Last week I taught two classes at Yoga Life, the studio where I just recently finished teacher training. These were the first two classes I’ve taught since graduating from TT at the end of May. I was subbing for one of the regular teachers there who also went through TT with me. The classes were one hour power vinyasa classes. I was very nervous, I forgot the music I wanted to bring for the first class and I sweat A LOT. In Monday’s class I did a pretty straight forward flow with a few standing balances for fun and challenge. Wednesday I decided to play with working on using the arms to support weight. So we did some high plank/push-ups and played with jumping back from uttanasana to chaturanga dandasana then worked into bakasana. Both of those days I was about 10 minutes under on time. I’m not sure what’s going on when I get in the studio but I must rush through my sequence due to nerves. I need to add in segments that I can take out if I don’t need them because as of right now it’s kind of hard to improvise a sequence on the spot. I can add a couple of single poses into closing here or there but coming up with a whole sequence on the spot that fits in is quite a bit more difficult at my level right now. I definitely need to work on my improvisational skills there. I think that will come as I start to have more sequences memorized and a more natural feel for what works together.
Teaching is interesting when you’re first starting out. The class looks so serious and I get it, I know I definitely look serious when I’m practicing. However, this doesn’t help me get a read on how I am doing. I don’t know if the students are thinking I suck or if they’re bored or if they can’t hear me in the back of the room or if they’re enjoying the flow I’ve put together for them. I have to get used to seeing all those serious faces and just trying to get feedback when I can as the students get to know me. It also means I just need to trust in myself more and have confidence in my development as a teacher. As long as I show up with the love and joy I feel for the practice hopefully that will come through in my teaching.
What I do absolutely love is the technical aspect of yoga and teaching it. I love teaching the proper form, alignment and technique for getting into a pose. I love seeing someone improve and catch on because they now know what to work on in order to get where they want to go. Those are the things I enjoy as a student. I love when a teacher makes something make sense to me for the first time so I hope I can help students in that way. This means my own practice needs to continue to improve because I can only teach what I know and there is still a lot I’ve yet to learn. This is more motivation to keep moving forward in my dedication to my practice, so hopefully one day I can teach students all they want to know and continue to share this practice that brings so much lightness into life.
The thing I wonder most about teaching:
Will I ever get to the point where I can walk into class without a flow in hand and just teach from my head? For some reason I’ve set that as the point in which I’ll know if I can make teaching a life time career. Time will tell I suppose… :)
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