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Calling all yoga teachers: if you’re looking for tips on how to maximize your teaching impact, this article is for you!
As a yoga instructor, you have to be skilled at instructing a class, have extensive knowledge about anatomy, and assist students with proper adjustments all while maintaining the studio or practice space, props, and music.
In addition to that, modern day yoga teachers also have to have some understanding of how to manage social media and a website in order to promote their classes and events.
It’s easy to get engulfed in the art of teaching, which is why many yoga instructors neglect to focus on themselves and their business. Not only is this detrimental to your own individual health and practice, it also affects your students and your teaching as an extension of your own spiritual state.
With all of this said, read on for our top five yoga teacher tips to help you lead with integrity and be the most effective and impactful with your students as possible.
5 Yoga Teacher Tips (Don’t Neglect These Things When You Teach):
Below is a list of five things that teachers tend to neglect. Don’t let this be you! Instead, use these yoga teaching tips to boost your confidence – and your teaching overall!
1. Nurture Your Mental Health
It’s no secret that it’s hard to earn a full income from teaching yoga. Yoga teachers have to be resourceful to make a living from teaching yoga. It is tempting to teach 10 or 15 classes each week, run around from studio to studio with your mat on one shoulder and a bag full of props on the other, all while getting stuck in traffic.
You are not doing yourself or your students any good when you stretch yourself too thin. You need to pay attention to your own needs and make sure your mental health is a priority. This will allow you to be a better yoga instructor and overall a better person.
That means negotiating your pay, diversifying and evolving your offerings, and, yes, taking breaks. At first it may feel counterintuitive to teach less, but when you’re functioning at 50%, your teaching is landing at 50% and when you’re feeling your most energetically full, your teaching will reflect that as well.
Yoga teacher tip takeaway: Think of your impact over your reach, quality over quantity.
2. Maintain Your Authenticity
Being a yoga teacher can be intimidating. We want to emulate our most impactful teachers, provide value to our students, and (not so secretly) change the world. Especially at the beginning of your profession, you might feel some unspoken pressure to have the best yoga mat on the planet, the trendiest clothes, and maybe even a massive social media following.
But teaching yoga is a lot like making new friends. If you want to attract the right people, then you have to show who you really are.
There’s no need to change who you are when you teach. Being yourself, with all your qualities and little quirks, will appeal to students who can identify with you. When people love your classes, they may appreciate your sequencing or outfits but they return for your unique voice and insight.
Yoga teacher tip takeaway: Creating a community means offering something they can’t get anywhere else: you.
3. Nourish Your Inquisitive Mind
Yoga is an ancient practice that comes with a set of principles, guidelines, masters, and gurus to respect. And, in a way, it’s true that these ancient methodologies are what makes yoga what it is. Yoga is an ancient practice that encourages you to understand your body and mind.
However, you need to use critical thinking when consuming yoga content to keep growing as a yoga instructor.
There will be times when you disagree with the way things are taught or spoken, either from outdated evidence or from your own experience. But if you learn to keep an open mind and think about your personal opinions of the yoga practice, you can grow in a unique way that can make you a better yoga teacher as a result.
Yoga teacher tip takeaway: Continue learning, exploring, and growing in your yoga practice and knowledge while maintaining an open mind to different perspectives.
4. Invest In Yoga Insurance
With thousands of hospital and doctor’s visits each year due to yoga related injuries, it’s important to realize that injuries do happen. And unfortunately, many yoga teachers neglect to purchase yoga insurance to help protect them and their yoga business from legal claims and lawsuits.
By purchasing yoga insurance, you provide yourself with the peace of mind you need to do your job right. Yoga insurance allows you to stop worrying about the “what ifs” and focus all of your energy on teaching.
Good news is, beYogi offers yoga teachers and students access to affordable, all-inclusive yoga liability insurance, including teaching styles such as SUP Yoga and AcroYoga at no additional cost.
beYogi has designed a yoga insurance program that covers whatever style you’re teaching, no matter where you go – most other yoga insurance companies don’t offer this.
Not sure what you need? Here’s How to Choose the Right Type of Yoga Insurance For Yoga Teachers
Yoga teacher tip takeaway: Protect yourself and your business by investing in yoga teaching insurance.
5. Prioritize Your Personal Yoga Practice
Somehow, at some point after their teacher training, many yoga teachers forget to embrace their personal yoga practice. As a teacher, you are eager to plan sequences, create unique playlists, and come up with mantras that will help your students be more present in class.
But often times, as we take on teaching more weekly classes and get more involved in leading workshops etc, we tend to neglect our own time on the mat.
One of the amazing aspects of being a yoga teacher is that the learning never stops. Whether you feel the urge to refine your yoga philosophy knowledge or understanding of anatomy, the possibilities are endless.
The only way to be sure that your teaching is evolving and growing is if you grow and explore your personal yoga practice. Take a class from a different teacher, try an online yoga class, read new books on yoga – get out there and walk the talk!
Yoga teacher tip takeaway: Schedule time for your personal practice the way you would schedule teaching a class!
Follow These Yoga Teacher Tips to Maximize Your Impact!
Remember that your presence and personal wellbeing matter as much as that of your students. And with these yoga teacher tips in mind, you’re prepared to be the best you can possibly be!
As a yoga instructor, you undoubtedly strive to feel grounded and peaceful as you go about your teaching journey. This includes prioritizing your health, investing in yoga insurance, and making time to focus on your personal yoga practice.
For a limited time, beYogi is offering $30 off your yoga insurance annual premium for YouAligned.com readers, dropping the annual cost to $149.
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