My garden has been such a source of joy over the pandemic. When things were getting tense in the house during lockdown, I could slip on my shoes and take a five minute pause to look at my plants. You’ll always notice something new every time you look at your garden. 

Over the last few years my anxiety over climate change and food supply have grown. Truthfully, it’s started to feel a bit irresponsible to own a piece of land without trying to grow some food on it.

Our vegetable gardens are getting bigger every year. In 2019, we grew 5.7 lbs of vegetables by planting seedlings in our flower beds and patio pots. 

In 2020 we built our large raised beds which gave us 112 square feet of growing area. We brought in 80.8 lbs of food that year. 

This year we added another raised bed. This one was a kit I bought from Costco that gave us another 7 square feet. The purpose of this new smaller bed was to get the greens and herbs out of the larger bed.  

I’m proud to say, we grew 214 lbs of food this year. And those numbers are probably on the low side. We didn’t weigh every morsel that came from the garden. Peas and beans were gathered and munched on in the kids’ playhouse. Zucchinis, tomatoes and squash were plucked off the vines to hand to friends when they popped in to say hello. Moments like these are why I put in a garden in the first place—why interrupt them by pulling out a scale?

Highlights:

• Soil: Good soil definitely makes a big difference. The soil we purchased in 2020 wasn’t great quality. After spending so much money on lumber to build our large raised beds, we cut corners and bought the lowest grade triple mix. We regretted the decision immediately—it had pieces of plastic and metal wire in it. It just didn’t look good. This year we bought a better quality soil. As soon as I opened the bag I could smell the difference. (Local friends, I would definitely recommend the Big Yellow Bag from Vissers.)
• Rain: There was a big jump in the amount of food we produced this year. No doubt this was because of the heavy rains we had in July. Everything just flourished and we didn’t have to spend as much time watering. Some of the zucchinis and cucumbers could have been picked a bit earlier. The rains caused them to get really big, and this made them less tasty.
• Raspberries: The raspberry bushes we planted in 2020 started producing berries. We didn’t get a lot, but I’m excited for things to come. We planted two varieties: a red one that had fruit in July, and a golden raspberry that produced fruit in September. The kids eat so many berries—I'm excited to send golden raspberries in their school lunches next fall.
• Preserving: We put way more produce into the freezer this year. We smoked batches of tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce, shredded zucchini to have ready for muffins or bread, and cubed and froze squash for quick weeknight side dishes. 

Next year’s focus:

• Timing: The new raised bed we bought was used exclusively for greens. I planted rows a few weeks apart so that we would have salad greens for a longer period of time. Still though, by July, the greens were overgrown and had gone to seed. I wish I had pulled it up and planted something else in there after the greens were done. It really was wasted real estate.
• Produce: We had a lot of squash, tomatoes, zucchinis and peppers this year...none of which the kids particularly enjoy. I’d like to focus more on the fruits and vegetables that the kids actually eat—peas, beans, berries—to get them more involved (and also cut back on those berry bills). 
• Pest control: Our backyard bunnies and squirrels do not mess around. Even though the kids love strawberries, I haven’t put much effort into growing them because every time I've tried, a squirrel manages to get to the fruit before I do. Broccoli is a similar story: it’s the kids’ favourite veggie, but bunnies have always gotten to it in a matter of hours after planting. Next year I’d like to create some barriers with chicken wire so we can keep those crops to ourselves!
• Seedlings: We haven’t started any crop inside for our garden—the seeds have either been sown directly into the soil or we’ve planted seedlings. Next year I’d like to start some of the seeds inside. I’m also going to research the varieties of plants I’d like to grow rather than just taking what we can get from the garden centre or friends and family.

• Pollinators: I haven’t focused a lot on the flower gardens over the last few years, but when I have put in new plants, I’ve been choosing native and pollinator-friendly plants. I want to research this more and perhaps start some perennial seedlings indoors to cut back on costs. My ultimate plan is to shrink the size of the lawn year after year and replace it with vegetable gardens and native plants.
• Backyard Ecosystem: I had plans to build a composter and attach a rain barrel to our eaves this year, but, alas, I didn’t get to them. Next year I’d like to reduce the amount of kitchen scraps leaving our property in the municipal compost program and keep it for ourselves.
• Preserving: I'm very proud of how far we've come with storing our crop for the winter, but most of it was done with our vacuum sealer. While I love our sealer, I'd like to find an alternative that doesn't use as much single-use plastic. Maybe I'll learn more about canning for next year...but I'm also going to give myself a bit of grace on this one. 

Growing food on our property is something that I started without a lot of intention. There was no plan: I mostly just wanted to see what would happen. What's beautiful, however, is that now that I'm a few seasons in, I can see the changes in myself and the garden. I can easily flip through my phone's photo album and compare year to year. The seasons give us a natural cycle to follow when planting, growing, harvesting and preserving. Every winter we can plan and prepare for next year. Even though the 2021 season is just finishing, I'm excited for what 2022 has in store.

I want to hear from you. What went well in your garden this year? What didn't? What's your biggest piece of gardening advice?

Most of us don’t begin a career as a yoga instructor for the income; we have a genuine love for the practice and hope to share it with others. But for an industry that claims it is filled with love and positive vibes, it can be a very competitive space where it is difficult to make a living.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes I see new yoga teachers making when they are first starting out:

1. Focusing Too Much on Studio Classes

This is one that I definitely fell into when I first became an instructor and was a lot easier to do before my kids were born. I would teach anything, anywhere, at any time. At my busiest, right before I got pregnant with my first, I was teaching about fourteen classes a week. And guess what? Despite working six days a week, constantly driving everywhere, I was barely paying the bills.

Let’s do some quick math on how that happened. We’ll assume that I was making about $40 a class (which is actually more than what I was making). 

14 classes at $40/class is $560

$560 x 52 weeks is $29,120/year

Maybe $29,000 per year doesn’t sound terrible. But the math above assumes that I taught every single class, every single week. It doesn’t account for sick days or appointments, vacation time, professional development, snow days or those days where a weekly class fell on a holiday. It also doesn’t account for injury. I am 100% certain that if I hadn’t had to pause teaching to have my son, my body would have made me stop.

Trust me when I say that teaching this many classes isn’t sustainable, not in the long run. It’s important to have lots of streams of income—some that may involve lots of hands-on work from you and others that might take a lot of initial set-up, but not a lot of day to day management. Rather than running yourself ragged, think about things you can offer besides studio classes. Can you teach private classes? Do you have an idea for a series? What about workshops and retreats? Think outside the box.

2. Being a Jack of all Trades

Kids yoga? Okay! Kundalini? Sure! Corporate mindfulness series? Why not?

A lot of us start out teaching so hungry to get experience that we say yes to opportunities that really aren’t a good fit for us. This can be a bit of a Catch-22—we need to try out a few things before knowing what we don’t like. Unfortunately, when we try to serve everyone, we end up serving no one. We dilute what makes us special and unique.

If you think about your favourite yoga teachers, you can probably list a few things that they are really good at. I’m sure that there is also a whole slew of things that they just don’t do. Find the things that light you up—that you can talk about for hours—and become really good at those. Share what you know and help others to see why you are so passionate about a particular style of yoga or subject matter. Become the go-to person on the subject. Your people will find you.

3. Covering Up Their Personality Online

I see this a lot with very new instructors. We all want to seem professional. We may even have aspirations to grow our business to include others. But that doesn’t mean that you should run your social media accounts like a big faceless organization. People aren’t looking to follow “Yoga Inc,” they want to follow real people with real stories. Stock photography and copy that doesn’t reflect who you are can be alienating in an industry that is all about personalities. People usually don’t attend classes with an instructor because they expertly cue a sun salutation: they attend because they like the instructor’s personality. 

Include details that people care about in your social media bios, such as where you are located and what you like to do outside of yoga. And please please please include your name and a picture of yourself. You don’t need to break the bank on hundreds of professional photos—an iPhone or Android can take great photos. Let people get to know you before they decide to practice with you.

I don't hold all of the answers, but I hope that this has given you a bit to think about. Please let me know if you have any questions. Experienced yoga teachers: what mistakes did you make in the early days? What advice would you give to someone just starting out?

Most of us have tight hips from the lifestyles that we live, mainly, lots of sitting. This can lead to back and knee pain. Here is a gentle sequence designed to help open those hips and make you more comfortable.

Accessibility: This is a fairly gentle class done mostly on the back. There are two downward dogs. If it is difficult to get into the pigeon variation from downward dog, move into it from seated. If there is any knee pain, come out.

Props: No props needed

It’s natural that an instructor’s teaching and practice change over the course of their career. And while there’s a lot of negative things that can be said about 2020, the turmoil of the last twelve months has led to what I feel is exponential growth in my teaching and in my yoga practice. I feel so good about the type of teacher that I’m becoming. Here are some of the changes that I’ve noticed this year.

1. Hands-On Adjustments

January 2020  Performed hands-on adjustments (with permission) because that’s how I like(d) to practice. I was pretty heavy with the massage during restorative poses and savasana.

December 2020  Leaving aside the fact that I’m currently not allowed to leave my mat during classes, I’m not sure I will ever go back to giving hands-on adjustments in drop-in classes. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and learning about the power dynamics in yoga classes. Some students may not feel safe to say no to hands-on adjustments or massage. The PTSD and trauma that will be left over from this pandemic makes me feel uncomfortable with the idea of touching students in class, with or without permission. Obviously, when a workshop explicitly says it has hands-on I will do adjustments. (I can’t wait to resume my restorative workshops with Thai massage as soon as I can.)

2. Creating Space For and Actively Welcoming BIPOC and LGBT Students

January 2020  I relied a lot on the idea that “all are welcome” and felt that if a student didn’t walk through the doors of a studio space that it was their choice.

December 2020  I’ve been doing a lot of learning about how the language that we use, the images that we show, even the music that we play during classes, might make people feel excluded. I’ve started using my pronouns. I’m focusing on including more diversity in my marketing images and encouraging the places where I teach to do the same. Mostly I’m learning about the gaps in my own knowledge from teachers outside of the white, female, straight mold and putting myself into situations where I am in the minority. It’s been heavy work, but work that’s been needed for a very long time.

3. Cueing

January 2020  Gave specific instructions on where the body should be in space. There was a lot of focus on how the body looked in a pose. Sometimes I would adjust bodies, either physically or verbally, to “fit” the pose.

December 2020  Now that I’m not in the same space as many of my students or can’t get close to them, I’ve shifted my cueing away from how a pose should LOOK to how a pose should FEEL. Often I’ll ask where students feel the stretch. I like to encourage students to move intuitively during class. Insisting that I know what will feel best in someone else’s body seems almost ludicrous now. 

4. Music

January 2020  I loved my playlists. They were a mix of traditional “yoga” music, along with pop and indie hits. Sometimes the unexpected oldie. I would plan my playlists to “pick up” when the class would become more active. They would slow down when we would do gentle stretching. They were timed so I never needed to look at a clock when I taught.

December 2020  Pop music feels like a distraction. In March when we shifted to online classes and could no longer play music, the silence was deafening. I hated not being able to walk around students in a class, nodding my head to the music. But now that we’ve been back in-studio, I’m having a lot of trouble with pop music. It feels like one more unwelcome stream in a brain with not enough bandwidth. I’ve been playing my playlists here and there, but I feel like I can focus more on the students when there is soft spa music or classical piano in the background.

The 2020 that I thought I would have was very different from the 2020 that I had (and it’s not over yet). It has been a rough year with so much loss. But, for me, there was actually quite a bit of growth that happened when I let go of what I thought a yoga teacher “should” be and allowed myself to acknowledge all that I have to learn. I’m not sure that I will look back fondly when I think about 2020, but it’s a year that has changed everything.

What has been the biggest change you've noticed in 2020? Tell me below.

This is my favourite style of class!

We will begin with a modified sun salutation to get the body moving and then settle onto the mat for some gentle stretching.

Accessibility: There will be some getting on and off the mat.

Props: I use two blocks, but two cushions or a bolster will also work.

“Self-care is how you take your power back”—Lalah Delia

Winters are hard for so many of us, and this year it will be especially true. We will all be spending more time at home and spending less time in close contact with our friends and family. If you are someone who puts yourself last or keeps going until you burn out, I want you to reconsider that. This is not the time to be a martyr. Self-care can act as a layer of protection against the anxiety of the outside world. Putting steps in place now will help protect your physical and (even more importantly) your mental health as we get into the colder season.

1. Find easy ways for you to eat nourishing foods.

2. Clean up your sleep.

3. Plan to be social.

4. Get outside.

I know that it can be hard to get outside when the weather is cold and the sidewalks are icy, but try to spend even fifteen minute outside every day. In the winter time, our vitamin D stores deplete, which can affect our moods. Getting some sun on your skin can help your body to synthesize vitamin D. Also consider supplementing your vitamin D during the winter.

If you are planning to buy any outside gear this year, invest in some good quality pieces that will make being outside comfortable. Walking is a great form of exercise. You can even make it social with a physically distanced walk break with a friend.

5. Get help if you need it.

Sometimes all the self-care in the world just won't be enough. There is no shame in asking for help when you need it. In fact, I would argue that recognizing when you need help shows strength. Seek out mental health support if you need it. Know that it’s okay to take mood medication if your health professional recommends you take them. And please reach out if you need help or resources. We’re all in this together.

Here is a list of great mental health resources.

This sixteen-minute class is perfect for when you have nervous energy that you need to burn off. We link breath with movement to help calm the mind and bring on stillness. This is a great class to do when you need to transition after a long day of work or to get your mind and body ready to sit in meditation.

You will need: A yoga mat, a blanket is also recommended

Accessibility: You will be on your hands and knees. There is one transition from the floor to standing and then back down.

1. Let people in.

I know this one can be tough. Panic attacks can be embarrassing and often we worry about bothering people. But consider letting one or two people know about what panic attacks look like for you. Let them know what you need in these moments—more space? A way out of the situation? If it is too hard to express this in high anxiety moments, maybe you could let them know what you were going through afterwards. Perhaps they would be open to your calling them and just being on the phone with you as you ride the wave. 

Also, always remember that professional help is available. Family doctors are trained to look after your overall health—this includes your mental health. Talking about your panic attacks with a family doctor or a therapist can be a great way to process what has happened and look at a path forward.

2. Use your breath.

The breath is one of the most overlooked tools that we have at our disposal. Why is that? The breath can so easily change the mood and mindset in a matter of minutes. Two breath techniques (or pranayama) that I recommend are Box Breathing and Alternate Nostril Breathing.

3. Take some movement.

Many people find that movement helps them shift the nervous energy that might be in their bodies during a panic attack. This can take many forms from high energy HIIT workouts to gentle yoga. Experiment and see what works best for you. Going for a walk is a technique used by a lot of people, as it has the advantage of giving you a change of scene. 

4. Try a grounding exercise.

When you're in the middle of an anxiety attack, it can feel like the world is spinning. We might be caught replaying something that happened in our past or getting upset over future events that haven't happened yet. Grounding is a way to get our minds back to the present space. The next time an anxiety attack sneaks up on you, try identifying:

• 5 things that you can see
• 4 things that you can hear
• 3 things that you can feel
• 2 things that you can smell
• 1 thing that you can taste

If this list feels like too much to remember, try just going through each of your senses and identifying one thing.

When I did my yoga teacher training, I never thought that I would be teaching online yoga classes. In my mind, the online “celebrity” yoga teachers with their big white smiles and dancers’ bodies were fine, but that wasn’t the type of yoga I wanted to teach. I knew the importance of creating a safe physical space for students and online classes just didn’t seem all that powerful to me. 

Well, in March 2020 all of that changed for me...and pretty much anyone who wants to continue working in the yoga industry. Even as we move back into studios, the genie is out of the bottle: online teaching is here to stay and all yoga instructors will need to be comfortable teaching remotely.

Teaching remotely can be completely different from teaching in-person. Probably the biggest challenge is not receiving feedback from students. Unlike being physically together, online teaching doesn’t allow you to see how your students are moving—you can’t see if your cues are getting through. You can’t hear or see your students’ breath to determine if the class is challenging. The thing I miss the most is catching a student's eye and giving them a quick nod to let them know that they are on the right track.

While I’m no expert in online teaching, here are some things that I’ve learned since having to make the transition.

1. Get students moving quickly

It’s a lot harder to hold space for students in an online environment. When you are in a yoga studio you can lean on the serenity of the space—being in the studio does a lot of work in setting the scene for relaxation. This isn’t the case when a student is at home. Beginning an online class with silence and stillness just isn’t as relaxing as it is at the studio. I like to get students moving fairly quickly with simple movements that connect with the breath. Seated stretches, cat/cow or half or full sun salutations are some of my favourites. 

2. Classes can be challenging without being complicated

Online classes have a lot going against them: the instructor can be harder to see and hear, the student has to contend with whatever might be distracting them in their home, and they could also be dealing with technological hiccups like an unreliable laptop or a slow internet connection. Online is not the time to bust out a complicated 30 pose flow. Remember that there is comfort in the familiar.

3. Keep student safety in mind

Similar to the above point, an online yoga class is not the time to teach headstand or deep backbends. Without being able to see the students’ bodies and being able to determine if they are ready for advanced asana, I just don’t feel comfortable moving a class in that direction. 

Sometimes, despite our urging, students feel they don’t want to bother an instructor and let us know when they are dealing with an injury or having an issue. Since starting to teach online, I’ve been very careful to mention when a pose would be contraindicated in pregnancy. Other areas where students commonly have issues are knees, lower back, and shoulders. As much as I can, I like to include variations for those who might struggle with these areas. That being said, if an online student is being tight lipped about what is going on in their bodies, there’s only so much we can do.

4. Try to make is easy for students to see and hear you

Make the space you are filming in as bright as it can be. I teach my classes in a dark basement and have recently invested in some light boxes. Test your setup before class and make sure you will always be in frame. 

While I don’t like demoing all of my in-studio classes, I physically move through all of my online classes. Again, I don’t want a student to become anxious if they briefly lose connectivity or sound and aren’t sure where we are in the class. 

Speak loudly and clearly. Be aware of when you are talking into your mat and try to position yourself so you aren’t talking into a wall.

There are technical considerations such as cameras and microphone. I hope to write about that in another post. 

5. Have fun and accept that stuff will happen

Having to rapidly make the shift to teaching online during the Covid-19 pandemic has come with required understanding and patience from everyone. The following are all things that have happened during my online classes: my daughter fell upstairs while trying to climb a bookcase (don’t worry, she was being supervised...sort of), my cat has vomited mid-class, and a Zoom update has kicked me off of a call. We’re all humans. When these goofs happen (and they will) laugh them off as much as you can and move on. We’re all doing the best we can. 

What did I miss? If you’ve moved your teaching online, what is something that you would tell a teacher just starting out? What's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you while teaching?