Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast

By Mado HesselinkBusiness

Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast episodes

March 19, 2025 How to Choose The Right Location for Your Yoga Retreat
The right location can elevate a yoga retreat from excellent to unforgettable. In this episode, Mado and Lily explore the creative process of choosing a retreat location. They share real-world experiences and essential practicalities such as budgeting realistically, navigating contracts, understanding legal requirements, and site visits. Learn how to evaluate venue amenities, accessibility for all participants, the surrounding environment, and the overall atmosphere. This episode is packed with actionable advice for yoga retreat leaders but keeps the fun and joy of leading retreats front and center.

00:00 Introduction: The Impact of Location: How a thoughtful location choice impacts your retreat business over the long term
01:48 Key Considerations: Beyond the Instagram Photo: Go beyond the surface and learn essential factors most retreat planners overlook when choosing a location.
04:37 Balancing Costs & Value: Is Your Retreat Venue Worth It?: Learn how to strategically balance your budget with the value a location offers – and avoid overspending on things that don't matter.
08:08 The Key to Glowing Testimonials. How making bold decisions impacts the students you attract for a specific retreat - and their satisfaction with the experience.
11:37 The Location Selection Process: From Dream to Reality: We break down the exact steps to take, from initial brainstorming to narrowing down your top choices.
14:59 Contract Negotiation: Don't Sign Anything Until You've Heard This: Learn critical contract clauses you need to watch out for to protect yourself and your retreat.
18:22 Accessibility & Travel: Choosing a Do-able Retreat Location for your Students: Consider the budget, needs, and lifestyle of your students before choosing your retreat location.
23:18 Curating the Atmosphere: Setting the Stage for Transformation: Learn how to create an unforgettable atmosphere that aligns with your retreat theme.
27:09 Venue Evaluation: The Checklist You Can't Afford to Skip: Get an inside perspective on how experienced retreat leaders evaluate venues – including the hidden details that can make or break your retreat.
34:51 The Pros and Cons of Site Visits: When do you need them and how to adapt when they aren’t in the budget.
37:23 Final Tips & Encouragement: Your Dream Retreat is Within Reach: Leading retreats is incredibly rewarding and fun - enjoy these tips for getting started.

EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES:
Lily Dwyer Begg
Follow Lily on Instagram @lilydwyerbegg
Follow Lily on Facebook
Stream Lily on Soundcloud
Retreat Roadmap

LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe
42 min
March 06, 2025 The Hustle is Holding you Back
This quick episode is a takedown of hustle culture. Hustle culture harms yoga teachers with promises of future happiness - while it drains us of the joy that’s available right now. In this episode, I share thoughts on finding appropriate challenges, the role of boundaries, the awkward phase of flow, and how to cultivate a mindset that fosters fulfillment now rather than someday in the future.

LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Focus and Flow Course
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe
13 min
February 27, 2025 10 Reasons Yoga Teachers Struggle with Focus (& How to Overcome Them)
High stakes, blurred boundaries, perfectionism, and burnout: no wonder yoga teachers have a hard time staying focused. In this week's episode, I explore ten reasons why maintaining focus is difficult; from social media distractions to the pressure of running a passion-driven business, and offer strategies such as time management, boundary-setting, and self-care. While these challenges are persistent, implementing thoughtful systems and routines can help reclaim creative energy and prevent burnout.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
00:00 The Struggle for Focus and Creative Energy
04:23 Reason 1: High Stakes
05:55 Reason 2: Over-Identification and Boundaries
07:14 Reason 3: Perfectionism and Procrastination
08:51 Reason 4: Multiple Hats and Fragmented Attention
12:24 Reason 5: Resource Constraints and Energy Drain
14:15 Reason 6: Burnout Culture
16:01 Reason 7: Social Media Distractions
17:04 Reason 8: Information Overload and Mental Clutter
19:05 Reason 9: Urgency vs. Importance
20:01 Reason 10: Straight Up Burnout
22:00 Conclusion: Reclaiming Your Creative Energy

LINKS AND RESOURCES:
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Learn more about the Impact Club
Leave a review on iTunes
Ask a question for the podcast on the Yoga Teacher Resource website or on SpeakPipe
24 min
January 22, 2025How to Teach Better Yoga Workshops
Got a yoga workshop coming up and want to brush up on your faciliation skills? No matter how well you know your topic, your workshop will flop if you don’t understand how to keep your students engaged. In this episode, I'll share the most common mistakes that workshop leaders make and how to avoid these pitfalls to teach better workshops.
Episode Highlights:
Strategies to capture your students’ attention and engage them in the learning process
Common presentation mistakes and how to turn them into strengths
How to plan your workshops so that you cover what you promised AND leave enough time for closure at the end.
How to make your workshop memorable so your students feel excited for your next event.
Want me to walk you step-by-step through planning, promoting, and presenting a yoga workshop? Check out Workshops that WOW
14 min
January 21, 2025How to boost workshop attendance
Curious about how to boost attendance at your workshop? In this episode, I offer simple strategies to help you create workshops without the worry of needing to cancel due to low attendance.
Episode Highlights:
The two most important factors for healthy workshop attendance
How to find out what topics your students will find appealing
How to choose the right title for your workshop
Four essential qualities for your workshop promotion
How to make your workshops an easy ‘yes!’
Considerations for working with a studio vs producing your own workshops
When and how often to promote your workshop
A powerful way to boost the effectiveness of your promotion
Minimum numbers and when to cancel
Workshops that WOW
21 min
January 20, 2025Steal these workshop ideas: four types of successful yoga workshops
Need some ideas for your next yoga workshop? There are four basic types of yoga workshops that have a proven track record for consistently attracting students anywhere in the world. In this episode, Mado explains each type in detail including why you might choose one over plus examples of each type.
Want more examples? Download this list of 100 yoga workshop ideas broken down into the four categories when you sign up for Mado’s email list.
Episode highlights:
The different kinds of yoga workshops and which ones tend to get a lot of registrations.
How to decide which type of workshop is right for you.
The best ways to promote the different types of workshops.
Tips for collaborating with another person on a workshop.
Links & Resources
100 yoga workshop ideas freebie download
14 min
January 16, 2025Classes vs Workshops
Learn the essential differences between yoga classes and yoga workshops and how understanding them can help improve your teaching and help your students see the value of both types of offerings.
Get a free download of 100 yoga workshop ideas
Episode highlights:
How knowing the differences between weekly classes and workshops can help you market your classes more successfully.
Side by side comparisons on the frequency, structure, and duration of classes, vs workshops
Information-based vs experience-based workshops and why you’d want to offer one or the other.
The unique opportunities workshops offer yoga teachers.
Sign up for Mado’s email list & get 100 yoga workshop ideas download
11 min
December 30, 2024 The #1 Cueing Mistake Yoga Teachers Make (and How to Fix It)
Are your words secretly sabotaging your students? Many yoga teachers unknowingly use language that creates limitations and fear in their students. This episode explores the subtle ways your words can impact your students' physical and mental experience of yoga. Learn to identify and eliminate fear-based cues, cultivate confidence through positive communication, and empower your students to embrace their unique abilities.

Episode Highlights:

01:25 How fear-based cues can hold your students back, while a focus on your students' strengths and unique abilities will help them progress more quickly.
06:02 How cultural norms influence our perception of discomfort and how to navigate
10:06 Common nocebic cues and learn how to avoid them.
17:59 Practical tools to cultivate confidence and help students own their practice.
21:26 How to handle common challenges and ethical dilemmas that arise in the yoga class setting.
31:09 How anatomical knowledge empowers you to release fear-based language while teaching with precision and confidence.

Links & Resources
Anatomy Bites Website
Libby’s Website
40 min
December 12, 2024Strategies for teaching mixed abilities group classes with Dr Libby Hinsley
Bodies come in a beautiful variety of shapes and abilities - and this means they have different needs. So how can you provide a positive experience for unique individuals during a group class? Dr. Libby Hinsley is back on the podcast to discuss strategies for adapting your teaching for diverse bodies and abilities.

Episode Highlights:
How to change your yoga sequence on the fly and still provide an excellent class
Understanding anatomy and movement to uplevel your confidence teaching people with different physical abilities
The key to accommodating multiple levels in your class
Building blocks of human movement
How to simplify and slow down so you (and your students) can savor practice
The difference between “complicated” and “advanced

Links & Resources
Follow YTR on Instagram @yoga.teacher.resource
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource email list
Join the Yoga Teacher Resource Facebook Group
Anatomy Bites

Episodes with Libby
Yoga & Self Massage
Q&A with Libby
Anatomy Myths
Hypermobility & Yoga
39 min
November 28, 2024Manicures aren't self-care (and why it matters)
Self-care is essential for yoga teachers - but easier said than done. In the fast pace of modern culture, our role has partly become a cheerleader for self-care. Yet, many of us live with life circumstances that cause us to neglect our own self-care. In this week’s episode of the podcast I demystify the idea of self-care and offer a simple way of thinking about it that will help you understand how to implement it in your own life.
A simple way of describing self-care from a yoga perspective.
A review of the structure and function of the human nervous system and how it relates to self care.
Why understanding the nervous system is helpful for yoga teachers.
How the modern self-care movement oversimplifies self care and portrays it in a misleading and potentially harmful way.
Additional ways to think about and practice self care that are more effective and accessible.
How to talk about self care with your yoga students.
16 min

About Yoga Teacher Resource Podcast

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Information, support, and inspiration for yoga teachers. Topics include the business of yoga, teaching skills, philosophy, ethical and legal considerations, and more.