This past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to teach in a yoga teacher training program. This meant I had the chance to teach teachers – which is pure pleasure! Teacher trainees are so eager to learn. They’re brimming with interest and passion.
We practiced together and then broke down certain postures; how to teach them, benefits of the pose, modifications, and limitations people may have in those positions. It was the limitations that got people really talking.
Some of the trainees expressed concern that if they were limited in their physical practice – meaning, if they were unable to do the “full expression” of the pose how would they teach it? The easy answer? Don’t.
They say write what you know. The same goes for teaching. Teach the postures you’ve practiced, that you know, that you’ve felt in your body so you can pass on this knowledge with a good degree of confidence. Confidence that you are safely guiding your student to a place you’ve been before. Teach the variation of the posture you’re able to do, and be honest with your students about your abilities. It doesn’t make you look less knowledgeable, it makes you more approachable.
This is more easily said than done. When I first started teaching yoga I was hit in the face with a lot of unspoken expectations placed on me by myself and others. I felt the need to do all asanas. I started following famous teachers on Instagram. They would post these cool pictures that would both inspire and discourage me. I would look at their feed not realizing I was coveting their abilities. It made me feel inadequate because I wasn’t already doing 3rd series arm balances, or floating effortlessly into my handstand. Granted these postings can be inspirational, but they can also be a bit daunting, even misleading. Little did I know – I had yoga goggles on.
Yes, yoga goggles. It’s a thing. Kind of like rose coloured glasses. You put them on and pretty soon all you can see are crazy yoga postures, quotes from Rumi, spandex and yoga mats. The yoga world is so enticing. Filled with pretty bodies and bendy poses. It’s easy to get so caught up in this world. It becomes this very flexible, mandala filled norm. Except it isn’t a lot of people’s norms.
As my teaching career progressed it became very clear right away my students didn’t have the same goals as me. I wanted to hold my handstand for over 30 seconds. One of my students said to me,
“I’d give anything to touch my toes.”
I wanted to nail my scorpion arm balance. One of my students confessed,
“I want to get up off the toilet when I’m 75.”
I felt like kind of an asshole. I was a physically capable, young woman in her twenties. I needed to slow down and pop a gratitude pill – count my blessings and tone down my overly ambitious thoughts.
It’s the same with any job, career or even hobby. Go too deep and you can’t see the forest for the trees.
Something you learn right away as a young teacher is “teach to your student, not to your ego”. Create classes to meet people where they are, not classes to show them how awesome you are at something. You learn to create an experience that enhances your students day to day lives, weaving together postures which allow them to be in their bodies and minds in a more comfortable fashion.
Also, being “the best” at something doesn’t make you qualified. A constant search for knowledge, coupled with the desire to be kind and patient with self and others is the real fuel needed to feed any occupational fire.
I shared with the teacher trainees how reluctant I’d become to use the word “advanced” when talking about physical postures. The definition of advanced yoga had changed for me over time. One teacher trainee summed it up perfectly when she said,
“So I guess it’s more so the state of mind you bring to the practice?”
Yes. A thousand times yes.
Add to that state of mind an open and willing heart and you’re on your way! Again, easier said than done, but totally worth it.
A little while back, I began to follow other people on Instagram. People who made me laugh or who loved other things I was into – dance, food, wine, sarcasm – all the good things. I diversified my life more by trying new forms of movement and spending more time with friends and family. Oddly enough it only made my love of yoga deeper.
Yoga is something meant to make the rest of your life better. However, when it becomes your life, taking a step back might be wise. I had to remove the yoga goggles and look around. I had to take the career blinders off and hug my family more. Everyday I peel the rose coloured glasses off and see people in need. As a 31 year old, physically capable young woman trying not to be an asshole, taking off the goggles is a practice worth doing daily. Turns out, yoga is not just about perfecting handstand. It’s about using your hands to help others.
Who knew….
