1. Stay inspired: It’s easy if you’re teaching a bunch of classes to get bored of the same stuff you teach over and over. Solution(s): Take classes from teachers you don’t like (Maybe they’re too hard. Not your style. Too easy. Fake af. Too woo woo. Talk too much. Not woo woo enough.) Take classes from studios you’re suspicious of. Stalk (on the internet) people who are doing things you find exciting. Watch yoga videos. Read a book that’s maybe only tangentially related to yoga. There’s something to learn from all of these places even if it’s just what NOT to do. Constantly steal, borrow, adapt, most importantly make it yours, and you’ll be inspired.
2. Be mindful: Be mindful in how you sequence classes – build to challenges/deeper poses, prepare them for what’s to come. Be mindful of how and what you say in classes (the best way to do this is to say the wrong thing, notice how students react, let yourself mess up, be okay with messing up, and learn from it so next time you can say maybe a slightly better version of whatever the hell you were trying to say). Be mindful of how students are responding to what you’re teaching – amp it up or give them a rest, speak to how their bodies are reacting, encourage, talk more or close your mouth if they’re rolling their eyes during your 20-minute lecture on the “true” origins of yoga, etc. Most importantly become aware of how you react to things in yoga and in life. This is an ongoing life skill. Start small with some short, guided meditations (spotify or youtube or the UCLA website has some great free ones). In other words live all the 8 limbs of yoga (not just the poses).
3. Invest in your students/clients and they’ll invest in you: Get to know their names (I’m terrible with names but lately I’m telling myself “I’m so great at remembering names” and I’m getting better at it). Remember details about their lives and ask them about those things next time you see them. Invite them to come back. Find out what individuals like (not to be touched, to be touched a lot, to be challenged, to be allowed space to rest) and verbally/physically give them space for these things in class. Remember parts of their bodies they struggle with, are working on, or where they have an injury or are recovering from an injury, and cue things to them in support of that part of their body. Do all this and people will come back to you. In short: be a good human. Caveat: Know that sometimes a person is just not right for your class. Don’t take it personally. Let them go to make room for the people who are drawn to what/how you’re teaching.
4. Procrastination: Enemy or Friend? Sometimes I procrastinate planning for classes because I don’t know what to teach: ENEMY – this is just avoiding doing the work (see #1 get inspired). Other times I procrastinate because I only have a tiny grain of an idea: FRIEND – as long as I’m still letting that germinate it’s procrastination as progress, allowing an idea to grow organically. Sometimes I procrastinate because I doubt myself: ENEMY – become familiar with the stupid, annoying, lovely, silly, smart, dumb ways that your brain reacts to situations (aka #2: Be mindful).
5. To get better at a thing, keep doing it: DUH, but also wow! You’d be amazed how much better you get (at anything) if you just keep frigging doing it (and you had good training, and it’s suited to your skills). Practice out loud at home by yourself, or with a friend as a guinea pig. Practice with discounted private classes. Practice your face off. You’re doing great, sweetie.
6. Don’t stress about left or right. I’ve mixed up my left side from my right side for as long as I can remember just in my regular life, so I don’t know why I thought I’d be any better when I had the added pressure of a group of people’s eyes on me, trying to demo the opposite side to mirror them, and still keep class on track! Cheat. Say front leg, or back leg. Use the room as a reference: Say “Twist towards the mural of Buddha riding a unicorn and petting a baby emu,” instead of stressing about if that’s their left or right. As long as you do both sides everything will work out. And if you do say the wrong body part/side of the body embrace it, call yourself out, maybe laugh about it, and just be human. (Also apply this to any time you make any kind of mistake) Plus, you will magically start to get better at this over time (#5 Keep doing it).
7. Say YES! to Opportunity
If life hands you any kind of opportunity to teach yoga accept it. Not ready? Not prepared? WHO CARES?! You can get ready; you can prepare. But you can never go back in time and change your mind and take the opportunity. Opportunity is the universe saying that you are on the right track, keep on chuggin’, little engine! This comes with the caveat of listening to your gut (#2 Be mindful), and seeing if this opportunity is a step in the right direction for you. I was offered a job teaching at a gym early on and I said yes immediately. When I got there the expectation was not that I would teach yoga, but a stretch class with some yoga poses. It was not what I was passionate about teaching. Also the commute was an ugly wiener dog with rabies— that is, it was long and unpleasant. I should have known in my gut to say no after my first class. Due to a miscommunication, the gym owner hired another person the same time I was hired by his assistant, which was a blessing because now I was free to take any and all opportunities that came my way.