Sage Rountree's Blog, page 26

Yin Yoga for the Moment

On Tuesdays in March, 6–7 p.m., I’ll be leading Masked Yin Yoga in a small, socially distant group at Carrboro Yoga. (Please join me if you are in the area—preregister here.) We will explore 2–5 minute holds of poses on the floor, no standing.

Yin Yoga is the perfect practice for this moment, as we round the bend of a year of limbo and discomfort. Not because yin needs to be uncomfortable, but because a yin yoga practice gives us a laboratory where we can be still and stay with sensation and our reaction to it for a longer period of time. It trains us to be with things as they are, for longer than we normally would.

If you’re an antsy person who doesn’t like sitting for meditation, yin yoga is a way to be grounded in your body while practicing mindfulness.

If you’re feeling out of practice with your body, or looking for an entry point to yoga, yin yoga gives you a chance to customize the practice to your needs without ever leaving you behind the group.

If you are unsure about doing yoga in a mask, yin yoga doesn’t elevate your heart rate or respiration rate, so it feels doable. The mask even enhances the experience: it’s one more thing to notice as you hold each shape.

For all these reasons, I hope you’ll come to class! If you aren’t local, check out these classes with me on Yoga Vibes:

Yin for the Upper BodyYin for Happy HipsYin for Athletes

The code sagevibes will save you 25 percent on an annual subscription.

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Watch: Yoga Snack: Shoulders, Spine, and Hips

My latest video on Yoga Vibes is a yoga snack—that is, a short sequence that will appease your movement hunger, especially in the middle of a workday or as a transition into or out of your day. Along the way, you’ll engage your shoulders, spine, and hips in every direction.

Here’s a preview of the 12-minute sequence.

You can see the full follow-along video here. If you want to commit to a year of yoga, the code sagevibes will save you 25 percent on an annual subscription to Yoga Vibes, and you’ll also have access to hundreds of other wonderful classes, notably the many great ones from my colleagues Alexandra DeSiato and Jenni Tarma.

Here’s a quick tip about a move in the sequence, which you can apply to any threading-the-needle twist!

If you like this snack, stay tuned for more—you can put them all together into a full practice feast. To learn more about the nutritional components of a yoga snack, check out these resources:

Everyday Yoga , my book on sequencingMy freshly updated video sequence libraryMy full-length course on sequencing yoga classes from welcome to namaste

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Live Online Theming Workshop March 27

Join me and my co-author Alexandra DeSiato live online Saturday, March 27, for a workshop keyed to Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses that will build your comfort incorporating themes and philosophy in your yoga class. We meet 10 a.m.–noon and 2–5 p.m., all Eastern time, and if you can’t make it live, a recording will be available after the fact.

But we do hope you can make it live, as we will work together to help everyone find ways to use their authentic voices in service of their students.

There’s an early-bird discount running through February 27!

Read all about it and register here.

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New Yoga Hires in a Pandemic

While the yoga industry has been turned upside down by the pandemic, at Carolina Yoga Company, we have hired more new yoga teachers since March 2020 than in the previous year. These new folks come both from our yoga teacher training and from people who have recently moved to town. If you’re looking to teach in a new setting, you might find that the demand is higher than you expected.

In The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, I give advice on getting a new teaching gig in various settings—a gym, a studio, online. I hope you’ll buy the book (or ebook, or audiobook) and find it useful. My advice boils down to this:

Show up. Don’t just blanket email all studios in your area, take the time to go to the studio, or to take their online classes. This both demonstrates your interest and lets you confirm that the fit is good on your end, too. Inquiries from teachers who’ve never visited our studio are often given a polite brush-off with an invite to come check us out to get a sense of our vibe.Meet a need. Take a careful look at the venue’s current offerings, then show where your unique skillset will complement them. If you have a niche, lead with that. Let your hiring manager know how you can help solve a problem or shore up a hole in the schedule.

As a bonus, whether you are applying to teach in person or online, a link to a video of you teaching is a smart addition. It replaces the in-person audition some venues would require as part of the interview process. Your hiring manager can quickly get a sense of your energy and skill. It’s also a chance to demonstrate your video production savvy.

Making moves to do this now will position you well as class size grows across 2021. And you’ll be offering much-needed centering and grounding to your new students!

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First Impressions: Square Website Builder

One of the number-one goals yoga teachers set as a first next step in my trainings is to build a simple website where students can learn about their offerings. While websites can be a fully custom design costing five figures, that’s not what most teachers need right out of training or, honestly, ever. In The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, I liken building a website to building a house. What most of us need is a starter home that we can decorate to our taste and upgrade down the line, not an architect-designed custom build.

For this starter home, I often point teachers to all-in-one sites like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace to build a starter site. And in December, I got a hands-on opportunity to use Squarespace, in its integration with the Square payment processing system.

My husband co-owns a French restaurant in downtown Durham, Rue Cler, which hibernated through the COVID summer and fall of 2020. As they prepared to reopen for takeout this winter, I volunteered to set up their online ordering. Along the way, I saw how easy it would be to switch the entire website from their existing, somewhat clunky WordPress site to a new site directly on the Square platform. This integrated operations across the restaurant, from marketing to inventory.

Once I got rolling, I had a basic site up in less than 90 minutes. And when they reopen for table service, we can add reservations integration, tickets for events like wine dinners, and more. It was fun and easy work, and it didn’t require a whit of coding experience. (I am not being paid by Square to say this! It was honestly a good time for me.)

If you’re a yoga teacher who wants to build a site directing students to your online platform, sell tickets to outdoor yoga events, or book virtual or in-person private lessons, take a look at Square. It’s quite easy to build something that might help connect students with your offerings that will help them.

Next steps:

Use Squarespace to build a siteUse Square Appointments to book lessons—it’s currently free for a single userLook at the Rue Cler site and, if you’re in central North Carolina, order some delicious takeout!

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Building a Team Remotely

In The Professional Yoga Teacher’s Handbook, I suggest building a team to support your career. This team includes mentors, colleagues, and support staff like an accountant. Even sole proprietors don’t wind up working all alone; instead, their work takes place within a context of support.

Reader Sarah Anne wrote to ask:

If you don’t really have a yoga mentor that is reliable, a friend you regularly practice with or any of the options you suggest in your book, how does one build a team? Also, how does one find a mentor they jive with in the current time of the pandemic?

My answer:

Like everything else in 2020–21, you can probably do this online. Sometimes your team will be made up of teachers whose online classes you take—and maybe of whom you can ask questions in the comments section. Jenni Rawlings does a great job of this on her Instagram, and she has a hearty forum on her website. Continuing education programs like Yoga Medicine have similar support for community members.

Are you currently teaching? If so, is there a friend from your yoga teacher training whom you could connect with to do group critique? Now that so many people are teaching online, it’s easy to share videos of your classes for colleagues to offer constructive critique. Ask them to respond to these prompts:

KEEP: What am I doing particularly well?
DROP: What is unclear, unneeded, confusing?
ADD: Where do you see room for growth? What would you have added if you were teaching?

If you have questions related to the book and its advice, drop me a line!

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Sale on Sequence Library Ends Soon

I’ve been running a sale on my all-new Sequence Library to celebrate its launch. But the sale ends Thursday, so now is the time to buy! You can see a preview of the library in the course outline here. Enjoy!

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Listen: The Art & Science of Yoga on Fast Talk Podcast

I had a great conversion with Chris and Trevor from Fast Talk on yoga for cyclists and other athletes. They asked wonderful questions, starting with, “Is yoga just fancy stretching?” Listen to the episode to hear how yoga will make you a better athlete—and a better person.

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Last-Minute Gift Suggestions

Looking for a last-minute gift or something that needs no shipping? Here are some ideas from my businesses:

Ebooks/Audiobooks

Most of my books are available in ebook format, and many are also available as audiobooks (read by me!). Look on your favorite ebookseller’s platform!

Online Classes

I offer online classes for follow-along practice! Choose between:

Core Strength for Real People (hint: be sure your recipient has expressed an interest in working on core strength before giving this!)Yoga Vibes classes—there are dozens of classes with me, dozens more with my colleagues, and hundreds with other wonderful teachers. This would pair nicely with a yoga mat or other yoga props like blocks and a strap.



Online Courses

If your recipient is a yoga or movement teacher, you can give access to any of my online courses, which range from short to long. See them all here.

Gifts for Central North Carolinians

If you’re local to me, or planning to travel to the Research Triangle Park/Raleigh-Durham area, how about a gift card?

Carolina Yoga Company gift cardsHillsborough Spa and Day Retreat gift cardsRue Cler gift cards (this is my husband’s restaurant)



Gifts for Your Neighbors

Given the scale of suffering and food insecurity 2020 has brought, how about instead of giving to a friend you feed someone in their honor? A gift to your local food bank or to World Central Kitchen will make a big difference.

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Have a Taste: Sequence Library

My all-new online sequence library is on sale through the end of the year. But you can have a taste anytime! Click through to the course, and scroll down to the outline, which has a robust sample unit on warmups.

Warmups can be a meal in and of themselves—do one as a movement snack, or many of them to create a fuller meal or a sweet gentle yoga class. The sequences I’ve recorded vary from the familiar to the more innovative. I hope you enjoy them!

I’m also dripping out these sample videos weekly on my You Tube page, so you can subscribe there to see them, too.

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