CHAPTER 1
Methodology of Teaching Yoga
Teaching yoga is a wonderful and privileged profession.
Any person with faith, effort, and altruism can become a yoga instructor. Teaching yoga is about the desire to actively bring a few grains of sand to help stimulate the transformation of someone. It's about helping students reconnect with the divine or with that innate infinity that exists inside each of us.
Namaste, the Indian salutation, means "we all are one and take part in the same big universe together." Spiritually there are no boundaries between human beings. Being a yoga teacher goes beyond just being an instructor in a gymnasium. Becoming a good teacher of yoga requires knowledge of the fundamental aspects of yoga, philosophy, anatomy, and methodology.
The science of yoga focuses on the alignment of asana, biomechanics, and an understanding of movement. Teaching yoga involves modifications and variations of the asana to accommodate the body type and level of the student's conditioning, the respiration, the sequences of classes, as well as the basic organization of classes.
We all have a wonderful teacher inside us. We all have a past and history. We all have karma to clean. The only thing we must do is awaken the sense of desire through inspiration, admiration of beauty, and the innate need to grow spiritually. We must become a reflection for others — not only with words but also with vibrations of love, light, and truth.
We will learn that the easiest way to find ourselves is to get lost in the service of others.
Capture the Energy Level of the Student
An alert mind includes a clear and communicative voice. A teacher is creative and innovative, maintains a fresh and vibrant body, is charismatic, is positive, has a good sense of humor, and is inspiring.
Technique
When you become a yoga instructor, you become a guide to adventures in strength and energy. You need to lend a sense of security to help your students get to a magical place. The yoga teacher wants to use all his or her experiences and technical knowledge to guide the group in a positive manner toward a happy destiny. The success of this journey depends on your ability to connect energetically with the mind, body, and heart of the student. Each student is unique. The challenge for the teacher is simply that the same techniques will not work for everyone.
It is important to be alert, creative, and improvisational. You need to find new ways to motivate, inspire, and educate. Each individual has a certain level at which you can reach him or her to turn the practice into a success. There exists a relationship between the depth of the teachings, the number of students, the feeling in the room, and the level of the teacher's maturity and authority that can be maximized. Your students will sense these levels. They must be able to trust the teacher. When the teacher has experience and knows how to execute the lessons, the teacher can be the most effective. A teacher with experience knows how to cultivate a student's abilities and connect with the largest number of students.
Technical knowledge makes life easier. It also helps you get things done faster and more securely. Technical knowledge comes from training and experience; however, that isn't enough. The teacher must also cultivate his or her own creativity to come up with techniques so he or she can make a connection and develop students. Through this connection, the teacher can transport the student to a magical place where the heart extends with a natural form and where everyone is enriched. The service of teaching yoga truly is a divine privilege. Every student is a gift.
Be in Service
"A pioneer in the relationship of body, mind, and spirit" is a valid description of those who practice yoga in the twenty-first century. Science now tells us that what happens in one part of the body clearly affects all other parts; the corporeal systems are interrelated, and each influences the others.
Even when beginning from the deepest parts of human ignorance, we must learn that the work we do in life is part of the divine will. We should each strive to elevate the deep thoughts of consciousness and offer every one of our daily works to God.
Being a yoga teacher is an act of thankfulness for life and the opportunity we have to work for the prosperity of mankind.
Communication
Our basic communication abilities directly influence all aspects of life; therefore, communication has a direct impact on the process of student learning.
Communication consists of two parts: the transmission of a message and the receipt of the response. Communication may be verbal or nonverbal. Nonverbal communication is transmitted through body language, facial expressions, movements, gestures, and posture. Verbal communication is made through the use of voice, the articulation of words, and terms of expression. Always use plain language so students can understand what you are saying. The secret of successful communication is to ensure that the person you are speaking with understands what is being said.
The way you communicate will influence students' performance. Use descriptive words such as elongate, activate, open, flow, begin to, sink into, find, stay open, maintain, hold, gaze, lengthen, keep, drawn, remain centered, relax, maneuver, initiate, challenge, find opposition, and so forth.
Contact
Contact is an indispensable tool for communication. Physical contact lingers in the unconscious physical memory for thirty seconds beyond the moment of touch. Your skin is the largest and most sensitive organ of your body. Receptors in the skin transmit information to the brain via the nervous system. In teaching, we apply contact to muscles and articulating zones, shoulders, and hips. Each student has his or her own way of learning. Be aware of this and give your attention to your students; show them when they are doing the wrong thing and don't be afraid to correct errors.
However, at the same time, you want to promote independence in your students. Let them move! When it comes to asana, teach their bodies, not their minds. Use your sense of humor and transport your students into the present.
Look them in the eyes. Eye contact communicates volumes.
Voice
In yoga instruction, the voice is a key element of communication. Your voice reflects the attitude of your heart. The tone of your voice originates in the heart, not the mind.
Remember — the size of your class should determine the volume of your voice. Volume isn't power. What you have to say and how you choose to say it are the driving factors in your student experience.
The voice must come from the diaphragm, as in singing. If we use vocal cords incorrectly, we can injure...
