Congratulations to the students who just completed Maile & Caroline‘s Yoga Teacher Training at The Mindful Body! I loved teaching you all about Ayurveda the other Saturday, and I know the training experience has been intense, revealing and insightful for many of you.

Considering teaching yoga is a big decision, and can change your whole life, especially your relationship with your yoga practice. After teaching for seven years and talking to numerous other teachers, I’ve found there are a few things that are essential to maintaining integrity, being successful and deepening your relationship with the practice.

Here are my 4 pieces of advice for new yoga teachers:

1. Be vigilantly protective of your own yoga practice time. I’ve always felt best practicing in the early morning and deciding to (almost) never ever take on classes that are at that time is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. It’s one of the yoga world’s dirty little secrets that there are some “great” yoga teachers out there who don’t get their butts on the mat half as much as they teach. Don’t be that person. If you’re choosing to commit to teaching, you must have an unwaivering commitment to practicing. If that falls away, stop teaching. When you tell your students to practice regularly, be able to say it and live it. This may sound simple and obvious, but trust me, if you choose to teach you will likely be faced with this challenge. 
2. Teach to your students. Feeling nervous? Want to show you know your stuff? Save your fancy moves. Watch the way your students move through your warm up (because you’re teaching some kind of warm-up right??) and then teach them what they need to develop their practices. (Note: see #4) This is an acquired skill, but one you should start cultivating right away. Lots of beginners in class? Teach them to breathe deeply and give them a solid knowledge of the standing poses. Does everyone in class look exhausted? Save the jumping sun salutes and give them some supine work instead at the start of practice. Got a perky group of regular students? Give them one or two (not 10) new challenges that build on the foundation you’ve given them in previous classes. Trust me: People will love a simple class from you. Simple is good. Basics are great. And most people need it too…
3. Teach what you know. Yes, you’ve heard this before, but I want to clarify “know”. “Know” means you can teach it to different age groups, body types and if someone asks you a question about it you know how to answer it because you’ve been living that pose on the inside. Feel like that means you’ll only teach the very basics? Then teach the very basics. The yoga has to live in you to be conveyed well to others. You want to know not just what a pose looks like, what muscles it uses, and who it’s for, but what it feels like vicerally from the inside. Then, you teach it. This normally takes many years of practice. If you don’t have years under your belt just yet, you may want to postpone your teaching gigs until you do. Enthusiasm is not a substitute for experience.
4. and perhaps the hardest in our society: Teach what your students need, not what they want. This is the one that really sets yoga teachers and people who make money from yoga aerobics apart. I think every yoga teacher knows what it’s like to be in this position: you come into a class of students who want you to kick their butts in sun salutes and “advanced” poses and their chaturangas look awful, their breathing is erratic and they’re total type-As– a fast vigorous vinyasa class is not the yoga for these people. I remember vividly walking in to teach a “Power Flow intermediate/advanced class” and told folks to get a block before class.  Then a woman comes up to me: “Um, you know this is the INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED class, right?” Fortunately, I’d already been teaching for years so she didn’t shake me much. I responded, “Yes, and you’ll need a block.” with a smile. So new teachers, stand your ground. Give your students what you think they need to improve their practices and bring them to body-mind-spirit balance. Again, stand. your. ground. Don’t pander to being “popular”. Be a good teacher. Be a respectable teacher. Trust me, it pays off.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, so important that it doesn’t get a bullet point… Have a teacher. Have someone you practice with regularly to give you feedback on your practice, and who you can bounce questions off of in regards to teaching. Ask the teacher first. Have it be clear that they feel you are ready to share the yoga. We are not islands as yoga teachers. Whether you’re more attuned to the cultural origins of yoga or not, we are all part of a lineage of yogis and we do best to honor that teacher-student relationship.

Good luck in this new step in your relationship with this beautiful practice. Om gam ganapataye namaha! May your path be free of obstacles!

…and I don’t know where I’d be without the wonderful support and teachings I’ve received over the years from my primary teachers: Colleen Taylor, Yolanda Bain, Catherine Shaddix, and Scott Blossom. Their presences in my life have changed it and my teaching forever, and I am eternally grateful.