Prerecorded Classes Tips for Online Yoga Teachers
If you’re an online yoga teacher and you want to record a video to put on YouTube or any other platform, you may not have much interaction with your students before class (or even know who your students are). If this is the case, it’s useful to record a short introduction to the class. In the introduction, you can let students know that you’ll offer variations throughout the practice and invite them to take those options as needed (that said, while planning out your video/sequence, make sure you include plenty of pose options).
You can also talk a bit about yourself and the practice, outlining the potential benefits of the class and why you created it, though keep in mind that students might have a limited time for practice and may be eager to get moving! Keep your intro short and sweet.
How does it work?
“I set up free Monday Meditations, along with paid live classes, workshops, and training. For classes and workshops, I use the webinar feature, which integrates with my Paypal account; for training, I use the meeting format so we can all get on the webcam. I share my schedule of offering through my newsletters, website, and social media accounts, and students can click on each class and sign up through Zoom’s registration page. (You can set up an email opt-in manually.) Zoom sends out reminders a day and an hour before class; I use the automatic follow-up emails to share links to the recordings as well as my upcoming classes.”
What are the upsides?
“It’s an honor to share virtual space with so many students, all over the world, during this time. After class, I spend time in ‘chat’ connecting to every student who sticks around and says hi.
Also, in my training, I’ve set up a poll for students to answer at the beginning, so we know who’s in the room. As a host, you can also group students in small virtual breakout rooms so they can get to know each other or complete an exercise together.
What should teachers keep in mind?
“Approach your sessions as you’d approach your practice: With an open mind, free of judgment. You’re juggling so many technical aspects of class—lighting, mic packs, sound quality, students figuring out how to join a class—and things are going to happen. Get to know the platform and interface, plan and prepare as much as possible, and maintain a clear, calm mind to get through crackling sound or weak wifi with grace… and a sense of humor.”
Any challenges to watch out for?
“Make sure you have enough bandwidth. (You may have to ask your family to forego Facetime and Netflix during class.) If you use a mic, keep a backup around in case something goes awry with the sound. And understand you can’t do it all: Enlist help to handle customer service or technical difficulties during class.”
Hot tips
Record your practices and make them available for a limited period of time after each class. You’ll create your own bank of classes that you can share in various formats and subscriptions later on.
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