I’m currently working with a new yoga teacher. She just finished certification the beginning of this year and we hired her without teaching experience. She has a lot of enthusiasm and desire to teach a great Gentle Class. But right now she has to learn to teach to the class, not the plan.
Teach to the Class
In yoga teacher training it’s all about the sequence, the plan. As yoga teachers we like to be prepared. Hopefully we plan a class before we step foot into the class. It’s the security blanket for new teachers. Some days we’ll look back at our notes after every single pose constantly relying on the words we wrote down. But when we make the class plan a doctrine – law – we are only hurting ourselves. And possibly our students.
I’ve seen this so often. When a yoga teacher is so committed to her plans she doesn’t see the rest of the class. It doesn’t matter if the plan is too easy or worse, too hard. The plan is law and everyone needs to abide by it.
This happens when we think certain poses are great and really stop paying attention to who shows up to enjoy them. Just because we “plan” a class and bring those “plans” to class does not mean we have to follow them. Notice your students. Otherwise, they could have turned on a Yoga YouTube Channel that day because you weren’t teaching them. You were just repeating a script to a room.
I went to sub a Gentle Class, not knowing it was taught as a Slow Flow. I started off with my gentle plans until I realized everyone was adding twists and binds. So in the moment I abandoned my plans and started teaching to the class. Another class was a slower version of my Gentle Class so I had to bring in blocks and props to support.
This doesn’t mean don’t plan a class, it just means be aware of your students. I’m not talking about alignment here. I’m talking about capability and enjoyment. If you have 15 Sun Salutations on the plan and you see the back row of knee replacement patients are having a heck of a hard time getting through 1 round, I sure hope you’re going to adjust. One person might be hopping up to the top of their mat and floating into a plank – if it’s one, they are the exception!
Notice the class before you. Teach to them. Create your plan but always know the plan is flexible. It’s not law. You should be able to rip up your plan as easily as you created it.
Unfortunately there are teachers who are going to marry their plans and stick with it through thick or thin. They are going to force a plan. They announce to the entire class, “oops, we forgot Airplane Pose” and then proceed to take everyone out of Savasana to check off Airplane Pose on their plan. I hope that sounds ridiculous, because you don’t have to do anything you planned!
This doesn’t mean we don’t offer modifications or challenge our students. But to be a great teacher isn’t just to plan great transitions. It’s to see your students, value their practice, and guide them on this journey. How can you guide someone when you’re unaware of them? How can you lead them?
Your plans are a guide, not God’s commandments. They should help you if you forget where to go next, not a check-off list of Saturday chores that must be accomplished before you can watch television.
Teaching to a room of real people is far different than submitting a sequence for a teacher training certificate. Release that tight grip on your plans and start to notice your students before you.
from my mat to your ~
Stef