How to Become More Confident as a Yoga Teacher
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New yoga teachers, can you relate?
To feeling uncertain— wondering, will students come back to my class?
To feeling like a failure— thinking, did they notice when I messed up the sequencing?
To feeling not good enough— asking yourself, will I ever stop comparing myself to other teachers?
If on more than one occasion you’ve found yourself wanting to quit, hide, or break down and cry, you’re not alone.
My best advice for new yoga teachers? Focus on the things that are within your control.
Not whether or not a student comes back to your class.
Not what other people think of you.
And not how other teachers teach.
None of these things are within your control.
You know what is?
What you focus on.
You get to decide how you define success in your early days of teaching yoga.
What are some ways you can do this?
Track specific metrics that are within your control.
Track things like:
Whether you started and ended class on time (time management skills)
What words you used to explain a pose (communication skills)
How kind you were to yourself while you taught (practicing ahimsa, the yogic principle of compassion)
Being intentional with the lighting, music and temperature of the space (logistics, creativity, mindfulness)
Checking students in and remembering to use their names (welcoming students and encouraging them to come back again)
As you track these things and improve them, you’ll find more confidence in every other area of your teaching. You’ll show up thinking, I got this, rather than overthinking it or being so hard on yourself.
Want more support? I’ve got a number of great e-books and resources for yoga teachers, as well as articles published here on Alive in the Fire and on my @aliveinthefire Medium page.
Here are a few you might like to try:
Are you a new yoga teacher working to build your confidence? This 40-page e-book brings you practical, hands-on advice from over 25 experienced yoga teachers on how to kickstart your career, overcome imposter syndrome, receive feedback, and improve your skills. The book also includes 10 powerful meditations to help calm your nerves and ground your energy before class. Other topics include:
How to create kick-ass sequencing
How to get off your mat more while you teach
How to stop comparing yourself to other teachers
How to overcome burnout
How to create inspired social media content
How to decide if a class is worth starting or keeping
Are you ready to let go of imposter syndrome and find new levels of confidence as a yoga teacher? Begin here!
Calling all new yoga teachers! Are you ready to teach a badass power yoga class?! This script can help you improve your cues, build your confidence, and discover the sequencing and pacing that will define your unique style as a teacher. A great tool for transitioning from your yoga teacher training into any environment where you are leading classes, whether that’s a studio, gym, corporate setting, or private classes.
If you are struggling to remember what to say when you teach, or you’re having trouble guiding students from pose to pose, this script can help. The Power Yoga Script breaks down exactly what verbs and cue details to use as you teach. Are there fears or insecurities holding you back? Are you comparing yourself to other yoga teachers instead of letting your voice be heard? Explore the big questions behind how and why you teach using this helpful guide.
The sequencing follows the Baptiste methodology including the following sections: Integration, Awakening, Vitality, Equanimity, Grounding, Igniting, Stability, Opening, Release, Rejuvenation and Deep Rest.
This 48-page script includes:
Introductions
Warm ups
Sun salutations
Warrior poses
Balancing poses
Triangle series
Backbending
Abs and core work
Hips
Forward bending
Inversions
Cool down and shavasana
There’s also space for you to plan out a class and write out all the cues you’ll use to guide students safely through the poses, plus a list of questions to help you discover where you’re feeling stuck.
Precise cues, smart sequencing, and ideas for how to start and end the class in an engaging and authentic way. Walk into class feeling empowered and prepared to deliver a kick-ass yoga experience to your students.
Take your teaching from basic to badass with this power yoga script.
Here’s what yoga teachers are saying about the POWER YOGA SCRIPT:
“This definitely helped me improve my flow with teaching asana after my teacher training.” -Donita, Vinyasa yoga teacher
”I love how you laid this script out. I felt confused and scattered as I was working on my classes and this helped me save time in the process. Thank you!” -Keyla, yin yoga teacher
“I’ll be honest: when I got done with my 200-hour training, I felt totally lost. I mean, my trainers went over all the poses but as soon as I’d get in front of the room, the words just weren’t there. I felt so stuck. This book helped me build my confidence and doing some memorization so I wasn’t always so terrified to teach.” -Beth, power vinyasa teacher
