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As I celebrate 30 years of teaching yoga, I’ve been reflecting on all that I’ve learned throughout this time. I started teaching because I wanted to share yoga with people with HIV/AIDS, although my student base has expanded to include older adults, people with larger bodies, neurodivergent folks, those with disabilities, and more. I feel so grateful to all my students for being such wonderful teachers to me along the way.
After looking back on teaching tens of thousands of hours of classes, I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things I’ve learned along the way.
1. You don’t need to fix your students. They are innately whole, even if they don’t realize it.
2. Most people don’t understand all that yoga encompasses. It’s your job to educate them, and also to remember that not everyone is open to what you want to share.
3. Every yoga class is a mixed-level class. Teach accordingly.
4. There are disabled folks and trauma survivors in every yoga class, even if you can’t always recognize it.
5. You need both rest and practice. It’s your job to know what you need and when you need it. This inner work makes you better able to share yoga with others.
6. You don’t need to be perfect, but you do need to be true to yourself.
7. Teaching yoga isn’t a performance. It’s a service. And one of the gifts of service is that you derive even more benefit when you let go of the results of your actions.
8. In yoga, less is more. The more subtle, the more powerful.
9. Don’t listen only to the negative comments. Reflect honestly on all feedback. Also, take it with a grain of salt.
10. Find yoga teacher friends to share your experiences and questions with. Support each other as much as you can.
11. Keep learning about yoga. It’s truly endless. When feeling uninspired, read yoga scripture, or poetry, or spend time outside.
12. Your students are your greatest teachers. Watch and listen to them.
13. Being observant and sensitive to students’ needs are your most powerful teaching tools.
14. Keeping yourself centered and regulated while teaching can keep the entire class centered. Your nervous systems resonate.
15. Let go of preconceived ideas about what students want. Instead, offer multiple options, without creating a hierarchy, and allow them to choose.
16. Don’t confuse business and yoga.
17. It’s good to make a living wage. Don’t be ashamed to ask for it.
18. Walk away from people and places that don’t support you.
19. Actively build community. In the end, that’s the real yoga.
20. Be supportive of other yoga teachers. It’s a professional courtesy.
21. Take other teachers’ classes and ask if you can borrow the parts that resonate.
22. Wear colors that contrast with your background to make it easier for students to see you.
23. Learn how to project and protect your voice. It’s your main instrument of teaching.
24. Keep a journal of classes you’ve taught and keep improving and building on them.
25. Remember that most of yoga is practiced off the mat, so the way you think of and behave toward your students–and everyone outside of class—is important.
26. Approach yoga with respect but don’t take yourself too seriously.
27. Memorize some jokes and use them! Laughter is medicine.
28. Welcome everyone–accessibility, diversity, and inclusion are yoga practices.
29. Don’t be afraid to teach the subtle practices of pranayama and meditation. Students will often surprise you with how deep they want to go and how experienced they are.
30. Love and appreciate your students. They’re your greatest teachers.
Jivana Heyman’s upcoming accessible yoga training, Chair Yoga for Everyone, begins in June.
