Five Tips For New Yoga Teachers

You just completed teacher training, now what?

You’re ready. You’ve taught your friends, family, your neighbors, and even your pet chihuahua. Now you are heading out from safe waters. Your new adventure and next step might be a studio, a gym, or a community center. Have fun and use these tips and reminders to guide you.

5 Key Tips for New Yoga Teachers: Your Path to Success

1. Keep it Simple

Use the KISS method. Keep it Simple for Students. As a new teacher, you will most likely attract students who are new to yoga as well. You do not need to wow them, knock their socks off, or hit a home run. Some teachers feel as if they have to throw the entire kitchen sink at them via creative sequencing, quotes, and stories. The hope is that it may impress them or that it is needed for students to have a powerful yoga experience. But for students, less is more.

People have enough on their plates to be bogged down and confused with complex instruction and poses, different language, overuse of yoga jargon, etc. Just showing up for students is an incredible accomplishment. They are already learning something new by just being in class.

2. Be Easy on Yourself

You will always teach one of the three following classes:

One. The one you plan to teach
Two. The one you actually teach
Three. The one you should have taught

Number three can stifle new teachers. I should have said this, I should have down this, etc. Some teachers will spend the entire ride home second-guessing what they said and did. Learn from each class you taught and move on.

3. Use One Student In The Room To Teach The Entire Class

For new teachers, all the students in the room may be overwhelming. To stay present and connected, look at one student when you are teaching alignment and speak to “their body.” For example, say you are teaching Warrior 1, you would look at one person’s feet and speak to the foundation of the pose. Not only does that individual person benefit, but the whole room does as well because you are connecting physically and you are present. It lands powerfully for the whole class.

4. Have a Cheat Sheet Nearby

As a new teacher, you already have enough things on your plate, such as memorizing a sequence, alignment cues, timing, etc. Make it easy on yourself and have a notebook nearby with your sequence, reminders, or whatever you need. It’s okay if you freeze or get stuck. If you do freeze, put your students in Down Dog, grab your notebook, get back on track, and regain your composure.

5. Don’t Sell Yourself Short

Like attracts like. You will most likely have students new to yoga if you are a new teacher. Simply do your best. It is amazing the stories that we hear from brand-new teachers. We have heard countless stories where students have attended their first class from a brand new teacher, and that specific class had a profound impact on that new student’s life and hooked them on yoga. The practice is potent. Just getting people to move their bodies, experience freedom, and clean their minds with deep breathing is super powerful. Remember when we teach, we teach for them. Share yourself. Share your love of yoga. Students will pick up on this and it will come back to you.

Conclusion

For many years, Rishikul Yogshala Rishikesh has been recognized as one of the Best Yoga Schools in India. We provide Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India. We constantly place a priority on holding small, comfortable class sizes so that we can provide each student with individualized attention. Our Yoga School is well known for its top-notch faculty, extensive facilities, and kind and encouraging classroom environment. We are a Yoga School in Rishikesh with Yoga Alliance registration.

Our Available Yoga Teacher Training Courses are: