You want to become a Yoga Teacher (or perhaps an even better Yoga Teacher!). Yay for this, I am so excited for you. The first Yoga Teaching Program I ever did, completely changed my life and I can’t wait for you to begin your journey.
Imagine you in 6-12 months time, you’ve completed your Online Yoga Teacher Training, perhaps your first 200 hours and you’re even thinking about continuing on with your 500 hour Yoga Teacher Training. You’re teaching face to face and online Yoga classes, and you’re even thinking about hosting a Yoga retreat!
You LOVE teaching Yoga, plus it’s adding a nice amount of additional income to your bank account! What a win-win situation.
Before you start searching for the best Yoga Teacher Training Course, let’s first talk about what makes a great Yoga Teacher.
The 5 traits that I believe have helped me to become the Yoga Teacher I am today did not come from knowing the most Yoga philosophy, or from being able to do the best handstand. These traits surprisingly have nothing to do with how flexible you are, or how strong you are.
However, these 5 traits are essential if you want to be a great Yoga Teacher. The best thing is, you probably already have them, but you might have forgotten to use them!
Let’s get you up to speed, so if you want it, in 6-12 months teaching Yoga can absolutely be your reality!
5 Traits to Be a Great Yoga Teacher
As I already mentioned, these 5 traits have nothing to do with how ‘good’ at Yoga Asana you are (that is, the Yoga postures and movement). It’s not even about how many Yoga trainings you’ve done or how many Yoga hours you’ve practised. Sure, practising Yoga and learning more will help you become a better teacher but these particular traits are more about how you can connect to others and understand humans.
1: You need to be empathetic
Ahhh empathy, it’s quite the buzz word right now and I do think for good reason. When I was taught about the definition of empathy as a 10 year old, I remember my school teacher saying empathy is putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. For many years I believed this was the case. That was until I discovered the actual definition of empathy. Empathy is imagining YOU are the other person, walking in their shoes with all their past and present.
Being empathetic allows you to be a more compassionate and understanding Yoga Teacher.
The great thing is, the more you practise empathy, the easier it becomes. Next time you notice yourself judging someone else’s situation or reaction, try to take yourself out of the context and imagine what they might be going through and how they might be feeling (not how you would feel if you were them).
2: You need to be on time
This is VERY important. Consider yourself an ‘on time’ person. Actually, consider yourself a ‘5 minutes early is an on time’ person. I am serious. The worst thing you can do is show up late and flustered to a class, whether that’s in person or online. Schedule your day with adequate time in between places you need to be. This allows extra time for anything to go wrong.
Of course, if there’s an emergency your students will be understanding but if you are continually late your students will become annoyed and will stop showing up.
Value your student’s time by showing up early.
3: You need to know your scope
Too many times I have been to a Yoga class and a Yoga Teacher starts telling me how to heal past trauma, or how to detox my kidneys, or how to be less depressed.
As a Yoga Teacher, you need to understand and stay in line with your scope of training and knowledge. You are not a Therapist, Psychologist, Physio or Doctor (unless you’re actually trained in these areas!). So stick to your scope. If a student asks for help or is struggling and it has nothing to do with Yoga, it is your role to let them know that you can’t help. Perhaps you can connect them with someone who might be able to. It’s at this moment in time you refer your student to the medical professional they require, or a support network like Beyond Blue.
This action makes your teaching better for both the student and for you as well! You know what your role is and you don’t feel pressure to be more than that.
4: You need to be yourself
Ok this one might sound obvious buuuuut let’s be honest… it’s so easy to catch someone else’s traits! If you do a certain teacher’s Yoga class a lot, you might find yourself saying the same cues in the same way, or the same intonation/expression. It’s fine that you do this, this is how you learn BUT I want you to really connect with who YOU are. If something doesn’t feel like ‘you’ and you say it or you do it, take note and try to say/do the thing in a different way next time.
Over time and with Yoga teaching practise you will start to develop your own unique style of voice and sequencing.
5: You need to keep learning
You’ve completed your first 200 hour training course! Well done, that is a HUGE accomplishment. This is just the beginning! Keep reading, keep listening to podcasts, keep attending more Yoga Teacher Training Courses, keep trying out different Yoga Teachers!
Once you become a registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and/or Yoga Australia they require you to complete continuing education hours! I personally think this is a great thing as it ensures all of us Yoga Teachers are continuing to expand our own personal knowledge, which means our teaching evolves and becomes even more beneficial for our students. Plus, learning is fun (especially when you actually like what you’re learning!).
Best Yoga Teacher Training Australia
I know you may have just popped onto this page for my take on the best Yoga Teacher Training Australia has to offer! However, I really hope these 5 traits inspired you and your teaching journey. It really has nothing to do with how good at Yoga you are.
There are many courses out there and it’s important that you choose the course that feels right for you. There are also many practical factors that come into play here… like, can you take 4 weeks out of your life to complete an intensive course? For most of us, no! Or can you travel to complete your course?! For most of us, no!
Our 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program has 3 goals.
- To be the best Yoga Teacher Training Course that leaves graduates feeling confident to teach their first class (believe it or not, many courses do not leave students feeling this way and leave out many important teaching skills).
- To be the only Yoga Teacher Training Course in the world with an additional focus on teaching online. In this day and age, if you don’t know how to teach online, then you’re not going to succeed to your full potential.
- To be an Online Yoga Teaching Program that is accessible, enjoyable and extensive. This is why our course is completely online and this is why we have an entire faculty of specialty teachers, mentors and course offerings, from Doctors, to Physiotherapists, to Ayurvedic Therapists, to Philosophy Lecturers.
What I’m about to say is a pretty big call but I believe it with all my heart!
The MerryBody 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program is the best in Australia, dare I say, it’s one of the best Yoga schools in the world. Although we are new, we are also fresh and motivated to ensure YOU have the best experience. We bring years of accumulated knowledge from experts in all essential areas.
If you’re still here reading, then it’s absolutely the right time to sign up to the wait list so you are the first to know when our next cohort begins.
I look forward to being part of your journey to becoming the best Yoga Teacher you can possibly be.
If you ever have any questions, get in touch, I’d love to hear from you – [email protected]
Always merrymaking,
Carla