is just starting their yoga experience. What is the best approach in teaching yoga to beginners? How do we prepare ourselves as teachers?

Take advantage of this level when they are most susceptible to knowledge and build a strong foundation. After all, mentors play a big part in their students' yoga. Listen and discover more in today's episode.

Episode Highlights:

• How to teach yoga to a beginner
  • Teach the beginner what they can relate to first
  • See the student in front of you with your head and your heart
  • Operate from a point of abundance, not lack
  • Check if you're able to explain yoga to yourself if you were a beginner
• Preview of the training manual
• The teacher's mindset for teaching beginners yoga
  • You were once a beginner and still a beginner in other aspects
  • Most learning happens at the beginner's level
  • Picture your students living their yoga in the long run
  • Teach whoever comes to you without judgment or selfish agenda
  • Build a professional rapport rooted in yoga with your each of your students
  • Be willing to unlearn some things to uncover more yoga
  • Practice non-attachment in your teaching
  • Go the extra mile for your students and yourself as well

I hope to see you on November 7th in the Teaching Yoga to Beginners Course. Enjoy this episode.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

In today's episode I share 3 things I wish I knew a decade ago when it came to teaching a beginner (or any student). You know I think every beginner student is extremely important because there are a lot of yoga teacher training programs that do not get this covered because most of them focus on teaching a student who already has some basic yoga knowledge. Because teaching a beginner requires a nuanced approach and can be challenging. But also very rewarding. It comes down to the caliber of the teacher and the student. 

So in today's episode, I'm going to share with you three things that I wish I knew when I was teaching beginners that took me a decade to figure out. They are things that I have stuck to time and time again and have definitely been game-changers. Take note that none of them are about poses. In fact, they're what I commonly refer to as invisible yoga when it comes to teaching yoga.

Episode Highlights:

• Focus on how they will learn instead of how you will teach
• Teach the practice more, not just the pose
• Stop queuing, start communicating

I hope you enjoy this episode and I hope to see you on November 7th in the Teaching Yoga to Beginners Course.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

As the owner of Aham Yoga Studio for 10 years, I have honestly been testing, trying, and failing many times and coming up with a blueprint that now we put on repeat that helps us to move the students in a way where they relate to yoga, they feel successful, and they come back to continue investing in themselves and in their journey with yoga. So I have taken these 10 years of my work and have condensed and packed it into a 30-hour online Teaching Yoga To Beginners Course that is built specifically for you.

While there are many aspects to teaching beginners—which we'll explore in-depth in the Teaching Yoga to Beginners course—in today's episode, I want to focus on discussing the yoga sequencing principles for beginners. Yoga sequencing principles largely being asana-oriented. 

I'm giving you three, out of nine, proven yoga sequencing principles that I have used for beginner's asana classes for a decade successfully.

Episode Highlights:

• Sequencing principle #1: Lay the roadmap
• Sequencing principle #2: Start and end positions matter
• What positions to avoid
• Sequencing principle #3: Know your what-if moments

The training starts on November 7th, 2023, and enrollments open on October 15th, 2023. It's completely online. It is built for yoga teachers who want to get better teaching, especially a beginner. How you learn matters to me so I've done my best to make it as effective as possible.

On October 16th, I'm hosting an information session at 8:30 AM Pacific Time to give you a preview of the content and walk you through the content library where you can also ask your questions.

I hope to see you on November 7th in the Teaching Yoga to Beginners Course. Enjoy this episode.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

In my studio at Aham Yoga, I have students who have some knowledge of Ayurveda and I would often get so many questions about what the role of food is. How should we really eat? How frequently should we eat and in what quantity? This is honestly a topic that I am no expert with and so I decided to invite back a past guest who is the real expert in Ayurveda, Nidhi Pandya.

Join us as we explore the role of food in our lives, the various effects different foods bring to us, and some practical tips for modern-day yoga practitioners who want to live a more holistic lifestyle.

Episode Highlights:

• The role of food in our lives according to Ayurveda
• The three pillars of health in Ayurveda
• The connection between the ahara (food) and prana
• Does Ayurveda look at cooked food and raw food differently?
• The effects of green juices and smoothies on our bodies
• How the yogis ate and their relationship to food
• What is a sattvic diet?
• Does doing yoga mean one should only eat a vegetarian diet
• Does the food we eat affect the quality of our minds and our thoughts
• Ayurveda's approach to the frequency of meals, what to eat, and in what quantity
• Practical tips for modern-day yoga practitioners to live more holistically

You can find more about Nidhi and the resources mentioned in the episode show notes.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

Nowadays, there are people who start yoga through asana practice but, at its core, keep saying that yoga is for the mind. The question is how is the mind actually connected to yoga? In this episode, I will be joined by a new guest, Sandipani Manur, who will help us look into managing the mind through yoga and the different layers of the mind.

Sandipani has been teaching for a very long time. He has 25 years of learning and teaching yoga and he aims to keep yoga very simple and relatable.

Some of the things we discuss are the parallels between the Eastern and Western views of the mind, how yoga views the mind, and whether or not meditation helps with managing the mind.

You can find more about Sandipani and the resources mentioned in the episode show notes.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

In the previous episode, Vikram and I started a masterclass on the yamas and niyamas where we dove deep into the five yamas, their layers, and how someone moves through the yamas. And as part two of this masterclass, Vikram and I are putting the spotlight on the niyamas in this episode.

Join us as we identify the differences between the yamas and niyamas and the reasons why they differ in application. We also go over each of the five niyamas, their definitions, and applications for practitioners in our day-to-day life.

Episode Highlights:

• The difference between the yamas and the niyamas
• Are the yamas and niyamas absolute?
• The layers of saucha and its application to a modern-day practitioner
• How does one practice santosha
• What does tapas mean?
• The methodology to svadhyaya
• The practice of ishvarapranidhana
• Recommendations for practicing the niyamas

You can find more about Vikram and the resources mentioned in the episode show notes.

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

If there is a one conversation about the Yamas you need to listen to as someone who does or even teaches yoga - let it be this one. 

Vikram Jeet Singh is back on the podcast with another power packed conversation. This time diving deep into the yamas. If you want to do more than poses and curious about living yoga but don’t know where to start. Listen to this conversation. It will be insightful and enriching no matter what stage of yoga you are in. 

This is part 1 of a 2 part series. Part 2 is all about the niyamas and that drops next week. 

Find about more about Vikram in our show notes . 

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

Now that our summer break is over, we are back with more episodes. 

Kickstarting with a solo episode, Arundhati talks about 10 truths of studying yoga in the modern day that often gets over looked. 

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

In today's solo episode, Arundhati shares how to recognize "how much" to challenge a student in a yoga class. As well as what "reading the room" means with different personality types in classes.

This episode will help you understand how to teach more effectively in a group setting. A must-listen if you're a yoga teacher keen to improve your teaching and approach to teaching group classes.

Episode highlights

• Recognize that different students will have different preferences
• Recognize that one student can have varying preferences each day
• The different personalities of yoga students
• Noticing patterns helps better sequencing
• Consider the student's background such as age, gender, etc.
• How much do you actually challenge a student? 
  • Find your baseline
  • Start to build a class plan on the baseline
  • Have a working knowledge of props
  • Recognize the "level" of the student
• Some example scenarios
• A good measure to understand how much to push a student

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram

If there's one conversation you listen to about Sadhana in yoga. It needs to be this one. Dr. Manasa Rao who holds a Ph.D. in Yoga effortlessly takes us through the many layers of sadhana in yoga in this episode. 

You will understand the following from this episode...

• What does the word 'sadhana' mean? 
• How has Sadhana evolved over time? 
• Does everyone who does yoga need to have a sadhana?
• What are some factors to consider while building your sadhana
• A detailed list of obstacles to consider 
• Who "gives" you your sadhana?
• What to do if you feel stuck in Sadhana? 
• Advice for yoga teachers. 

You can find out more about Dr. Manasa Rao by visiting our show notes. 

Join our mailing list
Find all the resources mentioned in this episode
Connect with us on Instagram