Do you have hip pain? Today’s episode is all about the hip joint and hip injuries that are common in yoga practitioners. Many of you may already know this story, but I tore my hip labrum when I was 23 years old and I spent the first two years of my yoga teaching career walking with a cane and was in incredible pain.

Today on the podcast we get to learn from the wisdom of Lara Benusis, a pioneer in translating yoga into hospital environments. She was the first full time yoga instructor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she developed their in-hospital and outpatient wellness offerings.

I heard my friend Anna say, “telling students to love their body is not enough....” and I responded with, “please be a guest on the podcast so we can talk about this!” I wanted to ask her, “How can yoga teachers better support their students to be in a loving relationship with their body?”

If you don’t already know my good friend Diana Zotos I am so excited for you to meet her! Diana is a physical therapist and yoga teacher. In 2006 Diana began her 7 year career at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC, spending those years treating anyone from inpatient joint replacement patients to professional marathon runners.

I’ve got another solo episode for you today and we are going to talk about what I call, The Myth of the Ideal Private Yoga Client...

I’ll tell you all about this phenomenon, where it came from, the good intentions of the online marketing coaches who teach it, and the negative effect I see it having on the yoga world.

It’s just you and I again on the podcast today! We are going to dive deeper into a topic I have mentioned several times on this podcast: The Support/Challenge Matrix of Private Yoga Lessons.

I am so excited about today’s topic! We are going to talk about confidence and what you can do to become a more confident yoga teacher.

On today’s newest podcast episode it is just you and I! I am excited to connect with you 1x1 and answer a question I get asked all the time!

On today’s newest podcast episode it is just you and I! I am excited to connect with you 1x1 and answer a question I get asked all the time!

This is a favorite, and quite personal episode for me. Today we are talking about integrating spiritual teachings into asana classes. This is a personal favorite because this is one of the parts of my teaching that has changed most dramatically since I began teaching in 2005.

I have such a treat for you!! On today’s episode I have the honor of interviewing my main teacher from my very first teacher training back in 2005, Jennifer Brilliant!  Since 1989 Jennifer has taught all levels of group and private yoga classes and lead countless special workshops.

Today you get to meet my friend Ariana Rabinovitch. She is the host of the Yoga & Beyond Podcast, co-authored the Exposing Yoga Myths book series and founded the Yoga Research and Beyond membership site.

I am so excited to share this powerful conversation with you. While many yoga studios proclaim that “Everyone is Welcome!” in their classes, in today’s episode we ask, “ Are we actually teaching our classes in a way that supports that message?”.

This is a very special, unusual episode! While most of the episodes you’ll find here at The Mentor Sessions are either interviews with friends and teachers of mine, or short teachings that I offer myself, today we’re doing something different. I’m going to take you on a trip with me for an intimate, inside view of my life and teaching for an entire week!

Today I am going to answer one of the questions other teachers ask me most frequently: How do you encourage your students to commit to a home yoga practice? I have tried almost every option out there, and I’ve landed on a way that I think works best.

I am so excited about today’s episode because I get to bring you the wisdom of the founder of my own teaching lineage (OM Yoga) , Cyndi Lee! Cyndi is the first female Western yoga teacher to fully integrate yoga asana and Tibetan Buddhism in her practice and teaching.

If you don’t already know her, I am so excited to introduce you to my friend Brea Johnson from Heart + Bones Yoga. Brea has been a yoga teacher for over 15 years and is also a certified Restorative Exercise teacher.

Is all discomfort good? Is all discomfort bad? What is the “right” way to teach any given asana? How do we offer the version of a pose or practice that will be most beneficial to our students right now? Being able to answer these questions with confidence comes from a depth of understanding of what I call The Yoga of Discernment.

A deep study of anatomy will change the way you teach. It is empowering, clarifying and fascinating! For example, let’s talk about Warrior 2 alignment.

The practice and study of yoga is so vast that the more we all continue to study and teach, the more this question seems to loom taller and taller: what exactly is the job of a yoga instructor? To process this out loud with me, I invited my friend Jules Mitchell for a chat.