General Teaching Guidelines

The Desire of the Soul
The art of guiding others lies in knowing how to help them harness
the power of their own minds and access their own inner wisdom.
This enables them to overcome resistance to transformation,
to cast off fears, and embrace evolution.

~ Aadil Palkhivala

1. Build the pose from the ground up, from the outside to the inside, from the periphery to the core, from the appendicular to the axial, from the outer kosha to the inner kosha.
2. Teach the stance for each standing poses, including the length, width and rotation of each foot. Include the weight distribution and focal points. The stance also includes pelvic tilt (forward/backward rotation, also known as cat/dog) and hip position (open/closed). Distinguish between tail tuck and backward rotation/cat tilt.
3. Demo and instruct in synchronicity.
4. Mirror the poses for your students, especially open hip standing poses, such as triangle, side angle, warrior 2. Demo at the side of the room – set up a mat before class at the side.
5. Walk and move around the room to disperse your energy throughout the space; do not stay on your mat for the entire class.
6. Give lots of adjustments – 99% of students love them. Please enter, adjust, and exit gently as if the student was the beloved (as he/she really is!).
7. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Your students will either hear it as a reminder or as new information they can now assimilate. Repeat key concepts and themes throughout the class.
8. Emphasize breath awareness throughout class. Instead of cueing "breath", teach your students how to breath, how to use the breath, how to cultivate and honor the breath; give cues such as "use your ocean breath (ujjayi), "take long, deep fluid breaths", "breath in a way that is nourishing to your tissues " or "make your exhales longer than your inhales to relieve stress and tension" (visamavritti).
9. Move from easy to difficult to allow for a safe deepening. For example, with backbends, start with Salabhasana (Locust), Dhanurasana (Bow), Ustrasana (Camel), then Urdhva Dhanurasana (Upward Facing Bow).
10. Plan on being intuitive with spontaneous sequencing. You can approach a class with a general theme or plan, but sometimes you will need to abandon that and follow what feels right to do next. If someone mentions an injury or difficulty, you may want to present a preparatory sequence or set of poses. You will find teaching more enjoyable when you allow for spontaneity.
11. Encourage people to challenge themselves without straining. The breath is the best barometer on how they are working in the pose or pranayama. Encourage students to practice without strain.
12. Make the easy poses hard so the hard poses become easy.
13. Be aware to keep people focused through your verbal instruction, especially during transitions when it’s easier to become distracted.
14. Establish a sense of flow with the way you glide into one pose and then the next, with your voice, your interest level, and enthusiasm. Avoid dropping the energy with too much silence, yet make sure to allow periods of quiet. Be careful not to talk the entire time. It’s difficult to go “in” if the teacher talks too much.
15. Menstruation: inform students that inversions are generally not recommended but that it is important to make one’s own choice; however, encourage the student to take it easy.