How to Get Rid of Your Yoga Teaching Nerves | Yoga Teaching Tips
Feel nervous about teaching yoga and don’t want your nerves to show? I am going to teach you my top 6 ways to get rid of yoga teaching nerves.
Nerves are normal when you are new to teaching yoga. I too use to be very nervous before teaching yoga classes. I invite you to feel the nerves and teach anyways.
Name the nerves. Just like we learn in yoga, what we resist persist. So instead of trying to push the nerves away - name them. What are you nervous about? What are you scared might happen? Once you’ve named them. Flip the script and tell yourself a new story. Create your own affirmations to say everyday to calm your nerves.
Create a before you teach ritual to ground yourself, get present, & calm yourself. This ritual could include one or more of these things: meditation, deep breaths, affirmations, essential oils, crystal, and gentle stretch. What can you do right before you teach to ground yourself? My before I taught ritual was go into the back room before everyone came, take 5 deep breaths, say my affirmations, and spray myself with lavender essential oil spray. What is your before you teach ritual?
Be prepared . I recommend plan your class. That means plan out your dharma talk and sequence before you teach. Of course you can change the flow based on who shows up to class but you’ll feel more confident if you have a plan in mind. Bring your notes with you when you teach. I believe using your notes is a sign of a well prepared yoga teacher. No using your notes while teaching doesn’t make you ‘less than’.
After teaching make a list of things that went right. It’s normal for our brains to look for what went wrong while teaching. Instead train yourself to look for what went right. After each class you teach, name at least 3 things that went right while you were teaching. This could be that you remembered your sequence, your students got your cue, the smiles on your students faces after savasana, etc.
Improve your skills. Find your weakest area in teaching and commit to improving it. Having confidence in what you’re doing will allow your nerves to die down.
Teach, teach, and teach so more. The more you teach, the more confidence you’ll gain and the easier it will get. You will begin to learn that you can trust yourself to handle whatver show up in the yoga room.
If you struggling to build confidence as a yoga teacher, I’d love to help. If you want to improve your yoga sequencing skills. Download my FREE Ebook Yoga Sequencing Made Easy.
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