Confessions of a Yoga Teacher
I love teaching yoga and find so much joy working with my clients but there are a few things I should confess…
Asking you to close your eyes is more about me than you
Having a room full of eager yogis, all staring at you, ready to get the ball rolling is super intimidating in the beginning. Before my first few classes, I remember feeling anxious and nervous that I would mess something up or forget the entire class I’d planned. Asking you to close your eyes to start the class allows me a moment to breath, fix the music (inevitably) and get my nerves under control. So, while you are enjoying a few deep breaths, so am I – like I said, asking you to close your eyes is more about me than you (but I still hope you like it).
I might enjoy meditation more than you do
I use to fight meditation in my own practice - It would take me forever to get comfortable, I struggled to focus and sometimes the visuals made me feel nauseous. All these thoughts and feelings swirled when I was asked to teach my first meditation. I was nervous that my own hang ups would come through and interrupt someone else’s ability to find their zen. Then I actually taught the meditation.
The trick to teaching mindful meditation is that you have to be in meditative state yourself in order to teach it. So, there I was, sitting, breathing, cueing observations and taking those cues myself. I didn’t overthink it – I just shared what came into my consciousness as I sat and breathed with my client. By the end, I felt refreshed and energized and…realized I was still in my client’s house. I quickly opened my eyes and saw the most beautiful thing a yoga teacher can see – one client was asleep and the other was sleepily stretching his neck with his eyes closed. Both found their zen while I was in mine.
Now I regularly teach meditation and selfishly look forward to the end of the practice to find a bit of peace for myself while I guide my clients there. A counselor once told me, “you aren’t being greedy or short changing your clients by sharing in the meditation – that feeling is infinite and isn’t diminished by you taking some for yourself.” So while I love the movement and strength of the physical practice, I might enjoy meditation more than you do.
I like when you are uncomfortable
Ok, let me qualify this with there is a difference between pain and discomfort. I clearly never want you to be in pain but pushing you to places where you are uncomfortable is kind of my job. One of the best parts of teach yoga (and really anything) is challenging students to try something new, pushing them beyond what they thought was possible. I relish in your journey. Seeing students’ progress from “I don’t understand what you are talking about” to “this opens up a whole new set of possibilities for my body” is the cream filling to the yoga cookie. So yea, I like when you are uncomfortable because I know all that can come from you sticking with it.
I’m not a doctor
There are days I wish I was. I want to help you find freedom, happiness and balance in your body but I understand that injuries can be big road blocks to those goals. I wish I had the magic words, pose or touch to heal you and get you back to 100% but I am not a doctor and therefore don’t have the qualification or information to answer all questions about your body. Please, go to an actual doctor if there is pain (see above for designation between pain and discomfort). I would be devastated if anything I suggested you do ended up injuring you or furthering a current injury. So please, see an actual doctor and just take what I say in class as suggestions. I’m not a doctor.
It’s okay to laugh of my jokes – yoga’s not that serious
There you all are, squarely on your mat, adjusting your positioning with my cues, sinking/relaxing/straightening/lifting/reaching/breathing, with your serious yoga face. If there is only one thing you take away from these confessions, let it be this: yoga just isn’t that serious. I know some of the “serious yoga face” comes from concentration and consorted effort to contort/lengthen/deepen/open into whatever pose is cued but where does the rest come from?
I like to lighten the mood of my classes with some jokes, albeit dad jokes, but still, jokes. It’s ok to laugh at them even if it’s a “she is so corny” or “I can’t believe she just said that” kind of laugh. I’ll take it. I just love the positive reinforcement for my non-existent comedy career. So try to relax the “serious yoga face”, its okay to laugh at my jokes – yoga’s not that serious.
It hurts my heart when you leave before savasana
Lastly, fittingly, a confession regarding savasana. It may be helpful to know that the whole purpose of the physical practice of yoga is to prepare you for meditation. To quiet the mind, expel energy from the body so that you might more easily come into a meditative state. The mini-meditation that is savasana is practice for this. In so many ways, those blissful moments at the end of the practice are the payoff for your hard work. In my eyes, you only short change yourself if you skip out.
We often deny ourselves and our bodies what we deem “unnecessary”. Now some of those denials are good but I would argue that denying yourself a moment of rest following your flow is doing yourself a disservice. Allowing your mind and body to rest and absorb all the good joo-joo from your practice is part of the practice! Please be nice to yourself. It hurts my heart if you leave before savasana.
Do you have confessions of your own regarding your teaching or your practice? We’d love to hear them! Leave them in the comments below.