Te acher zone
Teacher’s Tales:
T
he answer to this question will depend to some extent
on the style of yoga you teach, so I understand this will
not necessarily apply for everyone. But speaking from
the example of teaching yoga flow classes, I had a real ‘I
should know better’ moment last year.
Depending on the class, I tend to demonstrate some of the time but
certainly not all. As more and more people come to yoga I have noticed,
particularly over the past couple of years, from some that there is an
expectation they can copy the teacher throughout the class. I have
on occasion even received complaints from yoga newcomers for not
demonstrating every single pose. I explain that if I am doing all the poses
then I cannot observe the class and teach them accordingly.
As so many more drop-in classes are now mixed-level, with some
classes being quite large, it can be a difficult balance to strike. Many of
us have come across examples of the teacher who stays on their mat
and does their own practice for the rest of the class to follow along
without offering guidance in and out of each asana. However, I do not
agree with demonstrating every single pose.That is the question. Paula Hines explores why some yoga teachers like to
demonstrate and others do notI had a phase last year where I found myself demo-ing more than
normal in mixed-level flow classes – these were larger classes too and
I slipped into a pattern of leading classes rather than teaching them.
This was not a good way to go – not only is this exhausting to do when
you teach a number of classes in a day, it also took a physical toll
on my body. I should know better, and yet, as I say, I slipped into this
pattern. So, I made a conscious decision to (a) demonstrate less and
(b) teach less of this style of yoga.
For the classes I was teaching I did not go ‘cold-turkey’ with the
demonstrating, I instead reduced the amount of demo-ing I was doing
over a number of weeks. This way, I felt that for the students who had
been coming to class, they did not go from seeing me demonstrate a
lot of the poses one week to very little the next.
I know I made the right decision, not only for me but also for people
coming along to my classes to create a better learning environment.Paula Hines is a London-based yoga teacher and writer
(ucanyoga.co.uk)Te acher zone
To demo or not to demo?