Become a Better Yoga Teacher

Transcript

if you're looking to become a better yoga teacher if you want to up your game and have a bigger impact with your students there's a number of different things you can think about but today let's think about the before during and after class experience let's start with the before unit so before means the time leading up to your class show up to your classes at least 15 minutes early here's the mistake that a lot of teachers make is they get buried in the computer or they get buried in their phone much better approach is to position yourself behind the front desk or even in front of the front desk make eye contact with students as they come in the door use their first name and ask them questions and I don't mean hey how are you doing or hey what's up I mean ask them real question how are you feeling how was the last class is your knee feeling any better how many classes have you taken here how is work going connect with people on a personal level remember that nobody cares how much you know about yoga until they know how much you care I'll say that again because it's so important to understand nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care the way to show somebody that you care is just to ask them questions and be genuinely interested in who they are as a person or what's going on in their life from there you have a basis so that you can actually create a transformational experience during class okay let's jump over and talk about the during unit once class starts so the next unit of class we can talk about is the during unit when class starts when class starts most of you your classes take on a life of their own you have your sequence you get carried away or connected to students and things really take on a life of their own the challenge is most yoga teachers rely too heavily on their voice yoga teaching is not a presentation it's not a public speaking exercise that's not what it is it's an interactive experience and good teachers show tell and touch they don't just tell teachers are just telling they're standing on the pulpit trying to use their voice to solve all the problems it doesn't work as well as showing telling and touching telling obvious using your voice as a teaching tool it's your biggest teaching tool it should represent 50% of what you're doing showing is what a lot of teachers miss out on that is using your hands to gesture to combine with words so if I interlace my hands I interlace my hands if I squeeze my shoulder blades together behind my back I show my students this is a very powerful way to give your words more meaning and to connect with your students on a deeper level and then the last bit which is touch which is physically connecting with your students this is where most teachers freak out when I talk about touch or adjustments I'm not talking about cranking legs behind heads or sitting on students I'm talking about in downward-facing dog spreading a student's fingers out I'm talking about a student who has too much tension in their neck and you rub the back of their neck and say relax this is connecting with your students on a kinesthetic level so you can amplify the teaching experience this is what good teachers do they show they tell and they touch telling 50% of the time showing gesturing moving 25% of the time and here's the hardest one touching 25% of time if you do this if you show talent touching that mixture you'll have such a deep connection with your students they will really start to progressing grow at a really remarkable rate next let's talk about the after unit so after class a lot of yoga teachers make the mistake of bailing they leave the front of the room they go to the back room they bury their head in their phone or they go hide out in the changing room this is a big mistake the simplest thing to do is stand in front of your class keep your body language open so don't cross your arms and put your hands in your pocket keep your body language open and say something welcoming like thanks so much for coming to class and next let them know if they have questions if you have any questions I'm here and finally invite them to come to your next class this is super important my next class is tomorrow I have a 10:00 a.m. and a 7:00 p.m. I hope that you can join me that's it right so I thank them for coming I let them know I'm available for questions and most importantly I invite them to join me for my next class if you're trying to build your community you have to invite people and let them know when your next class is oftentimes they don't know so we've talked about the before unit asking questions making sit yourself available and and making sure that you're there at least 15 minutes before class show them that you care so they care what you know we talked about the during unit show tell and touch we talked about the after unit thanking people being available for questions and then inviting them to your next class hopefully these tips will help you to become a better yoga teacher if you'd like other tips and resources visit yoga teachers college comm we have a whole library of articles and videos just like this to help you on your journey