Yoga as we know it has been rapidly expanding for the past few years, branching out into various studios, teaching, new systems, and corporate yoga.
Corporate yoga by definition is when businesses take advantage of yoga classes at their office environments. This is seen as a positive contribution to employees as it has invaluable benefits such as: increasing general health, improving the perceptions of their job, stimulate the brain functionality, therefore producing more quality work, generally invigorating the mind & body to stimulate and encourage positive aura around the workforce. This is also a good way to enhance team-building.
For yoga teachers wanting to enter this kind of bandwagon, here are a few of our best tips for you:
- Be aware of the competency levels. You may be teaching classes in your studio to people who already have some knowledge of yoga, but in the corporate world the tiles are turned upside down: you are coming to them, and not inversely. This means that you may find that some of your students won’t have practiced yoga before. Our advice is to go “back to basics” and practice some good workshops that they can take outside of the corporate classes (and straight to your studio!)
- Bring your gear & more. The whole concept you’re bringing in is new, and even though some people might tell you on that they have the mats & towels they need, they might forget to bring them on the day. This is why you need to make sure that in your mat bag you contain all you need, from: your yoga mat & two more, your cellphone, your water bottle, your towel, and anything else you think you might need.
- Focus on a specific rhythm. Make sure you know what kind of work-line you’re entering. If you know people will be sitting behind their computes all day, they will possible have a natural forward hunch. Introduce them to poses that will open up their chest and relax their hips and shoulders. They will thank you for it.
- Bring layers to class. By this I mean yoga & fitness clothes for men or women. Unfortunately the sun and warmth sometimes stays where you left it on holiday, meaning it can get cold in the room you find yourself in when teaching corporate yoga classes. You want to bring your comfortable yoga wear, and add an extra layer just in case it gets a little chilly. Ask your students to do the same, you want to create a comfortable environment as much as you can because students will come back to you this way.
- Give your card & ask for feedback. Bring your work card with you to give out at the end of class, and engage in conversations with your students to find out how they liked the class and if there’s anything else they’d like to see or know. Maybe they’ll have a particular ache somewhere in their body & you could give them a tutorial about how to cure it or help relax the tension, in which case you need to be the first person to give them personalised advice, students love that!
Hope this helps & Good Luck! Let us know if you’re a yoga teacher and if you’ve tried entering the corporate yoga world! We love to hear your feedback 🙂
Yogi Hugs from Yogamasti
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest for more daily updates!
