Monday, March 02, 2009

One Step Closer

  • 50 question written test -- DONE
  • 3 page essay on yoga and health -- DONE
  • 1 hour lesson plan for my first yoga class -- not even close

I have to admit, I'm completely intimidated with building my first lesson plan. This is the class that I will need to lead in order to achieve my certification. It needs to be perfect. It needs to address all the different aspects of a well-rounded yoga class. It needs to take into consideration the different issues of special needs students. It needs to include only poses that I CAN DO. It needs to be an hour long. And most importantly, it needs me to be serious and on track for the duration. That will be the biggest challenge. My mind has a tendency to drift . . . . Where was I? Oh yes, worrying about how I will lead my first one hour class with the stress of a camera rolling the entire time. Yikes.

To help me prepare my class I'm reading one of the text books provided in my training kit. It's called "The Sivananda Companion to Yoga" and it is a wonderful book. I just love it. It is beautifully illustrated and well laid out. My biggest gripes with my other text books were the cheesy illustrations and the horrific pictures. But this book is simply lovely and will be an invaluable source of information as plan my lesson.

After reading a few chapters and watching a long DVD of instructor tips I thought I was ready to use my husband as a crash test dummy and lead a little yoga class at home. I did positively no planning and tried to just wing it with my newly gained knowledge fresh in my head. Well, it didn't go too good. We both ended up silly and laughing. How on earth will I pull off this taping?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

My advice to those who are just starting to teach has always been:
"Teach what you know, and keep on learning"
Good luck.

Kristy Mitchell said...

Your experience sounds fantastic. What program are you using for the distance learning certification? I'm interested in doing something similar.

Unknown said...

The course I'm taking is from AURA Yoga Teacher Training. They offer several different courses, but here is the link to the one that I'm doing: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/level-1-yoga-course.htm