BREAKING NEWS: I’ve finally found a home for my classes. In January, I’ll offer Beginner Partnered Charleston and Solo Vernacular Jazz & Charleston at Legacy Studios in Durham, NC. See my website at MustDanceSwing.com for more information. Hurray!
Most people would agree, no amount of education or training guarantees a teacher will do a “good” job or impact their students. On the first day of Anusara yoga teacher training, we were all asked to ponder qualities that we saw in our favorite yoga teachers. We then looked at our list to identify which qualities we already possessed and which we would like to cultivate. As a group, we shared our findings. The most overwhelming trend was leaning towards qualities like patience, encouraging, presence, challenging, and playfulness. Everyone agreed that knowledge and experience were necessary qualities, but that they were not the most important and certainly were not synonyms with expertise or quantitative experience. It is most important to embody authenticity and a genuine compassion for students rather than having all the answers, accolades, or certification. To teach for the love of the practice; now that makes a good teacher.