Is this image AI generated? Of course. See how many “hallucinations” or errors you can find.
I am still basking in the warm glow that comes from leading a traing-the-trainer style webinar on Tuesday night. Even at this point in my career, I am pleasantly surprised that people want to hear me share my two cents about a niche interest. Training and mentoring other yogis on the path is one of the best parts of my job. #blessed!
So what was the topic this week? How to use AI as a yoga teacher! Non yoga teachers, please bear with me, I promise this is related to all of us out here on the internet. For a little background, as yoga teachers, we need to participate in continuing education to maintain our certification with Yoga Alliance. This means that we can take workshops on a wide variety of topics that fall in to four categories: 1)How to do yoga; 2)How to teach yoga; 3)Anatomy and Phyisology; and 4)Lifestyle and Ethics.
That last one caught my eye. Hmm, the ethics of using AI as a yoga teacher…
There is a lot of debate right now over whether AI is a tool to be used for good or evil. Personally, I have no more issues with AI than I do with a hammer. It’s not about the tool, it’s about how it was made and how you use it. In an attempt to keep this article a reasonable length, I am going to be as brief as possible so I may be missing the nuance and detail you are looking for. Well guess what? Ask Google Gemini to elaborate and fill in the blanks.
Yoga is an incredibly robust mental training framework with a lifetime supply of ethical guidelines, from which I have chosen only one topic to highlight today: Arjuna’s Dilemma. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is faced with a daunting task of whether or not to engage in a war so instead he ingages in a dialogue with Krishna to help him decide what to do. My takeaway from their conversation is a) that people will get hurt no matter what actions you make; and b) remember your duty so that you can choose right action.
Let’s apply this to generative AI tools like ChatGPT.
How are people getting hurt from AI? First and foremost, the way that generative AI sources data, is by taking information in a way that violates copyright and privacy. So by using generative AI, you may be using information that you shouldn’t be. (So long as we all agree that copyright and private data can’t be taken without permission. Which we all agree on, right? Right?) Keep in mind that we need to take precautions with anything that we put in to AI because it’s “out there” now. Unfortunately, the genie is out of the bottle and we can’t stop this. We can only ask ourselves to engage with AI in alignment with our values.
The action item for yoga teachers is to remember your duty and choose right action. I like to think that I have a duty to my audience to provide the best possible experience. I may be robbing us of that by not using generative AI to be the best yoga teacher and therapist that I can be. I can’t live with myself thinking that I have missed a golden opportunity to be better at my calling in life.
How can I use generative AI tools like ChatGPT to become a better yoga teacher?
- Ask it! Most of these tools are chat based, so just ask what it can do for you. You will never run out of suggestions. Ever. Ever, ever.
- Offload tasks. I actually don’t think that these tools save time, I think they save mental energy and cognitive load. Don’t know what to make for dinner? Tell the chat what ingredients you have in the fridge. Don’t know how to organize your morning routine? Tell it how you are struggling. Now you have more mental energy to show up as your best self all day long! Personally, I don’t like writing workshop descriptions and it takes me forever to come up with anything. I hammer a bunch of key words in to ChatGPT and it does the rest. Plus, I am less self-conscious of the result because I’m not attached to it since it’s not my creation. It just needs to get done and be out there.
- Ask for help with anything you are stuck working on. Its only job is to generate ideas. You can even ask it to take on a friendly tone or just be a supportive listener.
- DO NOT hand over jobs that you love to the algorithm. I love writing blogs and designing programs for my students. I absolutely love collecting resources and sharing what I find with others. Giving that up would remove my reason for being a yoga teacher.
TL;DR: If you choose to use generative AI, cause the least harm possible. Use it to make life more beautiful for yourself and causes that you believe in.
It may be up to us early adopters in the woo-woo spiritual realm to set the tone for how this technology will be used in the future.
If you are interested in taking a webinar with me:
- They are open to the general public so you do not have to be a yoga teacher to learn about yoga
- I post the shedule here: https://zenwithgwen.com/yogafit-teacher-trainings/
The next webinar is “Incorporating Tapping/EFT in to your Yoga Practice” in July. Recordings will be sent out to all who register. - If you have a group of people looking for a workshop or you would like 1-on-1 mentoring from me, please contact me at zenwithgwen@outlook.com
Did I write this blog with AI? Nope! Just for fun I asked AI to make this blog perfect and… it was kind of dreadful. So for now, I will keep writing 🙂 See you next week!
ZenwithGwen 