Connecting with VS. Performing for Your Yoga Class

Last weekend I had the opportunity to teach my Yin and Restorative class to a group of 5, and did a demo class for my employer who is having me teach a Yin class starting in April. Both experiences, including all of the classes I have taught in the last few months, I felt that I have connected with my students on a deep level. I have felt the energy of the room shift as they begin to move through their postures while resonating with my cues. In fact, I cue based on what I am seeing in my class. If half of the room needs to sit taller to lengthen their spines, I am most certainly going to cue them to have the crown of their heads high and lengthen the spine!

So, what is the point of me telling you all this? Well, it’s to say that on as many levels as I can, connecting with my students is the way I want to teach all of my classes. I care deeply about each student I meet and my greatest hope is that during their time with me, they are able to find release and work towards feeling embodied. I always try to ensure the space feels as safe as I can possibly make it and that my students can feel and notice this. Sure, I come up with sequences so that I have a general plan for class, but if I see that any student or the whole group may need different postures, I switch gears. All teachers should strive to connect with their classes and not perform some ‘script’ that they have memorized. It can be easy for a new yoga teacher to want to perform (almost like a robot, at least for me I know that’s how my first couple of classes felt!) for the class, but what your students really need from you is to see them just as they are and to find postures and cues that feel authentic to you and make sense for the class right in front of you.