Reflections on One Year of Teaching Yoga

When I completed an online yoga teacher training in July 2022, I was equipped with a 200 hr vinyasa yoga certification and 6 hour long classes that I developed based on the Get Loved Up flow taught at my yoga school.

The Covid pandemic made way for everything online, including yoga teacher training with an obvious downside of no in-person teaching. The upside was that for me, a person with a full schedule and no time to travel to a training location (even on the weekends) could become a yoga teacher.

I could’ve continued to teach online, but I remembered the first yoga class I took over ten years ago was at my place of employment. Years later another yoga class I enjoyed was taught by a colleague in a studio on our work campus at the end of the day.

After sharing my Yoga Alliance credentials with the Google fitness program, finding an almost always open hour in my schedule, I was all set to share my new expertise with other Googlers. There was something comforting about teaching for one hour per week, in the building where I work with my peers.

Here are my reflections for future online yoga teacher trainees who transition to in person classes:

Take your notes to class if you are teaching a new sequence. Revert to memorized sequence, if your mind blanks on the new sequence.

There is no mute in live classes. Most students will attempt what is cued, but the moans and groans will let you know if this is the wrong pose or cue for the class.

Cueing a child's pose allows the class to take five deep breaths and provides a moment of reset as a new teacher. It took a few months for the imposter syndrome and nervousness to go away and child’s pose is always welcomed.

Talk to your class at the beginning and end of class, make sequence adjustments based on energy, and injuries.

Yoga asanas are for everybody. Teaching accessibility is the only way I want to teach. Use the blocks, straps, blankets and extra mats. The students who don’t need them, won’t use them. The students who need them, will finally learn how to use them.

A teacher is a forever student. It was important for me to remain a student, explore my own practice and not focus on just teaching. I neglected my own practice for months, only focusing on creating a perfect class, which doesn’t exist. I will become a better teacher by being a better student. There's so much more to learn.