Yoga Teaching and Learning
​at www.yogauk.com

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Hello Reader

Welcome to the June newsletter.

This month's article is called: Keeping your yoga teaching alive and thriving. It's a reflection on the different ways we can stay inspired and continue to grow and learn - something that I review for myself regularly.

The next yoga teacher Q&A get-together on Zoom is on Saturday 12th July at 10-11am. Come along to share any thoughts on the article, or anything else you'd like to chat about relating to any aspect of yoga teaching. The Zoom link will arrive in a separate email. See you there!

Love and light,

Keep scrolling for:

🤷🏻 Article: Keeping your yoga teaching alive and thriving

👉 News and resources

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Article:

Keeping your yoga teaching alive and thriving

Teaching yoga is a great way to contribute to the wellbeing of your community in a way that directly impacts people’s lives.

Guiding others on their journey toward better health, self-care and self-awareness is an integral part of yoga teaching that makes it fulfilling and satisfying work. And most likely this is why you are a yoga teacher!

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As a teacher of yoga, staying motivated and inspired is vital to keeping your students engaged and your yoga teaching practice thriving.

However, there will undoubtedly be moments when even the most dedicated teacher will feel down a cul-de-sac or burned out, or even contemplating giving up teaching. When experiencing a loss of motivation, it’s important to recognise that there’s a need to reach out in a new direction.

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Maintaining inspiration and motivation

There are many ways to find inspiration and cultivate motivation. These roughly fall into two categories:

1️⃣ Deepening your knowledge and skills through education and learning by taking a training course or further study

2️⃣ Broadening what you do by exploring different teaching methods and formats

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Continuing education and learning (CPD)

CPD (continuing professional development) workshops or courses that explore new aspects of yoga or offer different perspectives can reignite your enthusiasm.

Not only can they provide you with some new tools and fresh insights, while sparking curiosity and interest, but they will also give you an opportunity to observe different teaching methods used.
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New teaching methods and formats

Teaching workshops

One way to expand your teaching is to lead workshops, where the content is more intensely focused on a particular topic for students who want more than weekly classes. Workshops can be a chance to try a new way of teaching that challenges both you as the teacher and the students too.

Running a workshop is very different from running a regular class – students expect more than just an extended class – so you have to plan differently.

If you’ve never run a workshop before, it might seem like a big step, but it’s a great way to engage your students and take a deeper dive into a subject.
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​New types of class

Consider diversifying the kinds of classes that you teach. If you have been teaching the same group classes for a while, it might be time to branch out and try private one-to-one sessions, or an online class if you only teach in person, or vice versa, or try teaching in a new environment such as a gym if that’s new to you. Offering class cover for your local colleagues (especially needed over the holidays) can be a good way to get a taste of a wider range of groups and class formats.
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Running retreats

Organising retreats, whether locally or abroad, can offer students the chance to disconnect from everyday distractions and immerse themselves in a more intense learning experience.

The planning, organising and delivering of a retreat requires a lot of work, and it’s important to remember that at the retreat, you will be working and on duty, and not on holiday yourself!

It’s advisable to take advice from other teachers who have experience in running retreats, to make sure you avoid common pitfalls.
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Specialisation

Specialising in teaching people with something in common can provide a new sense of purpose and direction. By diving deeper into areas such as yoga for people with particular ailments (eg. MS, cancer, or Parkinson’s), or yoga for stress management, or yoga for pregnancy or for elderly people, can create more targeted, impactful classes for those attending. This often requires some training or research to prepare.
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Create an online course

An online yoga course takes some time to set up, but once it’s online it can be available on an ongoing basis. Courses can be made public and offer you a source of income, or they can be private and offer something extra for your students.

You can set these up from scratch yourself, or use a hosting platform. There are a number of general platforms available (eg. Udemy or Skillshare). At YogaUK.com you can create your own yoga-related course (email support@yogauk.com for more information).
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Become a Yoga Teacher Training tutor

If you’re an experienced yoga teacher and are interested in passing on your yoga teaching knowledge and skill to others, becoming a yoga teacher training tutor is something to consider.

A good first step can be to teach a Foundation Course which is a shorter course to help people develop their personal practice and to prepare for yoga teacher training. (If you’re a British Wheel of Yoga teacher, you can take the BWY Foundation Course Tutor Training to allow you to teach their Level 1 Foundation course.)

I’ve been a BWY teacher trainer for a long time and I enjoy it very much. I'm currently planning a new yoga teacher training course (Ofqual-validated Level 4 BWY 500-hour Diploma course), which combines in-person intensives and online learning. Apart from being a high level recognised qualification, it's also a deep immersion in yoga practice, philosophy and self discovery.

I have some opportunities for a small number of experienced yoga teachers to have the chance to dip their toe in, if they are feeling drawn to the possibility of becoming a yoga teacher training tutor. (Drop me a line at andrea@yogauk.com if you’re interested.)
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Upgrade your qualification

If you have a 200-hour or 300-hour yoga teaching qualification (from any training school) and would like to upgrade that to a 500-hour BWY yoga teacher qualification, that is also a possibility in parallel to the above training course – please email andrea@yogauk.com to enquire.

Re-entering training at a higher level, with teaching experience already under your belt, will offer inspiration for your teaching and a chance for further learning and self-enquiry.

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Explore new experiences (even outside of yoga)

Exploring new experiences outside yoga can provide a significant boost to your class planning. Classes or workshops can provide valuable lessons if approached with a yogic eye, for example trying a sport or martial art, a new meditation practice, an art or dance class. These experiences can lead to new insights and allow for the discovery of fresh approaches to mental focus, attitude and mindfulness.

Anything that makes you excited or stimulates creativity, or reminds you what it’s like to be a beginner, can give you new ideas for your teaching. And stepping outside of your familiar zone might just inspire a new theme for your next term of yoga classes.
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Trying new things (and knowing when to stop)

It’s important to try new things periodically, to deepen and broaden what we do. But it’s also important to know when something isn’t working.

Not every experiment or toe-dip will resonate. If something doesn’t feel right, it’s best to leave it and reach out in a different direction. It's all part of the journey.

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Consolidation periods

There are also times when we go through periods of consolidation. You’ve faced a challenge or completed a course of study and now you need to take time to integrate what you’ve learned.

At other times a lack of energy is simply due to spreading yourself too thinly, and actually what you need to do is to drop something, draw in and consolidate for a while, until the time comes to reach out again.

Slowing down and reflecting on what you’ve previously learned during a consolidation period will be enough to reignite the spark for teaching and learning, all in good time.
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Conclusion

Inspiration and motivation come and go. If we embrace new experiences, learning opportunities, and explore different ways to teach, we continue to learn and grow, both as a yogi and as a teacher.

By seeking out new challenges, we keep our yoga teaching practice vibrant, exciting and thriving, for ourselves and for our students.
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News and resources

The next Q&A meetings for your diary:

Share and connect with other yoga teachers - more here
​These meetings are free of charge.

• Saturday 12th July at 10-11am
• Saturday 20th September at 10-11am

You'll receive an invitation by email the day before.

(Click 'Preferences' at the bottom of any email to turn off the mailings you prefer not to receive.)

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For your students:
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👉 NEW BWY Foundation Course - starting Autumn 2025 (online)
​See information about the previous course here​

👉 NEW BWY level 4 Diploma in Yoga Teaching - 500-hour teacher training starting September 2026 (in-person and online)
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Contact andrea@yogauk.com for more information.
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For yoga teachers:

👉 Knee function in asana ebook (free): Get the ebook here​

👉 Essential Anatomy and Physiology for Yoga Teaching online study - more information here​

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Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to any yoga teacher friends or colleagues who might be interested in any of the content. They can sign up to receive newsletters to their own inbox at www.yogauk.com
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