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Fear of Leading a Yoga Class

Christina Souza Ma

teachingyoga.jpgCan you believe that even writing this title gives me the nervous shakes? I feel so uncomfortable about this topic, which is a true sign of fear.

You see, I am not a yoga instructor of any sort. I am a student. A student of yoga who had a vision of creating YogaHub because I knew only a little about yoga and wanted to learn and explore more with a community of like minds. This being said, I don’t feel I know much more at this point because I have just spent so much time working on the foundation of the site.

Our YogaHub Site has kept me so busy that I have not had time to actually physically go to classes. It’s been months and I ache to be back in class again. My priorities these days are my child, YogaHub, and my team’s well being.

Months ago, my partner asked if I would lead the team through a class. “Of course not,” I replied, “that is so dangerous! What if I misguide or mislead them? I am not qualified.

Well, the team has been under some stress in the past few months. There have been a lot of deadlines that need to be met. The energy in the group was beginning to get stagnant. So what could we do about that? The holidays are creeping upon us and you know what happens then – everything work-related begins to slow down because people are busy shopping for gifts, preparing for all the festivities, and cooking up a storm, which in turn means food consumption starts to go up, etc., etc.

It made me realize that we had to initiate a shift – not in the New Year but NOW. So a few weeks ago, I began with one simple yoga session. My entire team showed up. Well, okay, it was part of their job to do so. My intent was to just get through a few Sun Salutations, which we did. We took it nice and easy, doing four sets in 45 minutes. It felt good to finally get the body flowing again, but I still didn’t feel adequate or comfortable leading this class.

The following week we did two days, and now this week we’re doing it every day – yes, that’s right – every day.

Am I feeling better about it? No. I continually place the “not qualified” judgment label upon myself. After class today, I mentioned to my team that I think I should go and take a few courses just so I feel better about what I am doing.

I recently read Tadishima’s blog (in MyYogaHub) about his first time teaching and how scared he was, even though he had just become qualified. Well, I totally empathize with him – and I am not even qualified. Thank goodness my team is not a paying group!

I guess I have to just get over it. The feedback has been good. They seem to be enjoying it. The cool part about all this is that the team’s energy has shifted. The energy in the office has shifted. This change I love! I just need to get over my own insecurities and learn to accept having to take the lead. One day I intend to take a certified course, just for my own journey and fulfillment, but until then I’ll just keep doing what I can and do my best.

[tags]yoga class, teaching yoga, yoga teacher, first class of teaching yoga, first time teaching[/tags]

Author: Christina Souza Ma

Christina has lived many lives – from professional Cosmetologist, L’Oreal’s Technical Commercial Director of South East Asia, Hair and Make-up designer behind the camera, to Actor and Body worker. Many years ago, Christina had a vision to create an entity that would

6 Responses to “Fear of Leading a Yoga Class”

  1. Joanne says:

    for me…as a student for years before becoming an instructor, it was about feeling…passing along what you are feeling and encouraging the personal sensations while allowing the guidence most of us need…this is a good instructor. knowing that no one body will be the same in any pose and to embrace that and pass it along…this also goes with trusting yourself, your knowledge, and maybe this will be the “boost” you need to learn and explore more ♥ Namaste

  2. Lynne Romanowski says:

    Life is strange…and rarely fits an individual’s picture of what is qualified. When an individual sees a person or group of persons with less energy than a norm and a member of the low energy group asks for help. Just help…It is the energy of your heart and sense of doing good and very good that guides your practice. Just one simple yoga stretch fills the body, mind and spirit with renewal. No harm comes from a loving heart.
    One other thing…in order to give to your list of importance it is totally imperative that you minister to self first…kind of like the oxygen mask on the airplane. You cannot give from a depleted place. Fill yourself up…everyone benefits especially by your example.

  3. Aletheia says:

    Wow, this is amazingly timely! I, like you, am just a student but one day for fun decided to show the sun salutation to my Mom. We laughed the whole time, but afterwards, she asked me to seriously consider taking some yoga instructor courses. At which point my hesitant instinctive reaction was: but I’m not qualified to even take qualification courses…

    This is so great and encouraging. Let’s keep encouraging one another to share the love of yoga with those around us!! =)

  4. Tadasimha says:

    Well done! It takes some courage to get up in front of a group and lead anything, particularly for the first tme. You should take some pride in yourself for what you’ve done. Sharing your own love of yoga and what yoga does for yourself and others is a profound movement. I hope you do get the chance to take some teacher training classes when you’re ready, but in the meantime, keep up the good work!

  5. Segovia says:

    I just wanted to congratulate you on your amazing classes. I’ve truly enjoyed these past few weeks and I know the yoga is a major part of it. Looking forward to what the rest of the year has to offer and being a part of this amazing journey as we moving into 2010.

  6. Johnny says:

    Sounds like a good deal!

Leave a Reply to Segovia