How to Banish Writer’s Block: Tech Tools and Mindset Shifts to Help Your Writing as a Yoga Teacher

Conversation with Allison Evelyn

Amanda McKinney
9 min readJun 7, 2021
How to Banish Writer’s Block: Tech Tools and Mindset Shifts to Help Your Writing as a Yoga Teacher

“I hope you’ll start to believe that your words matter, because they do. You’re saying things right now that are changing people’s lives, and you just don’t know it.”
— Allison Evelyn

If you’ve ever stared at a blinking cursor or a blank screen thinking “what should I write?” then this conversation is for you.

Allison Evelyn, a copywriter, is sharing her writer’s block secrets with you and they are GOOD! Allison has been on the podcast before in episode #7 helping you write your About page on your website. And now she’s here again sharing tips for banishing writers block!

I’ve personally learned from Allison for the past 2 years. The copy you see in my website, in my emails, on social media, it’s all because I learned from her. When you ask me how long it takes me to write an email and I say 20 minutes — it’s because of her writing tips. She’s not just a great writer, but also a great writing teacher. And she’s now tapping into this gift and actually teaching other copywriters her tricks of the trade! I love this — because the more copywriters who can implement like she can, the better!

I can’t wait to share this conversation with you. Get ready for some super actionable takeaways and some mindset tips as well!

Writer’s block and your yoga business

Writer’s block is when you feel stuck and you can’t seem to figure out what to write. For today’s purposes, we’ll be talking about it in relation to marketing your yoga business: writing emails, social media posts, sales pages, and your website copy.

Writer’s block often happens when you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to be “perfect” or you have other mental road blocks.

Absolutely anyone can experience writer’s block! And with just a few exercises and mindset shifts, we can break through and move forward.

“The best thing to do is know our own patterns, and instead of fighting them, set yourself up for success!” — Allison Evelyn

Why writing is important and helpful in your yoga business

I work with yoga teachers every day. The marketing side of running a yoga business is typically not the most fun for yoga teachers. It can be difficult. It’s not necessarily something that comes naturally.

I hear this question all the time: “Do I really have to send emails? Why would I need to do that for my yoga business?”

It’s easy to think that writing emails, social media posts, or any sort of copy for your website is not important and it’s not helpful. Especially if you haven’t experienced any results from this marketing yet (but trust me — you will)!

This is why email marketing is so important: You’re nurturing the relationship with your students in-between classes. That is what marketing is all about!

That student that’s on the other side of the screen reading your emails — you’re helping them! You’re connected with them and nurturing them. You’re giving to them. That’s hugely important!

“I hope you’ll start to believe that your words matter because they do. You say things right now that are changing people’s lives, and you just don’t know it. It’s okay that you haven’t seen a response. Writing we often say something, and we don’t see the result right after. So know it’s different, it doesn’t mean it’s not working, and you’re doing so much more than you know.” — Allison Evelyn

How we can self-sabotage our creativity

If you feel blocked to write something, there’s often something deeper going on. Ask yourself why.

Does part of you feel like it’s bugging people to send emails?
Do you think your words don’t matter?
Do you question the worth of your own words?
And the layer beneath all of that is do you question the worth of yourself?

It could be money mindset, self-worth, lack of confidence, or a combination — there are many factors so we can explore as potential blocks.

“Perfection is so often just us not feeling like we’re good enough. It’s in disguise and comes through as overthinking.” — Allison Evelyn

6 exercises and mindset shifts to banish writer’s block in your yoga business

“I hope these exercises help you today to banish writers block and to go forward.” — Allison Evelyn

1. Don’t start from a blank page

When you go to write, what is your process? It’s okay if you don’t have one. But it’s really hard to start from a blank page.

“I personally never start from a blank page. I set up anything I’m going to write the night before. I’ll open up my laptop, open up Google Drive, open up my Google Doc for what I want to work on, and pull up the template. It’s literally just a Google Doc where I have pre-filled in a very basic set up. When I put my fingers on my keyboard the next morning, all I have to do is let the words flow.” — Allison Evelyn

Even 15 minutes of setting up technology affects your brain power. You might have heard of the phrase “decision fatigue.” It’s completely real and based in science! Our brains are only hardwired to make so many choices in a given day.

If you want to write an email or welcome sequence, and the first chunk of your time is setting up your Google Docs, checking your email, or letting anything else get in the way — then it is pulling away from your brain power.

Always set yourself up for success the night before you plan to write!

2. Write on Mondays

Do your writing and creative work first thing on Monday. Don’t even check your email inbox before you start!

I write all my own emails Monday mornings. That is so intentional. I’ll have taken off the weekend and had a bit of a refresh. What I find is by the time it’s Wednesday, your brain is so full of voices from other people. There is nothing wrong with you if it’s hard to write about yourself when you’ve been drowning in the voices of everybody else. — Allison Evelyn

So much of writer block happens because there are so many other people’s voices and tasks that are half standing in your way. Take this out of the equation and do your writing on Monday before you are “full of voices from other people.”

3. Separate creative from admin

Admin tasks are not the same as creative tasks. Your brain processes them in different ways. I encourage you to break them apart on separate days.

“Mondays I take purely for creative. Friday is admin only. Finance, invoices, all those things that add up. They are different mindsets and brainpower. You will see so much more time maximized when they are actually separated out.” — Allison Evelyn

4. Amp yourself up!

It is really hard to write when you’re feeling under pressure. It’s a lot easier to write when you feel like you matter and like people care. Write from a mentality that somebody today NEEDS to read what you write.

Truly get excited about the power you have to make someone feel so good!

This is a big mindset shift we all need to make. Reframe the situation from a place of power.

Tip: Go through your email inbox, past comments on your social posts, testimonials, etc. Find the comments where people said “Thank you so much for sharing that” or “Wow, that really just resonated.” Screenshot the best ones and put them in a folder on your desktop. Next time you sit down to write, open the folder and remind yourself of your power to help others. Your writing will flow easier if you believe your words matter. You can ignite that feeling by pulling up that folder. Write from that place.

5. Write to ONE person

When you start to write, picture just ONE person that you’re writing to.

Whether it’s someone you actually know or someone that you’re imagining, think about how what you are writing can help that person. Writing directly to one person is so much less scary than writing to a big group of unknowns.

6. Notice what you like

Consider: Who’s emails do you actually read? What social posts do you double click?

Let go of perfection. You don’t have to be so academic or formal with your writing. What do you like to read about? Let that come into your writing.

“Give yourself some grace. When you go to write, you don’t have to be a New York Times Bestselling author. It’s even better that you’re not. People want you and what shows up naturally. This isn’t AP English class. This isn’t having to write formal. This isn’t having to fluff up sentences. You get to just write, find what comes up, what feels good.” — Allison Evelyn

When you start to write what you actually like to write about, then you will stop feeling so stuck. Don’t force yourself to write what you think you “should” be writing about. It changes everything.

Why inspiration is overrated

You don’t need to feel inspired to write — sometimes you just have to do it.

You can cultivate inspiration to write. You don’t have to wake up with it. We’re all human and we don’t have this pure willpower all the time.

Sit down and start typing without stopping for at least 10 minutes. Set a timer. Don’t read over what you wrote until you’re finished. You can’t get into the flow of writing if you’re starting and stopping nonstop. Most of the best writing comes from when you let yourself get into flow.

Think about taking a yoga class. Your first downward facing dog isn’t usually your “best” one, right? At first, your shoulders or hamstrings might feel a little tight. But after you move for a few minutes, then your muscles start to warm up and your downward dog feels better in your body.

Writing is the same way. You need to be writing for at least 5 minutes to get into the flow, give your brain space to warm up and release the right words.

I used to overthink every single word I wrote. It was awful. I had to stop overthinking everything because it wasn’t worth the time I was putting into it. I started using a timer and moving forward, writing from a place of ‘more like me.’ That is when the real connections happened with my students. — Amanda McKinney

Try taking the word “marketing” out of the equation. It takes some of the pressure off. Instead, ask yourself:

What story does my audience need to hear today?

What’s a tip I could share to help them?

Asking these questions will allow you to release thoughts about strategy and instead focus on writing what feels good.

Writing marketing copy is is all about communicating, serving, nurturing, and giving. Marketing does NOT have to be sleazy. “It’s just loving on your people!” — Allison Evelyn

Your next step

Your next step is to implement just one of Allison’s suggestions. Which one really captured your attention?

Was it digging deep to make sure you believe that your words matter?
Was it setting up Google Doc templates so you never start from a blank screen again?
Or was it deciding to write your emails on Monday mornings when all you have is your voice?

No matter what it was, choose one and make it happen so you can see what it will do to banish writers block in your life.

Until next time, give yourself permission to write and grace along the way.

About Allison

Allison Evelyn Gower is a self-expression copywriter, brand mentor and podcaster who went from 20 cents a word to $3,500 a day and teaching online courses. (Also an RYT 200 certified yoga teacher!) Allison’s obsession is showing women how to unmuzzle themselves and write boldly. Seen on Forbes and having interviewed some of the planet’s most A-list online entrepreneurs on her podcast, Allison’s calling is to help women re-find who they really are and unmute themselves, so they can tap into true self-expression and step into the world the way they’re meant to.

Allison’s Links

Allison’s Program — Banish Writer’s Block

For more stories like this, listen to the Marketing Yoga with Confidence Podcast.

About Amanda McKinney (Marketing Coach for Yoga Teachers)

Amanda McKinney is a Marketing Coach with a passion for helping yoga teachers find the tools and the confidence within themselves to build the yoga business of their dreams. She does this through her podcast: Marketing Yoga With Confidence and online offerings. All of which focuses on building confidence and community with an extra dose of encouragement every step of the way.

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Amanda McKinney

Amanda McKinney is a Marketing Coach with a passion for empowering yoga teachers to earn more money doing what they love. Marketing Yoga with Confidence