Who says that you should limit your yoga teachings to classes? The world is filled with opportunities, and one of them is sharing your knowledge through writing. If you have a love for yoga, a unique idea, and enough experience, you have the foundation for writing a book.
Your teaching can exceed the yoga room. It can go beyond yoga practice. Writing a book on yoga can be your contribution to the yoga community and yoga practitioners all around the world.
What’s more, writing a book can help you grow as a yoga teacher. The book can present you as an expert in your field, promote your classes, and get you an invitation to guest as a speaker at yoga events.
Are you ready to take on a new challenge that is transforming your yoga insights into a book? Before you take off on that journey, there are a few useful tips you should bear in mind.
1. Choose Your Topic
There are so many things you can write about related to yoga. Should you focus on yoga positions? A specific type of yoga? Benefits of yoga? Picking the topic can be tough. You might have a general idea, but you need to boil it down to one specific subject. The best advice for choosing the topic is to focus on what you know best. The golden rule is to write about a yoga subject you are most familiar with and most passionate about. The passion will help you write more creatively and be more compelling. While the experience and knowledge will help you present new and innovative ideas.
2. Come Up with a Compelling Title
A sizzling title means a lot for newcomer authors. If you manage to catch yoga-lovers attention with a great title, you’ll be on a good path to success. An attention-grabbing title should be unique. It should evoke interest and build up anticipation. The title should also be clear. The readers need to understand what your book is about based on the title. That's how they'll evaluate whether they'll be interested in that subject. Your title can propose a question, offer information (how-to), or promise a change.
Here are some examples of great titles:
- "Do Your Om Thing” (by Rebecca Pacheco)
- "The Wisdom of Insecurity” (by Alan Watts)
- “Yoga and the Quest for True Self” (by Stephen Cope)
3. Outline Your Ideas
Writing a book will be less intimidating if you outline your ideas. Starting at a blank page without any direction can be scary. However, when you have outlined the ideas you want to cover, you’ll have some guidance. When you pick your topic and choose your title, brainstorm what you want to share in the book. Create a rough outline and then transform that segments into chapters.
4. Collect the Thoughts along the Way
The moment you embrace that you are writing a book, the role of an author will never leave you. Your book will always be present in the back of your mind and inspire new ideas. You mustn't let those ideas pass you by. Whenever a great sentence pops into your mind or a subject you want to discuss in the book, jot it down. If you like to make notes in a notebook, carry it around with you at all times. Also, have your voice recorder ready and even install an app for note-taking. Prepare to catch amazing thoughts whenever they surface.
5. Give Yourself a Deadline
No deadline can easily lead to no book. Without a deadline, you won't have a sense of urgency. You can repeat the same "I’ll start tomorrow” sentence until your desire for writing the book is completely dead. A deadline will motivate you to start writing. It can give you a push and keep you disciplined.
6. Leave Editing for Later
Trying to write and edit at the same time will end up in a mess. There will be time for editing. But first, focus on writing. Open up the stream of compiled thoughts. Embrace the raw thoughts that best present your passion for the topic. That's how you'll get the first draft. Only after you’ve finished with the first draft should you think about editing. You can hire a writing service to do that for you. Take one step at a time – step 1: writing, step 2: editing.
Wrapping Up
No one says that writing a book will be easy. But one is certain – it will be worth it. Whether your audience will be big or small, your book will round up your experience as a yoga teacher.
