Yoga Teacher Burnout! burnout series - post 11

FOR THE YOGA, PILATES, MOVEMENT TEACHERS OUT THERE!!

Yoga teacher burnout can arise if you reach a point in your teaching career where you have nothing more to give. Where you feel less inspired and are therefore less inclined to want to teach. One of the main challenges of yoga teacher burnout is that as a yoga teacher, it can be seen as your job to portray a positive attitude towards yoga and life in general! When you walk into your yoga class, your students are looking to you to uplift and inspire them. But you are only human and life can be a roller coaster. It is easy for Yoga teachers to forget to cultivate their own practice because they are so busy teaching. We must remember that we are all students and we all need to practice. It is crucial that we as teachers care for ourselves in order to be present and able to care for our students - Be present, not perfect and practice what we preach. The reason many new yoga teachers wanted to learn to teach yoga is because of the impact it had on their life. But as they continue down their yogi path as a new yoga teacher, they forget about their own practice. One of the great rewards of learning to teach yoga is that your class and business are an instant mirror and reflection always teaching you about yourself. If you are experiencing yoga teacher burnout, then the most important question to ask yourself is, “What is this burnout trying to tell me?” Everything is a mirror reflecting back at you, so if you love what you are doing, it therefore may be ‘how’ you are doing it that could be causing the yoga teacher burnout. Maybe you are saying yes to all offers, teaching too many classes, that are too late at night, or you are travelling too far for not enough financial gain. We must find balance, we need to learn how to say ‘NO’, to rest, to have time off, to protect our energy, to practice, to meditate, to eat well and drink plenty of water. Yoga is not just “on the mat”, it’s in every moment and every breath - if we can truly “feel and remember” this, we will keep yoga teacher burnout at harms bay. Throughout this series of Burnout posts, I have explained to you what Burnout is, the reasons for it, the symptoms, the actions to take if you reach the point of burnout and some strategies to prevent it from happening to ourselves and our students. Final Thought; Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny. Mahatma Gandhi