I’ve long been considered a “Teacher’s Teacher” having led 22 RYT 200 Hour Teacher Trainings through Alchemy of Yoga. I have a love of learning and appreciate trying new strategies along with sharing what I’ve learned with other Yoga Teachers. With over 11,000 hours in 15 years of teaching yoga to students, I have compiled some simple and smart success tips. Consider these suggestions a way to level up your teaching from good to GREAT!
- Find a Mentor Teacher: Remain a student. Be teachable. Practice yoga, take classes, workshops, trainings and seek support with someone you trust to have an on-going open forum to ask questions.
- Get healthy, stay healthy: Practice radical self-care, build a therapeutic support system outside your students. They are not your therapists.
- Keep it real – Be a positive example of authenticity. Don’t just pretend to be the archetype of a yoga teacher. Instead be yourself. Demonstrate what it means to live your yoga and life live with integrity. And never knowingly misrepresent professional qualifications or certifications
- Teach fewer classes: This will greatly reduce yoga teacher burn out. Too many of us teach too many classes, reducing the quality of each offering let alone our quality of life. A sign that you may be teaching too much is when you are too busy to be a student and take class yourself.
- Be prepared: Demonstrate competency by being organized and professional in all interactions with students both inside and outside the yoga room. Take responsibility for the professionalism of yoga as a career. The more we hold ourselves up to a higher standard of integrity, the more others will appreciate what we do. If we lack professionalism we cannot expect to create a positive universal reputation. Don’t expect Yoga Alliance to have to do it all themselves.
- Give gratitude to your teachers: Appreciate each other. To all whom you learn from, the barista, the taxi driver, your yoga/meditation teacher, your Mom or Dad remember to give thanks. Whether or not you do this in a visible way through social media make an effort to thank those who have influenced your teachings. ABOVE ALL, take other teacher’s classes. Appreciate your teachers by showing up on the mat.
- Serve your students. Remember it’s all about them. Maintain student confidentiality and appropriate professional boundaries. Share your resources and knowledge. Make yourself available. Connect with students after class, return emails and phone calls in a timely manner.
- Create a safe, honest and comfortable environment for students.
- Remember this is not a popularity contest: Stop competing with fellow teachers and avoid the humble brag or other ways of comparison. Use social media to educate your students first and foremost and then to support yoga as a whole.
- Show up and be present and grounded in your energy. Put aside your drama and tune in to those students in front of you. Tap into your universal mind and allow love to move through your highest self to those you serve. Remember to always be kind.
Love yourself, love your day, love your life!
[sc name=”Standard”]