Top Tips For Teaching Yoga In Schools - Tip #29: Know Your Audience

Hi, and welcome back to the blog!

I’m so excited to share this week’s tip with you because it’s timely, no matter what time or season of the year you’re reading this. It’s essential in whatever setting you’re teaching in, and especially helpful if you’re teaching the same program to multiple grade levels.

If you find this tip helpful, please leave a comment below, and if you’re looking for support beyond these tips, I’d love to work with you through my private, personalized mentorship program.

Tip #29: Know Your Audience

This week, I want to encourage you to make your teachings personal and relevant to your students. What do I mean by this? Frame it in a way your students are likely to understand and relate to. 

For example, if you’re teaching a group of students who you know are stressed and anxious before a big test, then speak to that. Focus your teachings on helping them to manage their stress levels. Engage them not just in practices around that, but also, conversation.

Or, if you’re teaching a group of athletes, focus on poses and practices that can support them on the field or the court. They’re going to resonate much more with a practice centered around building their confidence and stretching if you’re teaching them at practice than they are a practice centered around kindness.

Understand that teaching a theme focused on self-respect might make sense in one situation, but not in another. 

Think not just about the age of the students that you’re teaching, but also where they are in the academic year (is it testing season? The holiday season? Are they preparing for a big presentation?), what their needs are inside of school, and what their needs are outside of school. Think about what they might need physically in their bodies, but also what they might need emotionally given the time of day and school environment (if you see a group at the end of the day, they might need more strategies to calm down, whereas a morning class might need more strategies to wake up). 

Tip Takeaway: Know your audience, and know the situation / setting that you’re teaching in. Tailor your teachings to what you know that particular group of students cares about, or could benefit from. Think about how you can make yoga and mindfulness personal to each group you’re teaching -- you shouldn’t necessarily be teaching a blanket class to all of your school groups, especially if you see them at different times, or if they’re in different grades.  

When you know your audience, and you can make yoga and mindfulness personal, relatable, and relevant to them, it becomes not just more meaningful, but also, more accessible.