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Is It Hard To Be A Yoga Teacher?
It is fun to be a student and be responsible for only yourself while following the teacher’s instructions. But does the class appear the same on the other side? Certainly not. As a teacher in any field, whether a yoga teacher or any other teacher, you are responsible for a whole class with several students, be they children or adults.
Teachers may find it hard to say that teaching is easy, but they surely find it fulfilling to learn and impart the gained knowledge to their students. Teaching yoga is the same, where you strive to keep evolving. You must have a beginner mindset with a tendency towards improving to a higher version of yourself.
To gain an in-depth understanding of effective teaching methodologies and practical teaching experience to amplify your quality of teaching, you can join Our Yoga Teacher Training In Kerala, a place well known for having the most suitable learning environment that will make you a yoga teacher everyone admires.
Now, let’s take some weight off your shoulders from your daily responsibilities as a Yoga Teacher.
11 Effective Yoga Teaching Tips
With these effective tips, your yoga teaching will become as effortless as a vinyasa flow!
Identify Your Purpose/ Why
Defining your purpose is the crucial first step in driving your enthusiasm to keep walking on your chosen path.
Before starting your career as a yoga teacher, ask yourself, “Why do I want to teach Yoga?” Find answers to your why, identify what drives you, and fuel your motivation to keep going on your yoga journey.
Here are some questions you can reflect on:
- Why do I want to become a Yoga Teacher and not anything else?
- What does it take to be a Yoga Teacher?
- Would you like to spend your life teaching Yoga?
- Are you willing to serve others through teaching Yoga?
- Why do you admire Yoga?
Answering such questions will build your vision and help guide you through the times you lose focus or feel like quitting.
Keep Practicing
For any yoga teacher or yoga instructor, other than teaching, it is equally vital that you carry out self-regulated yoga sessions to keep your muscles greased and your strength and flexibility maintained. It’s only when your mind and body are in perfect harmony that you will be able to teach others how to find balance within their bodies and mind.
Remember, “You cannot pour from an empty cup,” so you must keep refilling your cup to give to others.
Know The Different Ways Of Teaching
Yoga is an art, a lifestyle unique to everyone. There is no one way to teach yoga. Every teacher has a distinctive way of teaching it.
You may remember the time when you were a learner. How is your teaching different from the teacher you gained your education from? Indeed, there would be things you learned apart from your yoga training, maybe from your own student or in a yoga club.
There are as many ways of teaching yoga as there are yoga teachers. And you can learn something from everyone. So keep yourself open to learning and exploring, and surprise yourself with the numerous ways you can implement your yoga teaching.
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Do Not Compare Yourself With Others
Imagine you just established your yoga institute and are eager to begin your first lesson with your students. You received a message from one of your fellow yoga club friends, congratulating you and inviting you to visit their yoga institute. You discovered their well-renowned institute online, brimming with numerous learners and began comparing your progress to theirs, feeling disappointed.
Did you notice how eager you were to get started before the message came? Then what changed your attitude? The answer is how you responded to the message. Instead, you can choose to admire your friend’s yoga institution and at the same time celebrate your own wins and progress.
It is easy to compare ourselves with others and feel we are not enough. However, you must always remember that everyone’s progress level is different. Those who have achieved something were at your level once, and somewhere, someone still aspires to be where you stand.
Take your time to get to a position where you aspire to be, but at the same time, do not have high and unrealistic expectations of yourself.
Grounding
Grounding is an ancient exercise that helps reconnect and realign one’s energies to the Earth, promoting mental, physical, and emotional well-being and receiving positive energy.
It connects us with the Earth ‘physically’ – through asanas such as Mountain Pose, Tree Pose, Corpse Pose, Child’s Pose, and Easy Pose – and ‘spiritually’ through meditation and pranayama.
But how does it actually feel to ground yourself? Let us show you how.
- The first technique is earthing, where you place your bare feet on the Earth to absorb its positive grounding energy.
- Another method involves sitting in a chair with your feet planted firmly on the ground while closing your eyes.
Take a deep breath in and visualize roots growing from your feet into the Earth, and your crown opening to a white light. As you do this, you ground yourself in the Earth and open yourself to the spiritual realm.
Grounding before and after teaching a yoga class will maintain an equilibrium between your body and mind to preserve harmony within.
Maintain And Protect Your Energy
While teaching yoga, there is a tendency to absorb other people’s energies, which can make you exhausted. The techniques of grounding mentioned above will be helpful, but in order to protect your energy, you can use the following technique.
Ask your students to turn their heads towards you and feet away from you while they are performing the Shavasana pose. It is because their energy is leaving their body through their feet, so by pointing their feet away from you, it will not get absorbed by your energy field.
Maintain A Schedule
Everyone needs a change of air and some time to wind down from constantly doing the same thing. Hence, structuring a schedule is vital to set some time for a break where you refresh your mind with hobbies or things you enjoy doing other than what you always do.
It could mean spending valuable time with your near ones, meditating, thoroughly enjoying a healthy meal or a warm cup of tea with all your senses, getting enough sleep, taking on some physical activities such as hiking, bike riding, camping, swimming and so on.
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Expand Your Income
Let’s be honest. Earning is hard when you teach in a single studio with limited students. It is okay to think about expanding your source of income to become financially more stable and gain enhanced freedom and peace.
Ways you can earn other than from your typical yoga class:
- Start a Yoga Podcast
- Create a Yoga YouTube Channel
- Start a Yoga Blog and monetize it
- Offer Private Yoga Classes
- Create and sell products that represent the Yoga Community
These passive income sources will not just build you financially stronger but give you more personal time for rewinding and self-training.
Yogi With A Plan
Remember to do your homework before you show up in class. You shouldn’t seem lost about what the next asana shall be in front of your students. Have a plan in mind, but be flexible with it. Always have a plan B and change your plans according to the students and energy level of the class.
Be Open To Feedback
When you enter the class, leave your footwear and your ego outside. Inside the class, all are equal, all are learners, and anyone can teach you something new. You can either have an attitude of ‘I know better’ or be the first to learn and grow. You should be willing and open to feedback from your students, whether it comes verbally or online.
You can ask questions to your students like:
- “Did you like today’s session?”
- “Which part of the session do you like the most?”
- “Do you have any difficulty after yesterday’s session?”
- “Which part of today’s session did you find the most difficult?”
Build a connection with your students. Take feedback on your stride and be motivated to learn and improve yourself.
Final Words
Being a yoga teacher is no easy thing. It requires time, effort, dedication, authenticity, and, most importantly, love for yoga.
To become a successful yoga teacher, you need to work on yourself in different ways, push your boundaries, and expand your abilities. The above tips can certainly guide you, but you must sincerely implement them to become an effective Yoga Teacher.
