Teacher Appreciation
As I have mentioned before, I am in the final stages of my very first Yoga Teacher Training program. Yesterday, I delivered my final practicum: a 60min Flow sequence designed by yours truly.
Despite having taught yoga before in a number of informal contexts, nothing really prepared me for teaching a group of 10 people staring at me wide-eyed and awaiting instruction. I learned something yesterday—teaching yoga is really hard! Harder than I had imagined.
As a teacher, you have to anticipate the mood and abilities of the students in front of you with every step they take. You have to make decisions about what to do next and how, all the while giving instruction aloud and making verbal and physical adjustments.
You have to modify the routine for particular students’ needs and time the class appropriately, which may mean diverting from your very secure, well-planned and typed-up sequence.
The teacher has to make sure that what happens on one side, happens on the other. That what you open, you also soften. That you provide safe and effective guidance, while creating a fun and uplifting atmosphere.
Today, after teaching my sequence and reaching the culmination of many weeks of training, reading and learning, I am thinking of the teachers who brought me to this point. I have had so many brilliant, kind, thoughtful and extremely talented teachers!
I am very excited to be able to give back some of the passion that I have received in my classes. I fully appreciate now that my journey has a teacher has just begun and it’s going to take a lot of hard work!
Source: http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=yoga+teacher&um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=N&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbnid=WLp3SqRvYmbo-M:&imgrefurl=http://froglotusyoga.com/events/teachers.htm&docid=8hdpImeyDRTwkM&w=360&h=312&ei=D1AwTt2jOpTXiAKHttAr&zoom=1&biw=1342&bih=716
