Words Passed Down To Me On Becoming A Confident Yoga Teacher

I will go ahead and tell you my secret to being confident when approaching other yoga teachers, studios, and when teaching classes: community and trusting that you’re worth it. There is infinite value in having a supportive community of like-minded yogis to turn to when the going gets tough. In my experience I would not have ventured on to actually teaching yoga to others if it were not for my strong community behind me uplifting and inspiring me. You can practice all of the asanas and pranayamas that you want alone perfectly, but if you’re lacking the confidence to get out there and share what you know then the knowledge you have gained is mostly for your own personal practice. That is absolutely fine if you dove into teacher training to deepen your practice. However if you want to share the rich history, excitement and wonder of yoga with others, being confident in yourself as a guide and what you have to offer is a vital step in becoming a yoga teacher. A teacher of mine once told me that each one of us has something unique to offer as a yoga teacher. Rather than feeling intimidated by all of the accomplished yoga teachers with years of practice and knowledge, let’s take a moment to wash away our false egos and humbly learn from those teachers. We are all on our own paths with our own karmic past that is affecting those paths.

Remember in some of the first yoga classes you took how liberating and empowering it was when your yoga instructor would emphasize the fact that yoga is a non-competitive practice that is not meant to be comparative to others? “This is your practice, your journey. It is a process. Where you are right now is exactly where you are supposed to be.” Sound familiar? This basic element of yoga practice for the student is the same for the yoga instructor. It is easy to forget this element of yoga once we come out of yoga teacher training and view ourselves as “yoga teacher that should have all of the answers” instead of “humble yoga student for life.”

Many yogis find it hard to come out of yoga training to return to the fast-paced “achiever” type lifestyles to try to make money off of teaching yoga. While there should be an exchange for services most of the time, (that is a blog post for another time), the intention of teaching yoga should not solely rest in this monetary exchange. If your intention rests in the idea of service, giving to others what you have received, you will feel more confident and excited about teaching. Remind yourself that there is always more to learn. Keeping a humble mindset opens up our hearts and minds to learn more from those teachers and students around us.

I finished my 200-hour yoga teacher training at the Vinyasa Yoga School in 2016. My time in Rishikesh was full of magic, knowledge, and community. Even though my time there was short (a month) I created a strong yogi community with my cohort. I learned so much about my own practice and myself from my gurus but also from my peers. We shared our excitement, anxieties, laughs and tears with one another. The experience changed my yoga practice and my approach to yoga forever.

I thought that if I could be a part of a close-knit, inspirational, and uplifting community of yogis so easily in Rishikesh then I would be able to replicate that community in New York City when I returned. It was much more difficult than I anticipated. Even though I felt confident in my knowledge and skills learned in training, I lacked confidence in myself to pursue yoga-teaching jobs. I did not have an established group of like-minded yogis who could give me constructive feedback or share experiences with me. I was a regular at a yoga studio in Manhattan, but it was a yoga studio for busy New Yorkers to have a moment of stillness and then return to their lives. I slowly began to compare myself to the teachers in the yoga studio who had many more years of experience and years of dedication to learning and practicing more. The Bhagavad Gita says your mind can be your best friend or your worst enemy (ch. 6 v. 5). My mind was becoming my worst enemy and I was giving up on my dream of sharing the beauty and wonder of yoga with others.

I put my dreams of being a yoga instructor on hold for about two years until I found a new yoga studio that felt like home. It was where I practiced asana, but it was also my spiritual home where the walls around my heart began to crack and eventually they came down. We opened our hearts to one another while on retreats and during workshops, deepening our own yogic knowledge for our individual paths yet coming together to rejoice and share our strengths and weaknesses. One of my yogi friends at this studio told me one day as I shared my anxieties about getting out and teaching, “You are disciplined, but you can practice nonattachment to the results so that you get out and do it. You just have to practice teaching, gain the experience. Be present with your students. Reflect the steadiness, presence, and ease that we are taught to embody in the asanas. Teach with the intention of service. How can you serve your students?”

With these words of encouragement and wisdom from a dear friend and teacher, I began to teach anyone that wanted to do yoga. I taught my friends, roommates, co-workers, father, mother, and grandparents. I even taught my 3-5 year old students at my Montessori teaching job! I felt empowered and confident with each class that I taught and eventually I was given the opportunity to teach a film crew for a streaming service. This job was the first time I received money for my yoga services. Today I have not reached a western destination of “yoga instructor,” but my intention is to be in service of others.. There is no end to our learning as yoga instructors as it is a life long process. I am practicing non-attachment to the results of my yoga teaching work and trusting my own path and process along the way. It is not always easy— there will be days, hours, minutes where I return to feelings of anxiety about my own offerings. Yet when I return to the idea of serving others and being present and steady for them while seeking the support I need from my community these feelings of anxiety tend to dissipate.

Here are a few steps to becoming a confident yoga teacher, passed down to me by other teachers that I am eternally grateful for:

·      Find your community of yogis to share with – cooperation not competition!

·      You have something unique to offer and are on your own path

·      Keep on your own journey – self study (sadhana) with books, workshops, retreats, community

·      Teach in the mood of service: think of your classes not from the lens of how am I doing, but rather how can I serve these students best

·      Practice your duty of teaching yoga as best you can- and practice nonattachment to the results

·      Teach your friends, family, coworkers – anyone who wants to learn

·      Ask those you teach for constructive feedback

Let’s honor those who have walked the path before us and who inspire us to go forward confidently & fearlessly on our own paths:

Om ajnana timirandhasya

Jnananjala shalakaya

Chakshur unmilitam yena

Tasmai sri guruve namah

 “I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my guru, my spiritual master, opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.” - A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in The Science of Self-Realization, pg. 56

I’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences about starting off as a yoga teacher. How has your confidence or inner voice grown over time? Feel free to comment below and start a discussion! <3