How to feel confident in a Yoga class

It is not a myth that walking into a Yoga class or even thinking about teaching yoga to your students is incredibly daunting: we have all been there. Everyone has a first class at some point and believe it or not, the hardest part is just walking through the door.

When I went to my first Yoga class I was recovering from surgery and had no strength in my left arm or shoulder. I was the worst person in the class every single time for a month, if not more. The only thing standing in my way was my ego and wanting to be better than I was, however, Yoga is all about the journey and that is the beauty of it.

The first thing to always remember is that you should never compare yourself to anyone else in the class, this is so important to teach to the students in your class too.

“We are all so unique that no two people will ever look the same in a posture, there is nothing positive that will come from trying to look like someone else.”

There is no right and wrong answer in Yoga. The teacher should encourage students to express themselves in whatever way feels natural to them without any judgement or worrying about what people might think.

Yoga is a non-competitive environment. The language we use is only of encouragement and we ensure that the children are only concentrating on themselves, again not looking at what anyone else is doing and trying to direct their focus to be inward.

We want to try to remind the children to be calm and quiet at the beginning of the yoga class but never silent. I think that is too restrictive and it immediately makes them think of turning their attention to a passive frame of mind, or a defensive one. Neither of which are very yogic.

“The final point and perhaps the most important is that you all need to have fun.”

The great thing about TeachFit that we developed, is that the program is fun and energising and makes the children want to come back for more.

On average, during a TeachFit day I teach around 7-10 classes back to back in a school and believe me it is natural to feel pretty exhausted afterwards, but the energy you get back from the children is like nothing I can describe. I feel so lucky to be able to take part in making a small change in their lives and want you to know that you too can feel confident to do so.

“Remember that this gift of Yoga that you are either giving to yourself or the children is precious and one that can really change your life.”

It has transformed mine from having serious surgery and anxiety off the back off this, into a life full of movement, fun and compassion.

I just want to share this with as many people as possible and give them the opportunity to see their true full potential.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how our #TeachFit programme can help improve the lives of teachers and students in your schools, contact us at community@opogo.com.