Tips For New Yoga Teachers
When I first started teaching Yoga I have to admit that I didn’t fully feel prepared for the teacher’s life. Don’t get me wrong, my teacher training was great and provided me with tons of information! Still, it’s one thing to study and practice Yoga, and another thing to teach yoga. Teaching anything is hard to prepare for without actually practicing in a real-life setting. That’s why school teachers have to go through months of student teaching in order to become certified.
If You’re new to teaching, or interested in becoming a Yoga teacher, I’m here to help! These are my top tips for new Yoga teachers. If I don’t cover something you have a question about, let me know. I’d love to answer any and all question. Comment, or email me and I will do my best to help you out.
Let Your Ego Go
It seems obvious but always keep in mind that teaching is not about you. You are providing a service to your students, you are supposed to be there for them. This is not the time to show off or confuse your students with that creative, hard to follow flow. Asses the room, and do your best to create a flow suitable to the bodies present.
Less Is More
Do not overload your students with unnecessary information. Your job as a teacher is to provide a safe environment for students to learn and discover what their bodies are capable of. Give them space to explore! Offer them one or two cues in each pose so they can really tune into that single point. Offering them too many cues in every pose can be confusing, and draw them out of a peaceful state of mind.
Also, be ok with silence! Sure it might be awkward at first, and sometimes I still feel funky when the room has been too quiet for too long. Still, you don’t want to talk too much and frustrate your students. It’s ok to sprinkle little nuggets of wisdom in longer holds or explain something more in-depth, but know when to stop.
Adjustments
I like to ask my students at the beginning of class if they are comfortable with hands-on adjustments. That being said, people might tell you yes, and really mean no. It happens all the time. So be aware of your students’ reaction to touch. If they tense up or jump, back off. I always make sure students can hear or see me before I offer them an adjustment. If they’re in childs pose, I take a few deep breaths with them before placing my hands on them. Sometimes I’ll even tell my students beforehand that I’m going to give them an adjustment.
That being said, don’t feel obligated to give students hands-on adjustments. Yes, it’s a great opportunity for learning, but if you’re not comfortable with the adjustment, your student will feel it. Hands-on adjustments are an exchange of energy and sometimes we don’t want or need to share ours. It’s ok to go a whole class without physically adjusting someone. You can always verbally cue a student if need be.
It’s Not About The Flow
Your students aren’t there for the flow. They are there to practice yoga. The most “simple” or “basic” postures can still provide a profound experience even if a student has entered the pose 100 different times.
Instead of worrying about how creative your flow is, or whether or not your students like it, focus on creating a calming, nurturing environment for your students to explore. Some of my favorite teachers are my favorites simply because of their presence in the room. Their attention to detail, and their ability to change the mood of the class through small gestures such as lighting, music, and cues. The flow is always secondary to the students’ experience.
Always Have a Plan B
Sometimes you plan a super cool, fun class and are so excited to teach it. Then your students show up and their energy is so not ready for the class you have prepared. It happens all the time.
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to change a class to suit the energy in the room. As I continue to teach, I have learned what works best for me is to create a skeletal structure of my class. I come up with a basic theme or peak posture I want to work on, brainstorm some warm-up poses, and weave them together as I go.
That doesn’t mean I don’t go to class prepared if anything I’m actually over-preparing. I make sure I have multiple options for sequences and variations of poses based off of where my students are at in their practice. Having multiple mini sequences prepared allows me to better serve my students needs.
Always Trust Your Intuition and Refer Back to Your Teachings.
At the end of the day, teaching is in and of itself a learning process. Trust the journey, enjoy it, and know that not every class will be your best. You can’t always serve each student individually and all the time, and that’s ok! At the end of the day, you have to give it your all and go with the flow!
