Yoga apart from physical and mental fitness has become a successful career option. Teaching yoga can give you and others a positive outlook to live life. Many people are opting yoga as a profession because it has become a medium of making money and staying fit at the same time. People who get international yoga certifications can open their yoga schools and guide others towards living a healthy life.
How To Start Teaching Yoga?
When you newly start teaching yoga it might get difficult at first. So here are few tips about how you can start teaching yoga without any problems.
1. Keep practicing
Keep practicing yoga sequence until you are comfortable with all the positions before planning to take first yoga class as a teacher.
2. Make it simple
Don’t make your first class complicated. Try keeping it simple for you and your students. Try keeping your level accessible for complete beginners. Keep the needs of your students in mind and don’t try teaching everything at once.
3. Take it slow
Be honest to yourself and your students about what you know and what you don’t. It is fine if you are copying the tone or sequence of other teacher but try to be original as far as possible. Do everything from your heart and do not take too much load about the classes.
4. Learn new things
Besides teaching the students, you should also keep on practicing asanas, yogic philosophy, pranayama or a combination of all the three. Keep on practicing while teaching so that your students also get benefitted by your knowledge. Keep on learning new things. Always keep your practice on top priority otherwise it will become difficult for you to transmit your knowledge to the students.
5. Offer private classes
If you have started teaching yoga regularly then you can also offer private classes to the students. It can be good for those students who wants to pay attention to each and every detail in your class and want to enhance their learning practice. Tell such students that you are offering private classes which can speed up their learning process of yoga and also provide them in-depth knowledge.
Teaching Your First Yoga Class
Teaching your first yoga class can be tough initially as you are completely unaware about how to proceed with the class. So let us discuss how you can teach your yoga class for the first time.
1. Take the first step
It might happen that you are an introvert and take time in opening up with your class. Teaching yoga might be stepping out of your comfort zone. If you feel awkward in doing a pose or speaking before people it is normal. Once you get used to teaching students all the awkwardness will automatically go away.
2. Do your homework
If you are new to yoga teaching, it is better that you prepare a sequence of the asanas you will be teaching. Once you are an expert in yoga teaching you can remember the sequences without writing them down. Till then, you can make it a habit to write down the sequence. After completing the first class you can write down what did not went well and make necessary changes when you are teaching next time.
3. Tell a personal experience story
Some of the teachers who are new to yoga teaching often start the class with a personal experience story but you should make sure not to start the story which is not anyway related to the asanas you are going to teach. If you do not want to reveal a personal story you can also do the poses which you are teaching along with the students.
4. Don’t apologize for every little mistake
There are chances that instead of saying “put your left leg out” you might say “put your right leg out”. If you are accidentally saying the wrong side try not apologizing or using a language which can bring your confidence level. Just use “rather” instead of “sorry”. It can make you regain confidence and you continue doing what you are doing.
5. Motivate the students
Motivation can play a very important role if you are taking your first yoga class. If you motivate the students, they will try doing a pose better. If the students are doing a pose better you will feel proud as a teacher. Don’t push your students too much while you are motivating them.
6. Know your audience
Being a yoga teacher, it is very important to understand your audience. There can be different types of people who can join your yoga class. Some might be athletes, while others might be business class. Try to understand what the students are expecting out of the yoga class and prepare yourself accordingly.
7. Remember why you are teaching
Always remember why you did yoga teacher training in the first place. Most of the teachers after completing their teacher training, lose focus about their original motive as they have too many information in their head. If you remember your goal, it will help in calming down your nerves.
8. People will ask questions
Always keep those postures in your first class which can be easily modified to suit the needs of everyone. All types of students who are coming to your class will have questions whether they are beginners, seasoned or are returning after an injury. Some questions might be easy while others might be a little complicated.
Some students might ask you basic questions of yoga. If you don’t know the answer then say it clearly and if you know it then reply it accordingly. Some people will also ask you personal questions. You might feel hesitant at first but honesty is the best policy. Reply to the personal questions if you feel comfortable.
9. Be prepared to break the silence
Yoga classes are silent unlike other classes as the students will focus on their breath or postures. They look towards you after completing a particular posture to guide them.
If you are a student you will love the silence but once you become the teacher it can be very difficult as you are the only person who will break the silence of the class. At first you might feel awkward about it but slowly you will be able to adjust with the class surrounding you.
How To Become A Yoga Teacher?
There are people who are interested in becoming a yoga teacher in the near future. Teaching yoga can be one of the most profitable ventures for you.
1. Clear your motivation
Yoga is not about asanas or postures. It is also about alignment, anatomy and sequencing. You need to understand many aspects like philosophy, meditation and yoga history before you become a yoga teacher. To successfully complete your yoga training, you should have motivation and zeal to learn all aspects of yoga teacher training.
You have to be very patient, compassionate and loving towards everyone. If you get irritated by the basic queries you should rethink before going for teaching.
2. Enroll in certified yoga teacher training course
You should know which style of yoga you want to practice whether it is ashtanga, hatha, vinyasa, kundalini, Iyengar or any other yoga style. Decide the field in which you want to specialize and understand its requirements. There might be a yoga studio which you like which offers teacher training programs. But do not stick to that. Do your own research.
There are 3 types of certified yoga teacher training:
- 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
- 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
- 500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
The yoga teacher training course you are going to pursue should be registered with Yoga Alliance. They should cover all the essential subjects of yoga practice which includes anatomy, philosophy, mantra, meditation and pranayama. Understand minimum requirements of the course before enrolling yourself in it.
You can also look for the place where you want to take the course. Cost is also an important factor when it comes to yoga teacher training course. Read reviews of yoga instate before enrolling in its yoga teacher training program.
3. Get yourself registered
It is not essential to get certification for teaching yoga but it is a good option if you get yourself registered with Yoga Alliance. Most of the institutes which grant yoga training are registered with yoga alliance.
Yoga alliance make sure that the registered teachers and yoga schools have some educational and professional standards. The school registered with Yoga Alliance have a quality standard in experience, teacher training and education.
4. Earn continuing education credits
After registering yourself with yoga alliance, you need to complete 75 hours of continuing education in every three years. It includes teaching yoga for 45 hours and doing additional classes for 30 hours. If you have a certain education and experience only then you can go for pursuing advance credits.
Yoga Teaching Tips
Here are some of the yoga teaching tips which can help you in becoming a good yoga teacher:
- Learn from your mistakes.
- Keep on challenging yourself.
- Always be bold, confident and brave.
- Love the work you are doing.
- Keep on trying until you become perfect in what you do.
- Inspire yourself every day through whatever you can.
- Read and always be updated about what is happening in the yoga world around you.
- Always connect with the experienced as well as new instructors. You will get to learn something new and different.
- Don’t overstress yourself.
- Do yoga and meditation every single day. It will give you mental peace.
- Stay in the contact with your teachers. They will guide you towards the yogic journey.
Conclusion
Yoga is a divine art which has been practiced by people since a long period of time. Doing yoga can prove beneficial for your mind, body and soul. It refreshes and rejuvenates you, making you feel energized to start your day.
Teaching yoga is a very satisfying profession. Practicing and teaching yoga can make you a positive person. It changes your outlook towards how you look at life. It inspires you towards a healthy living. Once you start teaching yoga, your immunity level increases which keeps you away from all kinds of diseases. Teaching yoga guarantees you a healthy lifestyle by balancing your diet and detoxifying your body.
There are many institutes which grant yoga teacher training. However, doing yoga teacher training in rishikesh can prove beneficial for you as there are many quality and certified yoga schools which provides in-depth knowledge. In Rishikesh, IYMS Rishikesh is one of the best yoga teacher training institutes which provide yoga alliance certified courses and guarantee you complete learning. It covers all the essential subjects of yoga.
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