Yoga Journal - Teacher Tells All

I skipped my teacher training classes this weekend because I was in Boston at the Yoga Journal conference watching how some of the best, most experienced yoga teachers in the world conduct their classes. I thought I'd take a few minutes to share with you some of my observances about why teachers like Seane Corn and Rodney Yee are known worldwide as yoga masters.

Here are some things I picked up that I would like to someday incorporate into my own yoga classes:

1. Believe you can really affect people's lives.

I believe the key to Seane Corn's success must be her passion. She speaks so eloquently and with such enthusiasm about yoga's potential to change the world, I think students gravitate to her for a reminder of why they practice. Passion is contagious.

2. Be bold. Let students know get out what they put into yoga.

In the first thirty minutes of Rodney Yee's class, he called a student in the back row out for lying down during a question and answer session. "You don't lay down in my class," he said. "Every student is responsible for keeping the energy and morale of the class up."

Although I'm sure some people were put off by his demonstration of authority, I think it was great that he held us accountable for our actions. It was a nice reminder that we can only get what we put into our yoga practice.

3. Project Your Energy

Edward Clark likens being a yoga teacher to being a performer. "I have to project my energy through to the back of the room," he says. "That's what being a performer is all about."
It's not enough to call out instructions and give adjustments to students. The best teachers project their personalities and energies into the class in a way that makes everyone feel welcome and included&mash;even if there are 100 students.

4. Practice Presentation

In her class on expanding the heart field, Shiva Rea masterfully wove her theme throughout the class through the opening talk, a visualization, the music, and the asana sequence. She gave us sheets depicting what we chanted in Sanskrit and in English as well as a packet of information we could reference later. This was planned out so thoughtfully and with such care I think everyone appreciated it. Wonderfully done!

5. Realize No Two Bodies are the Same

In Mary Dunn's class about protecting knees, I was thrilled that she took the time to go over the different ways that people's knees could be constructed. It was a really good reminder to me of just how important it will be for me as a teacher to learn to look for subtle differences in people's bodies. The variances in people's bodies can be so vast it should completely change the way you approach each individual. The hard part is knowing what difference to look for.

I should know. Here's a video clip of me at the conference learning something new from Edward Clark about how my very own elbows are built. Notice it took a while for me to understand... Then I had to keep looking at it just to make sure. I'm afraid it will be a thousand times harder when I'm looking at someone else's body.

Credits:
Seane Corn Photo by Susan Slattery
Video Clip by Chad Capellman

Comments

Wow, such good information! I can only imagine what a rush it felt like to be at the conference and learn so much all at once.

Posted by: Victoria E | April 20, 2006 05:25 PM

Learning from the masters has been a wonderful exprience as I expand my own training in hopes of continued personal growth in my practice that I can share with my students. Just remember that these "masters" are also human beings with the usual failings. It can be quite disappointing to meet the real person inside of the icon. Respect must be earned, and just because a yoga teacher is famous and sought-after doesn't mean they are always the kind of person that you think they will be.

Posted by: Janelle | April 26, 2006 09:52 PM

I apologize for my delay in commenting to your post but I'd been devoting all of my energies to preparing for my youngest daughter's May 13th wedding. Anyway, I truly appreciate Erica's comments regarding what she learned from the masters. However, my initial reaction to Rodney Yee's "calling out" a student for deigning to lay down during the Q&A session in his class was different than Erica's. I found his behavior appeared to be a very non-yogic response by a a yoga teacher of world-renown, with whom I have always desired to study.

My problem was that, based on Erica's comments, Mr. Yee had no idea as to the reason for the student's decision to do what he or she opted to do at that time. In yoga, we constantly hear that we should honor and respect our bodies and most importantly, to listen to what it needs at all times--even if it happens to be contrary to what a teacher requests that you do. In this case, it is possible that the student was honoring the request of his or her body, and consequently, lying down in no way diminished the energy or morale of the class. In fact, the student's action should have served as a reminder to everyone else that in our practice, honoring the needs of our bodies is of utmost importance and is the responsibility of the individual--not the yoga instructor.

Posted by: Lydia Kimble-Wright | May 18, 2006 02:23 AM

I agree with Lydia Kimble-Wright's comment. To hear that such a well-known teacher has such an ego is off-putting. I am someone that struggles with rehabilitating a back injury, and sometimes it is best for me to stop practice and lay flat on the ground so to not over do it. And a yoga teacher should honor a student's choice of self-care.

Posted by: Tracy Miller | May 23, 2006 04:50 PM

I'm glad I'm not the only one. I had a strong reaction to Rodney Yee "calling out" a student. I do NIA and one of the things I love about it is the focus on how my body is feeling and the permission in the class to take care of my body. If I had been the student in that situation I would have liked to have the strength to have answered back just as powerfully, "In my class, everyone has the responsibility to love and honor where their body is. That does contribute to powerfully to a good experience for everyone!" Ahh.. see, even with time to think I still can't think of a good rejoinder. That would have made me very uncomfortable if I'd even been in the class.

Posted by: Braidwood | June 23, 2006 05:19 AM

Erica,
Sorry I am late in following your blog. However, I must say I am upset over this entry re: conference. I have attended many trainings with 'master teachers' and I can't help but wonder if this was your first and if you were slightly 'star struck'? If so, that's okay, we all have been there and some point. But as the other posters have already pointed out, these people are just human beings and make mistakes just like the rest of us. If anything, they have to be very careful about EGO. Personally, I have been very put off by some of these 'yoga celebrities'. I have a bone disease and chronic back pain. My own yoga teacher knows that during class, many times if she is just talking, I will need to go get a bolster and lay down. She would much rather I listen to my body, and get comfortable then sit there in pain. How did Mr Yee know that the student did not have a physical challenge? Did he bother asking? It sounds like he just used his EGO to promote his authority and celebrity.
I have had other master teachers try to adjust me in positions that my back will not tolerate and have had to be VERY assertive that I could NOT do that. I have been injured by master teachers who told me I was not trying hard enough. This is not acceptable and this is not what WE are taught.
My own teacher discourages us from attending large conferences such as the YJ ones for reasons such as this. Instead, she prefers to select certain master teachers to come to our school and keeps the classes small.
I am really turned off by this story of Mr Yee (and it is not the first or only one I have heard like this!)
As for the other teachers mentioned-I'm sorry, but there are some with huge EGOS involved. At some point, master teachers need to look at the whole 'celebrity yoga teacher' thing going on.
Andrea

Posted by: Andrea | June 29, 2006 03:14 PM

How long in the process are u suppose to do yoga in a day are u suppose to spend a hour or 30 mins?how long?

Posted by: T'Quilla | January 19, 2008 02:17 PM