Steps to a Successful Yoga Workshop

Steps to a Successful Yoga Workshop Here's how to have a full house at your next Workshop!

By: Adriana Elmes Owner, Ashtangasana

STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL YOGA WORKSHOP Here is how to have a full house at your next Workshop

by Adriana Elmes (Owner of Ashtangasana) You may have come back from a great conference or retreat and are now excited to share your knowledge with all your students. Workshops are wonderful ways of growing the skills of your students. Also, our students are hungry for a deeper understanding of the Yogic Practices. They turn to us to educate them on these deeper levels. For a workshop to be successful, there are many things to consider so you can have a full house.

Know your customers. You might be excited to share new learnings after coming back from an amazing conference but is this what your students want? Think about what would help them in their daily lives to become more of who they are!

Are they wanting to go deeper into their practice and explore new and more challenging poses? Do they need grounding, or do they just want to play?

What is the Best Time to Schedule a Workshop 2. When is the best time to schedule the and for How Long? workshop?

Who are your cus3. What is the best way to promote? tomers? Are they 4. Structure of a Workshop parents, single city folk, retired, or What Do Your Students Want and Need? working full-time?

Are they dealing 1. What type of workshop?

with a school schedule? Do you have an outdoor, active community?

How to Best Promote the Workshop The most important part of promoting is conveying the “why”. Why should I take time out of my busy life and spend money to attend? How will this change my world? In all of your marketing material and online marketing, include the message of what they will walk away with after attending the workshop.

Think about the time of day and day of the week for your studio’s community. In some communities, the town empties out on the weekends. Others have a busy, hectic kid schedule on Saturday mornings. Does the community participate in church Sunday mornings? These are all things to consider when choosing the best time for a workshop. You might have to do a little trial and error to determine the best time of day and which day is best. It needs to be within the flow of their lifestyle.

Using an outside teacher tends to have a draw.

People are curious to have a new voice in the studio.

Promoting Within the Studio

Some examples to consider:

Incorporate the theme of the workshop within the classes leading up to the workshop. If it is an inversion workshop, add gems, tastes of inversions and mention this within the class. Let them know that this is a little taste of what they can get in the upcoming workshop.

• 2:00 p.m. often works better than 1:00 p.m. as the whole morning and early afternoon things can be done.

• 4:00 p.m. is better than 5:00 p.m. because the workshop won’t encroach on dinner time.

If you want to make an announcement in class, it is best to do this at the beginning of class. This is a better time to get down to business, rather

• In some areas, an mid-week evening is appealing between 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

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than during Savasana. Savasana is for rest and Structure of Workshops letting them find that quite space. It is also best to mention only one workshop or event in the class. As teacher, we need to convey lessons that will Funnel the focus on that one event. Guide your help our students in their lives. It also has to be a customer. tool or skill that we incorporate into our own lives.

This makes the teaching authentic.

When promoting within the class setting, make sure you are matching the level of the class with When preparing your workshops, you have to the workshop. If you are offering an advanced think of structure and time-frame. People have workshop on inversions, it would be best to pro- short attention spans and need breaks. We must mote this with your upper level classes. present the new concepts and then give time for experience and practice. This can allow for them Marketing with Promotional Material to be able to take the skill home and use it on their own.

Every aspect of your promotional material should answer that question of “Why”. What But how do we best create the experience to will they walk away with after taking this class. allow for independent, usable skill? Our goal is What change will this create within their lives or for them to be able to practice without the practice if they attend. Answer why they should teacher! Our job is to have them walk away with a come! learning and apply it to the real-world experience.

Promote only one workshop at a time, whether it be flyers, posters, online posts, social media, or newsletters. Guide the buying process of your customers.

Aim at one understanding for the Workshop.

Bring together the teaching, or Dharma, with the physical experience. Make the message clear and repeatable. Such as a discussion on meditation and the benefits and then how that can impact Create flyers and posts to bring awareness two your life. Then within the asana practice, this is months ahead of time. Only promote one worklike moving through life. Can you maintain that shop at a time. Then post on your website, the stillness within your asana (life)?

Mind/Body App, Newsletter, and Social Media.

• The 3-hour Workshop • 1/3 is The Lesson • 2/3 is The Practice

What is the goal of a workshops?

The goal is to allow people to leave and practice the new skill on their own. We, as teachers, The first 1/3 of the workshop should be centered have to think about how people learn. We learn around the teaching, the Dharma. This is the by teaching the concept, then demonstrating with teaching of yoga or concept that we can apply to experience and finally by practicing on our own. our everyday life. The second 2/3rds of the workshop is centered around experiential learning.

Know who your audience is. Are they type-A This is where we can explain how to incorporate individuals that need to let go of their intensity, the lesson into our daily lives, through practice. self judgment, etc.? Are they parents that are We are linking the philosophy with the physical exhausted and need to be taken care of a bit? Are experience. they comfortable with Yoga language or do you need to convey messages more generically?

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2 Types of Workshops Asana centered • Pranayama • Asana • Meditation 1/3 is the setup, preparing them for what they will be experiencing, providing a little background and Dharma teaching. We are learning this and this is why and how it can help you in your life.

They can easily be done in a 2-hour session too, but with the same break down. Discussion leading to the typical asana class, with threaded cueing related to the discussion. Sometimes these sell even easier and faster than the 3 hour workshops. Less of a time and financial commitments.

Introduction of New Ideas/Learnings You need to be clear with what you are really wanting to convey. As this is a new concept for these students, you need to be clear with your message. What understanding do you want them to have at the end of the workshop? This should be developed at the beginning 1/3 of your class.

Then for the remaining 2/3rds of the class you will practice the understanding. With new learnings you need to start very basic, practice, then build on to that, then practice again, and add a little more, with one final practice.

Example: If you are teaching a beginning meditation class, you will first discuss the basic principles behind meditation. This can be philosophies from around the world – Buddhist, Hindu, Catholic rosary, and affirmations. You can discuss the science behind meditation. Have the group share their experiences with meditation. You can then discuss the specific technique of mindfulness that you will have them experience.

Lead the group through a guided meditation as that is the least threatening technique. Some 4

As teacher, you want to know your limitations as a teacher. Be clear on your intention of the workshop and organize the entire structure around that intention. We all like to grow and become better teachers. There is a tendency to want to make this information packed, with fantastic depth.

ideas are a scene at the beach or their favorite location, and have them fully experience being there. Tying in all their senses. You can then have them discuss their experiences and have a question and answer session.

Next, you can then go further into focused concentrated meditation techniques. This is taking the mindfulness deeper. Conclude with sharing the experience with each other. The hope is they can now apply mindfulness easily on their own.

Instead, provide morsels of new information with room for them to practice. Keep yourself from sharing everything you know. If you give them too much information, they will be overwhelmed. Create the environment so they can build their learn1/3 of the time is dedicated to teaching skills and ing. You want them to take away a few skills, 2/3rd is for experiencing. This is a little different apply and practice it and be able to use it on because it is a new learning process, so you are their own! building on the teaching, followed by practice.

They go through this learning process twice to practice.

by Adriana Elmes (Owner of Ashtangasana) “Supporting the business growth of Yoga Studios.� yogastudiotraining.com 5

by Adriana Elmes (Owner of Ashtangasana) “Supporting the business growth of Yoga Studios.� yogastudiotraining.com 6