This week, Sarah discusses sustainable employment models with two yoga teachers: Liz Buehler Walker of the U.S. and Norman Blair of the U.K. Join us as we explore what it really looks like to make a career as a yoga teacher and how the yoga industry needs to change so we can better value and support our teachers. 

Want to connect with Sarah? Reach out to her on Instagram, Facebook, or directly via email at sarahdittmore@gmail.com.

The Beginner's Mind is created in partnership with Shut Up & Yoga. Check out their new books at www.shutupandyoga.com/books or join the conversation via the new facebook group, Shut Up & Yoga Forum for Modern Yogis.

Liz Buehler Walker

Connecting to my breath and body through yoga has always offered me a way out of denial and into how I’m doing in relationship to reality. Everyone’s vision, path and lived experience is different, and I believe that the vastness of the yogic practiceS teach us how to be in our truth and hold space for others to be in theirs.

Learning is a lifelong process, but some of the people I have studied with are Peter Rizzo of Bhava Yoga (500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, 2001), Alan Finger of ISHTA Yoga (Yoga Teacher Training Bridge Program for meditation and subtle body, 2008), Mia Borgatta of Lila Yoga and Wellness (Pre-Natal Yoga Teacher Training, 2012), Lara Kohn-Thompson and Beth Donnelly-Caban of Integral Yoga (Pre-Natal Yoga Teacher Training, 2016), Dr. Naina Marballi (Ayurveda Shirodhara Training, 2017), Sarah Tomlinson in the Harish Johari lineage of Yantra and Ayurveda.

Currently I am involved in studies with social change and spiritual leaders such as Michelle Cassandra Johnson, author of Skill In Action, Kerri Kelly, founder of CTZNWELL, Susanna Barkataki, creator of the Honor {Don’t Appropriate} Yoga Summit and Workbook, and Kelley Palmer, creator of Peacefilled Mama and co-founder of The Sanctuary in the City.

I am also developing a Pre-Natal Yoga Teacher Training and Post-Natal programs and continue to mentor yoga teachers informally and as apprentices.

You can connect with me at www.brooklynyogalife.com.

Norman Blair

Norman has been practising yoga since the early 1990s and teaching yoga since 2001. He has studied deeply with teachers such as Sarah Powers, Richard Freeman, and Alaric Newcombe. He loves the way yoga has helped him become more embodied, more conscious, and more focused. His approach is about enabling accessibility, encouraging acceptance and deepening awareness.

He likes (in no particular order) chocolate, Star Trek, standing on his head, resting on bolsters, and going for walks across Hampstead Heath. A philosophy of practice for him is succinctly summarised by cellist Pablo Casals. When interviewed at the age of 93, Pablo Casals said that he practiced for three hours a day. When asked why, he replied: “I’m beginning to see some improvement”.

Norman believes that yoga teachers need to speak out and stand up. That all of us can greatly benefit from co-operation and collaborating rather than wall-building and competition. Norman lives and teaches in London/UK. He has written a book – Brightening Our Inner Skies: yin and yoga – and his website is www.yogawithnorman.co.uk He has a monthly newsletter – to receive it please email yogawithnorman@gmail.com