Do you use a "teacher voice"?

// an interesting mandala warm-up and a chance to practice these sequences live

Dear Humans,

Here is something I’ve been thinking about today: do you let your students see your true self?

Now, I don’t mean that they see every part of you—this is still a professional relationship in many ways, it’s important to keep some boundaries around your personal life. But are there other boundaries or “guards” that you have up? More emotional? Or more energetic?

When we teach, to some extent, we are in “performance mode.” And I don’t mean this too literally. I don’t mean that teaching should be a performance, rather what I’m trying to get us to reflect on is the feeling of being “on stage.” Eyes turned toward you. Ears following you. This comes with a certain amount of pressure and even nervousness. Stage fright! Butterflies! I still get a little nervous before teaching. I think I always will.

So what do humans do when we’re nervous? We reach for defense mechanisms, and one common defense mechanism is playing a “role” or putting on a “mask.”

Being someone else feels safer sometimes than being ourselves. And I think this can be especially true in a yoga teaching context, when we can literally be evaluated, “starred,” and reviewed.

If you aren’t “you,” then if you make a mistake, it was a mistake on “yoga teacher you,” not “you, you.”

You know?

Here’s another way to look at this: Have you ever heard someone talk about the yoga teacher voice?

It’s the kind of slow, soft, dreamy voice that people might associated with someone teaching a yoga class. And the critique I’ve heard is that some yoga teachers “put on” this voice, and that this voice doesn’t sound authentic—it doesn’t sound like “them.”

But, when people say that, I think they are missing the larger point, the bigger picture. They are poking fun, but they aren’t understanding the why behind it; the impulse to put on a voice or a kind of disguise. Sometimes, as teachers, we jump into that voice because it feels like we’re filling a role that we understand. We are becoming a version of a character in a way. And this impulse is understandable. It’s so very human.

But the question here—the opportunity—is asking ourselves:

When we’re teaching yoga, are we really being us, or are we being who we think we should be?

What does teaching as authentically you look like?

Here’s something I’ve noticed: When I walk away from a class and I think to myself “that was a great class,” then usually it’s not because of something in the sequence or something I taught, usually it’s because I felt really comfortable. And when I feel comfortable I notice I am a little sillier. Or, even if I’m having a bad day, if I can show up to that class and just let my genuine human emotion and energy guide the experience (perhaps the class is a bit more focused, more heart-felt, less wordy), then that also feels like a big win. In both examples, classes like this, very simply, allow me to show up as me.

So, this isn’t so much about whether or not you do the “yoga teacher voice”—if you do, that’s totally okay/understandable/relatable—it’s about what barriers you need to knock down to trust that you, as a teacher, can truly show up to the mat as you.

We say that to our students all the time, right? Show up as you. I guess, my friends, today I am giving you the same permission.

Permission to teach as You. Just as you are.

Humans—if you missed it, yesterday I taught a live yoga class! It’s now recorded and my paid subscribers can access it anytime. But the really cool thing about it is that this class features the two sequences that I am sharing for you below.