Yoga in its core is a spiritual practice…
And the teaching style of the teacher will reflect their own spiritual practice. There is a lot of discussion about finding a yoga teacher voice. My best advice to you is to try to channel how you feel in your best Yoga practices into your voice. Channeling your passion and love for Yoga will fill the room with your presence and make your classes unique.
The Yoga teacher voice is not just about finding a voice that is calming and peaceful. Yoga is deeper than just being in peace with everything. It is a journey, practice of continuous growth. During the class the teacher is the guide in this journey. The students want to trust the wisdom of the yoga teacher, they need to feel safe in the space that their teacher is creating for them. And there is more. The Yoga practices aims to challenge the students. Not necessarily only on the physical level. Depending on the Yoga teacher’s aim, a Yoga practice may challenge the endurance, the patience, or offer emotional challenges. The voice of the teacher motivates and inspires the students to stand tall against these challenges. The authority of the voice of the Yoga teacher encourages the students to channel the power within. And the calmness of the teacher’s voice leads the minds of the students to observe their reactions in the face of challenges.
As you can see there is so much to include in the Yoga teacher voice. You wo’t be able to find the perfect tone unless you work on the energy that you want to radiate as a Yoga teacher. How to do that? Recall the best Yoga practices you did. The very beginning of the practice where you stepped on your mat feeling that it is such a privilege to be able to practice. Then channel the energy of the best warm up session. Recall the experience of the harmony between the heat, the flow and connecting with your power.
Recall the times where you absolutely enjoyed the challenge that your body, your practice, or your mind offered you, where you completely embraced the challenge with no expectations. As the time for winding down comes remind yourself of the times when it was absolutely delicious to feel the contrast between the dynamism and more static explorations of the poses.
Obviously one monotone voice will not do. You need to be there with them as if you were practicing with them. Here is a very important remark: actually practicing with them wont do though. When you are practicing you will be isolated in your own mat, so will your energy. You won’t be able to observe how they are experiencing the practice. And most importantly you will never be able to make sure if they are safe or not.
To sum up: embrace your self-practices, open up to and inhale every sensation, every reaction, every feeling while you are practicing. Then when its your turn to teach, go there and share.
Source: Shades Of Yoga
