An excerpt from my article about teaching beginners over at LoveYogaAnatomy.com.
Read the whole article here.
Teaching is a special skill and teaching beginners well is probably the hardest of all. Here are some of my suggestions for teaching beginners in a way that is positive and nurturing and compassionate.
Be Compassionate
Remember what it was like when you were a beginner. After years of practice it’s easy to forget how difficult yoga is. For beginners trying to work out what goes where and which way they are stretching and remember to breathe and and and… it can be pretty overwhelming. If you can get your beginners making roughly the right shape and at the same time remembering to breathe, then that’s a fantastic start – anything else is a bonus. Remember, it definitely doesn’t have to be perfect straight away and if you give too many corrections they may leave the class thinking they got everything wrong.
As a teacher it’s a great idea to go to a dance class or martial arts class, and be that beginner! Remind yourself what it feels like and how hard it is – but also how rewarding it is to get something right