3 Tips for New Yoga and Fitness Instructors
When I first started teaching yoga, I was in my twenties and I knew that I wanted to share breath, movement and basic yogic principles with my community. I did not have a whole lot of guidance on how to teach and I learned most of it by trial and error over 14 years.
Nowadays, new teachers will often tell me that when I teach it appears so natural. I usually laugh it off and accept the compliment, but this “natural” aura I have is built off many years of practice and the lessons I’ve learned along the way that I’m happy to share with you.
For all the new and aspiring yoga, pilates and fitness instructors out there (I’m so excited for you) I offer 3 tips to keep in mind as you start your journey as an instructor.
Teach as much as you can.
As you start off in your journey of fitness or yoga instruction, the most important thing you can do is get as many reps in as possible and teach as many classes as you possibly can. You can teach small groups of family members, or larger groups at studios or even just one person at a time. You need to teach as much as you can and ideally receive honest feedback to help you improve your skills. In Atomic Habits by James Clear (I highly recommend this book!) he writes about the importance of repetition and that “Whenever you put in consistent work and learn from your mistakes, incredible progress is the result.”
When I first got my yoga teacher training certificate, I did not apply to teach at yoga studios. I wanted to make an impact in my community so I knocked on the doors of my employer and community centers and offered to teach yoga for free for their community members. I did not get paid during this time but I gained something much more valuable - beautiful connections with people AND experiencing teaching multiple times a week. In seeing who was coming to the classes, I adapted my class plan to better serve them, I developed new classes every week and I learned to offer alignment cues in Spanish which is a big thing for me being a multi generation US based Chicana who did not grow up speaking Spanish.
During my initial 2 years following my yoga teacher training, I put in hundreds of hours into planning, teaching and improving which gave me a high level of confidence and self-awareness by the time we opened up People’s Yoga Studio in 2014.
Understand your purpose
There is a lot of advice out there about how important it is to understand your purpose to create meaning in your life so that you can feel fulfilled in your career or life overall. I agree that finding your purpose is a great thing to do however it is hard and not easy. To understand your purpose you have to go out there and DO things to see what you like and what you don’t like.
When I first graduated from USC with my Masters Degree in Urban Planning, I thought I wanted to build affordable housing. Although this is a very worthwhile and meaningful career path, I came to realize that that was not my purpose. When I first completed my yoga teacher training program, I was focused on creating classes for senior citizens. Although that is very worthwhile and beautiful work, I came to realize that this too was not my purpose.
Without going out there and trying different jobs, hobbies, service work, classes, etc, it is almost impossible to find your purpose. It is only through doing things that we can start understanding ourselves better and figure out what makes us tick and what creates a sense of purpose within each of us.
At the beginning of your fitness or yoga teaching journey you may have a general purpose or you may not have one at all. I recommend spending time to reflect on why you want to teach and what about teaching makes you happy and feel fulfilled. Then go out there and live into that purpose. If you want to teach yoga to kids, go give it a try! You may realize that you absolutely love it and that is your calling or you may realize it’s not for you.
I initially thought I wanted to teach yoga to seniors but that honestly does not light me up inside. I have come to realize the modality of teaching that really lights me up is to teach strength training, strong yoga asana, cardio and fitness to people who want to build physical and emotional strength. Those are my favorite classes to teach and if I never taught ALL the varieties out there and listened to what my heart and mind were telling me, I’m not sure I would have found it. Allow your purpose to evolve as you do, because we are dynamic and ever changing people who go through different seasons of life.
Maintain your own practices that fill your cup
When you are starting out on our teaching journey and especially if you are juggling other jobs, projects or familial responsibilities at the same time, it is easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed by the demands of life.
When I first started teaching, my early mentor told me for every class I teach, I should be taking 2 classes! I never lived up to that exact formula however I understood the sentiment. Teaching is an act of giving of energy and although there is reciprocity through energetic appreciation from your clients and possibly financial payments, we have to replenish ourselves, mind, body and corazón, in order to keep doing this work.
What is it that you like to do that helps fill your cup, slow you down and ground you into the present moment? Some of my favorites are maintaining my evening journaling practice (since I was kid ya’ll, these journals are stacking up!), reading in bed, taking walks or hikes, doing yoga, strength training, cardio and meditation. I know that when I’m active in maintaining these activities in my life, my energy is solid and I’m ready to give and teach.
There are seasons or weeks in my life where I don’t commit to my personal practices as much or I go down the rabbit holes of social media scrolling and distraction for way too many hours and I can feel it in the classes I teach. There’s just something off within me that maybe the clients don’t notice but I certainly feel.
The practice of filling your cup in ways that truly ground you and connect you with the present moment will serve you for your entire life, whether you teach fitness or yoga or not. They will help shore you during those seasons of life where everything is going wrong and will keep you tethered to land when everything is going right.
These practices and your ability to reflect on them and understand their meaning in your life can also serve as the basis of your story and can be incorporated into your teaching so that you can better connect with and serve your client. (More on the power of storytelling in a future post.)
In summary -
Teach as much as you can
Understand your purpose
Fill your Cup
I truly believe that these tips will help build a foundation for you and your new teaching journey so that you can be the very best instructor, serve your community and make tremendous impact. Comment below and let me know what you think!
