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You are here: Home / Archives for Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini Yoga

Dirty Secrets: Preventing Burnout for Yoga Teachers

In our Branching Out training we talk about all the ways to get new yoga classes to teach. The follow up to this conversation is maintaining balance once you achieve your goals.

Over the years I’ve seen many yoga teachers get burnt out, and I’ve come close to throwing in the towel myself. All the reasons that motivate you to become a teacher get consumed by all the hours it takes to run a business and a life.

Not only are you balancing work, family, and other obligations, you’re preparing lesson plans, traveling all over, teaching classes, marketing your business, following up with clients, and planning for the next event.  I mean, I’ve given up on trying to keep my email inbox below 1000 emails.

Our times are such that it looks easy to do it all.

On Facebook and other Social Media, everyone is posting their accomplishments; it can make you feel like a slacker. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I be doing all these cool things?

The dirty secret is, a lot of the teachers showing others how to be calm and blissful are experiencing their own burnout.

For me, my practice gets bumped by all the other work. I don’t do yoga, start drinking tea by the pot, and relax by watching TV. I start feeling lumpy and tired. Now, as I near my 50th birthday, I can’t get away with this the way I used to, my body does not bounce back the way it used to.

One teacher told me how she recently sold her yoga business. When she started working at another yoga studio she realized she had been doing the job of 5 people!

So to keep your sanity, health, and entrepreneurial freedom, and to wash away that dirty secret you may be hiding, consider these ways to keep things in check:

Kundalini Yoga in Toronto Ontario
Doing Yoga is very different from Teaching Yoga – How do you Keep Up with Your Own Practice?

Yoga and Meditation:

As a Yoga Teacher, you know that yoga and meditation are amazing. They help you quiet your mind, find stillness, connect to your body, be present, and speak to your higher self. You also know you need to practice often and regularly. Here’s the catch, if your personal practice is failing, I think it’s time to find another teacher to help you re-boot. Just go to any class, even if you don’t connect with a teacher you’ll remember what you do like, and awaken your own practice.

Eat Healthy:

Food is your body’s source of energy. When you eat a balanced diet of healthy, nutrient-dense foods, you have more vitality. You also manage daily stresses better. Choose to eat natural, whole foods, and plenty of fruits and vegetables to feel energized and make sure you’re also drinking water.

best yoga retreat in Ontario
This is the trail at the Yoga Retreat in April – it’s beautiful!

Reconnect to Nature:

Being in nature can have a significant affect on your wellbeing. The clean air helps you feel refreshed. Being close to the earth helps you feel grounded. Being surrounded by creation helps you feel connected to life. Taking a walk in nature is like taking a shower in green energy, you will feel renewed.

My two dear friends, Nirmal and Daya. We do the retreats together to make the load easier for all of us.
My two dear friends, Nirmal and Daya. We do retreats together to make the load easier for all of us.

Connect with Others:

You feel joy when you are with other like-minded, joyful people. Your feelings of connection make you feel good, and helps others feel good. Surround yourself with positive people and you will cope with life’s daily challenges better and improve your health and happiness. If you don’t have any other friends who are running their own yoga businesses, find connections at workshops, retreats, or online. Create a circle of support to share resources, ideas, and perspective.

Take Time Out:

You’re busy doing things. Sometimes, it’s necessary to take time to be present. Whether it’s taking an afternoon away from your daily routines to connect with yourself, or taking a weekend off to get away from your busy life, set an intention to take time out to recharge.

My meditation teacher would say if you start feeling overwhelmed, it’s time to stop everything. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I have found stopping it all is the only way to figure out the right next step.

At Young Yoga Masters, I’ve teamed up with two of my favorite Kundalini Yoga teachers (see the picture above) to offer adult workshops and retreats. I did it so that I could attend their classes while I’m away in nature. It’s become a sanctuary from my office!

I invite you to join us for a weekend where you will be able to take time out to meditate, eat healthy foods, listen to music, reconnect to nature and connect with others.

After the weekend, you will feel relaxed, refreshed, and revitalized.

For more information on our upcoming yoga events check out:

kundalini summer yoga retreat August 2015 in Hockley Valley, Ontario with special concert Saturday night

Kundalini Yoga Summer Getaway Yoga Retreat

August 7 – 9, 2015 – Hockley Valley, Ontario, Canada

Save with Early Registration!

Details Here

If you can’t make it to one of these events, please, for your own sanity and health, find something near you.

As the saying goes, if the airplane is going down, put the oxygen on yourself before you try to put it on someone else!

Let’s give ourselves much deserved oxygen a long time before the plane gets into trouble.

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Resources Tagged With: Kundalini Yoga, relaxation, Yogic lifestyle

How Keeping Up with Yoga is Taking Me to Mexico

The Life of a Yoga Super Hero!

Every once in a while I entertain the notion of myself as a Yoga teacher who leads a double life as a Super Hero.

preschool children are relaxing but a few children in yoga are crawling away or making noise.
Kids Yoga Training is one way to learn tools to help children become calm and focused.

Like the time a school had to cancel their class trip to the amusement park because of bad weather, and so they called me at the last minute to fill in.  You know, Yoga to the Rescue!!!

Or the first week of school in the toddler room with stressed out children balling their eyes out, when my yoga songs and magic chimes lull every child into silence.

But last weekend I answered the best Yoga emergency call of ALL TIME.

Better than a last minute teaching gig.

Better than being a baby whisperer.

I came to the rescue for a teacher who needed a sub for a Yoga retreat in Yelapa Mexico.

Now that’s my kind of Yoga Emergency.

While this is not my usual type of blog post, I’m so excited I must announce I’ll be teaching at this retreat. It is last minute, but if you could use an escape from the winter, twice daily yoga classes, and a peaceful adventure, come join me at this retreat.  There are still a few spots left. I’d love to see you there.

Let’s Meet in Mexico

 

pictures of the yoga in Yelapa Mexico Kundalini Yoga Retreat
contact [email protected] for more information

If you want more information,  here is a link to the details of the retreat, or contact me at the address above.

A Great Antidote to Winter

I will be teaching Kundalini Yoga for adults with a wonderful Hatha and Kundalini teacher, Susan Vigh.  It is sure to be a great antidote to this harsh winter we are having.

I’m also bringing some art supplies for the kids at the school there, who knows I may even get to do some yoga with them.

We can all pretend we are Super Heroes.

I’d love to meet you in Mexico for a Yoga vacation!

Yours truly,

Aruna

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training

Mother and Daughters share a tender moment in Kids Yoga Camp.
Mother and Daughters share a tender moment during the guided relaxation in Kids Yoga Camp.

 

Come be a Super Hero this weekend in Toronto, Canada for the Branching Out Certificate on Feb. 1 -2.  You’ll look at how to get started earning money as a kids yoga teacher.  You’ll get resources to branch out into Mom’s and Tots Yoga, Family Yoga, and Teen Yoga classes too.  Register by this Wednesday to get the early rate.  Every weekend includes real experience for your resume by teaching in the kids camp. You’ll feel confident knowing what it is like to actually teach children.

Details are here for Branching Out Certificate: Feb. 1 -2/14.

Parents and children learn about yoga in this collage from the kids yoga teacher training. Families make a yoga train, partner yoga, passing the ball with legs, and walking witha ball between
Come Get Your Kids Yoga Teacher Certification and Become a Super Hero to Children

 

 See you there.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Kids Yoga Tagged With: Kundalini Yoga, Mexico, Superhero, yoga retreat

Teaching Yoga to Teenage Boys in Denmark

Question from a Kids Yoga/Kundalini Yoga Teacher in Denmark

Question from Reader:

Dear Aruna,

Thank you for a very inspiring webpage and your newsletters.

I teach Kundalini Yoga in Denmark (Northern Denmark) and in 2009 I took a teacher training in Children’s Yoga.  I feel very privileged and honoured to be able to share the teachings with the children in Denmark and until now I have taught the 5 – 10 year olds.

Yesterday I received a call from a school asking me if I would like to teach their Football-classes yoga.  They have 70 pupils, where 50 are boys and 20 girls from the ages between 13 – 15 years.

What a great challenge, I thought… I trust that I can teach them, however, I thought of you and if you could give me some good advice in relation to teaching boys at this age?

A class would contain 12 children and run over 7 weeks.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Love from Denmark

Pernille Angad Kaur
Pernille Dybro-Kristensen

Internationalt Certificeret Kundaliniyogainstruktør

– KUNDALINI YOGA FOR BØRN & VOKSNE –
www.dybro-yoga.dk

Answer:  Yoga for Teenage Boys

Sat Nam Pernille Angad Kaur,

From Denmark to Canada, its an amazing world! I’m glad you like the Young Yoga Masters blog.

You asked: “if you could give me some good advice in relation to teaching boys at this age (13 – 15)?”

This age is much like an adult class, I find teens are like very sensitive adults. They are probably concerned about how they will look in front of their friends, who’s wearing what kind of clothes, what is popular. Here are some ideas you could try:

  • Yoga Role Models: find examples of those who are their role models who do yoga, dropping these names will help to get them interested (I’m not sure who’s popular in Denmark – if they follow US culture then many basketball teams and movie stars and singers do yoga like Lady Ga Ga, Russell Brand).  It’s amazing what a Google search can turn up for any sport, like this article about a professional footballer who uses yoga.
  • Introduction to the Benefits of Yoga: Tell the kids what they need to know to get excited about yoga. Give a little intro at the beginning of your class about those who do yoga and why they do it.  How yoga helps people stay healthy, strong, flexible for sports, but also focused and relaxed so they can play well.
  • Choose a Challenging Set with Strength but Not Too Much Flexibility Expected: If you are doing a Kundalini Yoga set (i do a lot of KY sets with my older kids), choose a challenging set. If they are on the football team, they will probably be strong but not very flexible. They probably do a lot of running and may be tight in the legs.Make sure you choose a set that lets them do a little stretching but also makes them feel good about their strength. If there’s too much flexibility they may feel defeated at the beginning. Maybe a set with plank pose (font or back) or one of the sets with a punching movement in it or the Sun Salutation.
  • Give them a good, long relaxation – teens need a lot more sleep than adults (some say as much sleep as a baby, but don’t tell them that or you might insult them : )    But they may keep coming back to yoga for the relaxation time. It may be the best rest they have all week.
  • Build the Mental Muscle: I’d also connect the dots on how much of sports is a mental game. Getting your nerves under control or seeing yourself as a winner (i.e. Tiger Woods is a good example of the mental game affecting a player). So talk about how yoga helps with the mental game, visioning the outcome, getting rid of thoughts you don’t like. I’d also introduce simple meditation.  Nothing too religious if you think the school will protest.
  • Use Uplifting Music: Kundalini Yoga uses music a lot, I sometimes pick uplifting pop songs to play in the background for teens – music that they like. If you don’t know any songs then you could ask them for some suggestions and bring them for later in the series. If they listen to American music, I like the Katie Perry song Fireworks.

I hope these ideas help. I’d love to hear how it goes or if you have any other questions, let me know.

Also, I’d love to come to Denmark to do my Kids Yoga Teacher Training, if you are interested let me know.

Yours truly,

Aruna

P.S.  Young Yoga Masters readers:  feel free to add comments with suggestions.  Especially if you’ve found any new uplifting songs or if you’ve ever taught a European Football (Soccer) team of teenage boys or something similar.   Any ideas for themes for the class series for teen boys on a sports team?

Thanks.

Upcoming Events at Young Yoga Masters

April 17:  Teach Yoga Kids Love Presentation: I’ll be co-teaching this 30 minute presentation on Sunday April 17, 3:30 – 4 pm.  I’d love to see you there.

April 15 – 17:  A Children’s Yoga Network: Young Yoga Masters will be sharing a booth with Children’s Yoga Books at The Yoga Show in Toronto (Metro Convention Centre).   Come by to talk to Aruna in person and enter to instantly win one of the many great prizes we’ll be giving away.

May 14 – 15 – Kids Yoga Teacher Training Toronto – registration is now open and the course is filling.  Register Early to secure your spot!

Bring Yoga Yoga Masters to your area – This training is like no other!   Contact [email protected] to get the Young Yoga Masters training to your area.

Filed Under: Kids Yoga, Lesson Plans Tagged With: Denmark, European Football, Kundalini Yoga, lesson plans, teenage boys

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