A recent scientific study shows that on any given day, your brain is bombarded with about 34 GB of data. This would easily overload a powerful laptop within a week. You might not shut down entirely, but you feel less organized, less focused, and far less inspired as a result. That’s why it is so beneficial to step back and see the world–and your life–from the broader perspective. I’m doing this with Swagtail this week. As a result, this post reveals our best yoga blog posts of 2019.

There are other great reasons for categorizing the material I covered this year!

  • You can more easily find a topic that piques your interest. This saves you mental energy and precious time to get what you need from our site.
  • Reflection is a skill that allows you to sustain high levels of success. When you take a look at all you learned here in the past twelve months, you reaffirm your commitment as a yoga professional and can fine tune your path forward.
  • You feel more competent and prepared to start your new year. These articles serve as a great resource to inspire and uplift you, as well as your yoga clients.

So, without further ado, I present to you the best yoga blogs from our site this year!

Photo Credit: Diane Nicole Photography

BUSINESS

How to Start a Yoga Business: If you are ready to start a yoga business, or refine the one you already have into a successful enterprise, then it’s essential you follow the 5 steps outlined in this article. And you can use this same formula over and over again to keep growing over time. While this process is straightforward, it might not seem easy. That’s why I’m here to help prevent the uncertainty, frustration and overwhelm that can creep in when you embark on this journey.

7 Tips to Stay Centered as you Work from Home: While you may teach yoga outside of your home, much of the behind-the-scenes work needs to be done from it. Or, in the case of COVID-19 restrictions, you might still be teaching virtually. Here are 7 tips to manage your yoga business from home with ease.

Myths of Starting a Yoga Business: Myths of starting a yoga business can keep you playing small or feeling stuck. In fact, a yoga business means far more than opening a studio or leading a group of other instructors. You can have a successful yoga business as a part- or full-time teacher. This post shows you how to flip your inner script to confidently thrive in the yoga industry.

Online Business Resources for Yoga Teachers: Whether you teach yoga part- or full-time, you can use these online business resources to save time, energy, and money. Since an online aspect of your business is essential, you can use the details in this article to reach new and existing clients alike.

5 Yoga Business Tactics for Growth: 2020 is a year full of constant change that requires you to be calm in the face of tense situations. One of the best ways to prevent being stuck amidst these challenges is to use these 5 simple yoga business tactics.

ACTIVE YOGA SEQUENCES

Happy Hips for a Fresh New Year: It’s a new year and what better way to ring in the fresh start than with happy hips! This creative flow sequence helps you open the hips. Physically, more prana flows through this region and you’re able to execute the tasks of daily life with more strength and grace. Energetically, you remove unwanted stuck energy and become more receptive to the love and creative ideas all around you now.

Allow More Freedom in this Twisting Sequence: A twisting yoga sequence can cleanse the body. You can also release any anxiety and stress that dominates the mind. Then, breath-by-breath on the mat, you’ll create space in the tissue and receive inspired ideas. This all leads to more freedom in all aspects of your life.

A 75-Minute Flow to Embrace Forgiveness: The hips are a common region of the body that stores stuck emotion. And in a societal framework that either doesn’t want to address this issue—or expects you to deeply explore such hurts—you can unknowingly amplify that same negative emotion you wish to release. Thankfully, this 75-minute flow is designed to open the hips. And just by undertaking these movements alone, you’ll metabolize stuck issues, appreciate yourself at a greater level, and embrace forgiveness in a way that gives you immense freedom in all aspects of your life.

Open the Heart with Wheel Pose: Wheel pose requires length in the front of the body and strength in the back. It also requires courage to shift your entire perspective upside-down and expose your heart to the world. Yet, there is immense freedom that results from taking the shape. So hop on your mat today and enjoy this slow flow that guides you strategically into wheel pose.

Cleanse the Body with this Twisting Chair Sequence: Revolved utkatasana is a common pose used to open the body for other challenging poses. This sequence makes the revolved chair pose the peak asana instead. You’ll discover wonderful ways to prepare for it and how to bring balance to the body afterward, too.

LEADERSHIP

Creative Ways to Teach Yoga Online: Group yoga classes have ceased and even private lessons have been canceled due to quarantine restrictions. To keep your yoga business afloat and to still give your community the support they seek with yoga, it’s time to teach yoga online. This article showcases how some incredible yogis across the United States are doing just that!

5 Steps to Gain Clarity in Challenging Times: Fear, uncertainty or overwhelm can be the byproduct of challenging times. That’s why this 5-step process can be used to gain clarity right now, put the power back in your hands, and move forward with confidence.

Embrace Tension in a Healthy Way: Everyday life is full of mental and emotional pressure. If this tension causes anxiety, then you might experience strain in your relationships or reduced joy in your work and home life. Instead, you can shift your perspective about this pressure and embrace tension as a normal part of life. Doing this will give you more confidence to maneuver any challenges that come your way. And, you can remain calm in the face of uncertainty.

3 Ways to Stay Inspired as a Yoga Teacher: When you know what and why you’re teaching yoga, you gain clarity about how to stay inspired as a yoga teacher. This gives you greater confidence as a leader. And it provides more energy to show up authentically for others in your life.

How to Stay Connected with Students in a Virtual World: In order to stay in business long-term, you want to stay connected with your yoga students in a meaningful way. This is true in person and when teaching online. This article shows you how!

MARKETING

Marketing Strategy Basics: Marketing is a misunderstood term, and thus underutilized strategy to serve potential and existing clients. Use this blog post to discover marketing strategy basics that can enhance your reach and impact as a yoga teacher.

Attract New Clients with a Yoga Webinar: A yoga webinar enlightens your students, builds trust with potential clients, and increases sales for your yoga business (all from anywhere in the world!) It’s a great element to add to your marketing strategy now. This article shows you how.

5 Website Tips to Skyrocket Sales: Sales are the main reason you’re able to stay in business. Yet shockingly, many yoga business websites make it incredibly hard for the new student (and existing one) to buy their services. To combat these errors, use our 5 website tips to boost your sales today.

5 Ways to Celebrate Client Birthdays: As a yoga professional, it can be a fine line to be generous with your students while still making a profit for your business. That’s why we’re covering 5 ways to celebrate client birthdays in this week’s blog post. Whether you own a studio or work independently within your community, using any one of these ideas will make your clients feel special.

5 Amazing Business Books for Yoga Teachers: The world of teaching yoga is constantly changing. You might not know exactly how to start a yoga business, nor how to build momentum with the setup you already have in place. That’s why you can read an, or all of these 5 amazing business books for yoga teachers to navigate this growing industry.

TEACHING TOOLS

Chair Yoga: Benefits, Poses, and More! Chair yoga is one of the most accessible forms of yoga because you can do it from a seated position. It’s a great way to start if you’re a beginner, have limited mobility, an injury, or even are desk-bound for most of the day and want to boost your energy. Learn the basics to get started in this blog post.

Inspirational Quotes to End a Yoga Class: What I love most about yoga is that it’s a practice that uses movement and breath to expose the pure light within each of us. As children, we know our Divinity. The yoga quotes in this article are a fantastic way to not only end a yoga class, but confidently remind you of the powerful knowing that resides within us all.

Westport Yoga KC Paving the Way in Yoga Education: As a yoga teacher, you want students to move from simple pose memorization into deep comprehension and life transformation. Creating a solid yoga education program like Westport Yoga in Kansas City will help you do this!

Tips for Teaching Yoga for Athletes: Yoga is a great cross-training tool for athletes. It can also add much more value to them and their sport. This article gives you the essential tips to understand them better and meet their unique needs.

Class Theme: Embrace True Freedom: Ancient yogis knew that freedom is the essence of our being. In addition to time on the mat, use these powerful principles in your yoga class theme to tap into this freedom today.

SLOW YOGA SEQUENCES

Restorative Yoga from my Costa Rica Retreat: One of the best ways to end your day on a yoga retreat is with a restorative sequence. In fact, it’s a great way to unwind the body and mind no matter where you are in the world. In this post, you’ll find my favorite sequence from a recent trip to Costa Rica.

Yin Yoga for People Who Sit All Day: Long hours spent in any seated position can leave your body feeling tired and tight. Muscles in the hips get short and weak. Spinal discs compress. Plus you often get stiff in the shoulders and neck, too. That’s why I created this yin yoga sequence to offset these unwanted physical issues.

The Perfect Post-Paddle Yin Yoga Sequence: SUP is an acronym for Stand Up Paddling, and it’s a peaceful way to enjoy your time on the water. Don’t be fooled, though. This sport requires increased proprioception in the feet, strong back and shoulder muscles, and good balance to remain upright on the board. The good news is that this perfect post-paddle session is a great way to rejuvenate the body after engaging in this sport.

A 60-Minute Bedtime Yin Yoga Sequence: The quality of your sleep can be greatly affected by the amount of mental and physical stress you experience during the day.For a restful night’s sleep and to wake up refreshed each day, use this bedtime yin yoga sequence. Or, use it to stretch the body on lazy days, too!

Restorative Yoga to Reduce Holiday Stress: Restorative yoga balances the nervous system, calms the mind, and improves immune function. In a holiday season that can tip you out of balance, this restorative sequence can offset any unwanted stress (and keep you in the holiday spirit this season).

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

This has been a fantastic year of learning! And what better way to celebrate that then by looking at the best yoga blogs of 2019! Select the articles above that align most with your current interests. Then, use the time and energy you saved to then put these new ideas into action in your own yoga business!

Take Action Now:

  • Pick 1 or 2 articles above that resonate with you.
  • Read them, for this fuels ongoing learning and builds new neural networks in the brain.
  • Then, select 1 or 2 practical ways to implement them this week. This ensures those new neural networks stay in place–and help you sustain success in the long run!