August 11, 2025 • 25 mins
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Monica (00:00):
You know me, I talk a lot about teaching students with
injuries.
I mean, it is my thing,honestly.
So today I want to pick mybelief apart for you so that you
see exactly why you play animportant role in helping
students with injuries.
Welcome to the EssentialConversations for Yoga Teachers
(00:22):
Podcast with me.
I'm Monica Bright and I've beenteaching yoga and running my
yoga business for over a decade.
This is the podcast for you.
If you are a yoga teacher,you're looking for support.
You love to be in conversation,and you're a lifelong student.
(00:43):
In this podcast, I'll share withyou.
My life as a yoga teacher, thelessons I've learned, my process
for building my business andhelpful ideas, tools, strategies
and systems I use and you canuse so that your business
thrives.
We'll cover a diverse range oftopics that will help you,
(01:05):
whether you're just starting outor you've got years under your
belt and you wanna dive deep andset yourself up for success.
I am so glad you're here.
Listen, I don't take myself tooseriously, so expect to hear
some laughs along the way.
Now let's do this together.
(01:28):
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Monica, and I'm so gladyou're here.
Here we talk about the anatomy,the injuries, the nervous system
insights, and all the real lifeknowledge you wish had been
included in your yoga teachertraining.
Okay.
You know me, I talk a lot aboutteaching students with injuries.
(01:49):
I mean, honestly, it's my thing.
So today I really wanna pick mybelief apart for you so that you
see exactly why you're in animportant position for helping
injured students.
Like it really is part of yourrole as a yoga teacher or a
movement educator.
As I see some teachers callthemselves, all I need is about
(02:11):
20 minutes of your attention andan open mind Deal.
Okay, let's get started.
I want you to imagine two yogateachers, both have a student
with chronic shoulder pain walkinto their class.
Both teachers completed the same200 hour training and both want
(02:31):
to help this student.
But teacher one says, here's abolster for child's pose.
And skip any arm movements thatdon't feel good.
The student leaves feelingunsupported and eventually stops
coming to yoga altogether.
Teacher two, and this is yousays, let's understand what your
(02:52):
shoulder is telling us and workwith your nervous system to
create safety while we exploregentle movement.
A few weeks later, this studenthas improved range of motion,
feels safer when they move andtells everyone that yoga saved
their shoulder.
(03:13):
What if I told you thedifference between these two
teachers is the limiting beliefthat's keeping most yoga
teachers from truly helpingtheir injured students?
What's that belief It'sthinking.
All I can do is offermodifications and props.
This belief is costing you theopportunity to be a
(03:35):
transformational yoga teacher,and today I am going to prove
that you already have the scope,the ability, and the
responsibility to do so muchmore than what you're currently
offering.
Now I know exactly what justwent through your mind.
Maybe you thought, but Monica, Ican't diagnose or treat
(03:56):
injuries.
That's not in my scope ofpractice.
I could get in trouble.
Or I'm not qualified for that.
That skepticism is completelyvalid.
I felt the exact same way foryears.
I watched students struggle withpain and told myself I was
staying in my lane by onlyoffering props and
(04:17):
modifications.
But what if the very thing youbelieve is protecting you and
your students?
Is actually the thing keepingyou from being the healing
centered teacher you dreamed ofbecoming.
What if modifications and propsare just the beginning of what
you can offer, not the end.
(04:38):
What if there's a whole world oftherapeutic support that's
absolutely within your scopethat you've never been taught?
Over a decade ago, I was exactlywhere you might be right now, a
yoga teacher who felt helpless.
Every time someone with aninjury walked into my class.
I remember the student whochanged everything for me.
(04:59):
This student had a meniscus tearand she'd come to my class
because she still lovedpracticing yoga.
In my 200 hour training, I wastaught to offer her props,
modifications and tell her tolisten to her body and skip
poses that.
Don't feel good.
After a couple of months, shewasn't better.
(05:20):
She was actually getting morefearful of movement, and I began
to realize I was failing her.
Not because I wasn't qualifiedto help, but because I wasn't
using the full scope of whatmovement educators can actually
offer.
I committed to learningeverything I could about pain,
science, nervous systemfunction, and therapeutic
(05:43):
movement.
I've since completed over 2000hours of continuing education in
biomechanics, pain science.
Injury recovery and nervoussystem work, and I'm going to
help you understand ways you canhelp injured students beyond
modifications and props.
Why this is absolutely withinyour scope of practice and
(06:06):
exactly how to implement theseapproaches starting in your very
next class.
Here's how.
First I'll show you the monetarycost of limiting yourself to
modifications and props.
Then I'll deconstruct the myths,keeping you stuck.
Finally, you'll realize youalready have some tools in your
(06:27):
toolbox to help injured studentsright now.
First, let me explain to youexactly what it's costing you to
believe that modifications andprops are all you can offer.
The average yoga teacher getspaid 20 to$35 per class and
teaches eight to 12 classes perweek.
(06:48):
That's roughly two to$400 weeklyor 10 to$20,000 annually.
Teachers who specialize inworking with injured students.
Can charge 40 to$60 per class.
Teach private clients at ahundred to$125 an hour, and
often develop specializedprograms.
(07:11):
They're making anywhere from 40to$70,000 annually From the same
time investment, but let's getdeeper than just money.
Every injured student who leavesyour class feeling unsupported
becomes someone who tells othersthat yoga doesn't help with
(07:31):
injuries.
That's a negative word of mouththat impacts your entire
community.
Every injured student you couldhave helped but didn't because
you felt unqualified representsa missed opportunity to create a
genuine healing experience.
It breaks my heart that mostyoga teachers entered this
(07:52):
profession because they wantedto help people heal and
transform.
But when you limit yourself tomodifications and props, you're
settling for being a poseadjuster instead of being a
transformational.
Yoga teacher over a 10 yearteaching career.
If you help just one student permonth through comprehensive
(08:14):
approaches, that's 120 livestransformed.
Each of those students, tellsothers, refers friends, and
becomes an advocate fortherapeutic yoga.
But if you stick tomodifications and props, you
remain invisible in thetherapeutic space.
Struggling for students whilespecialized teachers are
(08:36):
building waiting lists.
The question isn't whether youcan afford to learn these
approaches.
The question is, what's itcosting you every single day to
not know how to implement them?
I wonder if this happens foryou.
Every time you think about doingmore than modifications, that
little voice pops up andwhispers.
(08:57):
That's not in my scope ofpractice, but let's examine
what's actually in your scope.
Versus what you've been told isin your scope.
You are legally allowed toeducate students about movement
and anatomy.
Teach breathing techniques thataffect nervous system
regulation, guide studentsthrough progressive movement
(09:22):
experiences.
Provide information about pain,science and healing and create
environments that supportnervous system safety.
Notice what's missing from thatlist.
Diagnosis, treatment, or medicaladvice, but education, guidance
(09:42):
and creating healingenvironments.
That's absolutely what movementteachers do.
The truth is saying that's notin my scope, has become a way to
avoid the discomfort of learningsomething new, Not a genuine
legal boundary.
If you think to yourself, Idon't know enough about
(10:02):
injuries, the thing is youalready know enough to offer
modifications and props, right?
So you do know something aboutinjuries and how movement
affects them.
The question isn't whether youknow enough, it's whether you
are using.
Everything you already know andwhether you're willing to learn
(10:22):
the additional pieces that wouldmake you truly effective.
You probably know more aboutanatomy than you think you do.
You just don't know how to applyit therapeutically beyond pose
modifications.
Here's what I used to think.
What if I make someone worse?
This fear is completelyunderstandable, but let me ask
(10:45):
you this.
What if your current approach ofmodifications and props isn't
helping and students are gettingworse anyway?
What if by not addressing thenervous system component of
pain, not educating aboutmovement, not working with
breath and stress patterns,you're actually missing
(11:07):
opportunities to help themimprove the approaches I'm going
to share with you are designedto be safe, progressive, and
based on how healing actuallyoccurs in the body.
You're not going to make anyoneworse by helping them understand
their nervous system or teachingthem therapeutic breath.
(11:28):
The fundamental myth underlyingall of these little voices in
our heads is this, helpinginjured students requires
medical training and puts me atlegal risk.
This myth has been perpetuatedby yoga teacher training
programs that are terrified ofliability and by a medical
(11:50):
system that wants to maintainmonopoly over anything related
to pain and injury.
The reality is movementeducators, like yoga teachers
are uniquely positioned to helpinjured students in ways that
medical professionals oftencan't.
We see students weekly,sometimes multiple times per
(12:14):
week.
We observe their movementpatterns, their stress
responses, their relationshipwith their bodies.
We have the time and space toaddress the psychological and
nervous system components ofpain that medical appointments
rarely allow for.
(12:34):
Let me tell you about twoteachers.
That I've worked with in thepast.
Teacher A believed the mythcompletely.
When injured students came toclass, she immediately referred
them to physical therapy andtold them to come back when they
were better.
She saw herself as unqualifiedto help.
Teacher B understood thatmovement.
(12:56):
Education is therapeutic.
She learned to work with nervoussystems, educate about pain,
science, and create healingenvironments.
Her classes became known as safespaces for people with injuries.
A year later, teacher A is stillstruggling to fill her classes
while teacher B currently haswaiting lists and is making
(13:18):
twice as much money working withthe exact students'.
Teacher A was turning away.
The difference wasn't theirtraining.
They had identicalcertifications.
The difference was theirunderstanding of their role.
Teacher B realized that yogateachers aren't trying to
compete with medicalprofessionals.
(13:39):
We are filling a gap thatmedical professionals can't
fill.
We are the movement educatorswho help people rebuild trust
with their bodies, understandtheir nervous systems, and
develop sustainable self-carepractices.
This isn't about oversteppingscope, it's about fully
stepping.
(13:59):
Into the scope you already have.
It's time to completely reframehow you think about your role
with injured students from, I'ma yoga teacher who offers pose
modifications to accommodateinjuries.
Two, I'm a movement educator whohelps people heal their
(14:20):
relationship with their bodiesthrough nervous system
regulation, education andtherapeutic movement
experiences.
But how, think of healing frominjury as a triangle with three
essential components.
The first is medical care, wherepeople get a diagnosis, they get
(14:41):
treatment and medication ifneeded.
The second part of the triangleis physical therapy, specific
rehabilitation exercises, andmaybe manual therapy.
And the third is movementeducation.
Nervous system work, pain,education, movement, competence,
(15:02):
building long-term self-carepractices.
Most injured people getcomponents one and two, but
component three, which is whereyoga teachers excel, is often
completely missing.
You have something medicalprofessionals don't have ongoing
relationships.
(15:22):
Group support, holisticapproach, time and space for
education and focus on the wholeperson and not just the injury.
You're not trying to replacemedical care or physical
therapy.
You're the bridge betweenrehabilitation and long-term
wellness.
You are where people come torebuild confidence, learn
(15:45):
self-care and develop asustainable relationship with
movement.
When you understand this,everything changes.
Instead of seeing injuredstudents as people you need to
accommodate, you see them aspeople you're uniquely
positioned to help heal.
Instead of offeringmodifications as consolation
(16:07):
prizes, you offer comprehensiveexperiences that address all the
components of healing that oftenget overlooked.
In medical settings, when youmake this shift, you don't just
help individual students.
You change how your entirecommunity understands the role
of movement in healing.
(16:29):
You become part of the solutionto our healthcare crisis, not
just someone who accommodatesits limitations.
Let me ask you something thatmight make you uncomfortable.
If you have the ability to helpinjured students heal and you
choose not to because it feelsoutside your comfort zone, what
(16:49):
does that say about yourcommitment to your students'
wellbeing?
Okay.
Every day you limit yourself tomodifications and props.
You're actively choosing to letstudents struggle with pain.
You could help address,reinforce their belief that yoga
isn't for people like them.
You miss opportunities to creategenuine transformation and you
(17:12):
maintain a limited view of yourown capabilities and impact.
Here's the contradiction I seeconstantly teachers who say they
became yoga instructors to helppeople heal, but then refuse to
learn the tools that wouldactually help people heal.
Teachers who spend hundreds ofdollars on workshops about
(17:33):
advanced poses that servehealthy students but won't
invest in learning to helpstudents who need them the most.
Okay.
Teachers who confidently guidestudents through complex
physical poses, but feelunqualified to teach breathing
techniques that could reducetheir pain.
(17:53):
To be honest, when an injuredstudent leaves your class
feeling unsupported, they don'tthink, oh, she was just staying
in her scope of practice.
They think yoga doesn't work forpeople like me.
When you refer every injuredstudent to physical therapy, you
are essentially saying, I can'thelp you.
(18:14):
Which may be true now, but onlybecause you're choosing not to
develop the skills that wouldallow you to help.
Every week you wait to learnthese approaches is another week
of students walking into yourclasses hoping for support and
leaving disappointed.
Every month you stay in themodifications and props.
(18:34):
Only mindset is another month ofmissed opportunities to be the
transformational teacher youdreamed of becoming.
This is a choice you're makingevery single day.
You can choose to remain limitedor you can choose to step into
the full potential of whatmovement education can offer.
(18:56):
Which choice aligns with why youbecame a yoga teacher in the
first place?
Let's talk about what you'rereally afraid of.
That little voice that says,what if I try to help and I make
things worse?
What if I hurt someone or whatif I get sued?
I understand.
(19:17):
When I first started workingmore comprehensively with
injured students, I wasterrified.
Every time I suggested abreathing exercise or explained
pain science, I worried if I wasoverstepping.
But here's what I've learned in13 years and working with
thousands of students.
The approaches I'm talkingabout, nervous system,
(19:40):
education, therapeuticbreathing, creating safety
movement, reeducation.
These are inherently safepractices.
You're not manipulating spinesor prescribing treatments,
you're teaching breathing,providing education and creating
supportive environments.
(20:01):
The risk of harm from theseapproaches is virtually zero.
What's actually riskier?
Teaching someone therapeuticbreathing techniques or leaving
them in a chronic state ofnervous system dysregulation
that perpetuates their pain.
Educating someone about how painworks or leaving them with
(20:23):
catastrophic thinking patternsthat make their condition worse,
Or creating a safe environmentfor movement, exploration, or
reinforcing their belief thatmovement is dangerous.
The way you protect yourselfisn't by avoiding helping
people.
It's by helping them withappropriate boundaries.
(20:47):
Document your approach.
Stay within educationalframeworks and refer when
appropriate.
Here's what changed everythingfor me.
I realized that confidence comesfrom competence.
The more I learned about nervoussystems, pain, science, and
therapeutic approaches, the moreconfident I became.
(21:10):
Fear decreases as knowledgeincreases.
Right now, you feel afraidbecause you're operating in
unknown territory, but once youhave frameworks, tools, and
understanding that feartransforms into competence.
You don't have to figure thisout alone.
(21:30):
Your fear is valid, but itshouldn't determine your.
Impact every transformationalteacher has felt this fear and
chosen to move through itanyway.
So you have a choice to makeright now, and it's not really
about learning new techniques,it's about deciding who you are
as a teacher.
Path one.
(21:51):
Continue as a modifications andprops teacher.
Keep referring injured studentselsewhere.
Keep feeling helpless whenpeople in pain walk into your
classes.
And in five years you'll stillbe wondering why you can't seem
to build a practice you dreamedof.
Or you could take Path two,become a comprehensive movement
(22:11):
educator, learn to work withnervous systems, educate about
pain, and create genuine healingexperiences.
And in five years you'll be theteacher that injured students
specifically seek out.
The next time an injured studentwalks into your class, ask
yourself, am I going to be theteacher who accommodates their
(22:32):
limitation, or the teacher whohelps them transcend it?
This isn't about adding more toyour teaching.
It's about using everything youalready have in service of
healing.
You already know anatomy.
Breathing movement and how tocreate safe spaces.
You just need to know how toapply these tools
(22:54):
therapeutically.
If you're ready to stop limitingyourself to modifications and
props, if you wanna become thetransformational teacher you
enter this profession to be,then I invite you to get curious
about more formal training.
You can learn more about myteaching Students with Injuries
mentorship program where yogateachers learn to work more
(23:17):
confidently and comprehensivelywith any student who walks into
their class, not through morepose modifications, but through
understanding how healing.
Actually works and how tofacilitate it through movement
education because the worlddoesn't need another teacher who
accommodates injuries.
(23:39):
The world needs teachers whohelp people navigate their
recovery from them.
Okay.
Was I able to shift yourthinking about teaching students
with injuries?
Even if you aren't a hundredpercent convinced?
As long as I've planted a seed,I'll take that.
Understanding anatomy,biomechanics, and the effects.
(24:01):
Yoga also gonna have on the bodyhelps you understand your
students.
If you've been enjoying theseepisodes, then I know that you
are a yoga teacher who's readyto teach with more intention and
less fear around injuries.
Let's continue to raise the barfor how yoga supports real
bodies in real life.
(24:22):
It is so important for us tohave this conversation so that
you remember that students ofall shapes, sizes, alignment,
and abilities come to yourclasses and you can serve all of
them.
You know that my goal is for youto love the yoga teaching life,
and it's important to understandmovement in the issues students
come to your classes with.
(24:43):
Subscribe to the podcast soyou're always in the know when a
new episode drops.
And share it with another yogateacher who you think would love
to be in on these conversations.
And finally, thank you forhelping to spread the word about
this podcast.
Alright, thank you forlistening.
That's it for now.
Bye.
You know me, I talk a lot about teaching students with
injuries.
I mean, it is my thing,honestly.
So today I want to pick mybelief apart for you so that you
see exactly why you play animportant role in helping
students with injuries.
Welcome to the EssentialConversations for Yoga Teachers
(00:22):
Podcast with me.
I'm Monica Bright and I've beenteaching yoga and running my
yoga business for over a decade.
This is the podcast for you.
If you are a yoga teacher,you're looking for support.
You love to be in conversation,and you're a lifelong student.
(00:43):
In this podcast, I'll share withyou.
My life as a yoga teacher, thelessons I've learned, my process
for building my business andhelpful ideas, tools, strategies
and systems I use and you canuse so that your business
thrives.
We'll cover a diverse range oftopics that will help you,
(01:05):
whether you're just starting outor you've got years under your
belt and you wanna dive deep andset yourself up for success.
I am so glad you're here.
Listen, I don't take myself tooseriously, so expect to hear
some laughs along the way.
Now let's do this together.
(01:28):
Welcome back to the podcast.
I'm Monica, and I'm so gladyou're here.
Here we talk about the anatomy,the injuries, the nervous system
insights, and all the real lifeknowledge you wish had been
included in your yoga teachertraining.
Okay.
You know me, I talk a lot aboutteaching students with injuries.
(01:49):
I mean, honestly, it's my thing.
So today I really wanna pick mybelief apart for you so that you
see exactly why you're in animportant position for helping
injured students.
Like it really is part of yourrole as a yoga teacher or a
movement educator.
As I see some teachers callthemselves, all I need is about
(02:11):
20 minutes of your attention andan open mind Deal.
Okay, let's get started.
I want you to imagine two yogateachers, both have a student
with chronic shoulder pain walkinto their class.
Both teachers completed the same200 hour training and both want
(02:31):
to help this student.
But teacher one says, here's abolster for child's pose.
And skip any arm movements thatdon't feel good.
The student leaves feelingunsupported and eventually stops
coming to yoga altogether.
Teacher two, and this is yousays, let's understand what your
(02:52):
shoulder is telling us and workwith your nervous system to
create safety while we exploregentle movement.
A few weeks later, this studenthas improved range of motion,
feels safer when they move andtells everyone that yoga saved
their shoulder.
(03:13):
What if I told you thedifference between these two
teachers is the limiting beliefthat's keeping most yoga
teachers from truly helpingtheir injured students?
What's that belief It'sthinking.
All I can do is offermodifications and props.
This belief is costing you theopportunity to be a
(03:35):
transformational yoga teacher,and today I am going to prove
that you already have the scope,the ability, and the
responsibility to do so muchmore than what you're currently
offering.
Now I know exactly what justwent through your mind.
Maybe you thought, but Monica, Ican't diagnose or treat
(03:56):
injuries.
That's not in my scope ofpractice.
I could get in trouble.
Or I'm not qualified for that.
That skepticism is completelyvalid.
I felt the exact same way foryears.
I watched students struggle withpain and told myself I was
staying in my lane by onlyoffering props and
(04:17):
modifications.
But what if the very thing youbelieve is protecting you and
your students?
Is actually the thing keepingyou from being the healing
centered teacher you dreamed ofbecoming.
What if modifications and propsare just the beginning of what
you can offer, not the end.
(04:38):
What if there's a whole world oftherapeutic support that's
absolutely within your scopethat you've never been taught?
Over a decade ago, I was exactlywhere you might be right now, a
yoga teacher who felt helpless.
Every time someone with aninjury walked into my class.
I remember the student whochanged everything for me.
(04:59):
This student had a meniscus tearand she'd come to my class
because she still lovedpracticing yoga.
In my 200 hour training, I wastaught to offer her props,
modifications and tell her tolisten to her body and skip
poses that.
Don't feel good.
After a couple of months, shewasn't better.
(05:20):
She was actually getting morefearful of movement, and I began
to realize I was failing her.
Not because I wasn't qualifiedto help, but because I wasn't
using the full scope of whatmovement educators can actually
offer.
I committed to learningeverything I could about pain,
science, nervous systemfunction, and therapeutic
(05:43):
movement.
I've since completed over 2000hours of continuing education in
biomechanics, pain science.
Injury recovery and nervoussystem work, and I'm going to
help you understand ways you canhelp injured students beyond
modifications and props.
Why this is absolutely withinyour scope of practice and
(06:06):
exactly how to implement theseapproaches starting in your very
next class.
Here's how.
First I'll show you the monetarycost of limiting yourself to
modifications and props.
Then I'll deconstruct the myths,keeping you stuck.
Finally, you'll realize youalready have some tools in your
(06:27):
toolbox to help injured studentsright now.
First, let me explain to youexactly what it's costing you to
believe that modifications andprops are all you can offer.
The average yoga teacher getspaid 20 to$35 per class and
teaches eight to 12 classes perweek.
(06:48):
That's roughly two to$400 weeklyor 10 to$20,000 annually.
Teachers who specialize inworking with injured students.
Can charge 40 to$60 per class.
Teach private clients at ahundred to$125 an hour, and
often develop specializedprograms.
(07:11):
They're making anywhere from 40to$70,000 annually From the same
time investment, but let's getdeeper than just money.
Every injured student who leavesyour class feeling unsupported
becomes someone who tells othersthat yoga doesn't help with
(07:31):
injuries.
That's a negative word of mouththat impacts your entire
community.
Every injured student you couldhave helped but didn't because
you felt unqualified representsa missed opportunity to create a
genuine healing experience.
It breaks my heart that mostyoga teachers entered this
(07:52):
profession because they wantedto help people heal and
transform.
But when you limit yourself tomodifications and props, you're
settling for being a poseadjuster instead of being a
transformational.
Yoga teacher over a 10 yearteaching career.
If you help just one student permonth through comprehensive
(08:14):
approaches, that's 120 livestransformed.
Each of those students, tellsothers, refers friends, and
becomes an advocate fortherapeutic yoga.
But if you stick tomodifications and props, you
remain invisible in thetherapeutic space.
Struggling for students whilespecialized teachers are
(08:36):
building waiting lists.
The question isn't whether youcan afford to learn these
approaches.
The question is, what's itcosting you every single day to
not know how to implement them?
I wonder if this happens foryou.
Every time you think about doingmore than modifications, that
little voice pops up andwhispers.
(08:57):
That's not in my scope ofpractice, but let's examine
what's actually in your scope.
Versus what you've been told isin your scope.
You are legally allowed toeducate students about movement
and anatomy.
Teach breathing techniques thataffect nervous system
regulation, guide studentsthrough progressive movement
(09:22):
experiences.
Provide information about pain,science and healing and create
environments that supportnervous system safety.
Notice what's missing from thatlist.
Diagnosis, treatment, or medicaladvice, but education, guidance
(09:42):
and creating healingenvironments.
That's absolutely what movementteachers do.
The truth is saying that's notin my scope, has become a way to
avoid the discomfort of learningsomething new, Not a genuine
legal boundary.
If you think to yourself, Idon't know enough about
(10:02):
injuries, the thing is youalready know enough to offer
modifications and props, right?
So you do know something aboutinjuries and how movement
affects them.
The question isn't whether youknow enough, it's whether you
are using.
Everything you already know andwhether you're willing to learn
(10:22):
the additional pieces that wouldmake you truly effective.
You probably know more aboutanatomy than you think you do.
You just don't know how to applyit therapeutically beyond pose
modifications.
Here's what I used to think.
What if I make someone worse?
This fear is completelyunderstandable, but let me ask
(10:45):
you this.
What if your current approach ofmodifications and props isn't
helping and students are gettingworse anyway?
What if by not addressing thenervous system component of
pain, not educating aboutmovement, not working with
breath and stress patterns,you're actually missing
(11:07):
opportunities to help themimprove the approaches I'm going
to share with you are designedto be safe, progressive, and
based on how healing actuallyoccurs in the body.
You're not going to make anyoneworse by helping them understand
their nervous system or teachingthem therapeutic breath.
(11:28):
The fundamental myth underlyingall of these little voices in
our heads is this, helpinginjured students requires
medical training and puts me atlegal risk.
This myth has been perpetuatedby yoga teacher training
programs that are terrified ofliability and by a medical
(11:50):
system that wants to maintainmonopoly over anything related
to pain and injury.
The reality is movementeducators, like yoga teachers
are uniquely positioned to helpinjured students in ways that
medical professionals oftencan't.
We see students weekly,sometimes multiple times per
(12:14):
week.
We observe their movementpatterns, their stress
responses, their relationshipwith their bodies.
We have the time and space toaddress the psychological and
nervous system components ofpain that medical appointments
rarely allow for.
(12:34):
Let me tell you about twoteachers.
That I've worked with in thepast.
Teacher A believed the mythcompletely.
When injured students came toclass, she immediately referred
them to physical therapy andtold them to come back when they
were better.
She saw herself as unqualifiedto help.
Teacher B understood thatmovement.
(12:56):
Education is therapeutic.
She learned to work with nervoussystems, educate about pain,
science, and create healingenvironments.
Her classes became known as safespaces for people with injuries.
A year later, teacher A is stillstruggling to fill her classes
while teacher B currently haswaiting lists and is making
(13:18):
twice as much money working withthe exact students'.
Teacher A was turning away.
The difference wasn't theirtraining.
They had identicalcertifications.
The difference was theirunderstanding of their role.
Teacher B realized that yogateachers aren't trying to
compete with medicalprofessionals.
(13:39):
We are filling a gap thatmedical professionals can't
fill.
We are the movement educatorswho help people rebuild trust
with their bodies, understandtheir nervous systems, and
develop sustainable self-carepractices.
This isn't about oversteppingscope, it's about fully
stepping.
(13:59):
Into the scope you already have.
It's time to completely reframehow you think about your role
with injured students from, I'ma yoga teacher who offers pose
modifications to accommodateinjuries.
Two, I'm a movement educator whohelps people heal their
(14:20):
relationship with their bodiesthrough nervous system
regulation, education andtherapeutic movement
experiences.
But how, think of healing frominjury as a triangle with three
essential components.
The first is medical care, wherepeople get a diagnosis, they get
(14:41):
treatment and medication ifneeded.
The second part of the triangleis physical therapy, specific
rehabilitation exercises, andmaybe manual therapy.
And the third is movementeducation.
Nervous system work, pain,education, movement, competence,
(15:02):
building long-term self-carepractices.
Most injured people getcomponents one and two, but
component three, which is whereyoga teachers excel, is often
completely missing.
You have something medicalprofessionals don't have ongoing
relationships.
(15:22):
Group support, holisticapproach, time and space for
education and focus on the wholeperson and not just the injury.
You're not trying to replacemedical care or physical
therapy.
You're the bridge betweenrehabilitation and long-term
wellness.
You are where people come torebuild confidence, learn
(15:45):
self-care and develop asustainable relationship with
movement.
When you understand this,everything changes.
Instead of seeing injuredstudents as people you need to
accommodate, you see them aspeople you're uniquely
positioned to help heal.
Instead of offeringmodifications as consolation
(16:07):
prizes, you offer comprehensiveexperiences that address all the
components of healing that oftenget overlooked.
In medical settings, when youmake this shift, you don't just
help individual students.
You change how your entirecommunity understands the role
of movement in healing.
(16:29):
You become part of the solutionto our healthcare crisis, not
just someone who accommodatesits limitations.
Let me ask you something thatmight make you uncomfortable.
If you have the ability to helpinjured students heal and you
choose not to because it feelsoutside your comfort zone, what
(16:49):
does that say about yourcommitment to your students'
wellbeing?
Okay.
Every day you limit yourself tomodifications and props.
You're actively choosing to letstudents struggle with pain.
You could help address,reinforce their belief that yoga
isn't for people like them.
You miss opportunities to creategenuine transformation and you
(17:12):
maintain a limited view of yourown capabilities and impact.
Here's the contradiction I seeconstantly teachers who say they
became yoga instructors to helppeople heal, but then refuse to
learn the tools that wouldactually help people heal.
Teachers who spend hundreds ofdollars on workshops about
(17:33):
advanced poses that servehealthy students but won't
invest in learning to helpstudents who need them the most.
Okay.
Teachers who confidently guidestudents through complex
physical poses, but feelunqualified to teach breathing
techniques that could reducetheir pain.
(17:53):
To be honest, when an injuredstudent leaves your class
feeling unsupported, they don'tthink, oh, she was just staying
in her scope of practice.
They think yoga doesn't work forpeople like me.
When you refer every injuredstudent to physical therapy, you
are essentially saying, I can'thelp you.
(18:14):
Which may be true now, but onlybecause you're choosing not to
develop the skills that wouldallow you to help.
Every week you wait to learnthese approaches is another week
of students walking into yourclasses hoping for support and
leaving disappointed.
Every month you stay in themodifications and props.
(18:34):
Only mindset is another month ofmissed opportunities to be the
transformational teacher youdreamed of becoming.
This is a choice you're makingevery single day.
You can choose to remain limitedor you can choose to step into
the full potential of whatmovement education can offer.
(18:56):
Which choice aligns with why youbecame a yoga teacher in the
first place?
Let's talk about what you'rereally afraid of.
That little voice that says,what if I try to help and I make
things worse?
What if I hurt someone or whatif I get sued?
I understand.
(19:17):
When I first started workingmore comprehensively with
injured students, I wasterrified.
Every time I suggested abreathing exercise or explained
pain science, I worried if I wasoverstepping.
But here's what I've learned in13 years and working with
thousands of students.
The approaches I'm talkingabout, nervous system,
(19:40):
education, therapeuticbreathing, creating safety
movement, reeducation.
These are inherently safepractices.
You're not manipulating spinesor prescribing treatments,
you're teaching breathing,providing education and creating
supportive environments.
(20:01):
The risk of harm from theseapproaches is virtually zero.
What's actually riskier?
Teaching someone therapeuticbreathing techniques or leaving
them in a chronic state ofnervous system dysregulation
that perpetuates their pain.
Educating someone about how painworks or leaving them with
(20:23):
catastrophic thinking patternsthat make their condition worse,
Or creating a safe environmentfor movement, exploration, or
reinforcing their belief thatmovement is dangerous.
The way you protect yourselfisn't by avoiding helping
people.
It's by helping them withappropriate boundaries.
(20:47):
Document your approach.
Stay within educationalframeworks and refer when
appropriate.
Here's what changed everythingfor me.
I realized that confidence comesfrom competence.
The more I learned about nervoussystems, pain, science, and
therapeutic approaches, the moreconfident I became.
(21:10):
Fear decreases as knowledgeincreases.
Right now, you feel afraidbecause you're operating in
unknown territory, but once youhave frameworks, tools, and
understanding that feartransforms into competence.
You don't have to figure thisout alone.
(21:30):
Your fear is valid, but itshouldn't determine your.
Impact every transformationalteacher has felt this fear and
chosen to move through itanyway.
So you have a choice to makeright now, and it's not really
about learning new techniques,it's about deciding who you are
as a teacher.
Path one.
(21:51):
Continue as a modifications andprops teacher.
Keep referring injured studentselsewhere.
Keep feeling helpless whenpeople in pain walk into your
classes.
And in five years you'll stillbe wondering why you can't seem
to build a practice you dreamedof.
Or you could take Path two,become a comprehensive movement
(22:11):
educator, learn to work withnervous systems, educate about
pain, and create genuine healingexperiences.
And in five years you'll be theteacher that injured students
specifically seek out.
The next time an injured studentwalks into your class, ask
yourself, am I going to be theteacher who accommodates their
(22:32):
limitation, or the teacher whohelps them transcend it?
This isn't about adding more toyour teaching.
It's about using everything youalready have in service of
healing.
You already know anatomy.
Breathing movement and how tocreate safe spaces.
You just need to know how toapply these tools
(22:54):
therapeutically.
If you're ready to stop limitingyourself to modifications and
props, if you wanna become thetransformational teacher you
enter this profession to be,then I invite you to get curious
about more formal training.
You can learn more about myteaching Students with Injuries
mentorship program where yogateachers learn to work more
(23:17):
confidently and comprehensivelywith any student who walks into
their class, not through morepose modifications, but through
understanding how healing.
Actually works and how tofacilitate it through movement
education because the worlddoesn't need another teacher who
accommodates injuries.
(23:39):
The world needs teachers whohelp people navigate their
recovery from them.
Okay.
Was I able to shift yourthinking about teaching students
with injuries?
Even if you aren't a hundredpercent convinced?
As long as I've planted a seed,I'll take that.
Understanding anatomy,biomechanics, and the effects.
(24:01):
Yoga also gonna have on the bodyhelps you understand your
students.
If you've been enjoying theseepisodes, then I know that you
are a yoga teacher who's readyto teach with more intention and
less fear around injuries.
Let's continue to raise the barfor how yoga supports real
bodies in real life.
(24:22):
It is so important for us tohave this conversation so that
you remember that students ofall shapes, sizes, alignment,
and abilities come to yourclasses and you can serve all of
them.
You know that my goal is for youto love the yoga teaching life,
and it's important to understandmovement in the issues students
come to your classes with.
(24:43):
Subscribe to the podcast soyou're always in the know when a
new episode drops.
And share it with another yogateacher who you think would love
to be in on these conversations.
And finally, thank you forhelping to spread the word about
this podcast.
Alright, thank you forlistening.
That's it for now.
Bye.
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