By:
Virginia Iversen, M.Ed
As a
professional Yoga teacher, one of the underlying goals is to generate
enthusiasm in your classes. The word “enthusiasm” is literally translated as
“to be filled with the spirit of God.” What a wonderfully uplifting goal to
have for the students who attend your Yoga classes! If your students walk off
their mats at the end of class and feel like they have been filled with the
spirit of God, you will have certainly accomplished a numinous goal,
indeed.
Do keep
in mind that many of your students may have rushed to attend your class in
the early morning hours just prior to work, or they may have come to the studio
directly after finishing work. In either case, many of your students may arrive
“on the mat” feeling a bit overwhelmed, rushed, tense, and often tired from a
long day. By helping your students to ground at the beginning of a Yoga class,
you will help them to both physically and mentally arrive in class, before they
begin to flow through the physical postures.
In
addition, by generating a bubbling sense of enthusiasm for the Yoga practice
you have created for your students, you will be further supporting them in
their own practice. A personal sense of enthusiasm for Yoga can be generated in
a number of different ways. One of the most important elements to spreading a
contagious, enthusiastic spirit is to embody the spirit of enthusiasm yourself.
This may be accomplished in a variety of ways, depending on your own individual
relationship with the practice of Yoga.
For
instance, if you connect strongly with a particular teacher or with Bhakti
Yoga, you may find that saying a brief prayer, setting an intention and
chanting some opening mantras, helps to put you immediately into contact with
the divine energy that is being nourished through the practice. Taking a few
minutes to remember how Yoga has helped you to personally transform your own
life, will further fuel your inspiration to help your students experience the
same personal transformation.
Any of
these contemplative techniques will help to remind you of the myriad and
profound benefits of Yoga, which will uplift and inspire you. When you are
uplifted and inspired about the transformative practice of Yoga, your students
will feel your enthusiasm and will become more enthusiastic about the practice
themselves. In addition, setting a “do-able” and challenging pace for your
class will support your students’ morale during class.
If you
set a pace that is too slow for many of your Yoga students, they may become
bored and their attention may drift. They may even start to watch the clock,
which has the potential to demoralize you as well! On the other hand, if you
set a pace that is too fast for many of the students in your class, you may
find that their enthusiasm diminishes, because they feel that they cannot
safely keep up with the class you are teaching.
As a
professional Yoga teacher, it is part of your job to design a sequence of
postures to lead your students through that creates a balanced, safe and effective
class. The pacing of your class will depend on the ability and fitness level of
each group of students that your are instructing. Being able to flexibly modify
the sequence of postures and the pacing of the class that you have prepared to
teach, in order to match the ability and fitness level of the group of students
in your class is one of the most important qualities of an exceptional Yoga
teacher.
In
addition, by creating a sequence of asanas that starts with some gentle warm-up
postures, builds towards a pinnacle pose during the more active part of the
practice, and then gently flows into some calming forward bends and restorative
finishing postures, you will allow the heat and the energy of the practice to
build up slowly during your class. This type of pacing will help you to
germinate enthusiasm during your class, because your students will feel safe,
supported and challenged during their time on the Yoga mat with you.
Virginia
Iversen, M.Ed, has been practicing and studying the art of Yoga for over twenty
years. She lives in Woodstock, New York; where she specializes in writing
customized, search engine-optimized articles that are 100% unique. She is
currently accepting yoga and health-related writing orders and may be contacted
at: enchantress108@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2015 – Virginia Iversen / Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
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2 comments:
One of the most important elements to spreading a contagious, enthusiastic spirit is to embody the spirit of enthusiasm yourself. Thanks for nice sharing!
When teacher is uplifted and inspired about the informativeness practice of Yoga, then students will feel the enthusiasm and will become more enthusiastic about the practice themselves. Thanks for this good article.
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