For Yoga Teachers

61. Working with the koshas in your private yoga classes

• Yoga Hero

Share episode

Private yoga sessions are unique in that you can use your time, knowledge and focus all on one person. You don’t have to keep the rest of a class running while you help one person with their alignment or their pain.

Next week, we’ll look at how to get private yoga bookings from your group classes, in a way that’s not susceptible to imposter syndrome and totally beneficial to both you and the potential client, so tune in next week for that.

But anyway, back to the koshas.  This is where we’re going in today’s episode:
* A quick refresher of the five koshas
* Using the Koshas as a framework for your Private Sessions
* Using the kosha system to really help your private yoga clients

See the shownotes here

When working one-on-one, the kosha system gives you a framework to tailor your sessions to the student’s needs holistically, and this is something that you can work through methodically, making sure that your private yoga clients are always getting a hugely beneficial and well-rounded session. While we definitely don’t want people to be struggling to pay for sessions with us, it is nice to have a valid reason to keep clients coming back to you, and working with all the layers of the koshas can certainly be that very valid reason.

If you’d love to learn more about the overlaps between fascia and energetic anatomy, this training is for you


If you’d love to learn more about Yoga Nidra (or even just see what it’s like to practice two gorgeous Yoga Nidra’s a day), then this training is for you


Both of these gems are part of our fabulous 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training, take a look at that here!

--
🤝 The Base
A community for yoga teachers Take a look

📚 Training for yoga teachers
300 hour yoga teacher training, starts March 25
Myofascial Release, Energetic Anatomy and Yoga, Mar 25
Yoga and The Neurobiology of Stress, June 25
Yoga Nidra with Yoga Wisdom, Sept 25
Restorative Yoga and Polyvagal Theory, Jan 26
Yoga for resilience, March 26
Teaching yoga for anxiety & stress, June 26

--

Follow @foryogateachers

Struggle with low confidence and self-doubt? Try the free Shatter Imposter Syndro...

 Hello, and welcome to For Yoga Teachers. This podcast has been created to help yoga teachers teach with passion, avoid burnout and earn a fair living. Two episodes ago, we were diving into understanding the coaches. And last week we looked at weaving the koshas into your asana classes. Today, we're continuing with the koshas. Exploring how the kosher system can serve as a powerful framework for your private yoga sessions. 

Private yoga sessions are really unique. And really full of potential. In that you can use your time, your knowledge and your focus all on one person. You don't have to keep the rest of a class running, trying to remember where you are in your sequence while you help out one person with their alignment or their pain or their questions. And next week, we will look at how to get private yoga bookings from your group classes in a way that's not susceptible to imposter syndrome. And that is totally beneficial to both you and the potential client. So tune in next week for that. But for now back to the koshas. I think, that the kosha model offers a holistic lens to support your private yogis wellbeing on all levels, physical, energetic, mental and spiritual. So, this is where we're going in today's episode. 

We'll start with a quick refresher of the five koshas. 

We'll look at using the koshas as a framework to plan and execute your private yoga sessions. 

And then we'll look at using the kosha system to really, really help your private yoga clients with the issues that they're experiencing at the moment. 

Okay. Let's crack on. 

A quick refresher of the koshas. 

Let's start with a quick refresher. The kosha system is five layers or five sheaths or five bodies of our being. Let's start from the physical, moving to the spiritual. We have the annamaya kosha the physical body. Actually it translates as the food body. 

The pranamaya kosha, the energetic body. The Manomaya kosha, the mental body. The Vijnanamaya kosha, the wisdom body, and the Anandamaya kosha, the bliss body. The beauty of the kosha system is that it continues to remind us that we as humans are multi-dimensional. Each layer influences all of the others; meaning that we can help someone work with their pain, uh, by directly working with that layer, and or with other layers, so cool. 

 Using the koshas as a framework for your private yoga sessions. This is something that we'll look into much more on our upcoming training for yoga teachers in March, 2025 at Yoga Hero, which is myofascial release, energetic anatomy and yin yoga. Because we can look at fascia as being in the domain of annamaya kosha, the food body, the physical body. But you can, I believe, most certainly look at the fascial network, as being in the domain of the Pranamaya kosha, the energetic body. 

And this is where it gets really super cool. 

Well, At least to me! Because fascia experts are talking about the incredibly holistic nature of fascia. That the fascial net can and will affect our emotions, our stress level, the way that we hold our physical body, maybe even the way that we look at the world. Okay. I'm getting ahead of myself, but suffice to say that the koshas are really important part of understanding fascial and energetic anatomy, and the relationship that these two share. So. When working one on one, the kosha system gives you a framework to tailor your sessions to the students' needs holistically. 

And this is something that you can work through methodically, making sure that your private yoga clients are always getting a hugely beneficial and well-rounded session from you. 

Hello, repeat bookings and referrals. 

Let's break it down layer by layer, looking at a few example tools and techniques to target each of the five bodies. 

 Annamaya kosha, the physical body. And this is pretty obvious, right? Your client has come to you for yoga class. And yoga is generally regarded as movement, right? As Asana, perhaps with some pranayama and some meditation, depending on how aware your Yogi is about the fullness of yoga. 

So you can probably assume that they are expecting asana, and no doubt, you already have the skills and experience to create a class for their needs. Which might be building strengths, it might be regulating the nervous system, it might be working on range of motion and mobility, it might be making alignment more safe, it might be avoiding exacerbating an injury, it might be all of those, it might be a combination of those, but I think we can issue that your private yoga client is expecting some movement; some asana so as a yoga teacher, working with the koshas, you can take a bit of time to truly consider what a client needs from you, asana wise. And what their four other layers need from you, and use this insight and knowledge to plan your asana. 

 Pranamaya kosha, the energetic body. 

We've talked in the previous two episodes about approaching the pranamaya kosha through the lens of energy and breath. To you, these might be one and the same or to you, they might be different, but related in both are correct really. 

So really watch and listen to your client. 

Can you get a sense of their energy levels and their vitality? 

Have you got practices and tools in your toolbox to help them accordingly? And of course the joy of working privately with someone who's that you don't have to keep the whole class running whilst trying to help them. You can use all of your focus to observe, and you can even pause your class to inquire and nobody else is going to have an issue with that. You can totally focus on your client. And I truly believe of course, that your client will benefit so much from this. But I also truly believe that you're teaching benefits from this too. 

 Staying with the pranamaya kosha, I would really recommend learning how to conduct a breath assessment. This is something that you might know already. And it's something that we will cover briefly in our, myofascial release, energetic anatomy and yin yoga training in March, 2025. And then much more in depth in our yoga for resilience training in March, 2026. There's nothing like future planning, hey?! Both of these modules are part of our 300 hour training. The really wonderful thing about yoga is that there are different energetic maps that you can work with and you can choose from, based on your preference of teaching, or by making an educated guess as to what your client needs.

Energetic maps include: 

The chakra system, of course. 

The prana vayus and the nadis 

to learn more about these incredibly valuable maps, do take a look at our training and there's more details in the show notes. 

 Manomaya kosha, the mental body. The modern Maya kosher is reading the environment at all times in respect to safety. In the book, practical yoga psychology by Dr. Rishi Vivekananda. He refers to the manomaya kosha, assessing the world and resulting in the three F responses. Fight. Flight. Or. 

I have I got you on the edge of your seat. Or friendship, fight flight or friendship. And stress fight or flight, of course being part of the stress response. Stress is such, such an interesting topic to bring up within the Kosha. Because the response of stress is physical. The heart rate increases, the breath rate increases. 

There's increased levels of glucose cortisol. We might feel more alert. But of course the stress response is caused by something mental. The perception of a threat, which is absolutely in the domain of the manomaya kosha. 

So working with manomaya kosha with your clients. Try to establish what helps them to feel safe, and ensure that your private yoga sessions provide this. Establish, whether your client is responsive to using the mind to find calm, such as repeating a mantra or using mindfulness techniques and then introduce these into your classes accordingly. 

 Vijnanamaya kosha, the wisdom body. Bearing in mind that accessing the wisdom of the Vijnanamaya kosha is almost when the previous three layers have been worked with. And blockages or issues or whatever you want to call them have been resolved or at least partially resolved. So essentially don't expect your clients to tap into that inner wisdom if they're struggling with shoulder pain or if they're absolutely knackered, or if they're preoccupied by a worrying situation at work. We can help our clients work with or connect with Vijnanamaya kosha through yoga philosophy. 

Yes. My favorite. Oh, sorry. I should be neutral. So. You could introduce like the yamas and the niyamas into your session. Just in the form of a chat or weaving them into the Asana portion of your class. You could teach them about non attachment to the fruits of their actions or OM or anything that resonates with you, that you think would provide some food for thought. And this will help your client connect with their Vijnanamaya kosha, the wisdom body in your class, and onwards into their week as well. 

 Anandamaya kosha, the bliss body. 

And so we arrive at, you might consider this the whole point of yoga; the intention and the ability to connect with a sense of peace within. And this might be having worked methodically through the layers; that your client is able to connect with that sense of peace in their Savasana that you do in their class. Or maybe you find yourself guiding your clients through a meditation. Or a Yoga Nidra if you have that in your skillset. And if you don't. Yep. You guessed it. Our yoga nidra training details are in the show notes and it is an absolutely divine experience. So you should definitely join us. 

Essentially the more your client connects with that sense of peace, the more they will be able to connect with it. And you can be sure that this will be such a valuable, transforming, hey, even life changing outcome of attending classes with you. 

 Using the kosha system to really help your private yoga clients. First of all consider using an intake form to get a client's history. But please be aware of the guidance around storing personal details, that's relevant, wherever you are in the world. 

Having an intake form will help you understand the client's history and backstory. And it gives you something to work from in your first session. Let's say on your client's intake form, they mentioned that they have back pain. So in your first session, you could ask your client to expand on their. And if you really listen to how your Yogi speaks about their pain or their wishes, They'll give you clues about what layers they are already connected with and what layers are harder for them to connect with. 

I am such a big believer in removing barriers. So make it simple, start with the layers that you think they connect with already and go from there. And then as you are really listening to your client, think, do they use language that's purely physical? My back hurts when I'm driving. Or is it layered? My back hurts when I'm driving, which is making me worried to drive and I'm starting to think it's going to affect my job. I'm really worried. 

The latter is giving you clues and routes to work with. You could start with the boat pain, using your knowledge, your experience and inquiry with the client to build a sequence that reduces the pain. And then work with the worry too. So work with Manomaya kosha, the mental body, to reduce this worry. 

And after each session reflect, either on your own or with your client; what went well? 

What was the struggle? 

How well did the client respond to the different practices and techniques you offered and what would you do differently next time? 

There is so, so much potential when using the kosha model in your private yoga sessions. And while we certainly don't want people to be struggling financially to pay for sessions with us, it is so nice to have a valid reason to keep clients coming back to you; and working with all the layers of the koshas, can certainly be that very valid reason. So yoga teachers, I really hope that's helped. Remember, if you are looking for more support, especially with working with energetic anatomy. Check out our training in March, 2025, but don't hang about, there's not that many spaces available on it now. And if you've enjoyed this episode, would you send it on to a fellow yoga teacher? 

We would be so grateful. And as always. Happy teaching.