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Student Teaching Moderators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
Yoga -> Yoga Teachers | Message format |
asananow |
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As part of my YTT program, I've started student teaching. This is a really new and sometimes frustrating and mostly rewarding experience. Things I've noticed so far: It takes a long time to set up a sequence, check that the timing is right, prep poses, counterposes, a good mix of different categories of poses. I had my music too loud one time and it threw me off the entire class. Room was too cold another time and I switched as many poses to active and standing work as I could 'on the fly'. Students are very nice and seem genuinely interested however you don't get much direct feedback. Some questions afterwards. I'm getting better at observing them during class to see which poses are challenging them and for any shallow breathing/straining. I'm becoming more relaxed and more 'myself', finding my center to be able to scan the room, give modifications, make little jokes. This improves the experience for me. I hope it improves the experience for them. From reading previous posts here, it seems that eventually I can just be a vessel and the teaching will come through, not from, me. Is that a correct interpretation? Anyone wish to share their stories of early teaching experiences? Helpful hints? Thank you in advance! | |||
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Not much time this morning Jennifer but wanted to say you are learning very quickly and becoming a wise yogini! | |||
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It would be difficult to make pointed comments as every TT seems to be different. So the student teacher initially grows within the context of the training. What you look for and see, what you listen for and hear are predicated by what you've been taught. Since I do not use music, and I doubt that other Purna Yoga teachers do, it would not be music which would throw us off. One less thing to manage, as far as I'm concerned. Again though it is within the context of your training so I am not suggesting you abandon music. That is entirely another debate. When I first started teaching I had eight days of TT in a power vinyasa style. Looking back I am grateful that I did not harm anyone. It was too soon for me to teach and I did not have a full understanding of the practice either intellectually or experientially. I did not know how to keep students safe. I did not fully know how to modify for different bodies. I did not know what to look at or for beyond challenge, strain, or breath. I did not know the purpose of the practice and I did not know in what way(s) I was directing students. As a former basketball coach I was acutely aware that finding your own personality, a true personality rather than a performance personality, was critically important. It is appropriate to consider yourself the tube of yoga. If for no other reason it keeps the Ego at bay. In that way it is never about you and always about the student and opening yourself to the student. Hints? Master the Yamas, Niyamas, and Kleshas. Edited by purnayoga 2008-02-19 2:01 PM | |||
tourist |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | Jennifer - for a new teacher of ANYTHING, prep time is huge. As any elementary school teacher. Over the years, this gets easier and you have more "arrows" in your "quiver" that you can grab at a moment's notice. Are you teaching a style where you practice along with the class? I am confused about why you couldn't just turn the music down? | ||
asananow |
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Thanks for the responses. I do practice along with the group and my Teacher Trainer assists with any modifications. I did try, unsucessfully, a few times to turn the music down but I was unfamiliar with the room and the system. I was better prepared the next time. The style we are learning is simply called hatha yoga, with options given to explore different styles. Some of our student teaching has been with an experienced group who need less basic instruction but more challenge. Other classes are beginner and I break the poses down, show them how to get in/out, alignment tips and I revisit those poses with them. I originally started my practice in the late 80s with an Iyengar teacher, so I like to offer alignment cues to the experienced folks too, just more of subtle adjustments. Thanks again. | |||
kulkarnn |
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Hello Jennifer: Share Story from early teaching. When I taught my first few classes, I explained Yoga and what I was going to show and do, to the extent that: Out of 1 hour of my Yoga Exercise time, I spent upto 50 min explaning for example, what Head Stand is and demonstrate it. AFter that they had 5 min to do it before the class closes. That is when I went to Toast Master's and I am grateful to them. I mean to Toast Master's. asananow - 2008-02-19 7:33 AM Anyone wish to share their stories of early teaching experiences? Helpful hints? Thank you in advance! | |||
asananow |
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Good story! Toastmasters is a great organization. I was in speech club in high school. I think that and the mandatory typing classes are the most valuable information (on a daily basis) I graduated with. I am trying not to talk too much in class as it is so tempting to tell them all about the benefits of the pose, etc. I do have a theme for class (similar to Anusara) so that I try to share something along the theme after savasana. For instance, the breathe, stress, gratitude, release, etc. | |||
tourist |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | For beginners I think it is important to talk quite a lot. They need your voice to keep connecting them back to the pose and keep them working "in the body" instead of "in the head." Of course, you don't want mindless chatter, but giving the benefits is a great thing to do. | ||
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i agree that talking is good, as long as it is informative, but it also shouldn't be "pervasive" to the point of distraction. i recently took a class with a teacher who was hardly breathing, from what i could tell. it was like this: mountainposestandwithyourfeettogetherandliftyourheartdrawtheenergyfromthefloor- tothetopofyourheadandthenfeelyourselfextendashighasyoucandnowbreatheandbreathe- andbreatheandfeelthatreachnowreachoveryourheadashighasyoucanandfeeltheextension- ofthearmsbutrelaxtheshouldersdownthebackliftingtheheartandfeelyourselfmovingand- nowfoldforwardintoforwardbendbringinghandstothefloor.... for an hour and a half. and there was music. it was way too much talking. i'm not saying you're doing too much or too little, and much of the talking did seem like mindless chatter, as if the teahcer was trying to distract himself. very odd. | |||
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When I take a class, I don't like it when the teacher tells me what to feel, think or experience. I prefer it when they tell me what to do. I can manage the feeling, thinking (or not thinking) and experiencing on my own. Many teachers have a memorized (or quasi-memorized) set of cues that they always give. That is what you get on a DVD. If you are taking a live class with a live teacher, I think that the cues given should relate to what is going on in the class and be what the individuals in that class need at that moment. The real art in teaching is to teach each person individually within the context of keeping the energy and flow of the entire room together as one. | |||
asananow |
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The real art in teaching is to teach each person individually within the context of keeping the energy and flow of the entire room together as one. I think this is so true. And the challenging part! | |||
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On topic I think from our new buddy Metab of Yoga Yoga Austin, Texas: How To Be A Great Student an article by Mehtab, Yoga Yoga's Founder I was teaching a yoga class and the woman in the back of the room was doing yoga. Only it wasn't the type of yoga I was teaching or that the rest of the class was doing. "Oh, I am just listening to my body and doing whatever it tells me to do," she said. As yoga students, we are always looking for a great teacher, someone who can inspire us, teach us, and take us to the next level. Here are the guidelines to become a great yoga student: Realize everyone has something to teach you.
Respect the teacher within the teacher.
Understand a teacher is 90% the projection of the student.
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Know that the only purpose of having a teacher outside yourself is to realize the teacher within yourself.
May you have great teachers in your life.
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Bruce, This is the second (?) article from Mehtab that you have shared and I have enjoyed. Are there others? Where would one find them? Thanks, Jim | |||
tourist |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | Bruce - 2008-02-21 6:43 PM I remember going to a yoga class years ago with my wife and telling her afterwards: "The teacher drove me crazy with his fake-sounding, super-mellow voice." When I read that, I cheered - I can't stand the fake yoga mellow voice! Then I read this: "Yeah," she said. "He reminded me a lot of you." and totally cracked up! sooooo funny... The teachings are the important thing - not the personality of the individual teacher. Yes, yes, yes. Understand a teacher is 90% the projection of the student.Whatever you think about your teacher is almost all about what you think about yourself and has very little to do with the teacher. A teacher is a mirror that reflects the student. This is the only way we can learn about ourselves - through self-reflection. On the other hand, students can have positive projective fantasies about their teachers that are also more about their own needs than about the teachers themselves. I remember one woman going up to a nationally known teacher at the end of a workshop and telling him: "During our last meditation, I opened my eyes and I saw you in the most beautiful and blissful state. Your heart center was really, really open. What were you meditating on?" He replied: "Cheese and macaroni. That is what I am having for supper tonight." Excellent! | ||
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