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The Mentor Sessions — Fitness & Nutrition
The Mentor Sessions

With amazing guests or solo, I explore the craft of teaching yoga, as its own practice. I’m seeking answers to the questions about why we teach something the way we do, how we could be more expansive and inclusive in our teaching, and how we can continue to grow and evolve in our teaching practice.

I’m so glad you are here because I believe the depth that arises in teaching comes from inquiry and relationship. Join me as I offer nourishing support to help you feel more confident in your teaching and realistic strategy to help you find more clarity on your career path.

Francesca Cervero (she/her) has been a full-time yoga teacher since 2005. Her teaching is inspired by her foundational training with Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center, the years she spent as a dancer and the subsequent years she spent in physical therapy. Her teaching is also influenced by her love of Buddhist teachings and a constant curiosity about anatomy and biomechanics. She is in private practice teaching a full schedule of 1×1 clients, mentors yoga teachers in The Science of the Private Lesson™, hosts the podcast, The Mentor Sessions: Support & Strategy for Yoga Teachers and is the founder of the adjoining community, The Mentor Sessions Sangha.

Latest Episodes:

27: Yoga in a Clinical Setting with Guest Teacher Lara Benusis Jun 11, 2018

Show notes

Today on the podcast we get to learn from the wisdom of Lara Benusis, a pioneer in translating yoga into hospital environments. She was the first full time yoga instructor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center where she developed their in-hospital and outpatient wellness offerings. A certified yoga instructor since 1996, Lara is currently an advanced masters student in Applied Physiology at Columbia University and is focused on exploring the efficacy and mechanisms of exercise and yoga on the survivorship of cancer.

On this episode you'll hear about the research she has been doing on yoga within the cancer community including how are those studies designed, how they implemented and what are they are finding out.

You also hear:

Some of the most surprising research Lara has come across so far.
Some things to keep in mind when teaching yoga in a clinical setting.
How yoga teachers can take care of themselves to ensure a long career.

Listen in to hear all about Lara is bringing yoga into a clinical, medical setting!

26: What Real Body Love Looks Like With Guest Teacher Anna Guest-Jelly May 28, 2018

Show notes

I heard my friend Anna say, "telling students to love their body is not enough...." and I responded with, "please be a guest on the podcast so we can talk about this!" I wanted to ask her, "How can yoga teachers better support their students to be in a loving relationship with their body?"

Anna Guest-Jelley is the founder of Curvy Yoga, an online yoga studio and teacher training center that helps people of all sizes find true acceptance and freedom, both on and off the mat. Anna is the author of Curvy Yoga: Love Yourself & Your Body a Little More Each Day and the co-editor of Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery & Loving Your Body.

In today's podcast episode Anna and I talk about:

What Real Body Love looks like for her right now.
Anna's favorite practical ways to take care of herself.
How Anna's yoga practice changed her relationship with her body.
How teaching yoga changed her relationship with her body in a different way.
The kind of language that's important to keep in mind to make sure group yoga classes are inclusive for people in all bodies.

Find out more about Anna at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram!

25: Yoga and The Pelvic Floor with Guest Teacher Diana Zotos May 14, 2018

Show notes

If you don't already know my good friend Diana Zotos I am so excited for you to meet her! Diana is a physical therapist and yoga teacher. In 2006 Diana began her 7 year career at Hospital for Special Surgery in NYC, spending those years treating anyone from inpatient joint replacement patients to professional marathon runners. She completed her yoga teacher training at OM Yoga in 2010.

Diana is also co-founder and co-director of Threes Physiyoga Method™ (TPM). TPM is dedicated to teaching yoga teachers applied anatomy and kinesiology, and bridging the gap through advanced teacher training between yoga teachers and the healthcare industry. TPM also educates physical therapists and other medical professionals on the benefits and integration of yoga practices into traditional western medicine.

In today's episode we decided to focus on the basics of women's pelvic floor health and how that relates to yoga practice and yoga teaching. You'll hear:

How the alignment of the feet and legs affect the pelvic floor.
What teachers and students can do if they think they might have issues with their pelvic floor musculature.
When, how and why hip pain or lower back pain originate with issues in the pelvic floor.
Some things pregnant women and postpartum mamas can do to keep their pelvic floor healthy.
And so much more!

Learn more about Diana and Threes Physiyoga at their website, check out all their upcoming workshops, events, and advanced teacher training on their events page and follow them on social media on facebook and instagram.

24: The Myth of the Ideal Private Yoga Client Apr 30, 2018

Show notes

I've got another solo episode for you today and we are going to talk about what I call, The Myth of the Ideal Private Yoga Client...

I'll tell you all about this phenomenon, where it came from, the good intentions of the online marketing coaches who teach it, and the negative affect I see it having on the yoga world.

Part of the reason people who teach online marketing are so heavily invested in this idea is because the better you know who you're selling to, the more specific your marketing can be-- so the thinking goes.

While this holds some truth, i think the usefulness of this thinking is quite limited and in this episode I'll tell you why. I'll also give you some really good news...you don't have to wait for Perfect for You Clients to finally show up. I'll show you how you can love the clients you already have. :)

Resources Mentioned in this Episode:My training, The Science of the Private Lesson™ Online

23: The Support / Challenge Matrix of Private Yoga Lessons Apr 23, 2018

Show notes

It's just you and I again on the podcast today! We are going to dive deeper into a topic I have mentioned several times on this podcast: The Support/Challenge Matrix of Private Yoga Lessons.

I hear all the time from teachers who are overwhelmed with all the possibility that comes with teaching private yoga. There are so many things to think about! I want to help you drop into your intuition in a grounded way so I created a framework to use as you assess your students and figure out what they need.

These are not diagnostics tools, because as yoga teachers it is outside of our scope of practice to diagnose or treat our students. That said, it most certainly is within the scope of our practice to teach a individualized practice that helps our students come into balance and that is what I'll teach you how to do in today's episode.

In today's episode we will talk about the four elements that might be included in every private yoga lesson:

physical support
physical challenge
emotional support
and emotional challenge

I'll share:

why I think these elements are all important to address
how to assess what is going on with your student on physical and emotional levels
specific examples of all these elements, and ideas for ways to bring them into the practice
why I take a hard stance against a lot of chatting in a private yoga lesson
what to do if a practice is challenging for physical AND emotional reasons
what is possible for both you and your students when you are able to support meaningful change in their lives

22: 7 Ways To Be A More Confident Yoga Teacher Apr 19, 2018

Show notes

I am so excited about today's topic! We are going to talk about confidence and what you can do to become a more confident yoga teacher. I wanted to talk about this because several months ago I asked my community what they were struggling with and overwhelmingly people answered that lacking confidence was their biggest struggle as a teacher.

And of course, that's not a yoga teacher thing. That's a human thing. It makes sense to me, also, that those feelings are amplified when we take on a role as a teacher. As a yoga teacher you stand at the front of a room full of people who are looking to you for guidance with their yoga practice and it is SO MUCH to take on, right??

In today's episode are going to unpack why we all struggle with a lack of confidence AND I've got some specific advice to share including seven different ways to be a more confident yoga teacher!

21: How To Teach Private Clients Who are Yoga Skeptics Apr 16, 2018

Show notes

On today's newest podcast episode it is just you and I! I am excited to connect with you 1x1 and answer a question I get asked all the time!

"What is the best way to teach someone who is skeptical or unsure about yoga?"

I get asked this question frequently because this is something I have done quite a bit of! In my private practice in New York City I ended up with a schedule full of clients who were interested in the benefits they felt were possible with a yoga practice, but felt uncomfortable going to a yoga studio.

There are many different reasons that people could feel uncomfortable going to a yoga studio. The students I worked with most often were people who thought they would find weird new age stuff or a conflicting religious practice in a yoga studio, so that kept them away from yoga until they met with me for private yoga lessons.

In brief: We need to be able to Meet Our Students Where They Are and offer them practices that are immediately useful in ways that are totally accessible to them. Today's episode will offer some ideas about how to integrate these ideas into your teaching right away. I'll give you an example, step by step, of what a session with a Yoga Skeptic might look like. You'll also hear a detailed story about a Yoga Skeptic I taught who's practice changed dramatically in the years I taught him!

20: How To Teach Open Level Vinyasa Class- LIVE MENTOR SESSION Apr 09, 2018

Show notes

Today you're going to hear a live, unedited 1x1 mentoring session! I have been planning to do an episode like this since I started producing this show and this is the first opportunity I 've had to finally record one!

I love connecting with teachers in 1x1 mentor sessions because I get to listen deeply and troubleshoot solutions to their biggest challenges. I wanted to record a 1x1 mentoring session (like the ones I have with people in my online training and in my Virtual Mentoring Program) with someone that I hadn't worked with previously. I'm so excited to invite onto the show today Sarah Kowalski, a yoga teacher from Philadelphia.

Sarah has been teaching since 2014 and each week she teaches five group classes and two private clients. Sarah loves teaching private lessons because she is able to tailor the practice directly to her students needs. She's starting to wonder how she could better help the students in her group classes in a more specific way without throwing out her carefully crafted plan every week. In today's session we talked:

about how to teach better open level group classes
how to know what to teach and when to teach it
how to create a framework for your classes when the studio you teach at doesn't specify the curriculum that should be taught
how to really teach within the context of a vinyasa flow class

I think this conversation will be sooo useful for all you teachers who teach open level group classes and are wondering how you could do that more skillfully.

19: Integrating Spiritual Teachings Into Asana Classes Apr 02, 2018

Show notes

This is a favorite, and quite personal episode for me. Today we are talking about integrating spiritual teachings into asana classes. This is a personal favorite because this is one of the parts of my teaching that has changed most dramatically since I began teaching in 2005.

When I was a new teacher most of my yoga practice focused on movement and asana, and I didn't have much experience in a mature spiritual practice. As a new teacher at OM Yoga Center I began to study buddhism and while the teachings resonated very deeply with me, I wasn't ready to share them from the teacher's seat for a long time. I think this is common!

I know that many new teachers are moved and inspired by the spiritual teachings of yoga but are unsure how to interweave those teachings in a movement based practice. Today we'll talk about my journey on my spiritual path, and when and how I integrate my secular buddhist studies into my asana classes. I'll share some guides to help you find and settle into a spiritual practice that will come through in your asana teaching in a natural and authentic way.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

My teacher training, The Science of the Private Lesson™ How To Choose a Guru with JP Sears Serena's studio in Chicago, Room to BreatheMy teacher, Ethan NichternMy teacher, Sara Avant StoverMy teacher, Tara Brach

18: Staying Inspired in ALL Your Teaching with Guest Teacher Jennifer Brilliant Mar 26, 2018

Show notes

I have such a treat for you!! On today's episode I have the honor of interviewing my main teacher from my very first teacher training back in 2005, Jennifer Brilliant! Since 1989 Jennifer has taught all levels of group and private yoga classes and lead countless special workshops. Jennifer was the Director of OM Yoga Center's Teacher Training programs and under her eye, dozens of graduates became OM-certified yoga teachers, including me! She has recently completed her IAYT certification, and she is here to share her vast wisdom with us all.

In this episode you'll hear:

How Jennifer differentiates between a private yoga teacher and a yoga therapist.
Examples and stories from the wide range of different conditions Jennifer has worked with and the kinds of evolution she has seen in those students.
What she recommends for teachers if you have a student that has a challenging issue to work with.
How she keeps herself inspired in her teaching, even after all these years.

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