044: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a New Yoga Teacher

044: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome as a New Yoga Teacher

Have you stepped into the studio and thought to yourself “I can’t do this”, “I’m a fake”, “I have no idea what I’m doing”, or some version of that?

That’s imposter syndrome, and almost all of us have had it at some point.

Wikipedia defines imposter syndrome as “the persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud”. It’s when we talk about something that we don’t feel like an expert in, or when other people believe that we are something that we don’t feel like we are.

It’s that moment when we teach our first yoga class and our students think that we are better or more experienced than we are.

I don’t believe that imposter syndrome is helpful for us to become better yoga teachers though. I believe we should do everything in our power to eliminate imposter syndrome from our lives.

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Leading vs. Teaching

Leading vs. Teaching

What does it truly mean to be a teacher of yoga? Does it mean standing up in front of a room of people and guiding their bodies into specific shapes by demonstrating the poses? Or is it using strategic wording to help people find these shapes with their body? Maybe it’s both or a combination of the two?

I had never really considered this topic until a teacher that I practice with quite regularly pointed out that there is a difference between teaching and leading.

He stated that leading a yoga class is standing at the front of the room demonstrating postures, and cueing adjustments that you have been taught in teacher training. Teaching, on the other hand, is using your words to cue your students into poses, and watching their bodies to find your cues.

As I thought about this, I struggled to understand the difference.

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Why You Should Never Teach for a “Maybe”

Why You Should Never Teach for a “Maybe”

As a yogi and a firm believer in taking personal responsibility, living with integrity, and karma, I want to trust the other yogis, yoginis, and yoga teachers that I work with. At the end of the day though, yoga, like anything, is business. And for this very reason, you should never teacher for a “maybe”.

What exactly does this mean?

This means that when you enter into a verbal agreement to teach for someone or at someone’s studio, you know exactly what you’re teaching for. You are teaching for x amount of dollars, x gift, x number of classes in return, etc. You are not teaching for anything with the word “maybe” in it.

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5 Things I Learned from The Corporate Yogi

5 Things I Learned from The Corporate Yogi

Julie Zuzek & I are both members of a podcasting community called Podcasters Paradise. She came up on my newsfeed a couple months ago, and I was immediately intrigued by the name, “The Corporate Yogi”.

It’s like what I’m doing, but in reverse. She wants to educate business people on being mindful, and I want to educate yogis on doing business.

I felt like Julie and I’s values were probably aligned, and when I finally reached out to her, I was excited to find out that she agreed.

Julie and I had an amazing conversation around business, and yoga, and like all my other podcast guests, I learned a thing or two from her. My top takeaways are as follows:

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Episode 2: Lessons for New Yoga Teachers from a New Yoga Teacher with Chelsey Orth

Episode 2: Lessons for New Yoga Teachers from a New Yoga Teacher with Chelsey Orth

On this episode of the podcast, Chelsey Orth discusses what she has learned over the last 7 months as a yoga teacher. She shares her journey as a new yoga teacher and everything that has changed, evolved and grown for her along the way.

Business Lessons

  • People will take what they need from your classes
  • Things won’t always be perfect, so learn to go with the flow
  • Let go of what people think of you
  • Write down your sequences & prepare for your classes and your students
  • Remember that you are only human!
  • Be confident when you walk into the room
  • You, as a yoga teacher, make a difference in all your students lives
  • Learn to teach your style to different audiences
  • Go back through your notes & manuals from your teacher training
  • Give yourself to settle after your teacher training
  • And much more… Here’s the episode! 

Connect with Chelsey

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