Sage Rountree's Blog, page 25

Pandemic Silver Lining: Preregistration Means More Props

One of the upsides of the total systems renovation the pandemic brought to our studio life at Carolina Yoga Company is that we now require preregistration for class; no walk-ins are accommodated.

The benefit of knowing exactly how many students are coming, and just what they are, is huge. We can tailor the class to the students who will be there. And we can set up the room to fit everyone with room around them.

We do that with props. This has been a surprise silver lining in my classes, where I usually cued for props but didn’t use them in every class. Now I do, setting up the room with prop stations before every class. Students lay their mat down at a station—conveniently, mats are just about bolster width, so it’s easy to maximize the spread out in the room without hurried shuffling to fit someone in at the start of class. It’s also great for seeing how many students we are waiting for in the last minutes before class starts.

I think my students have developed a new appreciation for props as a result of always having them on hand. It’s easy to grab something that’s already at your mat, instead of crossing the room for it. And as my class is Yoga for Athletic Balance, we use the props not only to add ease and support to yoga poses, but also to up the challenge. We balance on blocks and bolsters and blankets; we use blocks and bolsters to give us feedback about where our bodies are in space. Thus this funny silver lining has deepened and broadened the student experience. That’s a win.

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Upcoming Continuing Education and Advanced Studies Workshops

We are delighted to return to live in-person trainings at Carolina Yoga Company‘s Carrboro studio! This first round is led by me and my excellent collaborator and coauthor, Alexandra DeSiato.

Each of these three workshops is designed for our new normal. We meet for nine hours in person (though we’re willing to consider a Zoom option for the eager folks who can’t make it to North Carolina), with homework to complete before and after our in-person/live meeting.

We currently require proof of vaccination to enter the studio. And for now, our county is under a mask mandate, so unless that lifts, these will be masked experiences. We promise you will be having so much fun you won’t notice!

Join us for:

Creative Flow: Foundations and Variations for Teaching Vinyasa Yoga with Alexandra DeSiato at Carrboro Yoga, January 29–30, 2022Language Refinement: Clear Communication in Class with me at Carrboro Yoga, February 26–27, 2022Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses: Theming Inspiring Yoga Classes with both me and Alexandra at Carrboro Yoga, March 26–27, 2022

As you might have guessed, this latter one is keyed to our book Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses and its corresponding online course, which you will receive gratis as homework if you sign up for the in-person training.

Each of these workshops offers 18 Yoga Alliance continuing education credits, and all of them are required modules in our Carolina Yoga Company 300-/500-hour advanced studies yoga teacher training. They are also open to any movement teacher. We think you’ll benefit most if you have a year of teaching under your belt, but all are welcome.

Read full descriptions and sign up for one or more of these fun experiences here.

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Meet Prof. Jen McDonald

Meet Professor Jen McDonald, the most recently certified graduate of Teaching Yoga to Athletes.

Jen took my in-person Teaching Yoga to Athletes training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health before she was even a yoga teacher. In fact, she reached out beforehand to be sure she would fit in. Did she ever! She blew the class away with her practice teaching, where her clear knowledge of runners’ bodies and minds shone through. As soon as she finished, we all insisted she sign up for a full yoga teacher training.

Jen with her friend and coaching client, running a sub-5:00 at the Niagara Falls Marathon at 61!

Jen lives way upstate in New York, where she is a professor of physical therapy and a running coach. Her running brought her to yoga, and of course her skill with anatomy and kinesiology is the perfect complement to her skillset as a teacher and coach. She’s also an Army veteran, and her commitment to service and self-discipline underpins all the work she does.

Jen says:

I feel strongly in the power of the melding of body, mind, and spirit that yoga provides, particularly as it benefits athletes and students. The ability of an athlete to learn to listen to their body and to take the time to find restoration is enhanced through yoga. In physical therapy we work with patients to reeducate their muscles and retrain movement patterns that have become dysfunctional either through injury or chronic misuse. I see yoga as a method of developing and maintaining functional, comfortable, healthy movement patterns through encouraging students to become more aware of how they are moving. This concept melds beautifully with the movement reeducation skill of the PT.

Jen also says, as “a mom to two collegiate athletes, and a teacher of college students, I see the pressures that students face and recognize the benefits that yoga practice can have on their physical and mental wellbeing.” She shared this screenshot with her son as evidence of the benefits of yoga for college athletes.

Jen’s experience as a teacher includes leading gymnasts training for the U.S. Men’s National Team at the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. She teaches at Trillium Wellness in Potsdam, NY. You’d be well served to connect with her!

To follow in Jen’s footsteps and up your game as a teacher of yoga for athletes, register for Teaching Yoga to Athletes here, then add the optional upgrade to certification.

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Guide: The Fastest, Cheapest, and Best Way to Improve Your Teaching

Feedback helps us grow as teachers.

But as yoga teachers, we don’t often get much feedback.

Our students vote with their feet—they return or don’t. We may not receive evaluation from our employers or clients, and when we do, it might be focused on metrics other than the quality of our teaching.

The good news is there’s one fast, cheap, and surefire way for you to give yourself the feedback you need to grow. It’s not fun, but it is simple, and you already have the tools you need.

Intrigued? Good! I wrote a free guide for you: The Fastest, Cheapest, and Best Way to Improve Your Teaching. Sign up here and I’ll send it right over!

Hint: this exercise will also be your homework to complete before my next in-person workshop for yoga and movement teachers. It’s called Language Refinement: Clear Communication in Class, and I’m offering it at Carolina Yoga’s Carrboro, NC, location February 26 and 27, 2022. The times are reasonable because there’s only so much constructive critique we can process at once, and because I want to make this weekend easy for you to travel to!

Read about the workshop and our other continuing education programs and sign up here.

And don’t forget to read my new guide. Get it here! When you like what you see, please know there’s tons more advice for teachers of every level in The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook! It’s available in paperback, e-book, and audiobook format.

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Live In-Person and Virtual Teaching Yoga to Athletes

We’ve just wrapped up our first weekend of in-person yoga teacher training at Carolina Yoga since the pandemic began. What a joy it is to teach people in person, even masked!

If, like me, you love the dynamic of a live classroom, join me for Teaching Yoga to Athletes at Lift Body + Yoga in Atlanta Friday–Sunday, October 15–17. We’ll be moving through a slightly condensed version of my featured course, with space and time to address your questions exactly as they arise.

If you love the live aspect but can’t make it in person, a few virtual slots are available, too!

Read all about it and register here.

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Watch: Yoga Snack: Tree Frog Flow

My latest video for Yoga Vibes can be a standalone yoga snack or can be a warmup or a late-in-the-practice sequence. If you’ve been practicing with me for a while, you might know it as Six Moves from Roy, or have seen it in Everyday Yoga as Six Moves of the Spine Supine, One Leg.

It’s an absolute favorite of mine, and I hope you’ll love it, too.

Using the belly as a home base, we’ll work around the shoulders, spine, and hips in a mellow but deep way. If you’re a fan of yin yoga, hit pause to extend each of the poses to up to 5 minutes in duration. This entire sequence will be down on the mat, and can be done pretty much anywhere. Practice it before getting out of bed in the morning to loosen up any stiffness before starting your day!

Here’s a taste:

Stream the full video here. And if you want to subscribe to a year of Yoga Vibes, you’ll save 25 percent with the code sagevibes.

Stay tuned: this is one of several yoga snacks that can be served together to create a multicourse meal. Each part will roll out in the weeks to come.

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Watch: Recovery Chat with Dr. Colin Dombroski

I recently had a nice chat with Dr. Colin Dombroski of the Sole Science clinic in Canada. He’s a fan of The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, and he wanted to create a video to share with his patients. And I’m sharing it with you!

Colin is an expert in plantar fasciitis, with a book on it that looks worth checking out: The Plantar Fasciitis Plan: Free Your Feet from Morning Pain.

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Upgrade Alert! Feedback Is Built In

Three of my continuing education courses for movement teachers housed here just gotten a major upgrade.

First, I’ve completely reshot the lectures for the Workshop Workshop and enhanced the workbook for the course. Now feedback is built in! Upload some or all of the work you do creating a workshop, and I’ll be your collaborator, mentor, proofreader, and cheerleader. This course pays for itself in no time, as you’ll be confidently teaching in-person or online workshops to help your students better.

And the new videos have English-language captions, so you can enjoy them at the dentist’s waiting room, on a loud airplane, or wherever you like. Watch a sample unit from the bottom of the page here.

The Workshop Workshop is on sale for $20 off through the end of August.

In addition to these enhancements, the online course for Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses now includes direct feedback from both me and Alexandra DeSiato! We will personally help you build confidence conveying philosophy and inspiring your students as you take your movement classes to the next level. Start by reading Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, of course!

Finally, I have added office hours for my signature course, Teaching Yoga to Athletes. If you’re considering taking the course, book an appointment with me here.

And if you’re enrolled in the certification side and want to talk over your homework, your classes, your prospects, or anything at all, schedule here.

All of these upgrades are available at no charge to previously enrolled course participants. Not in these courses? Start here.

I look forward to connecting!

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Teaching Yoga to Athletes: Now with Captions

In 2020, I re-filmed all the lectures for my signature course, Teaching Yoga to Athletes. And now I’ve added captions, to make these lectures more accessible!

As I write in The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, captions increase the utility of your video, making it both accessible to people with hearing issues and also easy for people to consume without headphones (and without bothering those around them).

If you’re generating your own content, you can add captions using YouTube’s Creator Studio or, with some trial and error, in Facebook. For the online course, I used the service at Rev.com. It was both surprisingly quick and eerily accurate. (This is an unsolicited endorsement!) Best of all, after you review your captions, Rev.com can automatically upload them right back to your account at Vimeo.com, which is what I use and recommend as a video hosting service.

See them in action here by clicking “CC” in the player bar. And click here for a full free sample unit from the course.

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Newly Certified: Mark Bonner

Meet Mark Bonner, the most recently certified graduate of my Teaching Yoga to Athletes course!

Photo by Gemma Brunton Photography

Mark teaches online and in Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK. A well-rounded athlete and sound technician, he leads online classes like a pro. I loved watching him teach yoga to a high-level futsal team, who all took the practice quite seriously and who report that yoga is a great addition to their training. His background in teaching teens will be really useful as he continues his work with developmental-league and professional players.

Mark’s work in the course demonstrated both a command of how to teach yoga to athletes and a kind sense of humor that will serve his students and players really well.

I originally trained in Himalayan Hatha Yoga in Chennai, India, with Yogi Ashokananda. I’ve subsequently trained in Yoga for Teens with the Teen Yoga Foundation here in the UK and and now with this amazing Yoga for Athletes training, I can focus my offerings on providing accessible yoga for sports teams of all ages but in particular – on yoga for youth sports teams – which I am extremely passionate about. I’m a massive TB Buccaneers fan and a huge LA Lakers fan (sorry Sage …..)

—Mark

Photo by Gemma Brunton Photography

He’s got a beautiful website at markbonneryoga.co.uk. And he’s back to leading in-person classes!

To follow in Mark’s footsteps, register for Teaching Yoga to Athletes here, then add the optional upgrade to certification.

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