As a Teacher, Your Practice Comes First

If you truly love yoga, your practice should come before anything else, including teaching.

In the ancient days, a student would become qualified to teach simply by years of practice under their teacher. They weren’t taught about sequencing or cueing or business of yoga. They just practiced until they knew the practice well enough to skillfully share it with others. this is embodiment.

To be honest, I think a lot of people want to teach yoga because of the status that comes with it; because it’s a cool extracurricular activity to add to your character. It’s why we see so many people take a 200 hour ytt and never study any further. Because they don’t “need” to. But in my opinion, they should want to.

This is the difference between a teacher and an instructor. An instructor simply instructs - step your foot forward and reach your arms up. Anyone can do this, and it doesn’t require much knowledge or embodiment.

A teacher teaches - they give cues based on what they see in the room, not based on the script. They adjust based on the specific student’s body and what they’ve felt while being adjusted themselves. They explain the “why” because they want to see the lightbulbs shine in their students’ minds.

It’s always okay to be a beginner and to not have all the answers. Every legendary teacher was a baby teacher at some point. In my opinion, the only prerequisite for teaching is practicing. As long as you genuinely enjoy yoga for yourself, your teaching will have a sparkle to it, and you’re worthy of sharing with others.

This post isn’t about shaming anybody, it’s about motivating them to practice. The world doesn’t really need more yoga teachers, but it does need more people who know how to breathe, be present in their bodies, and share from that presence.

Today I practiced the ashtanga primary series for the first time in years with my friend Marla. it was a doozie. but I learned some things. and i’m glad I showed up.

Hope you have a good practice today whether it’s 20 minutes or 2 hours 🤎🙏🏽