Although I teach anatomy and my classes are focused on functional movement more than anything else, there’s no denying that a huge part of yoga teaching resides in our ability to build connection with our students. I firmly believe that if we stay grounded in the anatomy, we can not only share helpful information with our students but it gives us a way to connect with them; through sharing clear cues about the body, we capture their attention and keep them focused on the present.
However, there are cues that reside in the more spiritual area or cues that touch on themes of personal growth, facing challenge, being authentic and the like. There are ways to approach these cues from a more fundamental yogic perspective, where we share from yoga theory and key texts but there is also a more contemporary approach where we might share a theme that comes from our own experience or one that is a common theme for people when it comes to personal growth. Simple themes around making your health a priority, taking time for stillness, being compassionate to yourself even when the common exercise mentality is to “kick your own butt” are themes that reside in popular culture and can be brought into yoga class as a way to build connection with your students.
In any event and regardless of approach, in order for this to come across as truthful and in order for it to resonate with your students, it’s essential that you be authentic. It can’t be something you’re saying just to be popular or because you think it will gain a certain reaction from your students. While it might be something you saw on social media or experienced yourself, it needs to be brought up a few levels to being more generalizable so that it doesn’t appear to be self-serving or just grabbing a topic that’s out there in the headlines. As always, if it moves you and you see there is value to sharing it, have the courage to do so, but not because you want to get a certain reaction but because it moves you and you have a passion for sharing from your heart and the courage to do so, with no attachment to results.. which, oddly, happens to be a central theme in Buddhism.
To stand in front of your classes and truly let yourself be SEEN and to truly SEE your students, that is the art of a true teacher.
For more themes of building connection with your classes, pick up my book, “Stretched: Build Your Yoga Business, Grow Your Teaching Techniques,” on Amazon.
Also, join me for a conversation on this theme in my post from 11/10/18 in my workgroup on Facebook called “The Bare Bones Yoga Anatomy Workgroup.” Join me and the almost 500 members of my Facebook group on anatomy and learn and share about this topic.
Thanks for reading!