Let me preface this by saying that I’ve been teaching for 6 year and I don’t know shit.
So, you’ve gotten out of yoga teacher training. Maybe you’ve just started teaching. You’re eager but also a bit nervous. You want to make a good impression with your students. You begin thinking of all the things your teacher said or maybe you think of things other instructors have said that sound good to you. “Relax”, “Inhale . . . Exhale”, “Remember to listen to your body . . . what is it telling you to do?”, “Remember to use your Bandhas”, “Stay in the present moment”, “Breathe”, “Remember to stay mindful”. You end up creating a backlog of sayings, quotes, or even stories you’ve heard other teachers say that make you sound like you know what you’re talking about. But here’s the problem. Did you really think about that saying, quote, or story? Do you really and truly know what it means? Or what reason your teacher had for telling it? Or are you just regurgitating these sayings because you think they sound cool? You want to sound like a Yogi. It’s a good rule of thumb to never say anything you don’t fully understand. In fact, try and get through one class without saying any of this list of buzzwords. If you can I’ll give you a cookie (oops, I mean a vegan cookie.)
Intention
Inhale . . . Exhale
Relax
Stretch
Mindfulness
Presence
Core
Awareness
Energy
Add to this list every Buddha quote, every BKS Iyengar quote, and every Krishna-whoever or Sri-whoever quote that’s been told a million times over by now. What do YOU have to say? What do YOU want to get across? WHY ARE YOU HERE? Guess what, I’ve got news for you, it’s ok if you don’t know right now. You are just getting started. Nobody is expecting you to be the next Pattabhi Jois right out of the gate, or ever, for that matter. We don’t need any more Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengars, or Krishnamacharyar. We need people who understand the current American culture and how to take these old concepts and interpret them so that people now-a-days can understand them. Look, I’m not trying to shit on the godfathers of yoga. But they were not perfect. Some of what they taught doesn’t apply or should be tweaked for our culture and our time. Yes, let’s respect the foundation they created but then build on it.
I’m also not saying you should never use quotes in your classes. But just think about why you’re using it. There is a time and place for quotes. Are you using it because it sounds cool or are you using it to get a particular point across?
And please, please, please if you don’t know how to talk about meditation, don’t. It’s the most vomit inducing shit ever. This is an actual quote from an instructor whose class I took a few years back.
“Imagine yourself as a beautiful butterfly slowly braking out of your cocoon. Break, break, break out and spread your beautiful wings!”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!
I think the reason so many instructors speak such flowery, new age filler talk is because they’re afraid of silence. Silence is your best friend. Not all empty air needs to be filled. I invite you to play around with silence. Here’s a trick, at the start of your class, usually when everyone is still talking, walk to the front of the room and sit and just look out among your students. If they look back at you acknowledge them with a nod but don’t say a word. You will then notice the true power of silence.
So you don’t know everything and it’s safer to tell yourself you don’t know anything. LEARN . . . learn as much as you can. Assume your training was absolute shit. Chances are it probably was.
Here’s a little yoga biz insight. . .
You were told that the best way to make a living in the yoga world is to open your own studio. But then when you open your own studio you realize with the over-saturation that is happening in yoga right now you can’t charge a lot for classes. There’s too much competition with the 6 other yoga studios within a 10-mile radius of yours. You learn pretty quickly that the best way for your studio to make money is to have a teacher training where you can then charge $3000 -5,000 a head for a 20-30 person training. BOOM big bucks!! But wait you’ve only been teaching for 1-2 years. What the hell kind of insight could you possibly have to pass on to perspective instructors? This is the reason there are more yoga instructors right now in America than there are coal miners. This is also why there are more injuries in yoga now than ever before. I have had many new instructors tell me that they were taught more business and marketing than anything else in their training. Well no shit! That’s the only thing your trainer knew.
So even if you think you had a wonderful training assume you didn’t. Take full responsibility for your lack of knowledge and find workshops, other trainings, keep taking classes from DIFFERENT instructors. Read books (I’ve made a list at the bottom of this article of many excellent works). Teach! Teach as much as you can. EXPERIENCE is the best teacher. Last and most important, MEDITATE! I don’t care how or where or how long you do it, but do it. Like it or not if you wish to be a yoga instructor who teaches at a yoga studio you are also a spiritual leader/adviser for some students. You better have at least some understanding of this shit. Giving false information, or simply talking out of your ass won’t help anyone and could potentially harm or deter students from ever wanting to meditate. And here’s the thing, you’re not going to learn anything about this from a book and video or even a teacher better than you can than by actually doing it. Meditate, turn off all distractions (TV, computer, phone, etc.) and just simply sit in silence, allow whatever happens to happen. Whatever thoughts come up, let them be there. Stop all productivity and just do nothing.
Remember, it’s ok to tell a student you don’t know something. You do not have to have the answer to everything, at any stage of your teaching career. If you can, point them in the direction of another instructor who does. Or, it’s ok to say “You know, I really don’t know. But I’ll tell you what, I’m going to do some research on that and get back to you next class.” BOOM you just created a devoted student.
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” (Socrates)
Books to read
“Sit Down and Shut Up” Brad Warner
“Hardcore Zen” Brad Warner
Pretty much anything by Brad Warner
“The Wisdom Of Insecurity” Alan Watts
“A Life Worth Breathing” Max Strom
“I Am That” Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj