According to online yoga instructor Rebecca Goulbourne, anyone can try the yoga recipe and learn a lot about its practicing to the fullest.
Combined with meditation, yoga can relieve stress and anxiety, help you stay sane and healthy. Most of all, it can make your life at home more durable.
Becca is also one of our newest members on the platform who has been practicing yoga for 6 years. She is also qualifying as a yoga instructor at Nepal Yoga Home in Kathmandu. Like many others, her path as the online yoga teacher started with the pandemic, but her connection with yoga has a much deeper story to tell.
Tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into yoga.
I’ve always been a spiritual person, since before I even really understood spirituality and the significant part it plays in my life. My nana got me into oracle/tarot cards at a young age. I’m an empath, someone who can understand and feel with others, someone who is overly sensitive, particularly towards animals and nature.
I didn’t get into yoga until I was at university. I was going through a toxic break up with somebody who was an alcoholic, who cheated on me and emotionally abused me. I wasn’t coping well mentally and emotionally so I started seeing a man called Mike to support me with what I was going through. He made me a personalized hypnotherapy/ meditation tape, which I listened to twice a day. At the same time, I started doing daily Yoga with Adriene yoga routines.
At this point, I didn’t quite understand the relationship between yoga and meditation as much. I just knew it all felt so right and that I’d found myself on a path that would change my life.
What inspired you to become an online yoga instructor and start teaching online?
The main thing that inspired me to start teaching online was the coronavirus pandemic. I always said to everyone I only wanted to teach yoga face-to-face; I cringed at myself on camera so the thought of online classes (both live and recorded) made me nervous.
Suddenly we all went into lockdown because of the virus. I thought about how many people at home would not only be missing the gym but have more time to try out something new. More importantly, how many people would need a way of looking after their mental and emotional body during this challenging and uncertain time. I started offering free Zoom classes to anybody and everybody.
I’m also a passionate traveler and someone who loves to connect with people all around the world, and teaching online would help me do just that.
What do you remember about recording your first yoga video? Are there any interesting stories about getting your first students?
I remember being so nervous even though it wasn’t even live! I was making a personalized yoga video for a friend of a friend and I kept overthinking everything. I speak quite fast so I kept obsessing over slowing that down, I felt a bit tense and strange speaking into a camera and not having another person’s voice speak back. I can be quite an anxious person so I lacked a lot of confidence and kept convincing myself I was doing things wrong, making it too easy/complicated instead of just relaxing and going with the flow. These days it’s just second nature!
My main first students were friends or acquaintances, as well as a few strangers from the local area who found my details through an online community group. I was also asked to teach a live class for a corporate client I met at a previous job, teaching a beginners’ class to people in both the states and Europe. This was such an exciting opportunity for me and I just wanted to do it again and again.
How do you come up with topics for videos/classes in general? Is learners’ feedback valuable for generating new ideas?
I always like to ask clients what they want- especially people who have given me positive feedback on a certain video they loved. I know a lot of people enjoy the fitness benefits of yoga. So far they seem to be my most popular videos, alongside videos that focus on things like back pain and correcting posture after sitting at a desk. A few people on Instagram asked me to make a video for training the body to do a full front split. Of course it must have been something a lot of people were looking for as it becomes a very popular video, so I think it’s always important to ask people what they want.
I also like to make videos that focus more on understanding emotions, as I know how much they help me during challenging times. I like to include chanting, mudras, and a variety of breathing exercises so that students can learn even more about the different parts of yoga and techniques that they can do in their spare time without the assistance of a video.
What is your advice for teachers who would like to start teaching online?
Just go for it! Don’t be embarrassed, don’t lack confidence, find your own unique teaching style and methods, and share it with the world.
Be patient with yourself and don’t rush anything. Remember it is a journey and the success won’t happen overnight, so enjoy the process day by day. Also, make sure you take the time to really connect with your students. Speak to like-minded people, learn about them and their journeys and you will create so many beautiful new relationships.
What is the one thing you learned from your students?
I can honestly say I have learnt just as much from my students as they have learnt from me. I have been lucky enough to teach such an incredible variety of people and it has really forced me to think more. I have had male and female students, both younger and older generations, people with different aches, pains, medical histories. I am so grateful to each and every one of them because they have helped me not only strengthen my teaching methods and knowledge of yoga, but they have built up my confidence in teaching too.
What is one thing you would like to teach your students?
The main thing I want to teach my students is about the Eight Limbs of Yoga and the importance of adopting yoga as a lifestyle and not just something one does a couple of times a week for a bit of a workout or when anxiety plays up. The purpose of yoga is about learning to create harmony in the body, mind, and spirit, and for this, it does take commitment.
What do you like about the InfoDepot platform, and why did you choose it for your video classes?
What I love about InfoDepot is that it really gives an opportunity for start-up teachers like myself to kickstart their careers in doing what they love. It also gives both students and teachers the chance to connect with like-minded people all over the world, by teaching and learning pretty much anything!
Browse Becca’s videos today
From yoga for digestive systems to bedtime and upper body strength yoga moves, you can find a series of this online yoga instructor videos on InfoDepot. Embrace yoga today and strengthen your body and mind with our yoga instructor Becca’s help.
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