How to create your yoga brand masterclass

This masterclass is an implementable, inspiring and easy to follow workshop guiding you through creating a yoga brand that’s true to you. 

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Previous Episodes of Yoga Hero: Teachers Podcast

Episode 25: Do I need a yoga brand?

Episode 24: Tips for new yoga teachers

Episode 23: Define who you are as a yoga teacher

Episode 43: Should yoga teachers care about money?

Episode 42: Should yoga teachers demo while teaching?

Episode 41: Should yoga teachers use Sanskrit?

Episode 40: The business of teaching Yoga Nidra

Episode 39: How to develop a consistent Yoga Nidra practice (even with a busy life)

Episode 38: A Yoga Nidra for yoga teachers

Episode 37: Yoga Nidra: The art of sleeping to wake up

Episode 36:: How I Became a Full-Time Yoga Teacher

Episode 35: How to Become a Full-Time Yoga Teacher

Episode 34: Balancing having a job and teaching yoga

Episode 33: Balancing Parenting and Teaching Yoga

Episode 32: How to teach yoga workshops

Episode 31: How much to charge for your yoga classes

Episode 30: How to create your yoga brand

Episode 29: How to layer your asana classes with yoga philosophy

Episode 28: What’s your WHY as a yoga teacher

Episode 27: Setting up your own classes as a yoga teacher

Episode 26: How would you teach yoga if you weren’t afraid?

Episode 25: Do I need a yoga brand?

Episode 24: Tips for new yoga teachers

Episode 23: Define who you are as a yoga teacher

Episode 22: Yoga adjustments: Some important considerations

Episode 21: Tips for teaching yoga beginners

Episode 20: The joys of being a yoga teacher

Episode 19: Overcome imposter syndrome as a yoga teacher

Episode 18: Create your social media calendar

Episode 17: A complete guide to sequencing yoga classes

Episode 16: Do you need to teach a new yoga sequence each week?

Episode 15: Introducing yoga philosophy in to your asana classes

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How would you teach yoga if you weren’t afraid? – Transcript

What will people think?

What if people hate it?

What if they think I’m full of myself?

What if they know more than I do?

Does this sound familiar…?!

In 2020 we first held our Shatter Imposter Syndrome challenge, which, hundreds of yoga teachers have gone on to complete. Confidence, in the yoga teaching world seems to be something that so, so many of us struggle with. This podcast episode is about allowing yourself to think, to daydream, to imagine what you would teach, and how you would teach, if you had absolutely no fear. If you had absolutely no reservations about what others would think, or about your own ability. In our course ‘The clear and confident yoga teacher’, we go even deeper than this, naming fears and embracing them, and learning how to put them to one side working towards the goal of teaching with unshakeable self-belief. But more on that later.

If you’ve been held back by self-doubt, you really aren’t alone. But here’s some tips to put self-doubt, reservations, concerns and anxieties to one side, to help you be the teacher you dreamed of being.

Define the fear

This is absolutely nowhere near as easy as it sounds. You’ll need time, headspace, self-acceptance and a bit more time, probably. But, it really is so worth investigating – what is the actual fear that’s holding you back? Is it what others might think… if so, is there one person or a group of people who spring to mind when you visualise teaching something new or teaching a particular subject or teaching in a particular way? If so, it’s wroth investigating, why are you bothered by what they think? Where does that come from? And now that you’ve looked it straight in the eye, has it lost its power? can you put that fear to one side? Is the fear a fear of failure? A fear of being laughed at? A fear at being found out, that you don’t know as much as you say you do?

Pause, breath, investigate. Define what the fear is really, and when you’ve defined it, then determine, is it a valid fear?

Remember to keep your eyes peeled for our course The Clear and Confident Yoga Teacher which takes this process and breaks it right down, to define, accept and even embrace, fears.

Remember that fear is physiological

Our bodies can’t distinguish between an imagined fear and a real life one that’s present in front of you. Our nervous system can’t distinguish between being laughed at, at the front of a yoga class and a lion walking in to your room. Be empathetic towards yourself as you investigate this whole process. While you imagine and investigate your fears, notice how your body reacts and use your yoga know-how to keep this reaction to a minimum, use your deep breaths, closed eyes, lying down, slow movement. All of it will allow you to investigate and define your fear, feel the impact in your body and progress anyway.

Have confidence in your ability and your offering

I know, i know, much easier said than done. Confidence doesn’t just come out of nowhere, unfortunately, it doesn’t just drop out of the sky and in to your lap after a certain period of time.

To have unshakeable confidence in your ability and your offering, you need to be able to stand by what you do. It won’t be for everyone, and that is ok. In last week’s episode, ‘Do I need a yoga brand?’ we talked about how a yoga brand is an extension of your yoga teaching self. In order to create this, you need a rock solid understanding of who you are and who you teach. It sounds obvious doesn’t it. But if someone stopped you, right now, and said ‘tell me about your yoga classes; what are they like, and who are they for’ – could you answer them? With completely clarity? The ability to answer them, clearly and with confidence absolutely boils down to you knowing who you are and who you want to teach. If you need help with this, well look no further – put your name down for our ‘How to create your yoga brand’ masterclass, because that’s exactly what we’ll be working through together. The link to sign up is in the show notes, and it’s completely free!

Daydream, imagine, visualise

Imagine that money was no object, you have more than enough to live on and you can teach yoga without any financial pressure. And imagine you have a bottomless pit of confidence. Not arrogance, you really, really care about the quality of your teaching, but you’re just not held back, you don’t feel shy, you don’t feel nervous, you don’t feel anxious – you feel able. What would you teach? Would you teach classes with an anatomical focus, without worrying you were getting something wrong?

Would you introduce more philosophy without worrying about messing up the sanskrit?

Would you bring in more about accessing empowerment and intuition without fearing you sound too woowoo?

Would you share how much learning about the chakras has changed your life?

Would you…. what?

What would you teach? and how would you teach it?

Would you sing? Would you use beautiful metaphors? Would you teach an entire class watching your yogis move, not demo-ing a single pose? Would you give out gifts? Would you adjust more? Would you reach out to someone you just get a feeling, needs to talk to someone today? If you had no reservations at all – how would you teach yoga?

Come back to this, as often as you can. Maybe go for a walk or sit in meditation, or talk to a yoga teacher friend or a loved one, but keep daydreaming, visualising and imagining how you’d teach yoga, if you weren’t afraid. 

So that’s it lovely teachers. Remember – when you find yourself holding back from an opportunity or an idea because of fear, remember – investigate and define the fear, notice the impact and progress anyway. All the while defining who you are and who you want to teach. And don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for The Clear and Confident Yoga Teacher course, the doors open soon!

If you have a couple of minutes free, we’d be so so so so grateful if you could rate and review this podcast where ever you’re listening to it, and if you can share with a training, new or experienced yoga teacher too, well that would be just amazing.

And as a reminder, our show notes are available for you, at yogahero.co.uk/podcast26

We’d love to know how you’re finding these episodes, and if they’ve been helpful. Please do let me know by emailing hello@yogahero.co.uk or sending a DM to @yogahero_teachers on instagram.

And, as always, happy teaching.

life, and they’ll bring their yogi friends to you, too.

OK. so that’s it really. Sometimes there’s a peace that follows making a big decision, that follows committing to something. So maybe, so yes, I need a brand, and I will create it in my own time and my own way, and don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for our masterclass coming soon.

Do you need a yoga brand? Yes, in my humble option you need a brand. No, that does not mean a year of steering groups and blue sky thinking. No, it does not mean paying an agency a fortune to create you a branding guidance document. Yes it means you’ll be incredibly clear about who you are as a yoga teacher, who you want to work with and how you go about reaching them.