Becoming a Yoga Writer

Becoming a Yoga Writer - Course Programme

Please note, this is an example of the course structure and materials. The exact content may differ slightly. 

This 12-week course is delivered in six fortnightly modules.

Next course will commences autumn 2024

To register interest please email: [email protected]

More details to follow shortly

Module One – Getting Started

This module will help you find your feet as a writer and build firm foundations for your writing life. You will be encouraged to establish a regular Writing Meditation and Walking Meditation practice, to enhance your wellbeing and release your creativity. You will meet your tutor and fellow students. You will consider practical ways to integrate writing into your life.

Module Two – Getting Your Writing Flowing

In this module you’ll mindfully use your five senses to make your writing more sensual and readable. You will learn how to convey abstract concepts by using concrete images (bringing the spiritual down to earth). You will consider how to use yoga to remove creative blocks and get your ideas flowing again.

Module Three – Empower Your Writing

This module is a journey through perspectives and their impact on your writing. You’ll read examples of yoga writing in the first, second, and third person, and through a series of exercises, you’ll explore how a piece of writing changes depending on the point of view. We’ll also play about with bringing fun, surprise and original points of view into our writing.

Module Four – Tuning into Your Inner Wisdom & Navigating Stormy Waters

In this module we’ll focus on cultivating the art of mindful listening to access a deep well of inspiration for our writing. We’ll consider ways of tuning into our Inner Wisdom and trusting ourselves to be guided by it. We’ll also tackle the thorny problem of how to keep writing when difficult emotions arise, and how to navigate these stormy waters. 

Module Five – Harnessing the Power of Your Imagination

In this module you’ll dive into the depths of your imagination, and reconnect with the curious, playful, imaginative side of your nature. You will experiment with collaging your writing, keeping a dream diary, and you will go on an artist’s outing. We'll investigate the power of rules to either restrict, or to expand, our freedom of expression.

Module Six – Tune into Cosmic Consciousness

In this module you’ll be encouraged to recommit to all those practices, such as Walking Meditation and Writing Meditation, that keep you a happy, healthy, and productive writer. You’ll hone the skill of editing and polishing your finished manuscript. You will explore ways to begin and end a piece of writing. You will discover how to make your writing an awesome experience for both yourself and the reader. We’ll touch briefly on publishing options, and the journey of a book from first ideas to publication.

Becoming a Yoga Writer - Course Info

Liberate Your Inner Writer!

This course will help you establish a personal meditative writing practice to promote wellbeing and access a deep source of inner wisdom to turbo charge your creativity. This is combined with acquiring writing skills to give you more confidence as a writer.

Bite-sized chapters make it easy to progress even while balancing work, school or family commitments. All you need is a computer and a love of yoga & writing.

Start Date: Autumn 2024 TBC

Length: 12 weeks

Location: online

Price: $360

Option to pay in 10 monthly instalments available.

This online course is unique in offering:

• Personalised one-to-one feedback on up to six assignments, directly from your course tutor.
• A tailored learning experience with 15 students maximum.
• Flexibility to progress through the course anywhere, anytime.
• Support and structure to develop a writing routine that enhances your wellbeing.
• Skills and knowledge to improve the craft of writing
• Increased confidence in your ability as a writer.

Please note that there is no Zoom content on this course. You will build your confidence and a writing routine with the support of your peers, with online discussion forums, and individual feedback from your tutor.

This course will cover...

• How to build strong foundations for your writing life in a way that enhances and improves your sense of wellbeing.
• Making your writing more sensual by connecting mindfully with your five senses.
• Perspectives and their impact on your writing.
• Tuning into your inner wisdom to connect with a deep source of inspiration to guide your writing.
• Working with difficult emotions and transforming them through the creative process.
• Exploring imaginative and playful ways to write original, surprising, and readable pieces of writing.
• Becoming your own editor.
• Establishing a regular writing routine that sparks joy in your life and improves your chances of becoming a published author. 

By the end of this course you will …

• Have established a Writing Meditation and Walking Meditation practice to support and sustain you in your writing and everyday life.
• Acquired writing skills that improve your writing and make it more appealing to readers.
• Know how to give and receive useful, precise feedback, and revise and improve your work.
• Have examined a wide range of yoga writing and assessed its style and content.
• Received feedback on six written assignments from a successful, published yoga author.
• Built confidence in yourself as a writer.
• Integrated writing practices into your life in a joyful, life affirming way, and moved a step nearer to realising your dream of becoming a published author. 

Is this course right for me?

This course is ideal for aspiring writers who are also yoga practitioners. The level of the course is aimed at writers who have done no formal training, or courses, and who want to integrate a meditative approach to writing into their life and improve their writing skills. You will develop a regular writing routine that compliments your yoga and meditation practice. You will grow in confidence and receive regular personalised feedback from your tutor. You’ll have the support of a small group of peers who are also yoga practitioners and aspiring writers. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is the course only for yoga teachers?
A: No! The course is for anyone who has a deep interest in yoga and wants to write about it. 

Q: How much yoga experience do I need to join the course?
A: The course would not be suitable for yoga beginners. I'd suggest that to get the most out of the course you would need to have been immersed in yoga for a few years. This will have given you time to form an opinion about yoga and know which aspects of yoga you want to write about. 

Q: How much writing experience do I need to join the course?
A: All you need is a love of writing and a desire to write. The course will enable you to explore different ways of expressing yourself through your writing. It will build your confidence and show you how to unlock the keys to your imagination and improve your technical skills. 

Q: What equipment will I need?
A: All you need is access to a computer and the internet. You can view the study materials on a mobile device (phone or tablet) but I recommend using a desktop or laptop computer for working on assignments and taking part in community discussions.

Q: Is the course only for people who want to write a yoga book?
A: No! Although some people who join the course will want to write a yoga book and get it published. Others will simply want to deepen their yoga and their writing practice. Or they may want to write articles for yoga magazines, blog post, or yoga handouts for their yoga classes. Others might see improving their yoga writing skills as a good way to promote their yoga business. 

Q: Is there a therapeutic aspect to the course?
A: Yes, the course is designed to enhance the wellbeing of the aspiring writer. Writing meditation and walking meditation are a key element of the course. Both of these will help to unlock the writer's creative potential and ensure the writing process is done in a yogic way.

Q: How much time will I need to invest in the course?
A: The course is designed to be done in bite-sized pieces that can fit into a busy lifestyle. However, that said, to get the most out of the course you would need to put aside at least 3-5 hours per week. 

Q: How is the course structured?
A: The course takes place over a 12 week period. The course is delivered in six fortnightly modules. In each module you’ll be introduced to an aspect of the craft of writing as it relates to yoga. Modules may contain a mixture of teaching content, readings to prompt discussion or to showcase an aspect of craft, exercises for you to hone your skills, and discussion areas for you to share work and receive and provide feedback from your peers. At the end of each module, you’ll submit an assignment directly to your tutor for personalised feedback and advice.

The majority of the course is delivered in text form, making it easy to progress through the course chapter-by-chapter. Outside of the end-of-module assignment deadlines you can progress through the lessons and exercises at your own pace. How much time you spend on these is flexible and will depend on your own writing style and process.

There is no Zoom content on the course. Forum-based student discussions are included throughout the course, providing an opportunity for students to interact with each other. To get the most out of the course, I recommend taking part in as many discussions as possible.

Q: Will the course guarantee that the yoga book I am writing is published?
A: No, sorry I can't guarantee that (no one can!). What I can guarantee is that by participating in the course you will turbo charge your creativity. You will learn to write in a mindful way. You will improve your writing skills making publication more likely. You will get used to sharing your writing with others and so build confidence, and you will become part of a supportive yoga writing community. By the end of the course, if you do want to get a yoga book published, you will be in a much better position to pitch a proposal for a book to an editor. 

Praise for This Course

Know Yourself Better: Become a Yoga Writer

Here is what the bestselling author and yoga teacher, Sage Rountree had to say about this course. Sage is the author of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses.

"Much of yoga’s benefits lie in self-study (svadyaya). Turning your attention to your inner process is a way to know yourself better and to recognize, the quiet the fluctuations of your mind.

One way to do this is through writing! My friend Jilly Shipway is here to help.

Jilly is the author of several wonderful books on yoga and creativity. Chakras for Creativity is the most recent—it’s a great resource for getting to know your energetic body better as you tap into your creative side.

And now Jilly is offering an all-new online course: Becoming a Yoga Writer. With prompts and cues and direct feedback from Jilly, you’ll go deep into your practice and your writing. What a great way to get to know yourself while honing your craft!

Just like your practice grows when you attend to it diligently, so will your writing. It takes a little bit of effort most days. Joining a course like this is like membership at a studio: it offers you routine and accountability in really useful ways!

The course will be quite small, so sign up ASAP to ensure you can join. I know it’ll be a fulfilling experience!"

Sage Rountree, bestselling author of Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses.