Integrating new concepts

[Kimberly]

Although you will all graduate in two shorts months, this is just the start of your yoga teacher education. From program onset, I have encouraged you all to go to new teachers and studios as well as experience different types of classes and modalities. All of these experience, whether they were good or bad, help you shape your teacher voice and style. Now that you have all taught at least once class, or maybe many, reflect on how you can integrate your experiences into your teaching. I’ll share a hint though – or at least a lesson learned from my own experience. I have found that any tip, pose, verbiage, theme, etc. I pick up from a class, workshop, training, etc. is best to sit for a week before I integrate it. When I try to integrate it too soon, it hasn’t had time to germinate and it often comes off flat as I don’t know and own it yet. What are your thoughts?

[betshellhaas]

I completely agree with Kimberly on allowing time for things to really take root within you. I have come into contact with a lot of different poses, sayings, cues and variations that I hope to one day integrate into my teachings. However, I believe you must know what you teach. When we step out of what we know, things can seem sloppy or even uncomfortable to the students. I have been in a class and wondered if I was doing something correctly because it felt wrong. I think it is important to understand how the pose should feel and how to cue people into it safely. Typically when I am creating a class I will do many things that are familiar to students but throw in one or two uncommon variations or a pranayama practice to keep them (and myself) excited and engaged. But before offering it to my students in a class, I have experienced it and practiced it myself.

[KHuttsell]

I have learned so many new ideas, poses, and approaches from all the teachers I have observed. I like to record my new thoughts and ideas in my notebook or phone to use in future teaching. I agree that one needs to reflect on an idea you learned from someone else and you need to take the time to develop the idea with your own voice.

However, many of the ideas I have taken away from other teachers have been small bits or pieces that I believe I can incorporate more quickly. For example, I experienced an amazing mudra in my goat yoga class this weekend that I felt would be pertinent to my students in my class just a few days later.

To Kimberly’s point – what we strive for is to be authentic as teachers. You cannot just grab an idea and insert it into your own teaching unless you believe it sounds like something your students would expect to hear from you. I feel that you can discern very quickly what feels unnatural to you as you speak, teach, and present an idea to your students.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by KHuttsell.

[sally200]

There is a tremendous amount of information and many applications in this course and in the exposure from other teachers, so it’s hard not to want to be creative.

As I improve my practice and teaching I will refer to my notes on things I want to incorporate. For now, just practicing the basic foundation, and offering it to my karmas classes.

[msinghal]

For a person like me, who is not spontaneous, creating a routine and practicing it thoroughly is what works. At this stage, I have to know not only what the precise pose sequence is, but also what I will be saying (cueing for the pose) and in between poses. I am hoping that gets better and I am able to improvise and be more instinctive with more exposure to teaching.

I have picked cues and poses from various teachers at short notice as well, but they were mostly small variations. I like to make the routine theme based and end with a quote. I also like to incorporate a pranayama as centering. My favorite type of class is a slow flow.

[LAD92761]

I use the write it in my notebook idea but honestly I am not referring back to it like I thought I would yet. I find I use words from my teachers at The Owl that I have grown to love. Hearing something over and over gets into my soul and it just comes out naturally.

But now I feel like I can start picking those I want to “learn more from.” So I’m planning to go to several of Kara’s classes at Pai and Emily’s Kundalini classes at Y-Flow, Alex’s class at Yoga on High and Barre class at Powell over next 2 months. Plus my Piyo Training. These are the ones I found to have the style I wish to emulate. I’m not too happy Kimberly is leaving me, but I’m planning to soak every last piece out of her teaching as well!

[regmarlew63]

By attending a lot of different styles, studios, teachers it really opened my eyes to what, in my opinion, makes a good teacher and what things I did not want to do when teaching. I’ve learned when teaching a class, it’s OK when instructing the sequence I have planned for that session, to let there be,when the energy of the room shows a need for it, a nice pause to let an asana or technique settle in. Allow it to be explored. Allow it to be absorbed. I felt like I needed to go right into the next pose in order to make my credibility as a teacher have validity. Almost like, I was afraid it would appear I was lost or confused as what to do next, therefore the students might think I was not trained to teach them. So, I am working on taking the time as needed to move slowly with confidence.
I also liked to see that it was OK not to give step-by-step instructions on getting in and out of asanas. And I am learning that if I see many of the students and in proper form, I will not be afraid to stop the class and ask them to watch as I show them.
I learned that it is OK to ask the student “how do they feel?” when they are exploring something new. And to let them know if it feels good to them it is acceptable and I will not worry about precise position.
When using Music, I will pay close attention to the suitability. Also, I will be mindful of my body language and words to be sure that all feel welcome and safe in the space provided. I want my class to view me as sharing and that I too am always learning from our time together. And I never want to come off as superior in any way.
Regina Lewis

[lisaclick48]

I have found it so helpful to attend various yoga style classes at different studios with teachers unknown. A time to observe and reflect to understand reasons and lessons learned. It’s interesting to see how teachers teach base on the studio and perhaps the culture of standards and behaviors/teaching methods at a specific studio. I saw a lot of EGO and at times, a lot of chatter from teachers that I do what to avoid. I want to empower my students and provoke thought by the statements I make or the knowledge I share. Less is More so I feel like I’m learning what statements or questions to add to my karma yoga that will be powerful and impactful. I want my students to think and come up with their own conclusion. I don’t want to preach, and I don’t want to provide too much information. I will be patient and just be there if they need me. I feel like the word “guide” speaks to me as the yoga practice if their own. I feel like being a guide is truly the right frame of mind for myself. I’m feeling very different and starting to come into a feeling of calmness and purpose.
I do think I will refrain from using verbiage or poses that I’m not familiar with or I’m not yet aware of how it will fit into my sequencing. I want to be weary of rushing into anything that I’m not 100% on board with as that is my nature to wait and then decided when it feels right. I will trust my gut and included only poses or meditations that I’m able to do well. I think it’s critically important to keep the theme, sequencing and poses fresh so changing it up each class and adding meaningful messages to bring joy and transformation of self.
My Hatha Yoga student experience was the best…I will always strive to do my best and improve every time I’m on my mat…

[dooley]

I agree that trying to integrate to soon doesn’t always work. You need time to run through it several months or longer to make sure it fits into your style of teaching. I enjoy going to new studios and teachers to learn from them. Going to those studios has allowed me experiences so many different styles of yoga and have picked up on many types of verbiage. I will write down their cuing in my book and then integrate into my personal practice to see how it fills. Once I am able to feel that this is the path I want to go down. I will then incorporate into my classes. I also enjoy watching new videos on line was well to get new verbiage on cuing as well as ideas for poses.

[heatherfly]

I am a pretty slow moving train when it comes to integrating new material. I have a compulsion to being truthful and if I haven’t made it truthful for myself I can’t say it – it won’t come out or if it does it feels so thin and forced. Which means my repertoire is still really limited. I feel most confident at the beginning and ending of a class because I’ve been teaching meditation for several years and daily talk people through mindfulness practices. So the mindfulness aspects of a class are done with ease, very naturally and without a lot of planning. But my sequencing feels really limited. I often wish I could quickly integrate new material that I learn from some wonderful teachers in the community. I wish I could turn around and offer something as awesome as, say, Mary or Anne DiBlasio offers but it won’t come out. I know I can’t do it yet until I find that footing. But I’m new at this. And as some lady once said to me on a city bus, “you can’t be anyone you ain’t.”

[EmilyD]

I have really been trying to be in my own practice when I attend a class. Going through teacher training has made this difficult. However, I have been allowing myself to focus on one thing I really liked from the classes I attend and consider putting them into my teaching. I have also been pushing myself to try classes that are outside of my “happy place” – hot yoga anyone? It’s a challenge to put myself there, but even thought I don’t love it, I try to get something out of the class. It’s the things I pick up in those situations – words or phrases that help me get through it – that I think will help me the most in the future.

I think my choice of Karma classes has limited my ability to find my voice. I am looking forward to challenging myself on free yoga day, as well as a few night classes in July. To this point, I am doing a strictly strech type class in a school setting. It is short class with basic instructions. No fancy poses – just stretching muscles for atheletes. I do include a meditation and savasana, but I don’t feel like I’ve had a chance to really talk about some of the spiritual things that have resonated with me during our training. I love phrases like, “shine your heart to the sky” or talking about the feeling of energy in our body.

[CindyHurst]

Attending classes at other studios has been very informative as well as a constant reminder of why I practice at Balancing Owl Yoga. Most significantly, it has reinforced how important it is to make students feel welcomed. In all of my visits to other studios, I arrived early and, frequently, I was not even greeted by the teacher before class started. Only on a few occasions was I asked about my personal practice and if there was anything the teacher needed to know about me. This is something I will strive to do in every class I teach.

I’ve also focused a lot on cueing – the words the teacher uses and when. My first couple of karma classes, I felt like a robot that was trying to spew out all that I know about each pose. My good friend Carolyn told me after my first class that it was not Cindy up there teaching. From that point on, I’ve tried to just be me and to bring my passion into my teaching. It’s still a work-in-progress, but I’m feeling more comfortable with my style and delivery each time I teach.

I agree with Kimberly’s lesson learned – until that new ‘thing’ becomes my own, I will refrain from throwing it into the class plan. To continue to be my authentic self is the goal. I’m very passionate about my yoga practice and I will try to teach what I truly know and love about yoga.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by CindyHurst.

[Beth]

I have been learning a lot by observing other teachers. I really didn’t feel comfortable cuing in my own words during my first two or three karma classes. I still don’t stray from my mat as often as I would like to, which literally means I don’t go into savasana with my students anymore! As far as things I’ve learned that really stick out, I have learned that music can be powerful when used the right way. As a student music was so important at first and then I strayed away from it during my practice, but now as a teacher observing classes, I find that it can really be either. It can have an enhancing effect or it can detract, but I imagine this is only my personal experience. When I was teaching, I chose music that relaxed me, not sure how my students responded to it.

Cuing is best when it is done in someone’s own words and suits their existing personality. I have been the most impressed by instructors who own their voice and lead class as they are. I found my own voice to be not as “soothing” or not as empowering as I wanted it to be, but I worked really hard to sound like myself. I think it takes getting used to, my voice may very well be soothing and empowering to “my tribe”, but it sounded robotic, the same way Cindy said she was feeling at first. I think I am used to my teaching voice at work and my presentation voice from school, but my yoga voice is just new to me and sounds funny in my head. I don’t want to force myself to change it but rather to get more comfortable with it.

I think teaching to my strengths makes me more genuine, even if my “yoga teaching” strengths are few at this time. I think you have to build on what you have and try not to be hard on yourself. I have listened to instructors who sound amazing and seem so confident in arm balance postures and inversions, but I still feel too new to lead confidently in certain types of poses. I think it’s good to challenge yourself but not to over reach by being eager to be good at something that might not fit your teaching style just yet. I also am trying to accept that there may be some things I’m not going to be great at for awhile and that’s ok, it’s a work in-progress.

[melross1]

In the beginning of observations I mostly found things I didn’t want to do. I did find somethings I liked too but I think I was still stuck in my ego that busy judging even though I didn’t intend to. Now I still see things that I don’t want to take away as a teacher but more often I find things that I like. I have a notebook in my car so I can write things down or I put things in the notes of my phone. In the last couple weeks I’ve had several ah-ha moments. I need to slow down have my students hold poses a little longer when I’m teaching slow flow. I agree that it’s best to jot down things that I pick up and reflect back on them in a week and see how they best fit with me and my teaching.

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