Just testing the forum

[Rhonda]

So I am not really sure what kind of questions we are suppose to pose to this forum but thought I'd give it a try. Last spring I started a "Yoga Club". It was my way of starting to teach without calling myself a teacher. Its a great way to get started. I am not sure whether Colin and Sarah supported the idea of my club but I recommend it to anyone of you who have not yet taught. I found 10 people I knew and was comfortable with and who wanted to "Discover Yoga". We met once a week for 1 1/2 hours and did yoga. It was well received by all and encouraging for me to get in front of a group. Now that fall is approaching I am being asked to start the Yoga Club again. Last spring I changed a whopping $40.00 each for 8 weeks. What do you think is a reasonable amount to charge given that I am a Teacher in Training?

I have another question for Colin and Sarah but also for anyone that wants to take a stab at it. I use to be able to do Push-Ups. I have probably not tried a push up in about 4 months. last night I tried. To my surprise I was not able to get off the floor once. So is yoga doing something to my shoulders that is changing the strength in my shoulders or is it simply because I have not done a push-up in some time? And, if I continue to work on regaining that ability am I doing something to my shoulders that will have an adverse effect on asanas that require a lot of shoulder activity?

[YogiColin]

I think your students have already let you know if yoga club (what's the first rule of yoga club?) is a good idea. if people are showing up and seem to enjoying their classes and learning something in the process then what could possibly be wrong with that? In terms of how much to charge - the industry standard in these parts is $10-15/class in studios (yoga-dedicated space with supply of props) and $5-10 for classes in community centers and the like.

As far as your shoulders - my guess is that when you were doing pre-yoga pushups you were most likely flinging yourself around with god-awful alignment that was doing more harm than good. now that you are practicing yoga you are attempting to do extremely efficient, balanced, and intelligent push-ups (that are therefore much more difficult). Keep doing chaturanga, updog, downdog sequence. arm balances and handstands. if you want to work on push-ups just move nice and slow from plank to chaturanga and (eventually) back up again.