Hey all! I have been asked to guide several girls at my university(towson) in a practice that will revolve around my ashtanga routine. any advice? eventually i would like to pursue teaching a class or two at the university. i realize that every school is different but what qualifications should i have? 200 hour certification? any teaching tips? bad info here
So you’re at my Alma Mater there on York Road eh?
This class will be at the TowsonCenter? Not that it matters.
Well I have thoughts but not suggestions.
My first concern is that teachers teach and students study. Which one you are I do not know. But the skill set for practicing yoga is not the skill set for teaching it, though a teacher of a subject must obviously be “in” it in order to convey it.
My second concern is tied in to my first and that is risk management. Who is covering your insurance in the event that someone is injured during your leading?
Third you say “ashtanga routine” rather than Primary Series. That sort of implies you’re not teaching the primary series. So I’m confused as to what you’ll be teaching and as such it would be tough to give tips for it.
Relative to certifications…I prefer teachers pursue such things to quench their own internal thirst to share yoga from its depth. However, I am also aware that many do not move from such a motive. The folks in HR - be it at Gold’s in Timonium or at Burdick Hall - they may have their own standard(s). If you opt to train to suit someone else’s requisites then it would be best to determine what they are by asking said someone.
From the Heart, that’s how you should teach. Simple.
i am teaching just for the sake and enjoyment to share it to others. i have been devoted to the practice for quite sometime and met some fellow devotees while backpacking this summer. i just graduated from good 'ol towson and have been asked to guide a few young ladies. i am not showing them how to perform the primary series, rather i only would like to show them some introduction. eventually, it would be nice to perform the primary series with others devoted (as you may know, this area is not so open-minded to yoga). as far as insurance, i will have them sign a waiver and seek some assistance with those employed at the school. anymore thoughts?
If you want to teach classes for your university, find out at least the minimum of what they will accept and pursue that.
As for the teaching the basics to the group:
The first time I was asked to teach was coincidentally three days after I made the honest self-dedication to spend my life teaching yoga. An esteemed professor doing a research project says: “Together we have the same faith, that the only path is to know yourself and to know God. You believe that yoga can change the lives of people, and you will use it to do so. You will teach this group of kids, and you will change their lives”.
I had a week,took time off work, spent 40+ hours researching.: how to teach yoga to children, how to teach anything to children, how to use positivity instead of discipline, how to work with troubled children, how to work with my impovershed target group, common kid class terms, health and safety, anatomy, biology, philosophy of teaching…
What mattered? The two hours I spent before class walking through the woods by the lake, talking to myself and the universe. Surrendering to all the of the possibilities that could happen. I realized at that point that while it is important to me to have the background knowledge to ensure the safety of them, all I ever really needed to teach a group of children was faith in myself and true compassion and love for them. The desire to make their lives better and have a positive impact on their futures is all the motivation it took to learn way more than I would need to teach them to stretch like a cat, breath like a flower, and give someone they cared about a great big hug. In the end I not only changed their lives, that of their parents, but also my own. It was seriously the greatest experience of my life.
So- learn everything about those practices you are going to give them the basics of. Ensure their safety, their happiness, and learn every way you can to communicate with others. Practice in your head, practice with a close friend, teach your cat, teach to the darkness in your empty living room. You said you want to share it for the sake of enjoyment of teaching others. Have no fear. Like Pandara said - teach from the heart. If you get discouraged or anxious or don’t know what to say - you can never go wrong with the truth. When I first taught a small adult group I said, ‘I have never taught an adult yoga class before, this is my first, so please bare with me patiently as we do this together." Likewise the first real yoga class I ever attended after practicing for years on my own, the girl said "I just finished my teacher’s training and have not taught very much. Please be patient if I am not perfect.’ There will be a few people who won’t want to be in a group like that, but I feel like she connected with everyone as a friend with her honesty that first day, and I still consider her the best teacher I ever had.
So anyway - thats a lot of writing.
Good luck!
I personally think teaching yoga is taken far too lightly. That is not to say the teaching of it should not be light, humorous, even playful at times - not when beginners are doing Sarvangasana of course.
If you want to teach something, know it. If you want to teach it well, then be able to communicate it.
A teacher needs to be able to speak. That speech needs to be concise and articulate. That articulation needs to be delivered in such a way that it can not be misinterpreted AND delivered in a variety of ways to reach as many students as possible.
A teacher needs to look and see. If I cannot see the student’s poses (because I am too busy dancing around class, doing the poses, or basking in my own joyful ego) then what sort of teacher am I and how could my students be safe?
If I teach a predetermined routine and it is taught without seeing and therefore without correcting then am I not replaceable with a tape recorder or chimpanzee?
It is far easier to be the student. The skill set is basic, even simple. You can check out and only you suffer. When I check out as a teacher, when I am 20% muddled as a teacher, the teaching is 50% muddled and the students are at risk on more levels than one.
Do the teaching. But do it from a place of reverence of the practice and, as Pandara said, bring it from your heart (with the necessary skill set of course). Will you let us know of the experience so we may share that with you as well??
great advice everyone!!! too much knowledge floating around 