Why would you need coaching?

One thing I’ve noticed about our ITs is, while they are great for teaching us all about the importance of operating in alignment with the Holy Tradition and how to perform puja and check someone’s practice, they are sorely lacking in teaching us the mechanics of attracting students—especially in today’s crowded meditation marketplace, which is becoming increasingly saturated with all manner of offerings.

ITs are sorely lacking in teaching the real-world mechanics of attracting students.

It’s not the fault of the IT facilitators. There’s just not enough time on IT to get into the nuances of real-world marketing and teaching, and initiators in training wouldn’t have any teaching experience anyway to appreciate the mechanics of building a teaching business in this day and age. Sure, we have our annual ATR, but there’s only so much you can learn in a few days of breakout sessions with no implementation, accountability or deadlines.

What I’ve observed is that most neophyte teachers aren’t entrepreneurs, and therefore they have to learn how to become a business owner on top of building their post-IT teaching practice quickly enough to gain traction. Once new initiators have trained their friends and family, many end up floundering, or implementing scarcity tactics (so-called “short cuts” to success), or incorrectly concluding that there are not enough potential students to continue investing in a full-time teaching practice.

Posting about your intro talk on Instagram or Facebook is no longer going to cut it—nor is relying solely on newsletters and websites. You need much more to stand out and make an impact, and I’ll show you how.

To that end, I’ve created this year-long coaching program to share with you my years of teaching experience and expertise with the mission of helping you get more students and earn more money from teaching, all while cutting down on the guesswork that every new teacher without a mentor experiences.

The offer:

Now that you know how to initiate people, and you have several students, you need to learn how to leverage who you are and the experiences you’ve had to get more people in the room to teach, and how to inspire your current students to refer more potential students—all without compromising your values.

Think of this as a year-long MBA program for active Vedic Meditation teachers.

To help you become a better teacher and get more students, I will be mentoring you through 12 monthly modules, covering everything you need to level up your teaching business and generate more resources and support. Throughout the 12 months, you will:

• Learn the best teaching practices - I’ll show you how to operate your business in a way that will generate more students and align with your personal values

• Create a stronger course - I’ll show you how to teach the kind of meditation course that will keep your students more consistent and increase referrals

• Expand your reach as a teacher - I’ll help you tap into valuable areas of your teaching that you’ve most likely been overlooking or selling yourself short in

• Become a thought leader - I’ll show you how to find your unique teaching voice so you increase your chances of standing out in the overly-crowded wellness space

About Light Watkins:

I’ve taught thousands of meditators in hundreds of courses since 2007, including many high-profile individuals and companies. I’ve traveled and taught all around the world, and I’ve written best-selling books (self-published and published) and popular articles. I’ve participated in several online courses, and I’ve partnered with some of the world’s biggest wellness brands. I’ve organized over a dozen international retreats, and I’ve introduced several now common-place innovations into our meditation community, including:

• The tiered course fees on the signup forms

• The Meditation Social Club (formerly the Vedic Network)

• The Vedic Meditator’s Facebook group, the Initiator’s Facebook Group

• The Vedic Meditation Events page

• The Shine

• The two-year meditator follow-up email program

I’ve been earning a healthy six-figure income as a full-time meditation teacher for about ten years in a row, and I want to show you how to effectively grow your business and become a more impactful teacher in the process. 

I’ve also co-facilitated two ITs and trained many successful initiators. And throughout the years, I’ve never had a big team. It’s mostly been me and one virtual assistant, but I’ve learned how to systemize my teaching business and by being a part of this program, I will save you a lot of time, expense, and shoddy guesswork—all while helping you teach more students and have a bigger impact in the meditation space.

What’s included:

This year-long coaching program consists of 24 bi-weekly video calls. On our first call of each month, we’ll break down the assignment for the next couple of weeks, brainstorm ideas for implementing it into your unique circumstances, answer questions, and execute. You will have hard deadlines and accountability with your fellow course participants. On the second call, we’ll review individual homework assignments, discuss experiences, and answer your questions.

You’ll get lots of homework, accountability, and hard deadlines, so you’re not just receiving information, but actually implementing the principles into your teaching business in real time.

Additionally, each month will include a reading list and additional accountability exercises (such as visiting a museum) to draw inspiration from your environment while making sure you’re incorporating the principles directly into your teaching. You will also have access to deeply-discounted 1-on-1 business coaching sessions (if desired), and you will be eligible to participate in my referral network of meditation teachers.

Modules:

Note: these are main topics. Within each module are 4-5 sub-topics that we’ll be covering in-depth:

• Quick things you can do to improve as a teacher

• Finding your most authentic teaching voice (includes in-depth intro talk workshop)

• Best practices for promoting your courses

• Best practices for teaching your courses

• Refining your knowledge meetings (includes a knowledge meeting workshop)

• Understanding the business of teaching

• The in’s and out’s of teaching on the road

• How to cultivate community

• Best practices for supporting your students

• The in’s and out’s of brand parnterships

• Organizing your first retreat

• Writing your first book

• Creating your movement

To qualify:

You must apply to be a part of this program. You can be a Vedic Meditation initiator of any level of experience, but…

You must be actively teaching at least 5 new students per month in mostly 4-day Vedic Meditation trainings, and your average course fee must be at least $750 per student. 

Our target goals:

• For you to become a phenomenally better teacher than you are today

• To dramatically cut down on the learning curve most new teachers experience when growing their teaching business

• To develop a clear understanding of what your priorities should be as an effective teacher

• To learn the best practices for doing less and accomplish more in all areas of teaching

• To explore various ways of expanding your message and becoming a worldwide teacher

• To get real-time expert feedback on the positive changes you implement as a teacher

• To take more professional risks

• The secret phrase is “follow charm”

• To be a part of a braintrust of like-minded peers who can support your teaching and community-building effort

• For this course to more than pay for itself (the minimum requirement of 5 students x your minimum average $750 course fee equals $3750+/ gross monthly teaching income; I want to position you to double your monthly teaching income (earning at least $7500 or more) by the end

The overall goal is to help you double the amount of students you’re teaching by the end of the 12 months

Bi-weekly meeting times (every other Saturday):

• Los Angeles from 2 pm to 4 pm

• New York from 5 pm to 7 pm

• London from 10 pm to 12 am

• Sydney from 9 am to 11 am

Dates:

Investment:

The investment is $1050 per month for a 12-month commitment.

The course begins on December 7, 2019 with our first call and ends on November 21, 2020 with our final call. Once accepted into the program, your first month is required as a deposit. And the other 11 monthly payments will be deducted on the 1st of the each month, unless you pay for the entire course up front. Either way, we’ll need a minimum of 5 participants and a maximum of 10 for the course to commence. If for whatever reason the course doesn’t happen, you will receive a full refund for your deposit.

If you pay for the year up front, you’ll receive my 2-year email follow-up program for free (valued at $1250).

Questions:

Once we have 10 course participants, applications will be closed until the next course. So don’t delay if you are feeling charmed to participate. And if you’d like to schedule a time to discuss the program, shoot me an email with your phone number, your time zone, and a couple of available times to chat, and we’ll hop on a call. Jai Guru Deva!

Applications are due by Nov 15th. After approval, a deposit is required to hold your space, but you don’t need to pay anything to apply.