Kate Covello
Yoga Teacher Training is available online. Sign up for this 200hr Program and get certified to teach yoga. This is my signature Land & Heart Program, but includes a brand new section on teaching and learning online.
Sign up for Spring or Autumn Program!
Are you looking for the July Summer Intensive? Details here.
Summer intensive program is every July, in Yellowknife. In-person!
The second round of Yoga Teacher Training is happening this fall.
For the autumn, I’ve created a part-time evening and weekend program that will fit into your busy life. Here’s the deal:
You get an unlimited membership at Taiga Yoga (valid until December) to do your practice, and then three evenings per week, we meet as a group to discuss the history, philosophy and modern application of yoga. We’ll also practice teach, examine how to teach different populations and practice seva (community service) and kirtan (chanting).
Sept 30 – Dec 14, 2019
Mon/Thur/Fri 630-10pm
Saturdays 830-1130am
More information is here
Yellowknife Yoga Teachers. This Yoga Teacher Training has evolved into a yoga festival! Being part of the Yellowknife yoga community is such a privilege and I’m so grateful for the contributions from these passionate guest teachers.
Enthusiastic students and current teachers are invited to sign up for any of the following guest workshops.
Norma Heslep: Mental Health and the Practice of Yoga
Norma French-Heslep is an intuitive and compassionate teacher who understands the power of yoga for managing mental health. Walk into this workshop and hear a personal narrative about where yoga fits with mental health. Walk out of this workshop armed with insight about your own relationship with mental health and yoga.
Danielle McPhail: Yoga, Movement and Emotional Healing
Danielle McPhail is a mental health and addictions counsellor and is also a nurturing teacher of yoga and pilates. She presents yoga as therapy through movement. Her therapeutic classes emphasize self-observation to promote healing. Expect to finish this workshop with a feeling of mastery of your movement and of your emotions.
Jennifer Skelton: Restorative Yoga and Integrated Movement
Jennifer Skelton is a yoga therapist with a passion for integrating movement science research into practice. Her considerable knowledge of anatomy and movement will guide you towards ease and comfort in your own body. Her workshop will include a fully-supported restorative yoga class. You’ll finish this session informed about your body’s movement and simultaneously relaxed and confident in your own skin.
Melissa Chung: Diversity in the Yoga Studio: adaptive teaching strategies
Melissa Chung is a highly experienced yoga teacher and is also certified in several fitness modalities. She is able to seamlessly adapt her teaching for advanced yoga students and complete beginners and everyone in between. Teaching to a diverse group of students requires honed power of observation. After this workshop, you’ll have an arsenal of strategies for teaching to different abilities.
Tyler Rentmeister: Sivananda and the Modern Yogi
Tyler Rentmeister is a lifelong learner and yoga enthusiast. He is adaptive and skilled at incorporating many different styles of yoga into his teachings. He completed 200 hours of Sivananda teacher training, and will be discussing the contribution of sivananda to yoga’s lineage.
Johanna Tiemessen: Nia Technique
Johanna Tiemessen is a teacher and practitioner of the Nia Technique. She believes in connecting to the self through movement and meditation. Her charismatic teachings of the Nia Technique leave students feeling powerful, invigorated and happy. Count on a vivid introduction to Nia in this workshop. If you’re already familiar with Nia Technique, you know you’ll blissfully lose yourself in the practice.
Bronwyn Rorke: Meditation and Mantra
Bronwyn Rorke is an inspiring teacher who can teach vigorous power classes or contemplative meditation classes with equal aplomb. She has spent a lot of time examining buddhist teachings and will be leading a workshop on meditation and mantra. Expect a captivating and transformative perspective on meditation.
Brittany Heriott: Acroyoga and the Power of Community
Brittany Heriot is a beautiful practitioner and teacher of yoga who understands the value of community. The practice of acro is beautiful because it’s very obviously about a connection with another person. Yoga constantly emphasizes that we are all connected in this world – acroyoga actually embodies that concept! Learn some basic acro techniques, discuss the power of compassion in our community and then start flying.
Register for guest workshops by etransfer to: katecovelloyoga@gmail.com
$60/workshop + tax
10% discount if you register for more than one
Questions? Get in touch!
I started my own 200hour Yoga Teacher Training program. It’s exciting and I believe in the product, but I have to figure out how sell my product without being pushy or obnoxious. I have to describe the product in meaningful terms. Using vocabulary that is easily misconstrued as industry jargon, I have to relate a story that describes my yoga practice and my product.
recharge, rejuvenate, inspire
holistic, authentic
Have these words become meaningless industry jargon?
Self-promotion has to be loud enough to be heard over the noise of Instagram, Twitter and fourteen other platforms. But it can’t be so loud to the point of obnoxious arrogance. Furthermore, tweets and posts must have meaning attached to the jargon.
Instagram allows up to 2,200 characters, but optimal posts have no more than 150 characters. The allowable characters have become industry buzzword. And those buzzwords saturate the market and compromise the reliability of the products.
“Join me at yoga teacher training and #recharge your practice. Learn to teach #authentic yoga classes. Discover your #holistic approach to well-being.”
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That statement has fewer than 150 characters and contains the right words. But the vocabulary barely registers. There is so much scrolling through so much content that it’s at risk of becoming meaningless jargon.
So how do I attach value to my yoga teacher training? How do I give meaning to my product? Authenticity comes from the story behind the service.
My goal is to teach prospective yoga teachers how to transmit their own belief in yoga.
Land and Heart Yoga
And to do this, I have to be truthful about my own yoga story. Not because I have anything to hide, but because it’s the difference between telling and selling that adds value to my product.
The days of market trickery are over because everyone is selling themselves online. Everyone has curated an online persona and whether or not they’re selling a product, they all know that Instagram isn’t real. And that’s why telling the story behind the product is crucial.
The authenticity and the meaning in my yoga teacher training comes from a flawed and vulnerable existence.
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That is what’s relatable.
Behind the promotional jargon is real experience. I constantly #recharge my yoga practice by being true to what I believe in. Pulling fish out of the lake and wearing locally-sourced fur is more important to me than importing lentils for a vegan diet or shivering in synthetic fabrics.
The classes I teach are #rejuvenating because I base themes around relevant topics for a specific community.
Ten weeks. Part time learning. Full time yoga.
I don’t discuss veganism when I know most of my students have moose meat in their freezer. Instead I’ll reference the value of taking only what’s necessary from the land.
Yoga Teacher Training will be #authentic because you’ll discern your personal reasons for practicing and learn to teach only what you know. If you’re an expert on knee anatomy because you’ve had three knee surgeries, you’ll incorporate that. If you have personal experience with vegan lifestyle and you believe in in, you’ll incorporate that.
Yoga is a #holistic approach to well-being because the practice insists that you listen to your emotions and body and understand yourself. Extract what’s relevant from the philosophy of yoga and learn to teach what you know. The honest story behind the promotion will shine through and the jargon will be rightfully redeemed as useful vocabulary.
Yoga is for everyone, regardless of lifestyle choices.
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The vocabulary, just like the yoga itself, can be tuned to fit every iteration of practice. Tune out the jargon, but tune into the meaning behind the vocabulary. The stories are what makes the promotion believable.
Book a call!
Is 200hour Yoga Teacher Training online right for you? Book a 30-minute call to answer your questions and get more information
Getting up and out of it. Let go of your resolution and just get started. What is your dream project? What if the only thing holding you back was laziness and fear? Describe your project in 500 words or less, send me a two-minute video about the project and be entered to win a scholarship to Yoga Teacher Training.
Click here for scholarship details
There’s a sequence that I teach in my power yoga classes that students laugh at. They giggle and chuckle when I demonstrate and I get the impression they are saying to themselves “I can’t do that….”
Navasana (boat pose) to Utkatasana (chair pose). Also known as up and off your butt and into action. The first step to achieving your dreams is getting up and off the couch. Boat pose to chair pose is a metaphor for getting started. Getting up and off the couch, in turn, is a metaphor for getting started on your dream project.
It’s late March. Winter officially ended on March 21. Good-intentioned New Years resolutions have fallen by the wayside and here you are, slouched on the couch. You’re certain there is something you should be doing, but unsure how to get there.
The first step is to put both feet on the floor and stand up.
The next step is to forget about your new years resolution. The premise behind new years resolutions is flawed and doesn’t offer the positive reinforcement required for fulfilling a dream. Resolutions imply that there is something wrong with you that needs to change. That’s a poor foundation for fulfilling goals.
Goals and dream projects are based on personal experience. Success is predicated on a fundamental belief that they are possible.
What is your dream project? Did you scheme it up with the belief that you have to change who you are in order to see it through? Likely not. You know it exists in the realm of possibility and you are capable of doing the work required to achieve it. So, forget your new years resolution that you’ll change something about yourself. Reframe your goals in terms of projects that exist within your ability. Rather than focusing on what you need to change about yourself, focus on what you have done thus far and why you envisioned a particular dream. The dream is an extension of something you’ve already achieved and is within your ability.
Boat pose to chair pose. Plant your feet firmly on the ground, fire up your core strength and stand up! If it doesn’t work, try it again. Then try again. Do something, right now, that contributes to your dream. What is it? Do you want to run a marathon? Put on your running shoes. Do you want to finish your Masters thesis? Edit one paragraph. Do you want to find a partner? Leave your house and interact with someone new. Do you want to start a company? Draft a business proposal. Do you want to swim across Georgia Straight? Get to the pool. Do you want to get out of debt? Make a budget. Whatever you want, the first step is to stand up and get started.
Get off your butt and step into the heat. The magic is in the hard work and if you can imagine your project, then you can do it. Stand up and get started.
Yoga Teacher Training in Yellowknife
What’s you dream project? What if the only thing holding you back was fear?
This is an excerpt from my upcoming textbook. Yoga Uttara: Land and Heart Practice is a compilation of ten years of teaching, practicing and writing about yoga.
If you’re interested in more, sign up for my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training.
Land and Heart Practice: 200hr Yoga Teacher Training
Created by me. Interpreted by you.
Details here.
Finding your teaching voice
Speaking in front of a group is daunting. You must compile what you know about yoga into concise phrase bytes that reflect the theme and pace of the class. You must speak clearly and skilfully about a topic that you don’t know everything about. You must gauge your student’s level of comprehension and tailor the instruction accordingly. And you must be trusted to impart some knowledge about yoga. All of this is overwhelming, especially when you are a new teacher.
Teach from your authentic voice.
Teach what you know and be honest that you don’t know everything (nobody does). You’ve attended hundreds of hours of yoga classes and the cues and ideas you’ve heard will influence your teaching voice. This is good, but remember that your own perspective and voice is good too! You offer a unique contribution to yoga. Honour this contribution by speaking honestly. Be authentic.
Speak clearly.
Your goal is to make instructions as easy as possible to follow. Consider what verb tense you are using. Are you speaking in declarative sentences “stand up and breathe in.” or are you employing gerunds “next you’ll be standing up and breathing in.” Are you speaking in your normal tone of voice or are you dragging out your vowels? “Now, slowly moooooove into chiiiiild’s pose…..” Imagine you’re having a conversation with the group, like a dinner party, and speak as you normally would. Students will appreciate your candor.
Try this: “exhale and jump back into chaturanga.” Instead of “next we’re going to be exhaling sloooowly and jumping the feet back into chaturanga.” The former phrase is a declarative sentence that clearly articulates your instruction. The latter is a narrative that describes the process. Neither is incorrect, but the first phrase uses fewer words and concisely declares your intention. Clear and concise speech will make the practice easier for students to follow.
The more clearly you speak, the more believable your teaching will be. As you learn to speak declaratively, your confidence will soar. Believe in your teaching and clearly communicate your instructions. This strategy will eliminate the feeling that you need to “perform” the yoga class.
Words have weight. Speak them wisely.
Address the class as an entity: direct conversation and instruction
There are two types of speaking you’ll do during a yoga class. You’ll speak to the group when they are looking at you, usually at the beginning and end of class. We’ll call this direct conversation. You’ll also speak to the class while they are immersed in the sequence and not looking at you. We’ll call this instruction. Both demand the same type of speaking: speak with individuals within the group. You are speaking with (not at) your students. Their reaction is part of the conversation.
Direct conversation
When you are engaged in direct conversation, make eye contact with someone in the group and notice their reaction. Are they nodding, smiling and considering your statements? Or are they frowning, fidgeting and appear confused? Respond appropriately to those cues. Then direct your words to another person. Note the reaction and adjust your delivery accordingly. In this way, you’re using individuals to represent the group and you are able to tailor your talk to the entire group.
For example, you’re discussing karma yoga in your introduction and suggesting your students participate in some type of selfless service. Are you teaching this concept at a 90-minute Saturday morning class? Or are you teaching the concept at a 12pm weekday class where everyone is on their lunch break? It’s not that either group is more interested in the concept of karma yoga. It’s that you will amend your detailed instruction to appropriately fit your audience. The 50 minute lunchtime crew isn’t not interested in karma yoga, but they are primarily there to get a quick stretch before going back to work. The Saturday morning people have a little more time on their hands to consider the philosophical offerings of yoga. When you note reactions to your words, you’re able to tailor your instruction to the group as a whole.
Instruction
When you are instructing a sequence, pay attention to how one person is responding to your verbal cues. If you have instructed warrior two and someone is in warrior one, specifically instruct that student to extend their arms into warrior two. It’s possible that other students misunderstood you as well; by directing your instruction to an individual, you are acknowledging that person as a representative of the group. By tailoring your instruction to something that is relevant to at least one person in the group, you are avoiding the trap of saying generic instruction that aren’t useful to anyone. Furthermore, you are contributing to the conversation by noticing one person’s non-verbal reaction to your instruction and adjusting accordingly.
Speak clearly, tailor your words to suit the current class and only teach what you know. By following these three instructions, you’ll be confident and honest in front of your students. This authenticity will shine through and yoga students will appreciate your knowledge. Accept your humanity and all your imperfections and your students will trust you to lead them through a yoga class.
(featured picture from the very first yoga class I ever taught. Thank you to supportive friends and family who stumbled along with me in that first practice)
Why am I teaching a yoga teacher training?
Simply – because I want to share the experience of yoga. Yoga can’t be captured in images of lithe women doing poses;
it can’t be captured in swirling platitudes set against backgrounds apropos of nothing;
Yoga can barely be described. But it can be experienced. It can be felt in a visceral way that defies description. I practiced for five years before I started teaching and then I decided to teach because I believed in the power of the practice.
And now, in my tenth year of teaching, I’ve amassed some experience and curated my personal practice into a 200-hour perspective.
Am I ready to share what I know about the practice? Yes.
Am I intimidated at the prospect of inviting students into my weird little yogic world? Yes.
Do I believe that I can make a difference by describing my version of yoga? Yes.
Truthfully, the amount of knowledge I have about yoga (or life) is laughably little. I don’t know what life feels like for anyone but myself. But I do know about the positive effect of yoga on my life.
So if I know next to nothing about yoga, what the heck are we going to talk about in teacher training?
We’ll talk about the different types of yoga (karma, jnana, bhakti, hatha, raja); we’ll talk about the eight limbs of yoga (yamas, niyamas, asana, pranayama, pratayahara, dharana, samadi); we’ll talk about the subtle anatomy of yoga (chakras, nadis) as well as the physical anatomy of yoga (muscles, joints); we’ll talk about poses and alignment; we’ll talk about meditation; we’ll talk about yoga as therapy and finally we’ll figure out the methodology for teaching all this stuff.
I have a well-researched curriculum that I’m ready to share. But prior to writing the curriculum, the first step was to experience it. I’ve practiced in dozens of countries, I’ve practiced every lineage I could find, I’ve practiced through the thrill of falling in love and the subsequent crush of breakup. I’ve practiced as a teenager and as a 35-year-old.
I’ve practiced with and without anti-depressants, I’ve practiced with back pain and, most recently, I’ve practiced in the days and weeks following knee surgery.
And of course, there have been times when I didn’t practice at all. But through it all; the pain, the joy, the ecstasy and the ignorance, yoga has always saved me from suffering. And that’s why I believe in it.
Across the lineages and through the centuries, yoga is about surviving without suffering. Pain is mandatory; suffering is optional. Yoga takes you by the scruff of the neck and helps you survive maladies and disease. It forces you to look within and ask the tough questions about what you really need. Relationships, jobs, injury, medical intervention…it all comes and goes, but yoga is constant.
Yoga is the foundation for knowing yourself in spite of the tragedies and triumphs.
The point is that nothing makes the journey easy. Even with yoga, it’s still up to you to get up, get dressed and show up – to everything. But your yoga practice will ease the way. And that’s what we’ll examine. This teacher training isn’t about my practice, but it is about the practice. And it’s about what the practice means to you. There isn’t a correct way to do yoga, only that you do it.
Along the way, I’ve practiced at countless studios and with hundreds of teachers. Each teacher had an original interpretation of yoga. But all the teachers are unified in their unwavering belief in the practice. Whatever they say, wherever they were, whether I agree with their instruction or not, every single teacher presented an unshakeable opinion that the practice is worth it.
So if you believe in this elaborate practice, join me to examine your yoga and refine your ability to describe its value.
That’s what we’ll be doing in teacher training: figuring out how to articulate this exquisite practice. We’ll examine its history, lineage and philosophy and we’ll discuss descriptive techniques. You already believe in the power of the practice. Yoga teacher training will provide the tools to inspire that same belief in your future students. You know the potency of the practice. Now come and learn how to convey that power and pass it forward.
Ready to sign up for teacher training this summer?
Scholarship Application – Land and Heart Yoga School
I am pleased to award one 50% scholarship to a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training applicant. The application process has two components:
I love essays! They have a beginning, a middle and an end. They have a clear thesis statement and each section has a topic sentence. They clearly define themselves in terms of who, what, where and why.
Please write a short (less than 500 words) essay in answer to this question:
What is your dream project? Imagine that you can abandon all your responsibilities (and maybe even the life that you’re currently living) and start something new. Nothing is holding you back except your own fear. If courage is the only catalyst you need to get what you want, what would that be?
Describe your dream project in terms of:
The project doesn’t have to include anything about yoga, but it can if you want it to. The intention is to start thinking creatively about your situation and how you see yourself contributing to the world around you. What does freedom and contribution mean to you?
I also love photos and videos! They illustrate the creative process. Include in this application a two-minute (or shorter) video or slideshow to illustrate the inspiration behind your project.
Please send essay and video or slideshow to
Deadline: One month before program start date.
Scholarship winner will be notified three weeks prior to program start date.
Loka Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu
May all beings everywhere be happy and free and may the thoughts words and actions of my own life contribute in some way.
The practice of yoga is therapeutic. Anyone who has practiced yoga will agree with this statement, but the idea of “yoga therapy” is contentious. In January 2016, the Yoga Alliance requested that any yoga school remove the terms “yoga therapy” and “yoga therapist” from their title. This instruction was a precaution against misleading the public that yoga teachers are diagnosticians. The point was not that yoga isn’t therapeutic, but rather that yoga is not a strategy for diagnosing or curing ailments. The therapeutic potential of yoga comes from its consistent practice. Yoga is a complete system for maintaining health and wellbeing, but it is not a prescriptive solution to specific ailments.
As a yoga teacher, you will receive a lot of inquiries about how to “cure” a variety of ailments, or “treat” a specific population. Some examples include depression/anxiety, back pain, pregnancy, injuries, asthma, arthritis, insomnia and obesity. Your role as a yoga professional is to guide students to treat themselves for whatever they are suffering from. Yoga is not a replacement for other medical care, but it is a useful tool in healthcare. Consistent yoga practice offers students autonomy and awareness in their own healthcare journey.
The difference between yoga and other types of healthcare is that yoga does not apply a reductionist style of therapy. It requires commitment from the student and it is not a quick solution. For example, consider the following statements:
“If I meditate, then I’ll be calmer.”
“If I don’t smoke, then I’ll be able to run faster.”
“If I eat less, then I’ll be thinner.”
These statements are true, but they fail to capture health as a complete psychological and physiological system. Yoga affords a point of view that goes beyond the reductionist if/then approach to health. For example, the primary series of Ashtanga yoga is called yoga chikitsa. Translated, this means yoga therapy. The therapeutic application of Ashtanga is its systematic approach towards wellness rather than a prescription to cure/treat an ailment.
The therapeutic quality of the yoga is its attention to discipline, devotion and patience. Yoga chikitsa is intended to be practiced daily. Practitioners are to do each pose in sequence and follow the other suggestions for a well-rounded lifestyle.
It is these qualities of the practice – discipline, devotion and patience – that students can apply to other therapeutic requirements.
First, you must provide a nurturing and welcoming environment for every student that comes to your classes or even who asks you a question. Yoga is therapeutic in its consistent application. But suggesting this to a student who has recently been diagnosed with arthritis or asthma or depression and who is looking for a prescriptive “fix” may be counterproductive. Students who have recently been diagnosed with an ailment, particularly if they are new to yoga, will not initially be receptive to your suggestion that yoga must be practiced regularly and consistently. Incorporating a yoga practice into a healthcare regime is fundamentally different than taking a pill or getting surgery. Informing students that they must practice “forever” will be overwhelming. Furthermore, with insidious problems that require therapy such as obesity or back pain, students might be reluctant to embrace the lifestyle changes that are necessary to change their circumstances. So, it’s important to be compassionate and welcoming to each student, regardless of their previous yoga experience and regardless of their current expectations of the practice.
Next, be patient and creative in your approach. Encourage students as they develop a regular practice. Although it might be obvious to you how yoga is therapeutic for many ailments, the yogic approach of a mind-body connection might be foreign to new students. Assess each student by asking questions about their experience, their perception of yoga and what aspects of yoga make them feel better. Elaborate on this by making yoga appealing. For example, an injured athlete with a lot of energy may not stick with a seated meditation practice. She might find it boring and annoying. Propose to her instead that she try walking meditation. Instruct her to set a mantra before she walks and then to repeat the mantra during the walk. Just as yoga is an overarching solution for almost any ailment, there are infinite ways to incorporate yoga into a lifestyle.
Finally, even though yoga therapy is not a replacement for medical intervention, it is a valuable companion to medicine. As a yoga teacher, you have the time to discuss with students what is ailing them and together, you can evaluate lifestyle changes, such as work environment, leisure activities and emotional circumstances. Together, you and your student can determine an effective and useful application of yoga. Furthermore, by consulting with your student, and putting them in charge of their own health via yoga, you are giving them the autonomy to take charge of their personal wellbeing.
Yoga may not be a prescriptive tool to cure ailments, but it does provide a therapeutic elixir of which students have control over the dosage.