It’s Friday! I am so glad. It’s been a trying week, being back in the real world after a weekend of chilling out in Blissland and then having Monday off. I’m definitely ready for the weekend.
This morning I’m going to share a few quick tips that I learned in Max Strom’s Inner Axis day-long intensive.
- Breath work affects our minds more than the postures.
- The fastest way to improve your speaking skills is to record yourself. Max records himself teaching a class 2 times a week. He uses a small recorder slipped into an arm band. Then he actually listens to it and essentially takes his own class to see how it flows. Do any of you do this? If so, how do it? What tools do you use?
- Take responsibility to say exactly what you mean.
- Don’t talk too softly or too quickly.
- Be careful about raising your voice at the end of a sentence. This makes you sound as if you lack confidence. This is something I need to work on, especially at work!
- Probably about 1/3 of our class attendees is sleep-deprived. A lot of this is due to the blue light emitted from electronic devices. The light makes our brains think the sun is still up, so the brain doesn’t secrete melatonin, and we can’t fall asleep and STAY asleep. Help people by teaching a class that helps people sleep better.
- Here is a tip I’ve read from other sources – wear a pair of orange goggles at night. The orange will block the blue light. Tim and I both wear these when we look at our e-devices at night. You look kind of nuts, but it helps you sleep!
- Teach from a universal platform.
- Be careful with religious decorations in the studio (no Buddha statues in the bathroom!).
- Be careful of mentions of specific Gods or religions. You can have a very spiritual class without mentioning any specific religion. Be inclusive so everyone feels comfortable.
- Teach all levels of a posture – easiest to more difficult. The most difficult postures should be taught one-on-one, not to the whole class.
- Adapt to your students – teach what they need.
- Teach the WHY. Why breathe from the chest? Why position your body in this certain way? Why do yoga at all? Inquiring minds want to know. 🙂
Research has shown that people can only easily remember 5-7 items, so I’m going to stop there. Granted, I kind of cheated because I have sub-bullets in there, but I’m leaving them!
Hope you have a fabulous Friday and that you can get outside, get some sun, and that you can spend time with people you love today.