I don’t have to tell you that the world is a very different place than it was before March 15, 2020 when the COVID pandemic began. As much as I love to write evergreen content, the times we’re living in right now and for the past year and a half demand acknowledgement and I hope that one day in the future I’ll look back on this and recall “those times.” For now, we live in a world with ever-changing factors that we need to consider in order to be safe, healthy and to live a sustainable life.
Having said that, my focus as a yoga teacher is on helping teachers transform by learning anatomy so that they can share it in their cues, sequences and in those conversations about the practice they have with their students. So with the backdrop of what we’re living through right now, I thought it might be a useful exercise for each of us to go through in the way of a “Check In.”
Think of a “Check In” almost as you’d think of your annual physical; it’s a chance to take your vital signs and see if everything is on track or if something needs attention. And, if you’ve ever had an injury, you know your doctor might have asked you to rate your pain or discomfort on a scale of 1-10, so we’ll use that familiar rating technique.
So, take a deep breath, get really present to the signs your body might send you as you read through this list:
- On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with your yoga teaching career right now, with 1 being not happy at all and 10 be really happy.
- On a scale of 1-10, how much of an impact do you believe you’re making as a yoga teacher right now, with 1 being “no impact/not teaching” and 10 being “making a huge impact that I can see and that I hear about from my students.”
- On a scale of 1-10, how confident are you as a teacher, with 1 being “not confident at all” and 10 being “super confident.”
- On a scale of 1-10, do you feel you have the tools and the knowledge you need to teach, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being “I’m super prepared and have all the tools and knowledge I need.”
- On a scale of 1-10, do you know what knowledge you need in order to build your skill and confidence as a teacher, with 1 being “I have no idea” and 10 being “I totally know what I need to learn.”
- On a scale of 1-10, how active are you in planning and taking positive steps forward to develop yourself as a teacher, whether that’s networking for teaching opportunities, creating your own opportunities to teach, seeking out programs to learn from in your development as a teacher, with 1 being “I’m not doing anything right now” to 10 being “I’ve got lists and spreadsheets and am enrolled in a program and am just taking on everything I can to develop and improve.”
These are just a few self-exploration questions and there’s more I can share but for now, let’s leave it there. The overall objective of this exercise, especially if you’re feeling frustrated, lost or challenged right now as a yoga teacher is to first be able to identify what the problem is. Is it that you need skills you don’t have? Is it that you’re confident and ready but you can’t find any teaching opportunities? Is it that you’ve gone through your 200 hour training and you’re ready to teach but aren’t quite sure where to start? Getting clear on what the problem is will be the first critical step to improving your situation.
Now, the reason I started this post with a mention of the pandemic is because there’s no denying the impact it’s had on how people are accessing yoga services, the numbers of studios operating even at half capacity and the opportunities available for teachers. But despite all that, there are still lots of online trainings being offered, there’s a huge opportunity for first time studio owners to get into the business since there are so many open spaces and less out there and there’s an opportunity for teachers to get creative in how they reach people to offer services.
I don’t have one solution to offer you other than to encourage you to go through this exercise and see what comes up for you. I continue to be optimistic about the future for yoga teachers, even if it takes a bit more time before we’re back to teaching in person again. I also continue to love offering online educational opportunities for teachers and am thankful every day I have that platform to use.
So, to that end, I can share that on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, I’m hosting a free workshop at 2 pm ET where I’ll be reviewing some common yoga cues and the anatomy reasoning behind them. Sign up here.
I’m also really excited because this week I launched a mini-course that is a window into my signature program where I use a step by step way to teach anatomy. The mini-course is under $30 and will give you critical skills you can use right away as well as give you my blueprint for how I break up this complex subject into easy steps. You can find out more here.
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Thanks for reading!