I just finished a 30 day yoga challenge. I wrote about my experience in the previous post: this post is part two. Doing yoga every day in a studio with a variety of different teachers allowed me to reflect on what qualities I value in a teacher. I’ve written these qualities below as though I was making a request or offering advice simply because I prefer writing in an active voice.
I offer these tips up purely from my experience as a student over the last 30 days because I believe in what yoga practise can offer to support a more mindful and active life. It’s amazing to see the number of people line up and sign up for public classes across the city. Tens of thousands of people are feeling the benefits of yoga. Discerning students recognize that good yoga practitioners do not always make good yoga teachers just like great athletes do not always make great coaches. The skill of teaching must still be learned and honed. Here are a few qualities that I think contribute to a great teacher. What do you think is missing?
1. Share a piece of yourself. When you authentically share your own personal experience, your students are invited to connect with you. This builds community and students may be more open to receive your teachings. What you share doesn’t have to be big - often the most seemingly mundane things can be the most powerful.
2. Know your students names and use them. In 30 days of yoga, being asked my name was very much the exception not the norm.
3. Teach to what you see. Most classes I attended were well planned and well sequenced but they did not necessarily accommodate who was in the room. This leads me to tips 4, 5, and 6.
4. Make all your classes multi-level. You will have students that come to your class every week or once a month or maybe one time only. They may be brand new practitioners or have years of practise under their belts. Most of us have physical imbalances in our bodies and some of us have injuries and tweaks here and there. You don’t have time to get to know averyone’s abilities so give multi-level instructions throughout.
5. Sequence a class to balance the body. Many classes left me feeling like I just made all my imbalances way worse. The sequence of yoga postures left my back body overstretched and and my front body over contracted. Whether you spend all day as a desk jockey or full time athlete, most of us need to have the back body strengthened and front body lengthened and we need to re-learn how to use our core in a functional way. Movement classes should help maintain good posture, balanced strength and joint mobility. So please for the sake of my impending cave woman walk… please fit in some back extensor work and glut activation postures.
6. Give specific and individual instruction. I am coming to your class to be guided by you. Don’t be afraid to give me instruction or adjustments. Even if your studio has rules about adjustments (whatever happended to those?), please give me instruction specific to me. Then give me a choice to take it. That may be an idea how to modify or expand a pose or assistance to do so. I’m coming to your class for YOUR instruction - I can get no instruction at home. Out of 30 classess, I recieved individual instruction in two and I observed very little individual instruction given to others. Generalized instruction was the norm. While we may all be connected, we are not all the same.
7. BE you. The classes I enjoyed the most were guided by teachers that have found their own unique voice - they don’t duplicate anyone else’s style or offering. They apply their skills and knowledge and offer that through their own unique being.
