Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

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Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

Sage Rountree

68 episodes

5 days ago

Most new yoga teachers approach studios completely wrong. They send generic emails, mention how much they need the work, and haven't taken a single class at the studio they're asking to teach at. Some even copy-paste so carelessly that they mention the wrong studio's name. In this episode, I'm sharing the exact approach that gets yoga teachers hired—the one that makes you stand out from the hundreds of other applicants studio owners receive every year. This isn't about luck or connections. It...

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Health & Fitness

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Most new yoga teachers approach studios completely wrong. They send generic emails, mention how much they need the work, and haven't taken a single class at the studio they're asking to teach at. Some even copy-paste so carelessly that they mention the wrong studio's name. In this episode, I'm sharing the exact approach that gets yoga teachers hired—the one that makes you stand out from the hundreds of other applicants studio owners receive every year. This isn't about luck or connections. It...

Show more...

Alternative Health

Health & Fitness

Episodes (20/68)

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

67. How to Approach a Yoga Studio for Your First Teaching Job

Most new yoga teachers approach studios completely wrong. They send generic emails, mention how much they need the work, and haven't taken a single class at the studio they're asking to teach at. Some even copy-paste so carelessly that they mention the wrong studio's name. In this episode, I'm sharing the exact approach that gets yoga teachers hired—the one that makes you stand out from the hundreds of other applicants studio owners receive every year. This isn't about luck or connections. It...

5 days ago

24 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

66. How We Can Work Together in 2026: Programs for Every Stage of Your Teaching Journey

I've spent twenty years watching yoga teachers struggle with the same pattern. They finish their training, start teaching, and then something happens. They're standing in front of three students wondering what they're doing wrong. They're scrambling every Sunday night to plan Monday's class. Or they never start teaching at all because the imposter syndrome is too loud. Here's what most teacher trainings won't tell you: more knowledge doesn't cure imposter syndrome. Clear, confident teaching c...

1 week ago

16 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

65. Teaching Meditation with Confidence—Gabrielle Harris on Authenticity and Finding Your Voice

Most yoga teachers feel secretly terrified about teaching meditation. You know how to cue a vinyasa, but when it comes to that moment where you ask students to sit still and turn inward, the panic sets in. Who am I to guide someone's meditation practice? In this conversation with Gabrielle Harris—author of Lessons in Meditation, The Language of Yin, and The Inspired Yoga Teacher—we unpack why teachers struggle with imposter syndrome and what to do about it. Gabrielle shares her evolution from...

2 weeks ago

37 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

64. From Set Sequences to Lead Teacher: Lana Boone on Finding Confidence Through Framework

When Lana Boone first started teaching formats beyond her familiar Baptiste sequence, she was terrified. Today, she's the lead teacher at Yoga Six in Potomac, Maryland, confidently teaching everything from power to restorative to sound bath—and her classes are filling up. In this conversation, Lana shares how the 6-4-2 framework and chunking approach completely transformed her lesson planning. She went from spending hours trying to memorize set sequences to creating balanced classes in fiftee...

3 weeks ago

28 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

63. How I Chose My 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training (And Why I'm Building a Better One)

Most 200-hour yoga teacher trainings teach you how to do yoga—but they don't teach you how to teach yoga. If you've been through a training yourself, you know exactly what I mean. You spent weeks learning Sanskrit names, memorizing muscles, and perfecting your own poses. Then they handed you a certificate and said you're a yoga teacher now. Except you didn't really feel like one. In this episode, I'm taking you back to 2003 when I chose my own 200-hour training by looking through the printed ...

1 month ago

19 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

62. Your Teaching Year in Review: Reflection and Intention Setting for 2026

Most yoga teachers end the year measuring what they didn't accomplish. The workshops they didn't lead, the certifications they didn't finish, the Instagram following that didn't grow. But here's what I've learned after two decades of teaching: you're probably measuring the wrong things. In this episode, I'm walking you through the reflection framework I use in my mentorship—roses, thorns, and buds—and showing you how to create a Bridge Statement that turns your 2025 lessons into clear 2026 in...

1 month ago

18 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

61. Teaching Yoga When Friends and Family Show Up to Class

The most awkward yoga class I ever taught? When my husband raised his hand mid-class like a third grader to ask if he was doing it right. If you're teaching through the holidays, you're probably about to experience your own version of this—friends, family, and visiting relatives showing up to your class. In this episode, we're diving into one of the most complex dynamics in yoga teaching: what happens when people who know you outside the yoga room show up to your class, and what it means when...

1 month ago

19 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

60. Teaching Yoga on Video—What I Learned the Hard Way

I've been creating yoga video content since the DVD era—and I've made just about every mistake you can make along the way. From losing the rights to my own videos to stress-recording live classes while trying to serve paying students, my journey with video has been full of hard-won lessons. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on 20+ years of creating yoga videos. I'll share what worked, what didn't, and the one mistake I will never make again. Whether you're thinking about recording...

1 month ago

25 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

59. Evolve Your Voice: The Power of Self-Assessment for Yoga Teachers

Most yoga teachers avoid watching themselves teach. The cringe factor is real. But self-assessment through video recording is the single most effective—and completely free—tool you have for evolving as a teacher. In this episode, we're diving deep into the second E in my S.E.R.V.E. Method: Evolve Your Voice. I'm sharing the complete framework I teach in Module One of Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing—the multi-pass review system, reflection techniques, and advanced strategies that transfor...

2 months ago

26 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

58. Phase 5: Mastery and Legacy—Teaching the Teachers Who Will Teach the Teachers

After two decades of teaching yoga and training teachers, I've noticed something profound: some of my most meaningful moments happen when I visit the teacher trainees of my former students. These metaphorical grandchildren—students of my students—represent what Phase 5 of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline is truly about. Phase 5 isn't about age or years of experience. It's about the depth of your impact and your readiness to share what you've learned with the next generation of teachers. In t...

2 months ago

13 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

57. The Call to Teach: What Happens Before You Even Know You Want to Be a Yoga Teacher

There's a phase that happens before yoga teacher training even begins—a liminal space where you're no longer just a student, but you're not yet ready to call yourself a teacher. I call it Phase Zero. Maybe you find yourself mentally teaching along during class, wondering why the teacher chose that particular sequence. Maybe people keep telling you that you should be a teacher, or you're naturally the one helping other students find their way. Maybe you feel called to share yoga with specific ...

2 months ago

12 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

56. What Teaching Yin and Restorative Contributes to ALL Your Class Formats

I used to think teaching yin and restorative yoga were niche skills—nice to have if you wanted to teach those specific classes, but not essential to your development as a yoga teacher. I was completely wrong. After 20+ years of teaching and training teachers, I've discovered that learning to teach yin and restorative might be the most transformative thing you can do for your teaching—no matter what style you teach. These aren't specialty skills for specialty classes. They're foundational skil...

2 months ago

23 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

55. Phase 4: How to Thrive as a Yoga Teacher—Confidence, Boundaries, and Legacy

In this episode, I explore what it really means to thrive as a yoga teacher. Phase Four of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline—the Thriving Teacher Zone—is where teaching becomes intuitive, fulfilling, and sustainable. I share the signs that you’ve reached this stage, from having loyal students and diversified income to teaching from intuition rather than fear. I also unpack how thriving doesn’t mean being overbooked or burned out—it means working with joy, confidence, and clarity. You’ll hear ...

2 months ago

16 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

54. Phase 3 of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: Moving Beyond Teaching Plateaus and Building Your Yoga Career

Have you ever felt like your teaching has hit a plateau? In this episode of Yoga Teacher Confidential, I dive into Phase Three of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: the Professional Development Zone. This is the stage where teaching starts to feel sustainable but can also begin to feel routine. I share the hallmarks of Phase Three, including confidence in delivery, steady students, and a desire to specialize or increase income—but also the risks of stagnation. You’ll learn how to embrace plat...

3 months ago

12 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

53. The Mindset Shift That Transforms Your Teaching

After 52 weekly episodes—a full year of this show!—one truth has emerged: the teachers who struggle most are still practicing yoga while trying to teach it. In this anniversary episode, I explore the irony at the core of our profession: yoga is an inward practice, but teaching yoga demands we look outward. I share my personal journey, the common struggles I see in teachers, and the shift that changes everything: moving from practitioner to teacher. You’ll learn practical ways to reframe your ...

3 months ago

13 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

52. Medical Emergencies in Class, Part 3: When the Emergency Is Yours

Emergencies happen in yoga class—and sometimes the emergency is mine. In this third installment of the series, I share practical steps for handling sudden illness, a coughing fit or lost voice, migraines, or a panic spike while I’m teaching. You’ll hear real stories, what I say to students in the moment, and how I decide whether to simplify, deputize help, or end early. The goal: care for myself so I can care for others, while modeling the self-management we teach. This episode completes our ...

3 months ago

8 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

51. The Truth About Leading Yoga Retreats with Amy Boerner

Leading a yoga retreat isn’t just a vacation with yoga—it’s a business, a service, and a deep commitment to your students. In this episode of Yoga Teacher Confidential, I talk with retreat leader Amy Boerner about what really goes into hosting successful retreats. From requiring deposits that “hurt to lose” to learning the hard way why you should never cook for your participants, Amy shares both the challenges and rewards of creating transformative retreat experiences. We cover how to set cle...

3 months ago

39 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

50. Phase Two of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: Finding Your Teaching Identity and Confidence

Five years into teaching, I realized I was sounding just like one of my mentors—same words, same tone, same everything. It made me wonder: who am I as a teacher when I’m not imitating someone else? In this episode, we’re diving into Phase Two of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: the Identity Formation Zone. This is where you’ve moved past the overwhelm of Phase One and into regular teaching—but still feel like an imposter. We’ll unpack: Why imposter syndrome can be a sign of growth.How to se...

4 months ago

13 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

49. Space Management Secrets for Large Yoga Classes

Teaching yoga in a big space with dozens of students can be daunting—how do you connect with everyone and keep the class flowing? In this episode, I share practical strategies for managing large rooms so every student feels included. You’ll learn how to set up your space, move with intention, project your voice, and adapt to challenges without losing your connection to the whole group. These tips will help you feel confident in any teaching setting, whether you’re leading a festival crowd, a ...

4 months ago

15 minutes

Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

48. How to Plan Your Yoga Class Quickly and Easily with the Prep Station

If you’ve ever found yourself spending hours on Sunday night scrolling Instagram for yoga class ideas, this episode is for you. I share the real struggle teachers face with planning: the overwhelm, the blank-page anxiety, or the temptation to just wing it. After 20+ years of teaching, I’ve discovered that the most successful teachers aren’t the most creative or the most flexible. They’re the ones who reliably deliver balanced classes week after week. That’s why I created the Yoga Class Prep S...

4 months ago

14 minutes