One of the best things about having family around during the holidays is that I get to have live in babysitters for a month. So I took advantage and was able to go take other teacher’s classes. It’s rare that I go to classes because not only am I a needy yogini who often feels unsatisfied from other teacher’s classes, but many teachers teach at the same time I do, or my schedule simply doesn’t allow for me to take class. Almost two weeks into taking other classes, I’m ready to come back to my home practice and reflect on how I am as a teacher.
Some annoying things yoga teachers do:
1. Wear perfume or some other scent.
2. Stay on their mat the whole class and get their own practice in.
3. Do #2 and continue to say “beautiful” every other pose. How did you see me do a beautiful pose when you are on your mat with your eyes closed?
4. Chew gum.
5. End class late… meaning more than 5 minutes past.
6. Bad sequencing. Did you really practice to your planned sequence? I doubt it felt good in your body. In fact, throw your plan out the door cause if you were paying attention, you’d notice that it wasn’t working to begin with.
7. Speaking of #6, how many times do you practice? Teaching so many classes is not an excuse to not practice. In fact, you should practice at the very minimum the same number of classes you teach if not more. If not, don’t preach to students.
8. Don’t be afraid to give another teacher an assist. In fact, give a fellow teacher a yummy assist… we all know it feels good. Assists should not be reserved for those who are completely out of alignment or just for your favorite students.
9. Continue to say “do what feels right/good for you” without giving me any options to begin with. I don’t know how to do this yoga thing and I came to class to get your guidance. Give me some options so I can decide what feels good.
10. Speak in a horrible “yoga teacher voice.” You know what this is… that sexy, zen like, trying to be calm voice. I’d rather hear finger nails on a chalk board.
I am not listing these things out to poke fun at other teachers or criticize how they choose to present themselves, but it got me thinking about my own teaching style… or rather my way of being. Sometimes we get so caught up in what we do (whether that’s teaching yoga or performing any other task) that we don’t see how we affect others around us. Heck! I’ve been guilty of some of these so this was a gentle reminder for me to reflect on how I communicate (verbal and non verbal) with others thru my teaching. I think we could all take a long stare into a full length mirror every now and then.
image from weheartit.com
What annoying things does your yoga teacher say or do? P.S. I need to know so I don’t do it 
LOL
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Inconsistent class or talking too much. I started going to a teacher whose class I like but she talks so much there is literally no silence in the class until shavasana. There is no need to repeat the exact directions for the other side. That being said, I like her sequence. However last week, she talked so much and did so many seated poses in the beginning that we were not up and doing flow until 60 minutes into the class. we then rushed and did 20 min of flow and then 10 min of closing poses. It was so annoying when you are expecting her usual class quality and level. It was clear she was not on her game, but I would say to be aware of that when teaching and know that when you are OFF your game, we DO notice. And it’s annoying and unless u know the instructor really well, it discourages people from trying the teacher again. It just takes one bad class to unmotivate someone. I’ve never had inconsistent teachers before. Be aware of Yourself!
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this page! I try so hard not to focus on the teacher when what they’re doing isn’t what I like, but its extremely hard. It has happened to me more than a few times when all I can think about is how the teacher is just so horrible. One teacher got up EVERY time after doing a pose to check on us, I felt like I was in pre-school. I have been out of town and decided to go to a random studio because I didn’t want to miss out on my practice and this teacher was pretty much slave driving. She didn’t use a resting pose ONE TIME! I felt like it was a freaking aerobics class. Also, what bugs me is when the teachers skip meditation and don’t have the group chant with one another. Ahh so good to release this haha.
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Thank God I found this – I’m not alone or a bad person in getting annoyed at times! The last thing you want to feel during yoga is irritation. Classes are expensive and I really don’t have the time or money to be paying top dollar for substandard yoga classes. In some cases I’d be better off popping in a video in my own living room.
The lists were great and made me laugh.
The most annoying thing for me is the non-stop chatter – it feels frightfully self-indulgent on the part of the teacher, and not conducive to learning. Or yoga! I believe that some teachers really have some cool and enlightening things to say during class, and the ability to just go with one’s own thought process and share useful tidbits as you go along is truly a gift: NOT everyone has it. And I can spot insincerity a hundred miles away.
I am a teacher myself (not a yoga teacher) and I really have to bite my tongue sometimes during my own classes because I have the tendency to go overboard as well (which is probably why it annoys me). For all you teachers out there: we must ask ourselves if what we’re saying is us taking a load off or actually beneficial for the students.
Peace!
Thanks for your insights. I completely agree with that non-stop chatter. When I first started teaching I spoke out of nervousness… like I had to entertain these people or something. As a new teacher of any sorts, that silence can be scary and then we resort to constant battering to fill that space… or worse than constant battering is annoying music.
Annoying things one of my bikram teachers does:
1) She never stops talking, even during savasana. During a 90 minute class she racks up a total silence of about 45 seconds.
2) Right before the end of a pose she says “don’t give up” in a sickly sweet voice.
3) She makes us say a childish little phrase before doing one of the poses, and if not enough people say it, we have to do it again.
4) Her voice sometimes sounds like an airline stewardess.
5) She laughs at her own jokes. Loudly.
#1 is by far the most annoying. If I’ve had a stressful day I’m just pissed through the entire class.
This is hysterical! Another annoying one is: Don’t over adjust. I hate when the teacher starts adjusting right from the top and then keeps trying to “fix” every little thing. This makes me feel like a teenager with overprotective parents and I want to rebel
“over protective parents” that’s funny!!! Over adjusting can not only be annoying but students tend to get lazy and don’t do it for themselves because the teacher will always do it for them. Thanks for stopping by.
Happy New Year, Nikki!
I am also very picky about taking classes from other teachers—my most challenging sadhana is letting go of my judgements and looking for the good. That said, here’s my own short list….
— Mispronounced Sanskrit. This frustrates me beyond belief. I was raised Hindu, and I read Sanskrit. The cavalier attitude so many yoga teachers take toward learning anything at all about the proper pronunciation of asanas and mantras is not cool with me. ESPECIALLY if they are teaching mantras. The shakti of those mantras is in the potency of their bijaksharas (seed syllables). It becomes like the telephone game, with each yogi learning to mispronounce it from another yogi. It’s also exacerbated by teachers mistranslating the mantras or the names of the asanas. In my opinion, it’s better to be humble and admit to your class that you could be wrong about your interpretation or pronunciation.
— #6 is huge for me too, but I realize that good sequencing is something that comes with time and experience. Green teachers are bound to either stick to the formula they trained with, or get creative and make mistakes.
— Recycled language. I realize that some styles require their teachers to use the same language (Anusara and Bikram, for instance), but I get so tired of hearing teachers throw out canned expressions like “hug the midline,” “if that’s available to you,” etc. Be authentic and find your own voice.
— Underemphasizing the importance of the breath.
— Taking me on a journey out of my body. Sometimes in savasana (or any time) a teacher will lead us on a guided out of body experience. This is total new age nonsense (there’s my judgmental nature), and has nothing to do with yoga. Yoga is living in full awareness, totally present, here and now, IN the body. Yoga sees the body as a vehicle for awakening, not as something to escape. Patanjali warns the yogi that siddhis (psychic phenomena, mystical experiences, etc.) are simply a stage on the path towards yoga and that we should not give them any importance. Rather than ascribing all sorts of significance and meaning to our experiences, we should continue to progress toward the goal. Experiences are meaningless appearances in consciousness—YOGA is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Please don’t guide me through another round of thoughts and concepts during savasana or meditation.
— And in that vein, the last annoying thing (to me, who really sincerely wishes to overcome her attachments and aversions!) that yoga teachers do is take up teaching with no understanding of the spiritual, scriptural, or cultural context that the practice arose from. If you want to teach fitness, I love pilates and will happily come work out with you. If you want to teach your own special spiritual or self-help philosophies, great. But please be humble and don’t call it yoga if it’s something else.
The greatest yoga teachers I have had the honor to practice with are those who steadfastly point me towards the state of yoga. I realize that lots of people come to the practice with a different purpose in mind, so I’m glad that there is something for everyone. Om Namah Shivaya!
What a great list! I think the more we acknowledge our own pitfalls the more space we have to grow. I’m usually hesitant to use Sanskrit because I’m afraid I’m not saying it right so I stick to the English equivalent. I personally don’t feel saying the Sanskrit name of a pose enhances the pose or the class for that matter. In fact I think some teachers say it to fill a void in the class or to appear to be knowledgeable. I’m guilty of saying ‘if it’s available to you’ every now and then but after hearing myself say that in podcast I think how useless and distracting that is. As I continue to grow I feel much more comfortable in letting students ‘stew’ in their body instead of trying to take them on a journey outside their body. The pause and silence can be scary for new teachers who might feel obligated in keeping students entertained because they fear the students might not like them if the pose becomes unpleasant. Oh there’s so much more to teaching than Sanskrit or poses or sequencing. So much to learn!!! Thanks for visiting and sharing!
pragna, while understanding where you come from re pronunciations [ though born and raised here in texas, i didn't learn english til i started school, and have heard many a mis-pronunciation of spanish
] i just can’t agree with you
language, it seems, is as organic as us, the people who created it – pronunciations change and flux, even within the people who speak the same language saying the same words
that’s true of english (boston vs east texas) spanish (mexican vs cuban) and i can’t imagine it isn’t true in india, china, or bulgaria (though i don’t know for sure
i also have to disagree about what “yoga” is – again, i feel it is organic
yoga has changed and adapted and been adapted for many thousands of years (from what i’ve read in my admittedly limited readings, but even so, that idea shows up in those limited readings)
and my own personal belief is, we, as individuals and a group of human beings, predate any system or collection of ideas, if it’s true that all is already within us, and we are simply discovering, unearthing, defining, and realizing things we happen to have grouped within the concept “yoga”
re “Experiences are meaningless appearances in consciousness—YOGA is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind” – how could the mind receive the knowledge of a cessation, without a fluctuation, even if after the fact ? and as we become conscious of a YOGA state, is it not also an experience in consciousness, and thus not meaningless?
but i agree, i’m quibbling
yoga international had an interesting piece recently, “Inspired Intention The Nature of Sankalpa” with the notion of the “idea that each of us is both being and becoming” – which might go a ways to explaining a bunch of this, at least to myself
http://www.himalayaninstitute.org/YI/article.aspx?id=3933
but unavoidable to recognize, i think, is how lucky we are to have the freedom to discuss debate and disagree as we wish, on blogs and sites like this
now that’s got to be something to be truly grateful for….
This is so interesting, I love to hear all the feedback. I’m afraid I’m guilty of ending late and talking or guiding through Savasana!
oh, I’ve accumulated a list of these over the years, while of course, I’m very grateful for instructors in general, just takes a few poor habits to really change the feel of a practice.
Here’s my list:
1. Not holding postures for an equal amount of time on each side.
2. Adjusting on one side, but not the other.
3. No adjustments at all.
4. Ending class before shavasana
and the worst:
talking through shavasana!
but again, thankful to all teachers who devote their time to leading a practice.
We need to learn from each other
Happy New Year!
i tried to post this earlier, but i think it didn’t go through….
i often have to teach in a room with mirrors. i often catch myself checking myself out in the mirror and being pretty horrified. im aware that i do it in general, but often not aware of it in the moment! v not good.
great list. going to teach one of my classes today and will be sure to avoid all!
another pet peeves: annoying voices, and describing transitions like this:
“put hand on knee. move foot forward”
where’s the YOUR?
I also am not a fan of “do what feels right for you” with no alternatives.
I would add #12: “If you want to try the advanced posture… do_____”
Ya know, as far as I understand, yoga asanas aren’t more “advanced” than another. They each have value and should be considered as such. When using words like “advanced” or “go further in your practice”, I look around and see yogis attempting something to please the teacher, themselves with this weird sense that the next step, even if poorly done, is the goal.
ugh.
With regard to #2–I teach at gyms, where it’s mostly a “hands off” policy when teaching, and people expect to see the teacher do most of the movements (just because that’s how it is in group fitness classes). That being said, I don’t “practice”–I am fully aware of what’s going on in class. My new year’s resolution though is to get off the mat more . . .
My thoughts exactly!
Bad sequencing drives me nuts. There is no excuse for it. As does endless atttainment of perfect posture without reference to the breath.
My big foible is I hardly demonstrate at all. I know this doesn’t go down that well with visual learners…
#4 would drive me crazy, but thankfully I haven’t encountered it. Unprofessional.
#6 is huge. My body and spirit feel grumpy, sore, and unfulfilled after a poorly-sequenced class. I walk out feeling like I’ve wasted so much time and energy.
I’d add #11 — Bad/Rough Adjustments. I’ve had teachers come out of nowhere and yank me into what they thought was right for my body. Bad! Very bad!
What annoys me is the teacher giving out poses without looking at the level of the class which ended up with most of the practitioners just sitting and looking at the teacher doing the pose.
I attended a class where the teacher ended the class late which is still ok for me except that she gave us the shortest ever savasana…:(