How to Film and Submit Yoga Teaching Practice Videos for Assessment and Students

How to Film and Submit Yoga Teaching Practice Videos for Assessment and Students

By Heather Agnew, ERYT-500, senior yoga educator

Introduction

Whether you’re preparing for a yoga teaching assessment or sharing instructional videos with your students, the way you film and submit your content can greatly affect the experience for both you and your audience. In this post, we will explore essential tips for recording and sharing your yoga teaching practice videos. These guidelines will not only help you create quality content but also ensure a seamless submission process.

Filming Your Yoga Teaching Practice or Yoga Classes

What Device?

When recording your yoga teaching practice for assessment or to share with your students, you might use a phone, a laptop, or a camera, depending on what you have access to. If you have a few choices, choose the device that allows you to adjust resolution, capture the best image and audio, and easily share your video files.

Resolution Matters

When recording your yoga teaching practice, it’s tempting to opt for the highest resolution available on your device, such as 4K. However, this can lead to enormous file sizes, making it challenging to upload or share your videos. Instead, choose a lower resolution, like HD (High Definition) or FHD (Full High Definition). Choosing HD or FHD resolution provides a good balance between video quality and file size. It ensures that your viewers can see you clearly without dealing with overly large files that may be challenging to upload or share.

To adjust the video resolution on your recording device, consult your device’s user manual or watch tutorials on platforms like YouTube that are tailored to your specific phone, computer, or camera brand or model. You’ll likely find step-by-step guides to help you configure the video settings appropriately.

Lighting and Sound Considerations

Lighting and audio quality are important for creating professional yoga teaching videos. Adequate lighting should highlight your movements and body positioning so students can follow your demos with ease. Natural light is ideal, but if unavailable, invest in soft, diffused lighting options.

You’ll get the clearest audio by using an external microphone or a high-quality built-in microphone. If you are filming using your phone, wireless ear buds are a great option. If you don’t have a microphone, it’s best to position your device (phone, laptop) closer to you so that the devices microphone can clearly pick up your voice. Eliminate distracting background noises, including music, that might interfere with assessors or students hearing your cues clearly.

Finding Volunteer Students

For your teaching assessment, you can teach to one or more volunteers, which can include family, friends, or fellow teacher trainees. Ensure that your students are aware of the assessment’s guidelines and requirements, such as recording the session.

If you aren’t able to find volunteers to teach to, you can teach to the camera with an imagined class in mind.

Note: If you will be sharing your teaching videos with anyone other than your assessor, for example sharing videos with your students, ensure that anyone visible in your recordings has provided written consent for their image to be shared publicly.

Beginning Your Class

Make sure you start your class by:
1. Introducing yourself and stating your name.
2. Explaining what your class is about, including its target audience and practice level.
3. Providing some helpful tips on having a safe and comfortable practice.

A Few Helpful Tips for Filming Yoga Teacher Training Assessments

Before filming, spend time getting to know your students, understanding their history and practice level.

Design a class that incorporates the poses and breathwork techniques you’ve learned in your course.

Ensure you’ve left enough time in your class for relaxation (approx. 10-20% of your class time).

Tailor your class length and intensity to your participants when selecting poses, regressions, progressions, variations, and props.

Pay attention to how you open your class, cue, demonstrate, gesture, refine, correct, and close the practice, as well as your overall class design.

Keep your class simple and student-oriented, avoiding unnecessary complexity.

For guidance, consult your course manual on sequencing for balanced program recommendations.

Transferring Your Video

Once you’ve completed your class, follow these steps to share your video:

You can submit videos to assessors or share with your students using platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or WeTransfer.

Using YouTube for Sharing Yoga Videos

If your video remains too large to upload to cloud storage services like Dropbox or Google Drive, an excellent alternative is to use YouTube. You can upload your video as an unlisted video on the platform. An unlisted video is not visible to the public, and only people with the link can access it.

Here’s how to share your yoga teaching video on YouTube as an unlisted video:

a. Sign in to your YouTube account or create one if you don’t have one already.

b. Click on the video camera icon (usually located at the top right on desktop or at the bottom right on mobile devices) to start the upload process.

c. Select your yoga teaching practice video file.

d. During the upload process, you’ll have the option to set the video’s visibility. Choose “Unlisted.”

e. Complete the upload process, and YouTube will provide you with a shareable link.

f. Share this link with your assessor or students, and they will be able to view the video without it being publicly accessible.

In Summary

Filming and submitting yoga teaching practice videos for assessment or to share with your students can be made more efficient by considering resolution, lighting, and audio quality during filming. Remember that you don’t need excessively high-resolution videos for these purposes, and using HD or FHD resolution can help manage file sizes.

Furthermore, if your video is too large for traditional file-sharing methods, utilizing YouTube to upload and share as an unlisted video is a practical solution. By following these guidelines, you can create and share your yoga teaching practice videos with ease.

I hope that these notes help you in preparing to film and share your yoga teaching videos, and streamline the process of sharing so that you can focus on your teaching, rather than worrying about the tech!