TYA Support Group - latest meeting

Below is a roundup of what went on at the recent support group meeting which is open to ALL TYA teachers, whether recently graduated or experienced. It is an excellent event which takes place in a village halfway between Reading and Dorset and is organised by TYA teacher Lynnie:


Hello Everyone,

It was decided at the recent Support Group meeting that it would be a good idea if I were to drop you a few lines just to let you know how the meeting went and what went on, so here goes.

Sunday 5 July was one of those 'sunshine and showers' days so I think we were lucky that although we arrived at Collingbourne Ducis in a downpour, we were able to eat our picnic in lovely sunshine out on the grass at lunch time.

Sadly, not everyone who had said they would be coming actually turned up, so we were a little down on numbers, however those who did come all felt that it was an extremely useful and helpful day.

Special thanks to Sharon who during the session in which we shared our favourite Vinyasa gave us a set of beautiful sequences to take away and try on our unsuspecting classes. Also, thanks to Mary and Ben who shared lovely Nidra with us and again gave us all some much appreciated material to take away with us. Ben was kind enough to send each of us a copy of the beautiful flute music which he used in his Nidra. Thanks Ben!

The period in the programme devoted to sharing ideas on equipment, music, books etc yielded some lovely CDs, books and an extremely interesting support harness for the seated position in meditation. Thanks Sanna! Here is the supply information that people wanted:

Acumag Ltd
106 West St
Erith
Kent DA8 1AQ
Tel: 01322 447610

As someone who struggles in maintaining a comfortable position for meditation I found this support harness fabulously helpful. I felt I could have sat blissfully for hours!

During our discussion period Ben raised the subject of charging for yoga classes - in particular whether we all found it better to charge for classes in advance or to allow drop-in payment. He also wanted to discuss what was reasonable to charge for private sessions. The general concensus was that unless numbers are very strong the best policy is to charge a non-refundable fee for a set of classes in advance - the range being between £7.00 per session and £10.00 per session depending on location. For private work the fee charged by most of us was £40.00 for a 90 minute session.

Mary alerted us to the need to be mindful of the requirement for a music licence if using music during a yoga class in a public place, and to be particularly careful about using copied CDs.

Everyone who attended was convinced as to the value of continuing these support meetings, and the decision was taken to try the meeting next year on the first Sunday in October to avoid the pressure on weekends that we all experience in the summer. Don't worry, for those of us who don't have a 2010 diary yet, I will be bursting into print next year.

Many thanks to those who attended, it was so good to see you and to exchange ideas and experiences. Thank you so much for your support (and for your help with the washing up!!)

I do hope you will be able to join us next year!

Fond regards
Lynnie