To my soon-to-be husband, Ian. Your never-ending support of my dreams has been my anchor and is appreciated from the depths of my heart.
A special thank you to each of the teachers who opened their hearts and shared their stories with me. This book would not be the same without your love and wisdom. Thank you: Jen Wende, Courtney Mitchell, Charanpal Kaur, Yely Staley, Sarah Plummer Taylor, Allie Lehnhardt, Goldie Graham and Anna Guest-Jelley.
And to all the yoga teachers out there spreading the light. Your courage inspires me and your love has captured my heart. May you live an extraordinary life and leave your imprint on generations to come.
Namaste.
Foreword
Teaching yoga invites us to delve more deeply into the practice of self-understanding in ways that enable us to share yoga with others in meaningful ways. The truly great yoga teacher keeps diving in, learning through his or her own practice along with deeper study of all of the foundational elements, from philosophy to the anatomy to seemingly mundane topics like sequencing and time management.
With years of experience one increasingly comes to appreciate that teaching yoga not only gives us this invitation but demands a lot of us, including with things that can seem anathema to yoga itself. If one wishes to truly thrive as a yoga teacher in the 21 st century, it is rarely enough to only be a great teacher one who fully shows up with clear intention, consistent motivation, an open mind and heart, and growing knowledge and skills. Along with these qualities, we need tools for successfully navigating the increasingly complex marketplace of yoga without losing our core values and heart-felt inspiration to teach.
When I first met Michelle Linane she was running Be The Change Yoga & Wellness, a successful studio she founded in northern California. There she created a space and a culture that allowed each and every teacher to be fully empowered not just in teaching, but in more fully living yoga- including in the ways that teachers learned how to best present themselves to their students and to the world. When Michelle was in my teacher training she immediately stood out as the one with keen insights into how we can best align our dreams with practical tools for making them come true. When we later worked together on a yoga business project, Michelle displayed not only great intelligence but the kind of creative thinking that is reflected in this wonderful gift of a book.
In these pages you will find the most well thought out ideas to translate your passion for teaching yoga into a successful profession sharing the practice of yoga in whatever ways you most imagine. She has not only more than done her homework, she has created a comprehensive and integrated manual for building a sustainable career as a yoga teacher. She shows you where to best place your time and energy, how to think big without losing your grounding, how to define and create balance in your business, and how to most fully, efficiently and effectively manifest yourself as a thriving yoga teacher.
If you are dreaming of having more of your life in the yoga world, if you are yoga teacher who wishes to make yoga the source of your livelihood, you have found your way to one of the best resources available. Enjoy it, savor it, put it into practice.
Mark Stephens
Author of Teaching Yoga:
Essential Foundations & Techniques
Introduction
Meet Jen Wende, world traveler, wife, mother and yoga teacher ( www.jenwende.com ). Shes an inspiring example of someone who embodies the path of a teacher and is rocking her career. It must be said though, that it wasnt an easy road. Like so many of us, Jen stumbled upon yoga as a broken person years ago. In the emotional whirlwind of depression, a friend invited her to a yoga class at a local gym, and her life changed forever. During Savasana, the teacher read a quote so moving, Jen felt like the words were meant just for her. Walking out of the gym that day, Jen felt more relaxed and at ease then she could ever remember.
She was instantly hooked on yoga.
A few years later, no longer depressed, but still feeling discontent with her life, Jen embarked on journey to discover herself and the far reaches of the globe. Her travels brought her all over the world, including yoga teacher training in India and meditation study in Nepal. After 3 years, her travels abroad ended abruptly with a hospitalizing illness. Upon returning home to Canada, Jen was on a wellness mission to regain her health and empower others to do the same.
After completing a coaching certification and yet another yoga teacher training, she took her first steps into the yoga profession. Starting small, she taught yoga to friends and family at home. Shortly after, she picked up some community classes at studios around town, but still kept a side job. One day, while working a catering shift, she met a Pilates instructor who became the catalyst to her next big steps as a full-time teacher.
As Jen puts it, she dive-bombed into the deep end of teaching full-time with group classes and private clients, subbing all over the city and drowning herself in as many classes as she could teach. This was great for her learning experience and exposure to various teaching environments, but she didnt understand her value as a teacher. Saying yes to everything, and teaching from as early as 6:15am to as late as 9pm, was draining and made her unhappy. Oddly enough, at the time, she couldnt understand why she was so burnt out. Jen was comparing herself to a regular 40 hour a week job. So in her mind, 25 classes a week equated to 25 hours of work, which seemed like much less work than 40 hours. Unknowingly, Jen was misguiding herself by not taking into consideration the additional time and energy she spent in traveling to and from classes, the prep work involved, and the time spent before and after classes.