continuing education

Social Emotional Learning from Inside an Ashram

If you’ve read my bio, you saw that I once lived in an Ashram for six years. The Guru Ram Das Ashram in Toronto to be exact. It had 16-18 seekers living in one very large house/yoga centre, with more seekers visiting for classes and events every day.

The Ashram was an environment where social and emotional learning opportunities were everywhere, some very beautiful and some not easy.

Living with that many people in a place of spiritual setting, you aspire to be kind and compassionate, but of course there are times when you fall short. Feelings get hurt, toes get stepped on.

After one particularly difficult interaction with another resident, I sought advice from a mentor and senior teacher about moving out and how nice it would be to have my own place. He told me this story:

“They say that if you want to cook your dinner faster, don’t put one potato in a pot to boil, put a bunch of potatoes in the pot. When the potatoes cook together they bump against each other, which helps to soften them up. They cook faster together.”

Then he went on to explain how people are encouraged to do spiritual work together.

Having a spiritual community is challenging but speeds your growth, much like the potatoes getting cooked faster.

How Can a Yogi Grow Spiritually?

It is easy to read spiritual principles and philosophy on your own, but the concepts are more deeply understood when they are put to the test with other people.

In an environment like the Ashram, we emotionally bumped against each other as we worked through our stuff. However we were committed to, and supported by the yoga and meditation practices that brought us there.

Spiritual teachings enhanced our social and emotional growth.

AND social emotional learning catapulted our spiritual growth!

This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I'm 2nd from the right) — This photo from Guru Ram Das Ashram around 2001 (I’m 2nd from the right)

Does Social Emotional Learning Enhance Spiritual Growth?

So when I did my last business planning session, I looked long and hard at the direction for my business. Everything seems to be going online, but was this the right focus for Young Yoga Masters training? Participants receive over 600 pages of printed manuals when they take the 95 Hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training with Young Yoga Masters. It would be possible to turn this material into online courses. Was this the right direction for the training right now?

After much thought, I chose to focus on building community through live training. I want to pour my energy into powerful, community centered learning opportunities for kids yoga teachers. I love being with aspiring teachers who care about Kids Yoga the way I do. I like that we spend time together in a social environment that nurtures growth and community.

Social Emotional Learning 2.0

I feel my penchant for in-person training has helped me understand Social Emotional Learning (SEL) more deeply.

SEL is needed because as our time spent on screens goes up, our time spent in community goes down.

Social and Emotional Learning needs to happen in a social environment. Live events, meeting cool people, getting challenged by others, puts you in the best position to grow.

Just like how in kids yoga, the games are as much social and emotional as they are physical.

Learning, live and in person, gives you a depth of training that printed and online training can’t match. You engage with mentors, you get exposed to various teaching methodologies, you get to ask questions, and you get asked questions.

During the practicum you interact socially and emotionally with actual children. You learn what works and what to do when things don’t go as planned.

You grow!

Social Emotional Learning with a Yoga Twist

And perhaps most important, in the case of our Kids Yoga Teacher Training, all of this is supported by the wisdom of yoga and meditation.

You learn about kids yoga and you learn about yourself as a social and emotional being.

You get professional growth and personal growth.

Training with others is a social and emotional learning experience that enhances your growth as a yogi.

I’m always super excited before a training weekend or 12 day intensive because it’s a return to the joy and the challenges I felt living in the ashram, the joy and challenges of spiritual community.

My aim is to create this opportunity with each community that forms in our training.

There will be times when you are challenged because you have left your comfort zone. However, this challenge may give you the best opportunity for spiritual growth. This may be the fastest way to grow as a kids yoga teacher and a yogi.

Social and emotional learning is an essential part of every kids yoga teachers journey.

What Great Kids Yoga Plans Do You Have This Summer?

I’m away from home and I’ve been thinking about a family of swans I stumbled across a couple of weeks ago while I was out for a walk.

I just finished teaching a full week of the 95 hour kids yoga teacher certification in New Orleans and I’ve got one more week left. Then I’ll be back home preparing to deliver the 95 hour summer certification in Burlington, Ontario.

yoga swan building nest — Hard at work preparing family home!

Before I left for New Orleans I went for a walk along the lake shore of my hometown and to my utter delight, right smack in the middle of the marina along the pedestrian path, was a swan family building a giant nest!

Mama and Papa swan were hard at work piling branch upon branch making a home for three big eggs. The swans barely noticed us nosey human beings gathering around them (at a distance) pointing and giggling and taking photos. The majestic birds just focused on their nest building preparing to incubate their eggs and expand their family.

The swan is one of the most important symbolic creatures in all of yoga. It represents the breath and the connection of the finite to the Infinite. The symbolic swan can take us from our tiny individual self to our expansive higher Self.

In Sanskrit, a swan is called a hamsa and an accomplished yogi is called a paramahamsa (meaning transcendent swan). A yogi is one who gracefully glides across the ocean of life to liberation from time and space.

In other words, just like the swans I came across along the city lakeshore, being a yogic swan means living in the world with homes and traffic and humans side by side (all that stuff that can sometimes rub us the wrong way) while remaining cheerful and energized and focused on expanding ourselves.

yoga swan incubating eggs — The nest is built and the incubating has begun!

Since swans incubate their eggs for about forty days I’m hoping I’ll get to witness those swan eggs hatch into baby cygnets when I return to Canada to begin the kids yoga teacher training in Burlington. That would be a great summer treat!

That got me wondering, what yoga plans do you have hatching this summer?

If you’ve been incubating the idea of becoming a kids yoga teacher then the Burlington 95 hour, 12 day certification which starts July 23 is a great way to get certified within two weeks. You still have time to take advantage of the early registration discount. The early registration deadline is approaching fast on June 30, 2017.

If you’re already a kids yoga teacher then I’ve got some links below to some earlier posts with ideas for the summer.

I hope you hatch something wonderful this summer!

Already a kids yoga teacher? Here 5 yoga ideas for the end of the school year.
Here are 8 Helpful Hints things kids yoga teachers can do in the summer.
Summer can bring all kinds of volunteer opportunities for kids yoga teachers. I recently received a question from a past grad asking about when to volunteer and when to charge. Here is a blog post I wrote about that very topic.
Some kids yoga teachers might still question their legitimacy. Here’s an article about risks and rewards of kids yoga teaching and using a mandala meditation to get clarity around that.
And finally if you’re new to kids yoga teacher training here is an article explaining the different levels of certification.

What I Learned From My Week of Continuing Education

Last week I trekked down to Palm Springs California for the Yoga Alliance Leadership Conference. Reflecting on my week, here are my 3 big takeaways:

Wear Many Hats as a Yoga Teacher: I learned that as
I saw this spider with many legs, which reminded me of all the hats a yoga teacher must wear.

a yoga teacher I must play many roles. Yoga teachers need to lead a great, safe class, but at times, must put on other hats. Like your business hat if you want to make enough to pay your living expenses. You wear your marketing hat to tell people about your services. Plus the hats like friend hat, confidante hat, parent hat, citizen hat, activist hat, employee hat, boss hat and on and on. While all these roles are interconnected, giving yourself permission to change hats when needed, lets you resist giving everyone free yoga classes, or find the courage to invite people to your classes. All these hats will help grow your yoga teaching.
Being a Yoga Teacher Requires Planning: I generally feel good about many of the business choices I have made, but I learned that I need to do much more planning. Planning, as in setting the direction for a whole year rather than just one week or a project at a time. Having business plans and timelines are practices of successful businesses.
Student`s Want to Feel Special: I also visited two studios in Los Angeles, studios that I had never been to before. It was great to do yoga, but even more illuminating to be reminded of what it is like to be a new person in a yoga class. I wanted to connect in those classes, and these studios did not let me down. Whether for kids or adults, we all want to go into a class and feel acknowledged. That feeling is what keeps people coming back to yoga.

Yoga Alliance friends — The Friendly Yoginis I Met Were so Supportive!

These were just the top three eye opening experiences from my week of continuing education. It was a delight to learn from experts who understood what it is like for me, who could save me the trouble of figuring everything out by myself, and most importantly, could help me recognize the mistakes I was making.

What kind of insights have you gained from continuing education?

Upcoming Events

and now to put on my announcer`s hat:

Announcing:

Join the faculty of the Young Yoga Masters Children`s Yoga School as we introduce the upcoming Teacher Training program to you and answer any questions that you may have.

Here are the details:

Open House Webinar

Wednesday, November-07-12 at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/920195413

Topic: 95 Hour Certification in Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Use your microphone and speakers (VoIP) – a headset is recommended. Or, call in using your telephone.

Canada: +1 (647) 497-9372

United States: +1 (805) 309-0027

Access Code: 920-195-413

Audio PIN: Shown after joining the meeting

Meeting ID: 920-195-413

Join us for this info session to find out more about full Certification to become a Kids Yoga Teacher. To see more details about the November 17 – 18 Weekend Teacher Training visit here. This program is eligible for Continuing Education Credits and is a Registered Children`s Yoga School with Yoga Alliance.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training – Continuing Education

I feel blessed today. I awakened full of energy, eager to do my personal yoga and meditation practice, a practice that has been known to drag at times. Why such enthusiasm? The result of Continuing Education that led me to take the Yoga for Youth teacher training.

If you’re a registered yoga teacher you’re probably required to take continuing education courses. Today I let you in on my experience of a training that is like no other I have taken. Its a real jewel and it qualifies with Yoga Alliance and IKYTA (for the Kundalini teachers out there). Here’s why I recommend Yoga for Youth for continuing education:

Its taught by Krishna Kaur – a teacher who lives her yoga in a powerful way. Her teaching gets under your skin and wakes you up. She had everyone laughing and crying, singing and dancing, and most importantly – caring. Everyone in the course walked away feeling the power of yoga to change lives. Everyone departed with their heart open and ready to uplift others. Even though many of us didn’t really want to leave the tight community that had formed over five days. We were completely satisfied, like that way you feel after a great meal, when you want to linger for a while because your mouth savors the delicate tastes.

I’ve had the opportunity to take other courses with Krishna Kaur before, and whenever I have the chance to be around her I jump on it! I recommend this course for anyone who wants to work with youth, especially pre-teens and teens.

Are you a Human BEING or a Human DOING?
In many of the yoga trainings out there we sit and have someone tell us do this and do that. In the Yoga for Youth course we weren’t told how to teach, we were shown how to be a great teacher. A great teacher shows the student the potential of the student. The teacher aims to give the student the experience of their true identity once all the layers of false identity are peeled away and they can be themselves.

We did a lot of Kundalini Yoga and mediation to scrape away the shell. One of my favorite parts was a 31 minute meditation to let go of baggage instead of carrying it around. Very liberating.

The Y.O.G.A. of YOGA for Youth stands for Your Own Greatness Affirmed. How can a teacher help someone else feel their greatness if they don’t feel it themselves? The program helped me peel back many of my own layers, some I was unaware of, and lifted me as a teacher. I recaptured the beginner’s mind to feel the joy of discovery that a student experiences.

yfy-group picture — Building a Community of Support

Finally, I was surprised by how quickly I bonded with my fellow students. People of all ages and experiences attended and the course threw us together like a pot full of boiling potatoes. Somehow all the bubbling and bumping around together helped us get cooked faster.

The Potential Dangers of Teaching

There’s a potential danger teacher’s face when they cease being a student. The danger surfaces when you start recycling the same old thoughts and experiences from one day to the next. You get trapped in a kind of “Groundhog Day” movie experience.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities.
In the expert’s mind there are few.”
– Shunryu Suzuki

By keeping up with continuing education teachers get a chance to experience the wealth of possibilities that only a student sees. It can be a very rewarding endeavor, especially if you can find a course like Y.O.G.A. for Youth and a teacher like Krishna Kaur.

yfy-certificate — It felt great to earn that certificate!

What about you, what courses do you recommend for continuing education? Do you look forward to continuing education or do you dread it?

Upcoming Events

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Weekend

Saturday November 19 and Sunday November. 20, Toronto, Canada

If you’re ready for some continuing education or just want to learn the foundations of teaching kids yoga (3 – 12 years old), join me for a weekend to uplift yourself . This is currently the last scheduled training for 2011. Come and join us and give yourself a weekend to refresh and renew your practice.

Early Registration Deadline is Nov. 12/11.

click here for full details

Getting Ready to Survey your Market: Writing your Info Interview Survey

“Could I Get Your Advice?”
Have you ever noticed people love to give advice? It is flattering to be asked an opinion, especially if it’s considered more valuable because of your expertise.

In the business world one way of getting an expert’s advice is an Information Interview where you can get:

advice on a new field before you enter it
inside information on trends in the market
best practices, details, and facts from someone in the field

An Information Interview is not asking for a job.
It’s also not a sales pitch. It is strictly asking questions to get advice from an expert.

It also happens to be a good way to introduce yourself to potential employers and help you decide if this is a field you want to get into, or more poignantly, what you might be diving into.

Market Research for Good Business
For instance, the going rate for teaching kids yoga for an hour class in my city (Toronto – population just under 3 million) is between $35 – $250 per class. The price varies depending on size, experience, location, frequency, and extra work (advertising and registration) involved in organizing your class.

What is the price range for your area? Each district, city, or country values these skills differently and you can get an idea of the pay rate in your area in an Information Interview.

Tips for Information Interviews: Be Prepared
Out of respect for the person you are interviewing and to make the most of your time prepare yourself in advance for the interview.

I recommend having your questions ready before you call for an interview. You may call someone and they will to talk to you right away. You will want to be ready.

Take your list of potential places to teach (see this post) and create a survey for your top three. Most of the questions will be the same, but think of a few unique questions for the specific place.

Phrasing for Accurate Answers
Interviewing experts suggest that to get accurate answers, it is better to ask people what they did in the past rather than what they want to do in the future. After all, isn’t that one reason to meditate, to break free from our past karma!

For example compare:

How many specialty teachers, like yoga teachers, dance teachers, clowns, magicians did you bring to your school last year?
How many specialty teachers. like yoga teachers, dance teachers, clowns, magicians do you plan on bringing in?

What we actually do, compared to what we plan to do, are often different. Try to find out what they actually did.

Multiple Choice Saves Time
When you were in school what did you like better, open ended tests or multiple choice? Most people prefer multiple choice.

It will be easier and faster to answer multiple choice questions. They know exactly what you want. They don’t have to try to figure out what answer you are looking for.

Sometimes you will get a person who likes to talk and go off on tangents. Before you know it you’ve asked a couple of questions and your time is up! Multiple choice helps you stay on topic and stick to your time limit.

For instance you could ask:

What is the most you have paid for a specialty teacher or event:

under $50 per hour
$50 – $75 per hour
$75 – $150 per hour
Over $150
Please describe the event:

Now jot down a few questions that you want to know about the daycare, schools and studios near you to start forming your interview.

One of the challenges of self-employment is motivating yourself to get new business. So write down your ideas now. It will be much easier if you do it in small pieces then having a big task looming before you.

Here’s to your business success and getting new classes!