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OPEN MIND OPEN BODY Teaching Reflections |
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Are
We Selling Ourselves or Yoga? I
had a two and a half hour conversation yesterday with a yoga student and
friend of mine. He is considering teaching yoga, and has a strong
foundation in his own asana and meditation training. We talked about what
it takes to be able to teach yoga for a livelihood. He joked about the
need to ‘brand’ oneself as a teacher, to create a strong following of
students. I laughed, and
winced a little. It’s a bit of a sore spot with me. I hate the idea of
branding myself and my classes. However, I love what I teach and am a bit
of a yoga crusader. The
forms of yoga that are most branded have always had the least appeal to me
– they seem the most removed from the spiritual practice of yoga. Not
because they are based on intelligent business models, but because they
seem to slough off the rough edges of yoga that make the practice so
interesting and challenging. The kinds of branded yoga classes I’ve
tried don’t challenge me physically or mentally. They don’t inspire
me. So I’m not eager to follow in their footsteps, even if they are
popular and financially successful. But is there anything in the approach
that I can learn from? I
recently read an article in a fitness industry magazine that neatly
summarized what it means to brand a class or facility. The author
explained that in today’s competitive fitness/spa market, you need to
create a consistent, distinctive, and valuable experience. Translated in
yoga class/yoga studio terms, this means: Can students trust that they
will receive the same high-quality instruction every time the come to
class? Can students trust that the facilities will be clean, comfortable,
and maybe even beautiful? Is the class different from other classes, other
teachers, and other studios? Do students walk away from class feeling
satisfied and inspired? When
I read this article, I instinctively realized that it was right, at some
level. Creating a consistently valuable and unique experience will keep
students in the classroom. But I resisted thinking about my own teaching
this way. I didn’t want to design a “consistent, distinct, and
valuable experience”. It seemed too calculated, too slick. My mind
instantly returned to the yoga brands that seem to be selling something
(image? fitness? escape?) other than yoga. Many
yoga brands focus on the consistency part of the equation. Students may
not get the most personalized or thoughtful approach to yoga, but they
know what to expect when they walk in the door. It’s the same as fast
food – McDonalds’ succeeded because customers knew exactly what
(low-quality but familiar) product they would get. In the yoga world,
people can choose the ‘brand’ that best fits their current habits and
preferences (“Have it Your Way”) and then settle into a comfortable
routine – until they get bored and look for the next yoga trend. Other
yoga brands appeal to these trend-chasers by focusing on the
distinctiveness part of the equation. What does it mean to offer a
‘distinct’ yoga class? Many brands create a catchy name for the class
or mix yoga with other forms of movement (I’ve seen yoga combined with
everything from martial arts to dance to Pilates to weight-lifting). You
can play unusual music or create a distinct environment (114 degrees heat
is a pretty distinct experience and the main ‘selling’ point of the
most branded yoga style). This approach to distinctiveness is common in
the yoga world, but it leaves me cold – it puts the focus on the
trappings of a class, but not the actual teaching of yoga. How much energy
do I need to spend selling yoga or creating a distinct yoga ‘blended’
experience, when yoga – all by itself - is so powerful? The
value part of the equation may be the last considered but the most
important. Can we a give every student a positive experience, or a
learning experience? Value means more than giving students what they want;
it means also offering them what they didn’t know they wanted because
they hadn’t yet experienced it. If we practice yoga consistently in our
own lives, we will be able to sort out the valuable practices from the
less valuable trappings of the practice. I
would love to offer a consistently valuable experience to students, and I
think the greatest chance of doing so is to put the focus on my students.
The best I can offer is my willingness to respond to the needs of the
students who actually show up. The consistency comes from my commitment to
responding to the present moment, and being willing to follow it (even if
that means doing something different than usual or planned).
The distinctiveness should come from a student’s experience of
feeling seen, listened to, honored, and challenged. That makes each
students’ experience unique – but it doesn’t make me
unique. It’s not me I’m selling. Return to Teaching Reflections
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