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Summary: Yoga teacher training has the potential to transform practitioners into teachers by fostering trainees’ leadership, authenticity, adaptability, growth, and constructive feedback skills. In training, we have a powerful opportunity to emphasize presence over perfection and help trainees become confident, thoughtful, and grounded educators who may positively influence future students.
Many yoga teacher trainers initially think that yoga teacher training is about teaching trainees to refine postures, sequence skillfully and teach postural yoga effectively. While this is certainly a requirement for any decent training, the hidden potential of a teacher training lies in its ability to support our trainees to take the true seat of a teacher.
A well-crafted YTT journey is not just about providing information through lesson plans; it is also about supporting our trainees to become leaders. Being a yoga teacher is about more than understanding and regurgitating content; when our trainees graduate, we want to have taught them how to create a safe space for their own students that includes empathy, humility and care. Yes: this is a high bar for a 200 hour training, in which time is short! But we can still plant seeds for this transformation and we can certainly pursue leadership as a goal in an advanced 300 hour training.
One of the wonderful gifts of teacher training is that it asks us – as trainers – to walk our own talk. We must do the self-work necessary so that we can be models of integrity and leadership. We must lead by example. To this end, we must cultivate self-regulation skills, increase our capacity for active listening and empathic communication, and learn to offer feedback in a way that is effective and elevating. A YTT never goes quite according to plan, and the way that you manage these moments will speak louder than any manual. Trainees observe what you teach, how you teach, and how you treat others. This includes freely admitting when you don’t know the answer to a question, or when you hit a gray area. Your certainty is not needed; your presence is.
No two trainees arrive at the same starting point. Some might come with years of teaching experience, while others are stepping into teacher training for the first time. As a trainer, we have to notice these differences. Rather than expect a single standard, create multiple entry points for understanding and meet each student where they are.
When your trainees graduate from their teacher training, they will not know everything about yoga. Quite the opposite: the more we learn about this tradition, the less we feel that we know! When you are teaching your trainees how to teach, make sure to include skills in “holding space with love.” Teach your trainees that facilitating a good yoga class isn’t about knowing everything or getting it all right; it’s about creating a safe (and humble) space for your students to become more present to themselves. By including class management skills (empathy, honoring diversity, respect for individual differences) in your training, you will set your trainees up to cultivate leadership skills. Make sure your trainees know that a 200 hour or 500 hour training is just the beginning of the journey – not the end.
Feedback in teacher training is not just about correcting a missed cue or sequencing transition; it is an opportunity to model a positive attitude towards learning. The way that you give feedback to your trainees will inspire how they give feedback to themselves and others. Start with what is going well in their teaching (positive feedback is just as important as constructive feedback). Nip self-flagellation in the bud. Ask them to self-assess their work so that they can develop the ability to think critically going forward. Give big picture feedback rather than focusing on nitty gritty details. (For example: “There are more opportunities to cue to common misalignments” rather than “Cue the knee in vira 2, cue side waist lengthening in parsvakonasana, cue lower back stability in salabhasana…”) Create positive opportunities for trainees to give and receive feedback from each other in order to practice their skills. We’re not only building teaching skills; we are helping our students cultivate emotional intelligence.
A transformational yoga teacher training is not only about producing teachers with great cuing and sequencing skills; it is about creating a space to encourage your trainees to develop their empathy, humility, and communication. By making interpersonal and personal development a part of your training, your program will have the capacity to create leaders – not just teachers.
Rachel supports yoga teachers and studios around the world to create transformational education experiences that help them thrive in their business, share their passion, and inspire more people to practice yoga. Her extensive knowledge and experience include: earning two masters degrees, authoring three books, leading 4,000+ hours of TT, building a teacher training college for a national yoga company, and working behind the scenes in yoga studio & teacher management for more than fifteen years. As a writer and speaker, she continually wrestles with the juicy bits of life: relationships, authenticity, and discovering meaning in this crazy, wildish world. E-RYT 500, YACEP, BA, MFA, MSci. Learn more about Rachel.
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