Conversations for Yoga Teachers

Meet Laurie James (EP.345)

Have you ever had a physical reaction to an emotion you feel? What about as a yoga teacher.. have you ever asked your students to “notice how you feel?”

 

Noticing how we feel and managing our emotions and the reactions to them in our physical body is part of the study of somatics. 

 

This is part of what you’ll learn about when you listen to my conversation with coach, author and podcast host, Laurie James. 

 

Laurie shares her story as well as the work she does with clients, helping them to find more freedom, peace and joy in their lives. 

 

We take time to relate the topic to teaching yoga too so if you’re a teacher, you’ll find quite a bit in this episode for you. 

 

Here is more about Laurie:

 

Laurie James is a mother, divorcée, recovering caregiver turned author, somatic relationship coach, and podcaster. Laurie’s podcast, Confessions of a Freebird, was inspired by her youngest of four children leaving the nest and is the sequel to her book, Sandwiched: A Memoir of Holding On and Letting Go.

 

Laurie’s book is about her journey from loneliness to finding belonging during a time when she was raising four teenage daughters, her mother had a heart attack and needed care, all while her marriage began to crumble.

 

Now Laurie coaches’ women in midlife. Through blending her somatic training into her coaching she helps women divorce, heal, and date differently so they can find the inner freedom to experience more happiness and joy and create the life they desire.

 

She primarily works with women who are going through a divorce and supports them through dating and beyond. She blends her coaching and somatic training to help her clients develop a better relationship with their bodies and nervous system. And to work through their unresolved past so they can find more freedom and love in all their relationships.

 

When she is not coaching clients or podcasting, she can be found nurturing her free spirit by walking her dog, skiing, sailing, hiking, spending time with close friends and partner or planning her next adventure. 

Laurie has a free download you can get right now that will help you learn more about somatic healing techniques:

 

https://laurieejames.myflodesk.com/bgtsh

 

One more thing:

 

At the start of the episode, I shared a little bit with you about my new program, The Yoga Anatomy Accelerator. 

 

You can watch a preview and if it’s a good fit for you, enroll here:

 

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/Yoga-Anatomy-Accelerator

 

Meet Billy Wynne (EP.344)

When you hear the phrase “you are whole and complete” what comes up for you? Well, if you’re like author Billy Wynne, you ponder how to help people understand the essence of what this really means AND live like this. 

 

Billy is the author of “The Empty Path: Finding Fulfillment through the Radical Art of Lessening,” and we talk about the profound and at the same time, essential and timeless concepts of what is means to live like this. Billy is a student of Buddhism and mindfulness for 30 years and he’s received his meditation certification under well-known teachers Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. He received his lay Zen Buddhist ordination from the Zen Center of Denver, where he teaches classes and serves on the board. 

 

Once you listen to the episode, here’s how you can find out more about Billy:

 

Visit him online at  https://billywynne.com.

Here’s a link to the book’s product page on Amazon: https://a.co/d/auPWvgx 

And here are his social media links:

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/billywynneauthor  

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/billywynneauthor  

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/billywynne_   

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billywynne  

 

 

For me, a great place to connect is on my instagram:

 

https://www.instagram.com/barebonesyoga/

 

Also, get my free e book for all things yoga teaching related:

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/the-bare-bones-yoga-guide-to-incredible-yoga-teaching/

Meet Reema Datta (EP.343)

In today’s episode, you’re going to meet an amazing guest, Reema Datta, who’ll be sharing about her life, her yoga teaching and all about her new book. 

 

Here is more about Reema:

 

Reema Datta is the author of The Yogi’s Way: Transform Your Mind, Health, and Reality. Datta first learned yoga and Ayurveda from her mother and grandmothers as well as her grandfather, who wrote several books on Vedic philosophy. After receiving her master’s from the London School of Economics, Datta worked for the United Nations before leaving to study ancient yogic wisdom and practice. Since 2002, she has taught yoga and Ayurveda workshops, retreats, and trainings in twenty countries across five continents. Her students include Sting, Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Zainab Salbi, Sujatha Baliga, and thousands of other practitioners globally. Visit her online at http://www.ReemaYoga.com.

Here’s a Q&A about the book:  https://youtu.be/Jg9BYEat8Lo 

Here are her social media links:

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/reemayoga  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reema.datta.9  

X/Twitter: https://x.com/reemadatta 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reema-datta-332023b  

 

I love sharing these interview episodes with you! After you listen, please share a message with Reema and I with any thoughts you had about the conversation! You can DM her on her Instagram and use mine as well: @barebonesyoga

 

Yoga Teaching and AI (EP.342)

Have you ever thought of how you can start to use Artificial Intelligence as a way to make your life easier as a yoga teacher? There are actually lots of ways and in this episode, you’re gong to find out how. 

 

My guest is Adrianne Jerrett, founder of All Mats Taken, and she bridges the worlds of yoga teaching and business technology. With a background in ecology and a 250-hour yoga certification completed during the pandemic, Adrianne faced firsthand the challenges of building a teaching career without traditional studio access. Drawing on her experience in website design for wellness practitioners, she recognized many yoga teachers struggled with the business aspects of their practice. This insight inspired the All Mats Taken Summit, now in its third year, bringing together experts to help yoga teachers create sustainable businesses. 

Today, Adrianne teaches yin yoga while raising her son and exploring how AI can support wellness professionals. Her work has contributed to planting over 630 trees through summit ticket donations (and counting!). Through All Mats Taken, she remains committed to helping yoga reach more communities by empowering teachers with essential business skills.

 

In this episode, Adrianne and I discuss how AI can help you as a yoga teacher with lots of the things you might be doing manually and in doing so, giving you more time to teach. Here are some of the topics we discuss:

 

- How to save time on content creation while maintaining authenticity

- How to keep your authentic voice  with content repurposing

- How to use AI for content creation without sounding 'robotic'

- What is a common misconception about AI you'd like to clear up?

- How I'm using AI to help me plan this year's AMT summit.

- Introduce my presentation on prompt engineering

 

We also talk about her upcoming online summit and you can find out about that here:

 

https://allmatstaken.com/

 

I’ll be one of the presenters at the Summit too!

 

Enjoy the episode!

Evaluating Your Cues (EP.341)

How many of the cues that you share do you truly understand the reason for the cue? Many teachers feel like they repeat cues but they don’t really KNOW them. In this episode, you’ll discover a template you can use to evaluate the cues you share and see how much you really know about each one! Remember, when you teach from what you know, your confidence grows, so this episode is designed to highlight if you have a learning gap around anatomy. If you find that you do, all you need to do is enroll in my program and I’ll teach you exactly what you need to know. 

 

Links to the download that go with this episode are below, as well as my group and my one on one program:

 

Download here:

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/yoga-cues-evaluation/

 

One on one anatomy program here:

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/blueprint-learning-program

 

Group program here:

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/the-yoga-teacher-confidence-club

 

Effective Assisting Techniques for Yoga Teachers (EP.340)

Ready to assist your students in yoga class but not sure where to start? Or maybe you’ve been experimenting with assisting your students and you feel uncomfortable and you’re not sure you’re doing it in a way that’s helpful for your students. In either case, this episode is for you! Here you’ll discover some fundamental concepts for assisting your students and a step by step list of factors to consider. You’ll also hear how assisting has changed in 2025 from years ago when assists were given without getting the consent of the student. In today’s times, it’s essential that we get the approval and consent of the student before we put our hands on them. Studios have a variety of ways they get consent; some use a card at the mat, some ask students to raise their hands, some teachers get consent one by one in the moment of approaching the student. This episode is less about how you get the consent and more about the idea of getting it and how that’s now part of the fabric of how we teach. 

 

You’ll get a full list of actions to take and you’ll also get an opportunity to receive a workshop replay on this exact topic, which was covered in a live workshop taught on 3/14/25. To get a copy of the replay, DM me on Instagram for it. 

 

You’ll hear about the Yoga Teacher Confidence Club and what you can gain by joining it. Use this link to join: 

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/the-yoga-teacher-confidence-club

 

You’ll also hear about a special offer to learn anatomy, so listen all the way to the end for the special code words that unlock your discount. 

Busting Age Related Beliefs About Teaching Yoga (EP.339)

Do you think you’re too old to teach yoga? Do you ever worry that your classes won’t be as popular as a younger teacher? If you’re 45 years old or old and you’ve ever had that thought, you’re not alone. I hear this from teachers quite a bit and at the same time, I’m seeing more and more yoga teachers over the age of 45 than ever before. 

 

In this episode. you’ll discover a powerful way to re-frame your age and to feel confident and empowered when you teach. 

 

Side note: This episode will work for a yoga teacher of any age because the idea of feeling “less than” can transcend age and be about any limiting belief you have. 

 

Be sure to jump into The 5 Day Confidence Challenge too, using the link below. You’ll find out more about how this can help you when you listen to this episode!

 

Link to 5 day Confidence Challenge

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/the-5-day-confidence-challenge/

 

Link to enroll in The Yoga Teacher Confidence Club

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/the-yoga-teacher-confidence-club

 

 

Link to my website:

 

www.barebonesyoga.com

 

Common Questions Yoga Teachers Ask (EP.338)

For this episode, I asked Chat GPT for popular questions that it gets asked about teaching yoga. The questions that were returned are similar to my experience of talking to yoga teachers and the list of 10 questions makes for our conversation today. 

 

We’ll go through each question and you can see if the question is one you have too along with my approach to answering it. 

 

As always, the ultimate answer to each question lies within you. I share my approach to each one, sharing my teaching method and the logic to back it up.

 

At the end of the episode, you’ll hear about 3 training videos you can get. These are each linked below:

 

How to share clear cues

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/how-to-share-clear-yoga-cues/

 

 

How to create a Signature Sequence

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/how-to-create-a-signature-sequence/

 

 

How to do the Walk and Talk

 

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/how-to-do-the-walk-and-talk/

 

 

You’ll also hear about the group program, The Yoga Teacher Confidence Club

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/the-yoga-teacher-confidence-club

 

 

And the one on one program, The Yoga Anatomy Blueprint Learning Program

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/blueprint-learning-program

Take Your Power Back (EP.337)

When yoga teachers tell me they want to feel “confident” and then they share the things that aren’t working for them, the things that are getting in the way of feeling “confident,” what it often relates to is giving their power away. 

 

What this often looks like is deferring to other teachers’ opinions and methods, even when it doesn’t work well for them.

 

If this is you, you’re not alone. Many yoga teachers tell me they do this. 

 

There is another way though; one where you feel confident and empowered and instead of just following what other people are doing, having purpose behind what you do. 

 

Find out how to do this in this week’s episode.

Meet Andrew Singer (EP.336)

Ever considering teaching in a different city or even a different country? In this episode, you’ll meet yoga teacher and studio owner, Andrew Singer. Andrew is the founder of Flying Tree Yoga in Medellin, Colombia and while he was born and raised in the UK, in 2014, he decided to dedicate himself to teaching yoga in Latin America. 

 

He is an E-RYT 500 yoga teacher, leads teacher training programs, which you’ll hear about in this episode, and also teaches Thai bodywork, mindfulness meditation and is well versed in Classical Yoga, Tantra and Buddhist philosophy and of course, the Spanish language. 

 

Andrew not only shares his unique story of travel, yoga and entrepreneurship, we also discuss how to build a community, how to introduce yoga to people who aren’t familiar with the practice and what to consider when sharing cues in a way that requires you to translate from your native language to another one. 

 

You can find more about Andrew here:

 

www.flyingtreeyoga.com

 

One more thing: 

 

In the beginning, I share with you my e book on teaching as well as the monthly membership, The Yoga Teacher Confidence Club. 

 

Here is the link to the e book

 

https://barebonesyoga.lpages.co/the-bare-bones-yoga-guide-to-incredible-yoga-teaching/

 

Here is the link to the Club

 

 

https://barebonesyoga.thinkific.com/courses/the-yoga-teacher-confidence-club