My First Teaching Experience

As most of you already know, the night before I began Teacher Training at Ganesha, I embarked on my first ever Yoga class as a teacher.

All the planning and practicing lead up to me finally making my debut. I am so grateful to Caitlin for making this happen! For believing in me and pushing me. And to Kay for allowing me to come into the studio and teach. I am just so blessed!

I had a GREAT turn out! It was an awesome group of 11 amazing women made up of family, friends and friends of friends. The fact that each and every one of them came to show their support is just mesmerizing. It wasn't for every one, and I'm okay with that. But for those who I did "change" - it was an amazing feeling to be a part of that.

I arrived at the studio at 5:45. My class didn't start until 7. I just needed to breathe, in a comforting environment and "get in the zone". I took some time to read over my class and then I decided to set up the room. I knew I would have quite a few people and I didn't want to spend 20 minutes just getting set up. So, I set up 11 spaces. Thanks to my fabulous family and friends, I ended up having the most attend for the drop-in. Which was AWESOME!

When I started class, I got a little nervous. I knew I was going to have that moment where I froze. So, that's why I took the time to write everything out. Even with that, there were still some points I skipped.

I only got lost once. That was at the end of the practice. I would say the room was half relaxed and half "what do I do? I can't hear". I wasn't sure what tone to use. I didn't want to scream. It's also hard to get up there and command things of people. Especially when you're nice. So, I'd say I haven't found my yoga voice yet. But I'm getting there.

It was actually amazing to have that under my belt before doing the round robin at teacher training. I felt more comfortable, PLUS I went off what I had sequenced in that class.

I wanted the evening to be about balance and bliss. Not so much balance pose wise. But finding that balance within life and your practice. I wanted people to feel like, "oh my gosh! this helps with all of the stress I had today. I NEED TO COME BACK!" Some did.

And some it just wasn't for. They wanted to m o v e. And I can't blame them for that. As I've said before, the beautiful thing about yoga is it can be so many things. I want my practices to be of course a challenge to you, but be gentle and relaxing all the same. You could say I would want it to challenge you more mentally than physically in the fact that I want you to challenge YOURSELF to put YOU first!

There were quite a few who asked me when I was teaching next! Genuinely; they loved it! That was so amazing! It was worth everything!!! I even had my Mom call me to ask "Well, when are you teaching there again?" "Oh, well, they should add a drop in!" and "Well, Okay, I think I want to come to Caitlin's class with you!" I've been begging her to come with me to Caitlin's class for almost 2 years now!!! So, If I could turn my Mom... That was an AWESOME thing for me. Lots asked me when I would be back, when there would be more yoga for them, and where I would suggest they go to find it. It was an awesome feeling to be able to bring this into people's lives. MY YOGA... MINE... My yoga made them start to love it and long for more of it. That still gives me chills.

Finding MY YOGA is a work in progress. I know what I want; for the majority. I'm finding things I want to add. I'm just starting my training. So, it could very well change. I'm just keeping an open mind about everything. If I don't feel I'm ready to teach in November, I won't. or maybe I'll limit myself to what I teach until I get ALL of the training I want. That's the beauty of this. I can go at my own pace. I have the judgement to control when and what I teach. Sure, I can come out of this and be like, "LETS GO!" But... It's not about that for me. I want to be the best teacher I can be! So, if I have to wait; I'll have to wait. We'll see what happens. I'm excited! I've got lots of things planned to learn all I can!!!

This is my true calling, and I couldn't feel more at peace!

Sequencing Part 3

Last week I finished tweaking my sequence. I ended up taking TONS of notes on my actual sequence, so I went ahead and re-typed it. But, I found as I've gone through it the last few nights; I'm still making notes. Writing down all the things I want to say, and the things I want to explain. I need to write them down so I don't forget.

I don't want to be that girl at the front of the class reading off of the paper. But there are sometimes where I think I need to. I'm not very good at explaining what I'm doing while I do it. My mom will attest to this, I'm sure. So I have to constantly remind myself that I need to be talking while I'm moving. Right now, just starting - that's hard for me. SO I can't just see the sequence pictures and go. I need to have something to back me up, in case I'm up there and I freeze.

I actually have a feeling I may not need much while I'm up there. At the studio I think I'll be more in the zone. But, I also don't want to get up in front of everyone and then be at a loss for words. It's going to be overwhelming. But it's going to be great! I have 2 days until I teach and I'm so nervous now! It's all setting in and becoming real!

If I can get half way through the practice; I'm golden! While they're laying there isn't much I have to demonstrate. I just have to be really good at explaining and adjusting. That I think I can handle!

I went through the practice again last night. I caught myself thinking "what if this happens?" and wondering if some of the ladies will actually be able to. Then that got me thinking of adjustments. Just so I didn't forget that, I came up with a plan for one of the poses to be able to adjust everyone and get everyone to benefit from it. I was uber proud of myself for that. Because I sure would have been there; staring at Caitlin mouthing HELP! haha

I also practiced teaching on Eric. Bad idea. He doesn't listen to me, and that gets frustrating. He doesn't look at me like a teacher and so I get that. But add that in with the dogs going nuts trying to figure out why Daddy is laying on the floor and it was just overwhelming. I gave up.

Anyway. Sequencing is HARD work. Being a perfectionist makes that even harder!

Sequencing Part 2

You can view part 1 of this blog series HERE!

This week I've begun practicing my sequence. The first day I flowed through it. I'm not going to lie. If you're a newbie, it's definitely going to challenge you. Not just physically either. But I can already tell you're going to leave feeling so renewed and refreshed.

I spent 2 hours (it could have been a bit more... it probably was) searching ITunes for songs to include on my playlist for the class. I ended up spending almost $20 and have some really great core songs for future. I know. I know. "But Mishelle, there is Pandora, and Spotify; why aren't you just using those kinds of things?" Honestly, I've not had enough experience with Spotify to use it for a class yet. I have the free version, so I know there would be Ads. That's not to say I wouldn't splurge in the end. I very well may. But I truly want everything to flow with ease, and creating a playlist on my IPhone is something I don't have to worry about. It's a no muss no fuss. You know, for the most part!

I am looking into making my Playlist available on Spotify though for after class. The creative juices have actually begun to flow. I am also now trying to figure out how I ccan offer this to more than just those who drop in to my class August 20th. Ever since I started practicing this thing on my own, I've also gotten the idea for a workshop. But, it will be something that isn't available until closer to the end of the year when I finish my training. Don't worry! I've got some things up my sleeves. I'm praying that they work.

I've never felt so connected to my practice before. I don't know whether it's the fact that it's me.... MY heart and soul that went into it. Or if I'm just really enjoying a heart opening practice at the moment. It could be both. I am noticing that all of things I've tried, I'm slowly incorporating into the way I teach. I love that. I tell when I'm using something this instructor taught me and when I'm using something another taught. It's beautiful. It truly is.

Sequencing Part 1

Today I met with Caitlin to go over my very first sequence. In the subsequent weeks prior, I have been actively researching and planning for my first class. You could say my training is a little different than what you typically see. I am actually teaching a class prior to my training. I know. I always get that look of confusion from people. "You're teaching, before you're certified? How is that possible?" Yoga training is quite a bit different than say; becoming a doctor, an EMT or even being a school teacher. However, the similarities between all of these things is the requirement for on the job training. Typically, you'll most predominately recognize this as being an intern or in terms of teaching; a student teacher. This is the same concept. Except my experience in yoga also counts as me becoming a teacher. I've learned what I want to include and what I don't and 9 times out of 10, I know what the Sanskrit word for the pose is as well as the benefit of the pose.

But the reason I still need to go through the training is to be able to dig deeper. Why is it affecting these muscles or areas of the body. WHY am I doing THIS pose after or before THIS pose?

So, this is what I'm learning now.

Caitlin approached me a few months ago with the idea of me student teaching a class that she would help me sequence and plan. We would take lots of time to go over it and it would also be a "self-teaching" moment for me. I accepted this challenge with open arms. I mean, who has the opportunity to have this cool experience? It's rare, and I am so eternally grateful to not only have her guidance but her faith in me as a Yoga teacher.

After researching and reading different sequences online, I bravely began composing my class. My first intention was to make those that were attending my class fall in love with yoga. Of course, this isn't always the case for everyone. So, I wanted everyone to walk away feeling renewed, refreshed and intrigued.

I actually centered my practice around Tree pose. (inspiration from a photo I took in Curvy Beloved) But, after I finished the draft of my sequence I later realized I never even included it. I'm thankful I didn't. I think it would have been to hard to start with. I brought my sequence to Caitlin's and we went over it dividing my poses in to YES, NO and MAYBE. From there, we restructured. I had great bones to the class. But there were some things that didn't make sense, and some things we decided to add to help the flow and to give options in case we blow through the poses I had planned.

I never truly realized how much time and energy goes into sequencing a class. I went into this thinking, yeah; someday I'd love to do this and this alone to; maybe I was right in thinking of it just as a hobby. I love Yoga so much, I don't ever want to get burnt out. I don't ever want to resent it.

You can totally tell when a teacher just throws stuff together and when they've taken the time to fully map out their class. It's those classes that help you dive deeper than just the physical movement. It's THOSE classes in which I want to offer.

When it all boils down, it isn't just picking poses that seemed to correlate and going with it. It's picking a PEAK pose, and then structuring your class around it to warm up the body and then release and help loosen those muscles we used even more. Not until we flat out make a list of what strengths and what flexibility is needed for my peak pose did I understand this. Then, everything else seemed to fall into place. There really was only 1 or 2 poses we got rid of completely. Then we added 3 or 4 more based on my deciding warrior would be the peak. The majority of my class had ended up being heart openers. This was extremely interesting to me because I had even chose a reading for Savasana that was based on the heart. This was my intention from the get go. But I just didn't have enough faith in myself that I was doing it correctly.

So, right now - It's safe to say I'm okay with offering select classes. But my goal is and always will be to make Yoga accessible to anyone who wants it. Regardless of their age, body type, mental capacity or financial situation.

My next steps are to practice my sequence for the next 8 days; every other day. Starting out just doing it, and then making mental and actual notes on how I feel during the poses.