Table of Contents
- Introduction
- #1 Simple gets you started.
- #2 Let go of perfection.
- #3 You don’t need to know everything.
- #4 Use your classes as an opportunity to continue learning.
- #5 It’s about the students, not about you!
- #6 Don’t over explain.
- #7 Use your notes.
- #8 Embrace being uncomfortable.
- Now, go get started and have some fun!
Introduction
As you begin teaching yoga, remember something very important about all your favorite experienced yoga teachers:
We all started out by teaching our first class!
There’s no way to side step the jitters, nerves and even making some mistakes as you gain experience teaching. And that’s ok.
After teaching now for 15 years, I still remember those first nervous classes--feeling less confident, confusing my rights and lefts, skipping a pose in my sequence on one side--and still powering through to deliver a great class!
There’s a lot I learned from those unsteady moments. So if you are preparing to teach as a new or emerging yoga teacher, here are some practical tips (things I wish I knew when I started!) to lead your first yoga classes.
#1 Simple gets you started.
There’s no need to come up with a complicated, hard-to-lead sequence. Start with teaching only yoga poses you are confident in and flows you know well.
You’re going to be nervous, so it’s not the ideal time to reach for creative flow genius. Save that around the mat flow, facing alternating directions in the room, for when you feel more seasoned.
A simpler sequence will be easier to deliver under pressure. Your students do not expect advanced, novel flows and you do not need to confuse yourself to curate an amazing yoga experience.
#2 Let go of perfection.
No yoga teacher is perfect. It’s our uniqueness, not our perfection, that makes our teaching special. You don't need the perfect playlist, you don't need to know every Sanskrit word, and you don’t need to weave a profoundly spiritual theme through the asanas. Work on adding these extras little by little to your yoga classes over time.
Your students want to enjoy a confident teacher, not a confused one. A simple class delivered well and from the heart still can be profound and memorable.
#3 You don’t need to know everything.
You don’t need to be the one who knows the most about yoga in the room! You still have something to offer the most advanced teachers and practitioners.
There may be students who come to your class who have a stronger practice, or who are very experienced. You don’t have to know more than them. You just need to lead them through a class.
These students are not showing up to judge you; they truly enjoy being led and the community of practice. And no matter how many classes they have taken or taught, they are there to experience your perspective of yoga.
#4 Use your classes as an opportunity to continue learning.
Each class, make it your goal to remember one new thing. Rather than cramming to memorize everything all at once, this micro-learning approach will help you retain your yoga knowledge over time.
Each class, commit to remembering one of the following that interests you: an alignment cue, an assist, or a Sanskrit asana name or philosophy term.
For example, I always teach cat/cow warm ups. One class, I challenged myself to remember that marjaryasana is cat pose. It wasn’t until a few more classes in, that I referred to cow pose in Sanskrit, bitilasana. Class by class, you will remember more and more.
#5 It’s about the students, not about you!
Your job is not to perform and impress your students. Your students should not really even be focused on you. They should be focused on themselves.
Rather than worrying about what everyone else is thinking about you, create space for students to explore their own body, mind and spirit. You are there to take them on a journey inward.
Remember this to let go of the need to prove yourself. Stay focused on connecting with your students.
#6 Don’t over explain.
You learned A LOT in yoga teacher training. And you are probably excited to share it all! The breaths, the chakras, anatomy, chants, the stories of sages-- thousands of years of history and practice! You have just 60-90 minutes to safely lead your students through a peaceful practice.
Cue what is useful and leave space for students to experience the practice. Your students signed up for a class, not a YTT. Knowing when to weave in an additional fact about anatomy or philosophy and when to offer silence is a skill that will continue to develop over time. But you certainly can’t teach everything you learned in one class.
#7 Use your notes.
Create a short outline for your class that you can refer to. This should not be something you are reading, but rather a way to quickly glance down and keep you on track. Notes allow you to relax because you aren't desperately trying to remember what's next.
In the beginning, having a few notes to support you (whether you use them or not!) will ensure you don’t go blank and panic or confuse your flow on each side.
Using notes does not make you look like an inexperienced teacher. Even as a teacher of 15 years, I sometimes use notes!
Eventually you'll be able to deliver a class confidently without them, and it will be more of a choice whether you continue to use them.
#8 Embrace being uncomfortable.
You decided to become a yoga teacher to grow and that means pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens!
You might forget things, make mistakes, and you definitely will feel nervous! The goal is to keep teaching through the discomfort. It’s the only way to become the teacher you wish to be!
Now, go get started and have some fun!
There’s only so much you can read and practice to prepare you for that magical moment of teaching your first class. Ultimately, you just have to get your feet on the mat and smile from the front of the room.
Your learning didn’t stop after completing your YTT. You will continue to learn and grow, and you may as well have a great time while doing it! Keep practicing. Keep teaching. You got this!