You know what? There’s something that isn’t discussed that I didn’t really hear until after I started teaching.
It’s been my biggest lesson so far. I’m sorry that I haven’t talked about it earlier.
As a new teacher you teach people who are new to yoga.
Yeah, and you say?
Check it.
I practiced yoga off and on for more than a decade before I did YTT. In the year and a half before I was brave enough to do it, I was practicing several days a week. Then I spent YTT with women who had advanced practices. I started practice at least once a day. Progress in my practice was exponential. I don’t just mean on my mat either. My approach the the entire world was underlined with a broader sense of compassion.
To say that I was livin’ the dream is a gross understatement.
Cool right? I know. I had managed to cultivate a pretty bad ass existence.
Throughout the process our primary teacher told us that we’d be teaching new students and that would mean that we would have to focus on the basics. I heard her, but didn’t listen.
Isn’t always the damn case?
Most of the people I teach have new or newish practices.
It’s my job to help them find the best expression of a pose.
My job break down the connection of body and breath in a way that is accessible, challenging, peaceful and hopefully lots of fun.
Many people I see are just getting started or coming back to their mats after a hiatus. It can be intimidating and scary.
It’s critical that I remember that not everyone has a keen sense of body awareness.
Not everyone knows what the quadricep is or where it’s located.
When you say connect with your breath- you have to explain what that means.
It’s the reality of teaching new folks. And that’s cool. When I’m ready to headstand I will. Right now, I’m learning how to be a beginning teacher who has students who love learning about yoga.
The Answer Man is a fun little film about a curmudgeon self-help guru who learns to love the people he inspired. The woman he begins to date gives him (and me) sage advice:
- Don’t take advice from people you wouldn’t trade places with.
- Try not to say things that you can’t take back.
- Something is what it is, so it can’t be something else.
Number 3 is my mantra.
Modifications, encouragement, space to breathe and a soft place to fall is my job for my students.
I let them know that their best pose in a moment is the very best that there is.
Not comparing today to yesterday. Not worrying about tomorrow.
I show them how to feel from the inside out and outside in. And it all takes place in the now.
I smile at the thought.
It’s a blessing that this is my new career.
As my own practice grows my students will grow and my style will evolve.
It’s what is. It’s pretty incredible. You can set the tone for someone deciding whether or not to continue with yoga.
It’s a big responsibility. One I do not take lightly.
I keep my sequences simple but interesting, I give lots of modifications. I celebrate. And I make adjustments to my class if it seems too challenging or if a class seems ready for something more.
Life. Is. Good.
This is yoga and it’s for everyone.
Namaste y’all.
