Trinity Grad Update January 2012

I have had a few questions about this lately so I thought I’d share just a few ideas about making your own yoga/meditation podcasts.  I am certainly not an expert in this area, but I can share how I have done it.  Yoga podcasts give your students, prospective students, and yogi’s around the world an opportunity to practice with you at home.  Podcasts can include simple techniques or sequences for enhancing home practice like neck stretches, mudras, mantras or breathwork, or can be comprehensive classes just like you would teach in your studio.  Your audio/video podcast can be recorded live as you teach, or you can sit down and script and record specifically for podcast. Here are a few ideas on how to get started.

Scripting:  The first thing to consider when designing and scripting a yoga podcast is your media. You can create audio or video podcasts, and both are great, however usually a video podcasts is more costly and takes more time to create, while an audio podcast, while less expensive and easier to create, doesn’t allow for the learning to happen through demonstrating.  So, when creating an audio podcast (whether it is live or a “studio recording”) keep in mind that students cannot see any demonstrations so your cues have to be clear and you may need to describe each technique more fully than you do in a regular class.  Whether you are teaching a simple technique, short sequence or an entire class consider who is it for, what are the benefits, what is the intensity, what is the theme?  Consider your design and cuing carefully and this will help you in designing, instructing, and promoting your podcast and your students will be able to benefit all the more for your development time.  Do you have a lot of students who travel?  Why not create a simple sequence for yogi’s on the road.  Or do your students do a lot of computer work?  How about a quick “at your desk” sequence that they can use at work?  Take the time to consider how your podcasts can be useful to your students, and also review podcasts from other teachers to get a feel for what works best for a student listening in the first time.  And please note that if your podcast includes techniques or levels of intensity that are not suitable for certain populations (ie: prenatal, high blood pressure etc) that this is clearly stated in the podcast or in the marketing.

Recording:  For video podcasts a digital video camera and editing software is a must. For audio podcasts the simplest way to record is by using a digital recording device. I have one that I bought at an office supply store that was about $100 and the quality is pretty good.  If you plan to record live classes while you teach you can even get devices that have clip on microphones to make the process of simultaneous teaching and recording a little easier.  You you can even record into your smartphone like an iphone, although the quality isn’t as good.  If you have the microphone and software, you can also record directly into your computer.  Note that if you wish to do any editing, you will need editing software.  If you buy a recording device it will usually come with some form of simple editing tool, or there are great tools online or at computer/office supply/digital goods retailers that can serve you will.  I would highly recommend that you keep it simple to start – if you find that your podcasting is successful, you can always upgrade and get more techy with it.

Publishing:  Depending on the size and configuration of your website you may be able to post your podcasts directly onto your website. Otherwise, you can post onto a blog site (I use wordpress) or onto tools like YouTube.  From there, you can register your podcast in libraries like iTunes so that your students can subscribe and download all of your podcasts as you create them.  Blog sites usually charge a fee for larger postings like audio/video podcasts – but the charge for the site I use is quite reasonable, about $20 per year.  iTunes is free and there site is very informative when it comes to registering your podcasts.  Check out: https://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/specs.html

Promoting:  Once your podcast is complete tell the world!  Use your newsletter, website, facebook and other online tools.  Hand out cards with your podcast/blog address in your classes and tell your clients to tell their friends.  Post your podcast address anywhere you promote yourself, and add it to your bio.  And you can get your podcast noticed online by registering with free directories that share podcasts and ebooks.

I hope that you have found this helpful, and I look forward to hearing about your journey into the world of Yoga media!

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