Last week, right before teaching, I made a flippant comment to another teacher about one of my biggest teaching fears--one that I have recurring nightmares about. I said it thinking that I was alone in this fear, but her face immediately lit up and she said, "I have that nightmare too!" It made me so happy to hear her say this, and it also made me realize that I'm probably not alone in all of my teaching fears.
Whether you're a yoga teacher or student, I think that getting these fears out in the open is important [and fun/funny]. For teachers, I think you should know that we all have recurring nightmares about teaching and/or mid-teaching worries. For students, I think you should know that even yoga teachers have "work anxiety," and that we're not just floating around on a cloud of enlightenment the entire time that we're teaching (far from it...). Also, I want all of you to be aware of my biggest fears, so that if you're in my class and one of these things happens while I'm teaching, you'll be in the know and can think, OMG, it just happened. Thus, here are my 10 biggest teaching nightmares [please note that this post is about as straightforward and raunchy as I get]:
Teachers, I really hope that I haven't invited new fears into your life or your teaching by sharing these nightmares. If anything, I want you to know that having weird worries about teaching is totally natural. Teaching yoga is a crazy thing because it's so physical, and you're touching people + moving around in a crowded room, and there's an energy exchange and a mental + emotional aspect to the practice, too. It is wonderful and amazing but it can also be challenging and I think that it's okay to talk about that part of the job, too. That being said, even though I have all 10 of these fears, only a very small number of them have actually happened to me in my approx. 2000 hours worth of teaching yoga (I really hope that I'm not jinxing myself by writing them down and putting them out there!). So don't worry too much, you guys, and just know that a little bit of fear is normal ;) Also know that teaching is totally worth it--even if you do accidentally ride a student like a horse once every 4 years or so... This is hilarious but all totally true. One class I was wearing a pair of very flowing pants (couldn't practice in them but decent enough for teaching). The crotch seam had come unwoven but they were so flowing you couldn't tell while I was walking around. I went to demo malasana into bakasana - yogic squat into crow - and squatted in front of a male student with a wide open seam!!!! Didn't realize until later in the class. I was wearing underwear but still! To this day, I have a hard time demoing that transition now. There, I've shared it so I must be over it, right? :)
Mary Catherine
7/10/2014 09:40:42 pm
Oh no, Wendy! That's horrible! But yes, thank goodness for underwear. A must when teaching, I think (especially after hearing everyone's stories!). xoxo
Mary Catherine
7/10/2014 09:39:18 pm
Ugh, I forgot about this one! I've almost done it a few times when sitting at the front of the room (with the incense behind me). That would be really bad.
Mary Catherine
7/10/2014 09:38:34 pm
Oh, Melanie, I'm so sorry that happened to you, but I think it has to happen to everyone at least once, right!? And you went 12 years without it happening! So kudos for that, I think. But yes, mortifying.
Mary Catherine
7/10/2014 09:37:32 pm
OMG, Jennifer! That's HORRIBLE! What did you do?
Amy
9/4/2014 07:12:56 am
I just stumbled across this blog today, a few hours ago, and have been reading it and watching your videos ever since. I've been in a yoga-plateau for a few years now and recently decided to make it a priority to commit to improving - you/your blog is inspiring me :-)
Gillian hurrie
7/21/2016 03:26:11 am
#7 and #10 happened to me!! This is all hilarious
Rebecca
3/15/2017 06:48:40 am
My tampon leaked badly (I had a panty liner, I'm not an idiot...but it overflowed the liner) and I didn't know it...and I did a squat with the class and I had a giant blood stain. Horrified. The only saving grace was that my pants were various shades of magenta so it wasn't obvious walking about...but it was seriously huge covering my whole crotch. I could feel it leaking but kept teaching because I thought my panty liner was enough. Awful.
Mary Catherine
3/23/2017 08:24:27 am
Oh Rebecca, that is HORRIFYING!!!! Thank you for sharing--and know that we all have our horror stories. It's bound to happen when you're in front of groups of people doing crazy poses on a regular basis! Ugh. And ommmmm. right? xoxo Comments are closed.
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HELLO!I'm Mary Catherine, a Cape Cod-based yoga teacher, painter, designer, writer, mom, and list-maker extraordinaire. My goal is to inspire you to start living a more creative, simple, joyful, + purposeful life.
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