1. Thinking yoga is a panacea
Yoga is a beneficial & valuable healing resource but it isn’t the only one out there. As yoga teachers we add value & credibility to our profession when we educate ourselves about other, complementary healing modalities. Although yoga may – for us – be enough to create & maintain health, our students may need more. Encouraging our students to give up or avoid beginning another complementary healing practice only serves to facilitate ignorance & draw arbitrary boundaries where there should instead be open lines of communication.
2. Overpreparing
Many new teachers spend hours in their teacher training programs devising creative, intelligent, & safe sequences. They show up for class – sequence in hand – only to find that the universe conspired to challenge them to a little quick thinking; perhaps the studio is too cold – or too hot – for their sequence, or they have a room full of beginners & planned a Level 3 class. You get the picture…we need to be flexible {pun intended} & consider that sometimes we need to let the lesson plans fly out the window.
3. Underpreparing
Some teachers have the other problem. They have no problem ‘flying by the seat of their pants.’ Mentally, that creates its own set of issues…we get lazy. We stop challenging ourselves & our students can tell. Without proper planning, your class may suffer from mistakes number 4, 5, & 6.
4. Copying rather than innovating
When we begin teaching, we almost can’t help but parrot our teachers. Especially if we’re fresh out of training and have loads of practice hours under our belt with one or two master teachers. Before you know it, you find yourself telling the same jokes your teacher does, or using the exact same sequence she used last Tuesday night in your Saturday morning flow. As one of my teachers recently said to me {of a copy cat teacher}, “while imitation is a form of flattery, plagiarism is certainly not.” Although it’s difficult, we owe it to our students, our teachers, & ourselves to come up with original material for our classes.
5. Teaching your ‘class’ rather than teaching your students
Ever attended a class where the whole time you’re just wondering who the heck it’s supposedly tailored to? When you’re looking around to see if anyone – just 1 person! – is doing what the teacher is suggesting?!! This is when mistakes 2 & 3 come back to bite you in the bum. If you’re doggedly sticking to your precisely choreographed sequence even though NO ONE can do it, there’s a prob. Likewise, if you’ve not spent the time to prepare, you’re gonna be rifling through a bunch of sh*t that may not work for your audience.
6. Sacrificing safety for sensationalizing
Some teachers love to show off their flexibility, grace, & strength with uber-challenging flows that start off with a bang & never stop. While that’s fabulous for a master class where people know what they’re getting {& where the pre-reqs are clearly listed}, it’s not the safest way to run your open or all-levels classes. Hatha yoga is physical & we as teachers need to remember that every body is different every day. Applying the principles of safe sequencing keeps our bodies safe while allowing our minds to slip into the calm, steady focus that yoga provides.
7. Language snafus
“Breathe into your belly.” Physically impossible. “Rinse the spine.” Unclear. “Reach away from yourself.” Confusing. “Spiral your arms.” WTF! Is this bellydancing or yoga? These examples are in no way meant to make you feel like an awful teacher. {Wanna know how I know these are the top 10 mistakes? I’ve made ‘em all!}. However, we do need to take the time to educate ourselves with the principles of kinesiology, basic anatomy, & the language of movement. No, we don’t have to couch each & every transition in language that only the physical therapists, physicians, & chiropractors will understand, BUT let’s avoid the major language mishaps that make yoga teachers – as a professional group – look like a bunch of undereducated hippies.
8. Teaching from the mat
Oooooh, I know this is a can o’ worms. Some of you STILL teach from the mat. Some of you run training programs that endorse this kind of instructor {I definitely DO NOT}. YOU ARE NOT A YOGA DVD. Get off your mat & watch your students. Observe their bodies. A big part of your job to keep your students safe. You may need to advise Mr. Smith with the fusions from L1-L5 to avoid that deep backbend. You’ll likely need to keep Ms. Jones with the cervical herniations from popping right up into Plow during the finishing sequence. And in your observations, you may just notice that you’re making one of the other mistakes {there’s nothing like half the class doing something completely different than you intended to let you know you’re language wasn’t clear. If everyone’s sitting on their heels looking around while you’re the only one doing an arm balance, there’s your sign the class is too tough}.
9. Hands off, please.
Yoga teachers are not licensed to touch. But wait, you say, I love to adjust & be adjusted. Well, good for you but technically giving hands-on adjustments is outside of the scope of our profession. Does this mean you shouldn’t adjust? I’m not gonna tell you what to do but I will tell you that many of my students, friends, & fellow teachers have experienced injuries from adjustments. I do offer ‘gentle’ adjustments, but those are primarily to represent directionality rather than to provide depth. Adjustments are transformative when given appropriately. I believe when offered by a highly trained yoga teacher or yoga therapist who knows your body & your practice, adjustments are healthy & beneficial. Yet I’ve personally seen too many students {including myself, as a student} come away from an open class with an injury from an overzealous ‘handsy’ yoga teacher. I think it wise to remember the first yama before adjusting.
10. Potty mouth
I’m not just talkin’ bout dropping the F-bomb, here. As teachers of yoga, we implicitly chose to align ourselves with a style, a set of styles, & a teacher {or teachers} before we ever became teachers ourselves. So what, you say?We sometimes forget that {ahem} our way isn’t the only way. Shocking, I know. So try this little exercise….Repeat after me: 1} other styles of yoga have value, 2} other teachers have just as much to offer as I do, & 3} students should find the style & teacher that best suits them. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now practice that. No more potty mouthing other studios, other styles, or other teachers before, after, or during your class. Move away from competition and thrive instead on collaboration. Can you enhance your own teaching style by drawing from another style? Can you grow your own studentship by learning from a different teacher? Can your studio thrive by joining forces – hosting an event, organizing a festival, or offering a yoga pass – with another studio? At it’s simplest, yoga = union. How can we best practice that?
Maybe you’ve made some {or all} of these mistakes. Lemme tell you, I’ve made every single one of ’em. Hope you can benefit from my wisdom {read: what I learned from falling on my face!}.
About Kellie
