teacher, no guru. I get asked ‘What is yoga?’ all the time.
The best answer I’ve come up with so far is: if there are
seven billion people in the world, yoga is seven billion
paths to the centre. It’s always been this way. Look at
Krishnamacharya. People said to him ‘Yoga’s a spiritual
practice. You can’t make it physical. What you’re doing is
horrible.’ And he did it anyway. Just because something’s
old, doesn’t meant it’s better. Yoga was always a kind of
radical expression. That’s punk rock!
Can we talk about yogis who want to find their
way into teaching? I have a lot of friends who are
trying to discover their identities as teachers.
I’m learning to do so myself with yoga for writers.
What would you say to us?
You’ve got no choice as I see it but to really be yourself.
If you try to emulate someone else, they’re always going
to be the ones who did it first, so they’ll always be the
source. I think it’s more powerful when each teacher
becomes the source of their own teaching, their own
expertise. And if you’re trying to be what you think
people want, you’re not going to be fulfilled because
you’re out of alignment with yourself all day long and
that’s going to make you unhappy.
Why do you think more teachers aren’t more
truly themselves?
I think it’s so powerful to be out there expressing your
truth that people are scared. They procrastinate. Or
they give people the cliched yoga face, the yoga voice,
because they think that’s what it takes to make it. But
inside they have a truth burning, and that’s what they
really must teach. No-one has experienced like you have.
I want to see more teachers step forward as themselves.
It’s not just about making a great living doing what you
love, even though I’d be psyched to see more teachers
have money in the bank because landlords don’t take
Karma. I’d like to see more successful teachers because,
if we’re really practicing yoga, it’s about service. Sharing
your knowledge with others for the world’s sake.
How does that apply to teaching online?
The research now says that 75% of people would prefer
to practice, work out or learn online. If you’re not online,
you’re missing out on sharing your expertise with a
om body
huge potential audience. Most of the world doesn’t live
in big cities with awesome teachers. Why would they go
to a studio they don’t necessarily like that much when
they can practice with a great teacher at their own
convenience for a fraction of the cost?
This is why the smarter studios are offering
online classes with their most popular teachers or
livestreaming. It’s why they’re offering things like free
e-books. They know they need a powerful online
presence to compete with the teaching platforms. But
I think they should go further by offering social media
training for their teachers, help them get comfortable
in front of a camera and just generally enable them to
showcase what they’re all about.Speaking from personal experience, creating an
online course looked seriously challenging at
the beginning. Do you have any tips for people
thinking about going down that route?
For a start, to paraphrase the saying KISS: ‘keep it simple,
sassy’. Make sure what you’re offering is straightforward.
My courses all relate somehow to the idea of being ‘fit,
fierce and fabulous – at any age’. Don’t write tons of stuff
that people have to read. The first course I wrote was the
equivalent of a 700-page book. It was good stuff but way
too long. Keep content just to mostly video and audio,
with as little explanatory text as possible.Isn’t making video and audio content expensive?
If you hire a professional, it can be. But you really only
need one of the latest iPhones or smartphones with a
good camera, a special lens, lighting and a directional
mic that will plug into your phone or computer so the
sound is good to get started.
It’s really very rock and roll: learn the technology,
do it yourself and take yoga to a new frontier, a
bigger classroom.Sadie Nardini is currently developing a course on how to
make online courses. It will include an e-book called Make
6 Figures Online While You Sleep. I’ve had a sneak preview
of the book and, although it’s a work in progress at the
moment, it’s packed with extremely useful information. You
can find her at sadienardinicourses.vhx.tvFind out more about David Holzer at: yogawriters.org“I think
there’s
been a
huge
need all
along for
teachers
who
can help
students
who want
to add
yoga to
their lives
and do
a little
better”