Let’s really push forward this conversation about online learning, shall we?

So many times we either vilify training to be a yoga teacher online or we act like all online learning is the exact same.

Both of those things aren’t true, as we discussed with my guest today, Zaria Rochester.

Zaria has trained to be a yoga pro in many spaces, both in-person and online-only training, so she offers the unique perspective of someone who has actually trained in both modalities—not just taken one and punched down on the other.

Take a listen.

KEY RESOURCES

*We are often really snobby about the value of online learning vs. in-person learning.  We tend to make people who learn online feel like they are less than those of us who trained in person

*Online learning makes our industry entry point much more accessible.  This is one of the huge benefits of online learning.

*It is uncomfortable to learn the skills to teach well in an online setting.  Especially for those of us who never thought we would be teaching online, it is easy to say that “online” is not as good as in-person learning.  But really, we are saying we need to sit with the discomfort of learning a new skill set in order to share our teaching with more people.

*Teaching online requires us to be much more prepared than we need to be in person.  This means that the “read the room” technique of teaching that many of us use–myself included here, doesn’t apply in an online setting.

*Synchronous vs. Asynchronous learning matters.  Typically we need to have some sort of synchronous learning in order to ensure that quality teachers are coming out of training programs–but the Yoga Alliance requires very little of this.  If you think that should change, make sure you tell them by reaching out at help.yogaalliance.org

*Having a teacher who can guide us as we sort through yoga is critically important, be that teacher online or in person.  If you don’t have that kind of relationship with someone, it will behoove you to seek that out.

*The current Training model within the industry is a lot like learning to swim on the side of the pool.  Making sure you lean into mentorship after your training is over can make a big difference in your first couple of years of yoga teaching.

*Finally, an important quote Zaria repeated from Ava Taylor.  It may take up to seven years to really get a handle on building a career as a yoga pro.  Be prepared–the more we repeat this the more we have realistic expectations for our entire industry.

RESOURCES

Working In Yoga Website

Working In Yoga Newsletter

Zaria’s Website

Sunlight Streams Blog