Last week I wrote about a possible teaching scenario and taking feedback. Half way into writing it I realized I had so much more to say than I thought I did and decided I had more to share about feedback and how to respond to feedback when you begin teaching. From now on I will be writing at least twice a week. Always on Tuesdays and Fridays. 

How you respond to feedback is KEY for your success and confidence in teaching. You can either let it ruin your day and career, or you can really take it for what it is, and let it build you up to be a better teacher.

I completely invite you to post on here, to write to me personally at jlynnedaniels@gmail.com, or to write on www.facebook.com/speakyourinspiration if you are coming up against something. I will respond. 

Anyway, so today, lets go back to feedback and lets explore sequencing.

So what happens if your sequence was not understandable. Maybe you did not have enough voice que’s for a certain asana and nobody was in sequence. Maybe you forgot to take the class though the left side of a sequence or missed a part. 

How many times have you been in a class where the teacher messed up something?

I know I have been in many classes where the teaching guru missed a side or the class didn’t understand the teaching instructions. But in many cases we just laughed it off. Sometimes, I just did the other side on my own. That does not mean it is “right,” but it does mean the teacher is human. And that means you’re human too!

As you teach more often you will become more confident in the room. As you get more confident your focus will be less on teaching and more on how you are teaching and who you are as a teacher.

I know that it is not enough just to know that making a mistake is common. Making a mistake while teaching is a confidence blow. So what can you do to prevent these mistakes from happening?

1. If you are teaching and you are no more than three poses away from the forgotten side (for example- you do warrior 1, 2, 3 on the right side and forget warrior 2 on the left, and now you are in side angle on the right) you can simply admit your mistake (your students will be glad you caught it) and creatively and effortlessly take them through warrior 2 (or whatever pose you missed). You can simply say “I just realized we didn’t do warrior 2 on this side, before down-dog we are going to come back to warrior 2 to let our bodies feel the equilibrium.”

It might be the case that one person in class did the other side even though you did not instruct it – so in that case, just thank the student (i usually say it out loud) and then take the class through the sequence.

2. If, time wise, it is too far away from the pose to go back to it, it is your job to just let it go, make a mental note, and move on. 

3. Only teach what you practice. Only teach what you practice.  Only teach what you practice. Only teach what you practice. Only teach what you practice. 

I can, and probably will, write a whole blog on this topic. 

Only teach what you practice. really. If you are teaching an asana you don’t practice you will have a much harder time connecting students to it than if you teach something you do practice. It is the same as practicing what you preach. I don’t teach headstand in the middle of the room. Why? because I can’t do a headstand in the middle of the room. I don’t know how it feels. I am afraid if someone falls I can’t catch them. I teach it at the wall because I can do it at the wall. And I am working to advance my own practice so I can do it in the middle of the room and teach it in the middle of the room. 

4. Write out the class. 

This is one of the best ways to remember all of the alignment pieces you need to know in order to get someone else in a pose. I used to write out full classes – from intro meditation to savasana. My focus would always be on the body alignment, but I couldn’t help the pieces of heart that jumped right in.

For example, for mountain pose, I could just write out: “stand tall with your feet together, arms down by your sides, shoulders relaxed” but instead, when I did write it this is how it came out: “stand tall at the front of your mat with your feet together. Allow your arms to be down by  your sides, fingers reaching to the floor. Tuck your tailbone slightly so you feel your bellybutton move toward your spine. Lift your heart up to the sky while keeping your shoulders soft.”

The version you write is the version that will habitually stick with you. If you read it over and something does not make sense to you then there is a good chance it will not make sense to your students. Regardless, if you are going to take the time to write out what you want to say, put your whole self into it. Let yourself be surprised by the result. 

5. Just remember to take a deep breath. You are going to do fine. And if you are still stuck make sure you reach out to me for help.

Try out some of these strategies this week and let me know if it works for you. 

I would love to hear your feedback. I would love to hear if you tried out any of these strategies.