Moving From Teaching Yoga In Person To Teaching Online

Three Reasons Why I love Teaching Zoom Yoga – Moving From Teaching Yoga In Person To Teaching Online

Let’s face it Covid has, on top of everything else, really messed up our 2020 calendars. For me, this meant 2 x yoga retreats cancelled… 6 x yoga workshops cancelled… ANY in-person yoga classes cancelled from the end of March… I basically took my yearly calendar and put it in the bin.

What a lesson in giving up the illusion of being in control!

It’s been hard not being able to plan anything. It’s been hard not knowing what is going to happen or when. It’s been SUPER hard homeschooling my children and making sure that I can still work to pay the bills!

Many yoga teachers like myself will have faced the challenge of moving their classes online. Whilst this hasn’t been easy, to begin with, there are some aspects of zoom yoga which I really enjoy!

1. I can teach from anywhere with minimal overheads

I have been teaching Yoga for Scoliosis online courses via zoom for the last 3 years so thankfully it didn’t take me long to move my regular local classes online. After the initial set up of linking my booking system to zoom and making sure that everyone receives the right link ahead of the class, I managed to get my weekly classes up and running within a week.

Some of my students were reluctant at first but it didn’t take them long to get used to this new way of practising yoga and now they enjoy it as much as I do!
I reduced my weekly classes from 6 to just 2 classes a week, reduced my prices (great for my students) due to the money I save on venue costs (not so great for the venues) and ultimately increased my earnings (great for me).

The biggest change though is that it doesn’t matter where I am as long as there is a good internet connection. I can now teach from my front room even if the kids are at home and I was even able to teach while I was on holiday in France in the summer! No interruption to my clients and a change of scenery for everyone.

On top of that, all my favourite teachers now offer online classes too so I can attend them without having to leave the house and worry about childcare or travel costs!

2. Zoom yoga has improved my teaching skills

As I was familiar with teaching online courses via zoom for my Yoga for Scoliosis work already the technology part was not the biggest hurdle.

What has been more difficult to adjust to is teaching regular classes to people that I was used to seeing in person. Making sure that everyone feels seen (as they can’t be heard if the mute button is on!), making sure I can actually see everyone and not just bedroom ceilings (or feet) and generally teaching well via the camera.

I find that I am having to observe my students a lot more so have moved from demonstrating a lot to sitting and watching a lot more and of course getting really good at explaining without doing!

3. Teaching yoga to people from across the globe

How awesome is it that we can teach people now that are anywhere in the world!

As Yoga for Scoliosis is quite a niche topic, I rely on people finding me and what I do via my YouTube channel which I started back in 2015. In the last 6 months this has really taken off (increased from 3,000 to nearly 10,000 subscribers) which I don’t think is a coincidence with people turning more to YouTube for yoga inspiration.

Most of the 1:1 sessions that I teach now are with people from all over the world rather than from my local area which was the case 6 months ago.

There is a HUGE amount of anxiety that people are dealing with right now. As yoga teachers and yoga students, we can make a big difference. The world needs yoga more than ever! This is a great opportunity for teachers to spread the word, to get their message out there and help people which is why we’re doing all this in the first place!

Teaching yoga online might have been out of everyone’s comfort zone, to begin with, but even though it doesn’t replace teaching in person it is just a different way of doing what we love which is to spread the benefits of yoga.

About Christine:

Christine teaches online and in-person classes, workshops and training to those that suffer from scoliosis. She also offers mentorship calls for Yoga Teacher with students that suffer from scoliosis.

Christine is the creator of Yogaberry, an online Yoga for Scoliosis community and resource for all things back care and scoliosis.
To get in touch with Christine please visit www.yogaberry.net or email info@yogaberry.net

Instagram: @yogaberry.scoliosis