Yellin' Yoga and Other Unexpected Teaching Lessons

When this teacher training was announced, I had major doubts as to if I would ever teach, or if I even wanted to teach. I knew immediately, however, that I wanted to study with the teachers who were running the program.

Now, people ask, "What kind of yoga did you study?" When I try to characterize my teacher training, I think it is best described as a Liberal Arts degree in Yoga. Students, who usually come in not knowing if they want to meditate, or if they just want to be more confident in their handstand, are given complete freedom to explore all methods of the practice. By fostering this growth, Steph encourages students to try styles and traditions they've never explored before. And this is where great discoveries are made.

From my teacher training class alone, I remember that after all the exploration was done, we had a chanting expert, a Kundalini lover, a few Iyengar fanatics, an Alan Finger devotee, a male enamored with teaching pre-natal, and a hand-full of personal trainers who were thoughtfully re-thinking their current modes of working. Many of the rest of us hadn't found our particular niche yet, but we kept exploring.

A friend of mine from the training ended up teaching kids yoga, family yoga, meditation, and vinyasa classes - all in her first teaching job! Though she didn't feel she had mastered any one of the techniques, she surely had the tools to discover how to teach in these areas, and her students were thrilled with her.

I had a different experience, landing a few morning yoga classes at a local gym. The spinning class next door was so loud that my boss suggested calling the class "Yellin' Yoga," and having the yoga students jump and scream during class to "get their aggression out," and "not hear the spinning class."

Though I do not feel like the training I had qualified me to teach "Yellin' Yoga," it absolutely qualified me to find another mode of teaching, just as high-energy, and another name that satisfied both me and my boss. =) There were some days where the spinning class was loud, and there was no way to "ignore" it. So, using what I learned in my training, we visualized the constant thumping from next door as the constant pace of NY, and we kept our room as sacred, the only place we could control. It actually turned into a really beautiful meditation. We learned that we can't always control what's going on around us, but we can learn to work with our minds and either let the outside drive us crazy, or draw strength & quiet from inside ourselves.

My personal yoga journey is far from over, but I will be forever grateful that my education started with this training. Whatever personal, financial, or professional sacrifices you're considering making in order to make this training fit into your life -- DO THEM! You will be forever grateful to yourself, and infinitely richer. Enjoy!

Kelsey Kaufman