Feeling deflated after teaching your very first yoga class?

Feeling deflated after teaching your very first yoga class? You don’t have to be.

You have completed your Teacher Training and preparing to go out on your own and start putting into practice what you’ve learn't and have landed your first class to teach.

Your first class is a cover and although super excited you are very nervous at the same time. So many things runs through your head. What if I am no good, what if they don’t like me, what if the class is no good, what if, what if, there’s always many what if’s.

You arrive at the class and already so many things seem to go wrong, from the music to some students feeling unhappy that their regular teacher that they love will not be teaching the class. OMG how can I do this , they dislike my class already.

Taking a few deep breaths you start to greet students as they arrive, sending apologies for the teachers absence and introduce yourself and hope they enjoy the class and you start.

You begin teaching remembering your training and work from the notes prepared , you look at some faces and panic sets in as you believe they are unhappy and somehow make it to Savasana.

Relief sets in as you know it’s near the end and the torture will be over very soon. As students leave they send a quick thank you and some even say they enjoyed the class, however you receive feed back from the managers and it was not good and all your hopes of teaching come crashing down in one sentence. As you take it all in you feel yourself deflating and not wanting to burst out in tears. You wonder how you will come back from this and keep teaching.

Remember if we don't fail how would we get better?

Just so you know this is my reflection on my first ever class after graduation and even a few years into my teaching. You are not alone. I am sure that many teachers have suffered the same negative feedback at some point and now you are wondering how to come back from it.

Once it sinks in and you process it , dust your self off and teach again. The more you teach the better you get at it, gain more confidence and find your voice. You will even find how you want to teach or style if you prefer to call it that. You’ll learn not to take feedback personally as much as we love good feedback there will be bad and use it for the better. Take the feedback in and learn from it then let it go.

I have to keep reminding myself that you won’t please everyone and not everyone will like what you teach but that’s ok. You will attract the ones who like your style.

Trust in yourself and what you know, teach from the heart and be true to yourself and you will be fine.

https://www.covermeemploymentsolutions.com/2017/07/30/feeling-deflated-teaching-first-yoga-class/