Having a script to read from was a gamechanger for me. You don’t have to be so hard on yourself all the time. Tools are not cheating- they are a temporary fix for a temporary problem. It’s only going to get easier if you choose to go the easy way instead of the way that feels like forcing it. If you are a brand new yoga teacher fresh out of teacher training and you’re struggling to find the words, what I want to say to you is this: That’s how the vinyasa yoga scripts were born- out of a struggle to find my confidence, one that led me (just like yoga had) right back to me. It was a stepping stone that I desperately needed at the time. Looking back, I realize it was never cheating to read the words out loud from the paper I’d written them down on. And then, when I took the time to write them down and practice in a setting that felt safe, it clicked. I was able to get out of my head and play around with the words a bit. Looking back, I had solved this problem simply by applying some adventure to it- I had felt free, easy, comfortable, relaxed driving in my car up to Tahoe and back. Stumbling over our words was holding us back in many ways, making the early teaching process feel painful, uncomfortable, awkward- for perfectionists like me, it was almost enough for me to want to quit and stop trying to teach.Īnd I had friends who did quit- they just couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea that teaching could be imperfect and that messing up in front of the room was equally as valuable as getting it right.īeing new was an exercise in surrender- but wasn’t it also an exercise in creativity? In finding unique, fun ways to get out of my head and get around the imposter syndrome? Over the weeks and months of early teaching- and into the first few years- I began to realize how common it was for yoga teachers to feel this way, to feel incredibly self-conscious and worried that they were saying the wrong thing when they got up to teach. I was able to transform something that was weighing on me (remembering exactly what to say when cueing each pose) into something I felt absolutely confident about (reading out loud). I’m going to write these sentences over and over and recite them out loud. I’m going to write this down, I thought, planning in my head how I’d spend the next few days before I taught again. I could talk out loud without worrying if I would mess up, no students staring at me while I was in my car. Saying the cues over and over helped me feel like I could do this, I could teach. I was teaching out loud in my car, playing the Vinyasa sequencing over and over, testing new ways of saying it. I laughed out loud at how I was fumbling over the words, not caring too much, beautiful mountain views out my window. ![]() “Grip down with your thumbs and index fingers…” Wait, is that the right order for the cues? “Inhale as you lift your hips up and back. I was driving a lot- at the time I lived in Sacramento and would hang out with a group of friends in Tahoe, about a 90 minute drive each direction that I was making almost every Friday and Sunday. I had started this routine of saying the words out loud while driving in my car. My confidence started to shift because I had found a new tool to open up my voice. I remember midway through the summer when something clicked for me. Oh God, I thought, what if my playlist isn’t working? What if the room is too hot? What if I totally blank out and forget what to say?Īny pose I spoke out loud felt like an opportunity to fail. My hands were shaking when I’d walk to the front of the room to start class. ![]() I remember being so nervous, wondering if I’d remember the words we’d learned in teacher training. How could I share this? How could I give this away, this gift of yoga? How could I help other people find some relief from stress, pain, and exhaustion?īut first- how could I deal with the sense of self-doubt and anxiety that was looming over me every time I went to teach? I so desperately wanted to give to my students the experience I’d had from yoga: my practice was a powerful force for healing, it had brought me out of a deep depression and helped me know myself better, feel safe in my body, and feel at home within a community. In the early days of teaching yoga, I remember being simultaneously thrilled and terrified all at once.
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