Lessons of a Yoga Instructor – Unfiltered
Teaching Yoga brings me joy. It is a light in my world that is filled by helping others and connecting with people from a very vulnerable place. Teaching has helped me grow in ways that my personal Yoga practice could not. Here are the top 10 lessons I’ve learned along the way:
- Our mood and energy penetrate the class. Regardless of how hard we try to put on our “teaching hats” – students can feel where we are at spiritually and emotionally.
- Yoga Groupies are real. These individuals latch on to teachers and create cliques. These folks put teachers on pedestals but will just as easily kick them down and replace them with the new “flavor of the month.”
- We teachers need to beware of the Groupies and avoid involvement at all costs. Even when we are on the pedestals.
- We gain just as much from teaching a class as students do from attending.
- Teaching a class is therapeutic and can turn the day around in an instant.
- Not all students are “friends”. It is ok to have a teacher/student relationship and set proper boundaries accordingly.
- Real, genuine connections can be made in the Yoga room – but it must come from an authentic place.
- Many teachers compete with each other. Even if we want nothing to do with it and know this is the farthest thing from what yoga should be about – it is real, and very unhealthy.
- Expectations are high of teachers. Because we offer guidance during the hour of class, we are often expected to be saints in every area at all times.
- We are not saints and we are not perfect. We are human beings experiencing the same ups and downs of life as everyone else.
I love teaching. I love the lessons it has taught me. I love each person who reads this and understands it is coming from a wide open space. Truth is important. I find it to be a necessity to always live and speak the truth.
Namaste~