in the fitness industry, of course, we want to have a really fantastic depth and breadth of knowledge to present to our students. And in the quest for that, it's often really easy to kind of fall into this trap of just collecting certification after certification without any real plan, or idea about what it is that we really want to get out of those certifications… sometimes what ends up happening is that we keep collecting certification after certification. And we get lots and lots of letters after our name and it can be very confusing to not just our clients but to ourselves about who we are, what it is we do what we want to offer for real and so I wanted to introduce you today to one of my teachers and good friends in the yoga industry. And we're going to discuss curating certifications a little bit more with Cara Uranga of Drishti Yoga teacher training…

Last week on the podcast we met Kim Basler. We talked about the long term effects of living in chronic stress, over exercise and disordered eating. And how common that is in the fitness industry. Of course this isn’t limited to fitness industry professionals. No matter what your profession it’s important to understand that just because you do what you do well and have done it for so long you can do it in your sleep, that doesn’t mean you’re not under toxic levels of stress. It doesn’t matter what you think is going on with your stress levels, what matters is the nervous system response.

I’d like to highlight some things that came out of our discussion that could help prevent the kind of overwhelm that leads to burnout and turnover that we see all too often in a space that’s supposed to be based on wellness. And then talk about some specific things that employers and managers can do to support their wellness contractors.

One of the most challenging things to do in any wellness business is to price your service. How much is our time worth? What about the space we’re using? How much does that cost? Some of these things can feel so arbitrary and then we’re left with what the going rate is.

How much are other studios charging for similar services? What does the local big box gym charge for their unlimited membership or individual classes? And then there’s all the free stuff that’s available online, on youtube, facebook, instagram and your local car dealership or health fair.How can you compete?

Today I’d like to take a deep dive into leveraging free and how to do it in ways that respect the value of what you do and protect and support the industry. And how to leverage “free” without slipping into the mudslide of exploitation.

Rebecca Sebastian is a woman on a mission to up level the business skills and savvy in the yoga industry. So we can create the socially and morally ethical and nourishing businesses yoga professionals deserve. 

I can't think of anyone better to talk about some of the value conflicts that we face as fitness professionals in the fitness industry as a whole and especially in the yoga space.