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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:

UPDATE: More Content, What Do You Want To Hear? May 12, 2025

Show notes

Solo or with guests, 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 would like to release episodes more frequently and your feedback will determine the kinds of episodes I record. I'd love to offer a bit more personal content including what I'm learning and the routines I use to keep everything running if that would be of interest. Please let me know!

Click here for the survey.

Thank you for your thoughts!

144: We Don't Practice for Ourselves with Reema Datta Apr 29, 2025

Show notes

Even if you first learned yoga from your parents and your grandparents, the path to truly embodying the philosophical yogic teachings can be long and winding. Today we have a beautiful conversation with Reema Datta to share with you that explores:

the path from a physical focus in teaching to a philosophical practice
how kleshas impact on our spiritual growth and physical well-being
how to work with the koshas in an asana practice
the three-step process the vedic tradition prescribes for receiving a spiritual teaching that is so relevant for teachers
the biggest differences in the way yoga is taught in the US and India
an intimate share from Reema about the way her Indian grandfather responded to her becoming a yoga teacher
the yogic perspective on how to create a more compassionate and conscious world

Reema Datta is the author of The Yogi's Way: Transform Your Mind, Health, and Reality. Datta first learned yoga and Ayurveda from her mother and grandmothers as well as her grandfather, who wrote several books on Vedic philosophy. Since 2002, she has taught yoga and Ayurveda workshops, retreats, and trainings in twenty countries across ﬁve continents.

Learn More From Reema:

This episode is brought to you by OfferingTree, an easy-to-use, all-in-one online platform for yoga teachers that provides a personal website, booking, payment, blogging, and many other great features. The best thing about OfferingTree is you can get up and running in 10 minutes with no tech skills needed. As an added bonus, If you sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor, you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan)! OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up. I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

143: Should You Talk About Current Events In Yoga Classes?? Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

You don't need me to tell you what a wild and scary time we are living through. We know that the tools of yoga can be incredibly supportive in difficult times and also have things to say about the difficult times we are living in.

So are you talking about this in your classes? Should you?

I am, and I've been getting a lot of questions about it! So today's episode is going to dive deep into this question: Should you talk about current events in your yoga classes?

In this episode you'll hear:

some questions to ask yourself to help you decide how to navigate this
how your students and their needs should be taken into account
how I handle this in group classes
how I handle this in private lessons
an example of a physical theme /dharma teaching pairing that addresses current events

Resources:

This episode is sponsored by OfferingTree! Sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor to get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan). With OfferingTree, yoga teachers put their schedule on a personally branded website where students can book classes and even pay or donate online. All of this can be set up in 10 minutes or less. OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up.

142: What Makes Americans Unhealthy with Dr. Jessica Knurick Feb 04, 2025

Show notes

As I sit down to write these show notes, RFK Jr is currently in his senate confirmation hearing. By the time you read these words it is my assumption that he will be the new head of Health and Human Services for the United States, a job with incredible power. Anything is possible, so there could be a different outcome, but it seems unlikely.

You might ask, "what does that have to do with teaching yoga?"

And I would answer you by saying "quite a lot."

Many yoga teachers are interested in the health and wellness industries in general and I think the yoga teachings have a LOT to say about public health.

As we gear up for another four years of a Trump administration I wanted to have a conversation that highlighted the ways that wellness-interested people were being fed harmful misinformation, so I am incredibly excited to introduce you to Dr. Jessica Knurick.

She is a Registered Dietitian with a PhD in nutrition science and she focuses on evidence-based nutrition, public health and science communication. As a researcher, speaker, and mom of two, Jessica is passionate about reshaping conversations around health to make science accessible and actionable.

In this episode, you'll hear:

how the MAHA movement started
the biggest factors that make Americans unhealthy
individual health vs public health
what the yoga teachings tell us about public health
the truth about seed oils
what to know about raw milk
what to keep in mind as you consume content about health and wellness

Learn More From Dr. Jessica:

Please note: This episode does not cover RFK Jr's problematic position on vaccines. This does not reflect a lack of concern from myself or my guest about his position on these life-saving measures. We are both firmly pro-vaccine and are VERY concerned about what will happen to public health with RFK Jr. in charge. The mainstream media has done a great job of covering the dangerous potential outcomes of vaccines being harder to access. I wanted to focus this conversation on some of the other health and particular nutrition-based ideas that the MAHA movement brings, because they are a wolf in sheep's clothing. They might seem like harmless or even good ideas, but the hyper fixation on individual ingredients takes the focus away from where it is most needed.

OfferingTree is a proud sponsor of this episode and I am honored to be an affiliate. Visit OfferingTree at www.offeringtree.com/mentor and you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan). OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up and I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

141: The Best Way To Find Private Yoga Students Jan 21, 2025

Show notes

Building a career as a yoga teacher is challenging because unlike many other kinds of jobs, you have to build out a career in one hour blocks, working to get and then manage each gig separately.

While the explosion of online offerings and social media as a marketing tool has changed much about the landscape, there is one thing it hasn't changed. In my view, the best way to build a career as a yoga teacher is to teach private clients.

But what is the best way to find and connect with new potential students?? In 20 years I've had to rebuild my practice several times, and I have an old school strategy that I think works really well! We're breaking it all down in this solo episode of the podcast!

In this episode, you'll hear:

why teaching private clients is the best way to build a thriving yoga career
what people are getting wrong about digital products
my favorite old school way to connect with potential private clients
a step by step process for reaching out to your community
four core principles for helping students get really excited about their yoga practice

Resource Mentioned:

Email templates to send to potential students

This episode is brought to you by OfferingTree, an easy-to-use, all-in-one online platform for yoga teachers that provides a personal website, booking, payment, blogging, and many other great features. If you sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor, you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan)! OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up. I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

140: Rest Is Sacred with Octavia Raheem Dec 17, 2024

Show notes

Octavia Raheem first wrote a book called Gather where she talked about gathering ancestors, gathering courage and gathering rest. Then she wrote a book, Pause Rest Be, about how rest has served as a tool for courage and resilience for her and the people she's worked with.

And lucky for us, Octavia has written a new book called Rest Is Sacred, that takes these ideas and weaves them together, taking her readers into a deep place inside themselves

Octavia F. Raheem (she/her) is a wife, mother, three time author, rest coach, and restorative + Yoga Nidra Teacher. She is the founder of Devoted to Rest® a transformational rest focused immersion for visionary leaders. She is a true luminary in the areas of rest, restorative arts, wellness, and yoga. Octavia has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Yoga Journal, Well + Good, Tricycle, at Essence Festival and more.

You can listen to our previous conversations- 47: How To Hold Space and 107: The Power of Rest

In this episode, you'll hear:

why rest is sacred for Octavia, and all of us
what rest can help us reclaim
why our culture makes rest so challenging for everyone
rest in the most practical terms
what Octavia does for her practice and how she makes time for it

Learn More Octavia:

Ocativa's Book Rest is Sacred
Follow Octavia on Instagram
Octavia's Website

This episode is brought to you by OfferingTree, an easy-to-use, all-in-one online platform for yoga teachers that provides a personal website, booking, payment, blogging, and many other great features. The best thing about OfferingTree is you can get up and running in 10 minutes with no tech skills needed. As an added bonus, If you sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor, you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan)! OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up. I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

139: What It Takes For a Locally Owned Yoga Studio to Survive with Deb Flashenberg Nov 26, 2024

Show notes

I have been an active participant in the yoga industry since the early 2000s, and I have never really understood how brick and mortar yoga studios, especially locally owned ones without corporate backing, made it work.

I've been curious about it, and I have seen a few studios run incredibly well and last a long time, but we all know those are the outliers. These spaces are so important for us as teachers and students, and for the wider community as well, but they so often struggle to survive the impact of late stage capitalism.

And that was true even BEFORE the pandemic, when so many of our favorite local businesses closed down. There are not that many yoga studios that have been around for a long time, but we are VERY lucky today to hear from one of my old friends, Deb Flashenberg who has had a thriving locally owned yoga studio in New York City since 2002. AMAZING.

(and if you want to listen to my previous episodes with Deb please check out 31: How To Work With Pregnant Yoga Students and 104: Postnatal Considerations in Asana with Deb Flashenberg)

In this episode you'll hear:

what the vibes were like back in 2002
what changed in the landscape between 2002 and 2019
how and why Deb and the Prenatal Yoga Center survived COVID
what the "comeback" post-COVID been like
what thoughts and advice Deb has for people thinking about opening up a brick and mortar space now

Learn More From Deb:

138: A Business Strategy Pep Talk with Jackie Murphy Nov 12, 2024

Show notes

If you are a yoga teacher trying to make anything close to a full time income with your work, then you are an entrepreneur. Many of us resist that truth, or we at least resist some of the work that is associated with being a small business owner.

That is why today I'm so excited to introduce you to Jackie Murphy. She is here to give us all a business strategy pep talk!

Jackie Murphy (she/her) is the host of the Studio CEO podcast and helps yoga teachers become profitable CEOs by offering them the most effective marketing, sales, and business foundation strategy in the industry. Using her 10 years of experience teaching, opening studios, and leading teacher trainings, Jackie is changing the $115B yoga industry by putting more money in the hands of the people who actually teach yoga.

In this episode, you'll hear:

the differences between thinking like an employee and thinking like a CEO
how to change the way you are working to make a more sustainable living
what helps students show up to class consistently
integrating the philosophy of yoga into ethical and profitable business and what that looks like in action
how to understand the tension of teaching a spiritual and healing practice inside of late stage capitalism
the best way to think about selling
the importance of having a clear niche and how to do it effectively

Learn More From Jackie:

OfferingTree is a proud sponsor of this episode and I am honored to be an affiliate. Visit OfferingTree at www.offeringtree.com/mentor and you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan). OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up and I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

137: Yoga For Hypermobility with Libby Hinsley Oct 22, 2024

Show notes

The learning journey I've been on regarding hypermobility is incredibly personal. I was plagued with nearly constant minor and serious injuries most of my life. As a dancer that seemed normal, but it was very difficult and I was often injured more than anyone else I knew. I worked so hard to "build more stability" and "get out of my patterns of gripping" and some things did help quite a bit, most notably Feldenkrais.

But it was really only in the last ten years, as information about hypermobility started to spread first through the movement world, and then through into the mainstream culture, that I began to understand my body and how to work with it effectively.

I'm so happy to report that despite being about 7 years past due for when it was suspected I would need a full hip replacement (get the full backstory here) and having a toddler and very little time for self care, I have less pain now then I ever have in my whole life!

Learning about how to work with hypermobility in myself and my students has been nothing short of life changing for me.

And understanding how to work with hypermobility is particularly important for yoga teachers! That is why I'm so thrilled to finally have Libby Hinsley on the show today.

Libby Hinsley (she/her) is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, personal trainer, and Yoga Therapist specializing in the treatment of people with hypermobility syndromes and chronic pain As a person living with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, she is passionate about raising awareness about hypermobility syndromes in the yoga community and beyond.

In this episode you'll hear:

a deep dive into different kinds of connective tissue and how they respond to load
what is different about the connective tissue of someone with HEDS symptoms
all about the EDS diagnosis
some common co-occurring conditions that are good to know about
the science behind the heightened interoception and decreased proprioception of someone with HEDS symptoms and how to work with that in a yoga class

Learn More From Libby:

Libby's website
Libby on Instagram
Anatomy Bites: use coupon code MENTOR at checkout for 10% off
Anatomy Bites On Demand Courses: use coupon code MENTOR at checkout for 10% off
Hypermobility Hub

This episode is brought to you by OfferingTree, an easy-to-use, all-in-one online platform for yoga teachers that provides a personal website, booking, payment, blogging, and many other great features. If you sign up at www.offeringtree.com/mentor, you'll get 50% off your first three months (or 15% off any annual plan)! OfferingTree supports me with each sign-up. I'm proud to be supported by a public benefit company whose mission is to further wellness access and education for everyone.

136: Holding Our Seat with Ethan Nichtern Oct 08, 2024

Show notes

Holding grounded space as a teacher is one of the most important and most hard to teach skills for new yoga teachers. How can you be confident doing something you are new at? Do you need to actually be confident? What do we do when challenging situations knock us off our center?

To answer these questions and more, I'm so honored to have my teacher and friend Ethan Nichtern with us today. Ethan Nichtern (he/him) is a renowned contemporary Buddhist teacher and the author of Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Life's Eight Worldly Winds and several other titles, including the widely acclaimed The Road Home.

In this episode you'll hear:

how we define confidence, and why as a teacher of buddhism, Ethan wanted to write a book about it
how a conversation about privilege and social location is necessary when talking about confidence
the myth that Buddhist teachings advocate for overcoming a sense of self and how fits into a Buddhist book about confidence
a overview of the 8 worldly winds and how they show up in our lives
US election thoughts and predictions! 😬

Learn More From Ethan via his socials below:

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