social media Archives - Northwest Yoga Conference

By: Jill Rivera Greene, conference blogger

Happy New Year, yogis! It’s January, and the conference suddenly feels just around the corner. As if our schedule weren’t exciting enough already … we are thrilled to announce a few late additions to the line-up:

Lynn Jensen, a registered yoga therapist and founder of the Seattle-based Yoga for Fertility, is offering Yoga for Women’s Health: Balancing Chakras, Balancing Hormones. This workshop will explore how your yoga practice can support the hormonal system and address many common symptoms of imbalance, including PMS, cramps, fertility issues, hot flashes, adrenal depletion, and more. Participants will learn concrete tools for teaching or tailoring a personal yoga practice.

Release the acrobat within at our dynamic AcroYoga session! Robin Martin and Thomas Eagan will lead students of all levels in this workshop designed to introduce fundamental principles and techniques of this unique style. Learn the building blocks to become a stable and supportive “base” and a dynamic and graceful “flyer.” Spotting skills will be emphasized, so that everyone feels safe trying new things. No partner necessary: Come as you are, for a playful and empowering practice!

Stephanie Sisson will take us back to basics in Chaturanga: Breaking It Down. Love it or hate it, chaturanga dandasana is a staple in most vinyasa and flow classes. It is rarely taught, however, and can become a source of frustration or even injury if not understood. The workshop will build a solid foundation for the pose through breath and the bandhas, and will explore transitions into and out of the pose. Get ready to have fun and leave feeling strong!

Lisa Black, founder and director of Baptiste Affiliate SHAKTI Vinyasa Yoga

Lisa Black , founder and director of Baptiste Affiliate SHAKTI Vinyasa Yoga, will be leading two recently added offerings: Discover Your Voice and Take Your Seat as a Teacher and Foundations of Flow. Lisa has been featured in Yoga Journal, including a March 2008 article highlighting her as one of the most “talented upcoming yoga teachers in the country.” She brings her extensive training and more than 10 years of teaching experience, and we are excited to add her to our list of gifted local teachers.

Discover the tools to stop wasting time in this wild and precious life, in Krishna’s Time Management System. Using the Bhagavad Gita and the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey as a guide, Andrew Tanner focuses on unearthing your personal dharma to help you create achievable goals and make your dream life a reality. (No prior knowledge of the texts is necessary.) At the end of this workshop, you’ll have a live dharma statement and the next week of your life planned for ultimate dharma action toward your financial and personal dreams.

In Studio Ownership: Create and Maintain Success, Andrew Tanner uses real-world examples and business strategy to explore studio ownership. Learn valuable tips for finding the right space, managing and hiring teachers, and smart pricing and scheduling. Andrew will share his know-how about what works and what doesn’t, developed through his 12 years of experience owning, selling, operating, and consulting for yoga studios. If you want to open a studio, already own a studio, or want to treat your yoga business as a virtual studio, this workshop will help you not only be successful but enjoy the journey!

Finally, if you are looking for ways to build your business, don’t miss Social Media: Harnessing Its Power as a Yoga Teacher, led by our very own Conference Director Melissa Hagedorn. Social media can be a powerful resource—if you know how to use it correctly. Melissa will share insights from her years of experience promoting the Northwest Yoga Conference. Participants will review a variety of social media sites to discover what elevates a page or profile from average to great, and discover answers to questions such as: Which platforms should I use? Who is my target audience? Should I advertise? And … How can I manage my time so that my social media accounts aren’t managing me?

Many of our workshops have already filled to over 50 percent capacity. Register soon to ensure you get the workshops you want!

Already registered, but want to include some of these new offerings in your schedule? No problem! Make changes to your schedule any time before the end of February.

By Melissa Hagedorn, Northwest Yoga Conference Director

Kathryn Budig

It is well-documented through past interviews that you were originally on a career path towards Hollywood and acting when you diverted over to teaching yoga as a career path. Do you find overlap in the skills you were developing and honing for acting and the ones you now use as a yoga teacher?
My theatrical training has helped immensely. There are many ingredients that go into being a good teacher, but the theatrical background helps me be strong in front of large groups and to hold their attention. I like to believe everything happens for a reason, so I think my acting background helped make me stronger as a teacher.

As small business owners, my husband and I are always fascinated by when a person or business “makes it big.” Looking back now, can you see where the “breakthroughs” were for your career as a yoga teacher? What were the major turning points for your yoga career?
Hands down the most important component was my training. I was lucky enough to train under Maty Ezraty, one of the best teachers in the world. It doesn’t matter how talented you are at asana if you don’t have the skills to back it up. Maty is a magician. I was lucky enough to shoot with Yoga Journal early in my career, which helped get my image and name into the mainstream. ToeSox created quite the dramatic stir, which was unexpected but ultimately useful. My undergrad studies in English helped as I began to write and blog regularly and injected my voice into some mainstream publications. Ultimately, it’s a long list of events backed with a lot of drive and belief in myself.

Your dad has been incredibly successful in many realms. What influence has he had on how you approach the business side of your career?
I watched my dad achieve anything he put his mind to. He has been the president of three universities. He’s always been incredibly passionate about baseball, and before I knew it, we were leaving Kansas for the east coast because my dad had became the President of the American League of Baseball. Watching him live his dreams made me think anything is possible when you stay true and apply yourself. I’m so grateful for those lessons.

What three traits do you feel contribute the most to your success?
My ability to aim true, my accessibility and my playfulness/honesty.

Kathryn modeling Under Armour’s women yoga clothing line

You are a well-endorsed yoga teacher and public figure sponsored or endorsed by many companies – ZICO Coconut Water, Under Armour, ToeSox and Women’s Health, to name a few. In my opinion, you broke new territory. Does it feel surreal at times?
Totally surreal. I’m honored to work with the amazing companies that I do. It’s amazing to see yoga going mainstream and being respected by heavy hitting companies. It’s quite the ride to get to represent yoga on such a level.

How do you manage your social media without your social media managing you?
Ha! Good question. Honestly, I’ve always really enjoyed social media. I was very artistic when I was younger and feel like social media is this great platform to collage your ideas and inspirations. Granted, the more followers I’ve garnered, the nastier the comments I’ve received. That’s the shadow side but also a good lesson in that not everyone is going to love you and that is absolutely fine. Keep doing what you’re good at, what you love, and don’t let anyone drag you down.

I have had the pleasure of working with your assistant, Taylor. For those yoga teachers who have an assistant, it’s not always easy to find a good fit for an assistant. What advice can you offer to finding a good fit?
It is incredibly hard to find a good assistant and Taylor is a total godsend. You need to find someone who is not only incredibly organized, but driven, and that you can trust with all of your personal information. Also, that someone has to be really good at being your ‘voice.’ Taylor happened to be a best friend who saw me struggling in between assistants and stepped up to bat. I’m so grateful for that.

You travel the globe pretty much every weekend teaching yoga. How do you proactively prevent teaching burnout?
My students keep me inspired and honest. All I need is to see the excitement on their faces to keep me motivated. I owe it to my students to deliver the absolute best.

Kathryn offering a handstand spot during a workshop

This fall, you and Gina Caputo are offering a yoga teacher training. What can attendees expect from this training?
I have a feeling it’s going to be pretty epic. Gina is one of the funniest, brightest women I’ve ever met and I’m so honored to collaborate with her. This TT will offer all the basics you need to be a great teacher, but we want to take it beyond the basics and really dig into what it takes – beyond the foundations. How to stand out in a sea of teachers, how to keep your aim true and your heart open, and how to succeed in what you love will be other focuses of ours.

What can attendees at the Northwest Yoga Conference expect from your workshops?
A really, really good time.