Working in Yoga

Let’s talk festivals, yoga friends.

Festivals, conferences, and workshops are where we learn, connect, and nourish our profession together.

We meet new friends, nerd out on our favorite topics, and share our stories with other yoga folks who understand our language, values, and passions.

So this week Heather Shereé Sanders talks to us about the Sedona Yoga Festival, what lights her inner fire about networking people together, and why themes capture the best of the moment.

Key Takeaways:

*It used to be the goal to be a yoga teacher who travels, but through covid, it made the industry shift perspectives on where we go and why. There used to be a circuit that yoga teachers who were well known would travel on, teaching in different cities all over the world.  Now those festivals have gone by the wayside, replaced by more local and regional feeling events that foster community.  I love a lot of what this shift has indicated for us and our priorities.  How about you?

*Especially here in 2024, I agree with Heather that we just want to get back together again.  We want to gather in groups and connect and move and learn and grow together.  Heather’s theme of the conference this year, being all together, now, is what we all want.

*We do want to connect as much as learn, and if you ask me this is THE reason I go to festivals and conferences.  I swear at least ½ of the people on this podcast I have connected with in some way during a festival or conference.  I love meeting y’all out in the wild, learning what lights your inner fire, and getting to share bits of your passion on this podcast.  So let me say a heartfelt thank you to those of you whom I have met in these spaces–you are the best.

*Do you want to do events?  Small events?  Big events?  You all need a theme.  My studio community just gave me some guff for hosting a potluck without a theme–and they were right.  If you want to know more about how to do this, I just read a book called The Art Of Gathering by Priya Parker to learn how to make skillful parties, gatherings, and events.

*How are we facilitating connection in our communities?  I know that this is something I have asked before on the podcast, and connection is one of my forever themes for my life, but I want to say we don’t need to host giant events to facilitate community among our people.  Book clubs, potlucks, murder mystery nights, movie screenings & discussions, and collaborative outside experiences like forest baths are some of the things I have done in my community that have been well-received.  I have done bigger events too, of course, but those small events can seem much less intimidating and also create great meaning for people.

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Let’s admit it.

Yoga and wellness spaces can sometimes be intimidating at best, and downright unwelcoming at worst.

And a lot of our experiences within those spaces reinforce the idea that we need to strive for an ideal, and that ideal is something decided outside ourselves.

So this week I chat with my friend Steff Gallante on our participation in wellness as pros for the last 20 years, and what we have seen, heard, and experienced ourselves.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

*Guilt and shame can buckle us, on a lot of levels.  In our life experiences we often butt up against the feeling of guilt and shame, which feel uncomfortable.  To off-gas that feeling we then turn and make other people feel shame and guilt.  We are currently in the midst of this vicious cycle in both our local communities and on a global scale.  Please stay attuned to how you are feeling so you can pause when you are feeling that guilt and shame and deal with it.  Yoga gives us the tools to do this, so let’s commit to using them.

*Change begins with small steps.  This is an important step that Steff pointed out.  You don’t need to start your work at deconstructing perfectionism by having a hard conversation with a yoga studio owner or confronting a family member.  You can start by deciding to shift your expectations of how you show up for yourself, and also maybe try wearing sweats to class and offering your real-life experiences to your students.  Not in a way that leverages your challenges or traumas, but an offering to your students who you are.  It is a relief to see the hard days of people we look up to because we all have them. 

*Perfectionism in wellness spaces shows up in sneaky ways.  The way we talk about food, movement, and behavior can be laced with deep undertones of perfectionism.  It is okay to eat cake, cookies, meat, to not have your feet hip distance apart in down dog, and more.  If what I said just made you feel a little uncomfortable, maybe you can pause and examine why.  The reason could be “sugar makes my belly ache” or “but it looks nice when your feet are the same distance apart” or some other reason.  The action isn’t to prove your belief right or wrong but to understand why you believe it.

*There is SO much pressure to be the perfect person as the teacher.  Most of us have a complicated relationship with wellness because it is both our job and our practice.  How do you feel about that?

*It is critical that we embody self-compassion so we can model that for our students.  This is something I consider to be a high priority for not only my happiness but for my job.  It is difficult, and I struggle with this one consistently, but I also can hold space and grace for myself to grow and change in this journey of life.

*Doing something for the sake of saying you are doing it is not the right reason for doing anything.  For example, you don’t need to be up at 5 a.m. practicing yoga unless you want to because that is what lights you up.  I don’t do that anymore, and I feel 0% guilt about it.

*Using yoga practices for gold stars instead of your ease and support is frankly not the appropriate way to use a yoga practice–.  Please use the practice to support you, even if your practice involves vigorous physical movement.  That movement is there to support you, not so you can get a gold star.  

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I think a lot of people are like me, we enjoy being right more than we like being wrong.

But I also think that leads a lot of us down this path of seeking the ever-elusive perfection, and that causes us some challenges that we might not have otherwise had.

So Daniel Simpson and I get into why I am maybe wrong sometimes (or a lot of the time), how we can evolve yoga past this idea of only personal liberation, but also focusing on being good citizens in the world, and more.

You are gonna love this chat.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

*Is praising our students just a version of praising yourself?  That is an interesting train of thought, and I am curious of your what you think about it. I had a good long reflection about this after my conversation with Daniel, and I realized that I have never much been into praising my students, I just really love telling them that they are great.  What about you?  Are you a praise teacher?  Do you like being praised as a student?

*If we are all one, how do we have relationships with each other?  There is something I want to highlight about that question because I talk a lot to folks about how to use yoga philosophy and lifestyle principles to connect with other people.  I think our relationships (of all kinds, I am not just talking about romantic relationships) are some of the most meaningful and nurturing experiences we can have in our lives, and there is a lot of data to support that claim.  Have you read The Good Life by Drs. Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz?  If you are curious to explore more about the science behind this topic it is a good and easy read.

*Liberation from yoga is liberation from wanting anything. 

*We can develop an understanding that while yoga texts ask us to become better versions of ourselves, we also can take this knowledge and become better citizens in the world.  I love this idea that Daniel puts forth to us.  Can we expand our understanding of liberation to also understand our relationships with each other and our greater communities?

*We have to find a way to acknowledge our individual experience within a collective experience. As I talked about in the chat, I use this concept very directly while teaching yoga asana classes.  I build in time within my classes where my students have the opportunity to answer the call of what their own experience and body needs, and there are also times in that same class where we come together to have a collective experience.  Nervous system co-regulation is pretty magical for creating the collective experience, and it is our job as yoga pros to remind our students to also answer that individual call as well.

*Stop getting so hung up on “me” and instead be open to the idea that “I might be wrong”.  I am going to work on this one, probably for the rest of my life.  

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What does the internet think is the perfect yoga teacher?

Well, I found out.

It’s a long list, friends. So get a pen, pour yourself some tea, and have a listen.

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It isn’t often you have a guest on a podcast who doesn’t mind a Joker reference in the title. In fact, I didn’t even ask Colin if it was okay that I called the podcast this, because I know he doesn’t take himself so seriously that he would cringe at the reference to a morally dark character from a comic universe.

And that’s the theme of today’s podcast. Why are we so darn serious? Is there some reason why we can’t have fun, in our classes, in our language, in our hearts?

Colin and I tackle this topic while laughing a lot and come up with some serious thoughts.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

*The first few generations of yoga teachers here in North America had to fight for credibility within the professional space.  I will never forget when I first started partnering with local medical pros there was a PT in my area who was astounded at the results her clients were getting when they saw me.  I made her job easier.  So she said to me “I am just going online and grabbing a yoga teacher certificate so I won’t need you anymore”.  That comment divorced me from the 1000s of hours of professional training I had up until that point and the 1000s more hours of skillset development I had from doing the work.  

And honestly, I don’t know how much better our credibility is as a profession today. There is this joke that Marc Maron did on a comedy special that lives rent-free in my brain. He chooses to not make fun of yoga teachers (while making fun of us) because we are too sad to be mean to. Check out this Marc Maron clip and see what I mean.  (the yoga teacher bit is 2 minutes in)

*Our culty-adjacent and deep-crunchy behavior within the industry is something we need to address.  While I am never going to tell you that sunning your perineum doesn’t give you benefits–I am not a medical professional, just a woman who wants you to use some sunscreen on that area first; but that needs to exist separately from our everyday professional lives.  Colin’s theory that we over-compensate for those kinds of activities that exist within our spaces is spot-on.  And when that happens, nobody wins.

*Who speaks for yoga?  THIS. This is the issue.  Pop culture and social media represent us in a very different way than our normal working lives actually manifest. 

The loudest voices seem to be winning right now, but I believe that we can change that if we reframe and rethink how we interact within the online spaces, and how we represent our profession.

*Colin & I both agree that we weaponize the philosophical aspects of the Yoga Sutras against each other within our spaces.  Let’s stop doing that, okay?  I think that we need to unpack our attachment to moral superiority; and for many of us that can slide back to why we started our yoga practice in the first place.  While I don’t think most of us started practicing yoga because we wanted to feel superior to other people–I do think if we are honest with ourselves it is a little like why we feel passionate about recycling.  We do it both because it is good for the planet and because we can smile just a little more smugly at Aunt Martha who uses all plastic everything at the dinner table.  

This can sound harsh, but trust me, when you take a deep wrestle with this idea it becomes so much easier to laugh at your flaws in a loving way.  OF COURSE, we like feeling better about ourselves in comparison to others.  Life is hard, even during the best of times, so give yourself and others grace that this internal motivation doesn’t make us bad.  It makes us human.

*”In Your Hot, Naked, Goat Yoga Craft Beer class are you establishing consent?”  That is my favorite quote of Colin’s on this podcast.  That, to me, is a vitally important question. Let's focus on the importance of the last part of that statement more than we do on vilifying the first.

*Getting clear about what is marketing is an incredibly enlightening process.  Remember, if you are a business, be it a brick-and-mortar, an online teacher, or an IC yoga teacher who travels around…everything you post online is marketing. Again.  If you present as a business of any kind online, everything you post is a form of marketing. So saying what yoga “is” or what yoga is “for” are marketing statements first and foremost.  Consider talking about yoga online in a way that doesn’t mean you need a definition OR a prescription to sell it.  We will talk more about marketing with the incredible Tristan Katz later this season. You are gonna love what they have to say.

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As yoga professionals we have all had moments where we have felt like we should be more perfect.

Do we know enough?

Do we honor yoga enough?

Should we even be doing this job?

What we do when perfectionism hits and how do we shift through those feelings into something that nourishes and cares for us the way we deserve?

Ann Swanson, author of The Science of Yoga & Meditation For The Real World has some answers for us.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

*When we have been the person in your family or community who smooths everything over for everyone else; or the person who gets high praise in early life environments like school for doing well–it is easy to think that this is the path we need to stick to as an adult.  Being good feels good, safe, and what you are supposed to do.  Instead, consider how messiness and even failure lead to wild creativity and joy over time.  I know it feels scary at first, but embrace the mess and see where it leads you.

*Sending loving kindness to yourself when you are a person with perfectionistic tendencies can feel like a joke at first.  I remember once when I was training to be a yoga therapist in 2010 one of the teachers leading the asana class before our learning day repeated the phrase “You are safe, you are whole, and you are just where you need to be”.  My brain’s very first thought at that: “babe, you don’t know me”.  

That is one of the things we often think as perfectionists.  Our experience of our failures should always outweigh the softness and kindness we receive from others.  If that is relatable to you, go ahead and re-listen to Ann’s guided loving-kindness meditation and really take on the idea that you are worthy and whole and deserving of love and kindness…especially from yourself, and just like everyone else.

*Finally, go flip a coin.  Ann suggested this on the podcast, and I have actively practiced a similar version of this meditation for years.  Ann tells us to find something that we are struggling to decide on, take a coin and flip it.  Heads is yes you do it, tails is no you don’t.  Once you get the result sit with it for a bit and see how that feels in your body.  In my experience it is the force of your nervous system to make a decision that creates a bit of that internal wisdom we are always wanting to tap into to help guide us through making that choice.  

RESOURCES

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Yoga classes are great at telling us how to move our bodies, but not so much on how to think.

So this week’s podcast has a guest who will do just that. Enter Dr. Shyam Ranganathan to the chat to talk to us about how we think about perfection in the yoga space, why we have trouble as leaders being less than perfect, and what yoga philosophy actually says in regards to figuring out what is “right”.

This is such a great conversation, and Dr. Ranganathan will have you listening, and rewinding again and again.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

*When you are faced with someone who is speaking a truth that you don’t like, take a few moments to reflect what part of you is having trouble reconciling what they have to say.  One of the most potent things we can do as yoga practitioners is to get very good at figuring out what things we need to work on in ourselves, and what things simply are not a part of our own belief system.  

*Virtue ethics is a Western mode of thinking that asks us to start with the “right person”, where we choose a person who we deem to be “right” and then we do what they say.  Yoga, conversely, asks us to start with the idea of right doing and then you spend a lifetime practicing the essential traits of right doing–as you see them.  Not as someone else sees them.

*The customer is always right is a difficult thing to utilize when you are teaching something, because the customer always doesn’t know what they need.  So take that into consideration when you are making marketing plans for your business. You’ve got to know and understand what it is that yoga is really about, so that once customers come in the door you can teach them.

*”Yoga is subversive”, and the beginning of this journey is dissatisfaction.  So once you get people in the door you can share with them what we are actually doing here.  This, to me, was one of the most freeing things Dr. Ranganathan said–we can market and run businesses effectively within the scope and ethics of yoga.  In fact, it might be easier than we think.

*Good leadership requires vulnerability, and it is a difficult thing to manage.  If you are in charge of other people in the yoga space, make sure that you figure out how to hold the tension between having healthy professional boundaries and allowing other people to see your weaknesses and mistakes.  It is something I am challenged with daily, so if you are struggling I am with you.  We will figure it out together.  Your first step is to make sure you are being a serious and dedicated student.

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Can we spend some time together talking about perfectionism?

I think so many of us in the yoga space, and in life in general, struggle with this idea of what it is to be “perfect”, and unwittingly our industry has supported perfection thinking instead of deconstructing it.

So this podcast is an intro to a series of episodes about perfectionism in the yoga space. I want us to deconstruct this idea of why we are so obsessed with the “perfect” clothes, poses, actions, and ideas.

And I think you are going to love what my guests have to say.

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Welcome to 2024, Yoga Pros.

Our first podcast of the year is with the delightful Michelle Cassandra Johnson, and I was lucky enough to get to ask her so many questions. We had a nuanced conversation regarding being of service to the world, how we hold space for grief, and the tension between the spiritual call to be quiet and the noise we experience in our lives.

Take a listen to all her wisdom.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

*Often in yoga and wellness we shy away from grief and other uncomfortable topics. In this space, we should do more to carve out the opportunity for folks to feel uncomfortable–because the reality is that we will one day all die and lose everything we have.  It is important to remember this work is a main tenant of a yogic practice, and not shy away from it.

*To quote Michelle: The spiritual crisis we are moving through at this moment is because we think that we are separate. Using the Kleshas can help us work through this suffering.

*Are you feeling overwhelmed at the idea of shifting our work into experiencing both the collective and individual experience?  As Michelle said, “I don’t know if my practice is working, but it is what I have”.  This has been true for me many times in my life, and perhaps for you too.  Taking a moment to shift your mindset from “Is it working” to “Does it serve to support me” might help positively change your perspective.

*Getting clear on where we can be of service and what our role is can help guide us forward as we shift to be of service more within the world.  I got to ask Daniel Simpson, author of The Truth Of Yoga about this as well, and I think you will love what he says. 

*It sometimes takes a beat for anyone to figure out how to respond to heavy situations in the world, so if you feel called to respond, great.  But if you don’t, it is also okay to take a moment and pause, research, and figure out what you believe, and then respond if needed.

*Take some time in this new year to pause and create an intention for 2024.  I do this work for myself as I said in my intro, and so does Michelle.  It is worth taking a moment to pause, reflect, and get excited for the upcoming year.  

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Welcome to our year-end wrap-up episode on Working In Yoga!

We are counting down the things that happened this year, why they matter, and what we are looking forward to in 2024.

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Yoga In The World Study from Yoga Alliance

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