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| I was wondering, as teachers what drives you crazy about teaching yoga? |
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| Brian--pretty sneaky of you to ask this without adding your trigger. For me, it's the egos of other teachers. I've found that so many are so egotistical that it's their way or the highway. |
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| management. . .management of various facilities drives me crazy in a lot of different ways.
today's example: i'm finished working for the Y in June. Every two years, we have to have special ltraining (blood borne pathogens and child abuse protection). in the fall (2007), i did both trainings via video tape (the 'group' trainigns are groups of people watching a video tape; i checked it out when i had the time because none of the showings were when i could go), and i filled out the paperwork. today, i got an email saying that m "training is due" even though i took the training in the fall. i told them this, and they said "it came from corporate that your training is due." and i reiterated--how could it be due if i just took it last year?
beyond this, why does it matter if i'm no longer working for them after June 14? crazy! |
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| Bruce,
Heh, heh I will add mine after we get more posts. I want to see if what drives others crazy is the same as me. |
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| I am only student teaching so I don't have much experience. However...dirty floors and noisy heating systems are on my not-wish list. Now I have to transfer my ComplaintFreeWorld bracelet because I shared that sentiment. (www.complaintfreeworld.org change your thoughts, change the world) |
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| I have one student who apparently does not like the postures/flow I am instructing, so she just goes ahead and does her own thing. Not modifications for injuries, she just decides that it's time for her to do her own version of sun salutes while I'm instructing the rest of the class in something else. It makes for kind of a hostile environment - her practice is better than my class, etc. I don't get it, if you are just going to do your own personal practice then why come to a led class? Just do your practice in private! She also likes to complain about the room temperature a lot. She doesn't like the room, she doesn't like the instruction, wtf is she doing here then?
Another teacher at our facility had the same student in her class, and as she (the teacher) was instructing the class to relax the body and focus on the breath in savasana, the student raised up both her hands in a "time out" signal (as in "shut up"). Is it me or is that not very charming behavior?
I think I'm just over teaching yoga in a health club. It's fun to teach Pilates there but I enjoy a much gentler yoga class. Bring me your old, your deconditioned, your morbidly obese! I don't know what to do with these uber-fit people who already know everything and hence don't need to pay any attention to a word I say.
Also the yoga studio (inside the health club) shares a wall with a spinning class, and one of the spinning instructors plays "Crazy Train" at the same time during every class. Okay, that honestly doesn't drive me crazy - it cracks me up! Maybe not so conducive to yoga but it makes me want to giggle every time! |
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| Nothing drives me crazy about teaching yoga. |
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| I was being driven crazy by teaching at a particular gym for the past couple years (fitness classes for the first year, and yoga this past year). The energy of the place, the people attending classes there, it was all wrong for me. Or I was wrong for them. I never really found out what or why. Other teachers, instructors, whatever, thrive there, get lots of regular students and their classes are packed. But not so for me. So I finally quit there. The two remaining places where I teach, both gyms as well, I don't get that sense of clash, and so I'm happy there. Those two other gyms pay less, and aren't considered as "prestigious" as the former, but those were the concessions I had to make to reclaim my sanity, my peace of mind. My teaching there was interfering with my Yoga (capital "Y"). That's really what's supposed to keep you from being crazy, isn't it? Your own practice, right? Just because you're teaching at that moment (yoga classes, your children as a parent, anything and in any situation in your life), doesn't mean it isn't part of your own practice as well. Something I try to remember at all times. Jennifer, I have that AComplaintFreeWorld bracelet as well, it's a really good thing.  Maya Angelou's words really inspire me (and helped me tremendously in making this difficult decision to quit): "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude; don't complain." |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Not much bothers me about teaching, either. There are things about our studio I would change - better lighting and a dimmer would be nice, but we have done a workaround by bringing in lamps. I would prefer hardwood floors as the laminate we put down 5 years ago is getting little chips and dings in it. It looks amazingly good, though. I have moments of pique when I have planned a class around one student's injury and that student doesn't come to class that week, but that is more disappointment for them than really crazy. It helps that I don't work in gyms!   |
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| Not so much crazy per se, but more what is my one pet peeve (pardon the pun): students who let their cats sleep on their yoga mats or who pet their cats right before coming to class.
Luckily my studio has plenty of Kleenex around, but still yoga teacher who sneezes uncontrollably during class is often considered unprofessional.
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| dirty mats are my pet peeve. It's very easy to wipe down your mat before & after practice, yet many students skip this step... why? |
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| I'm already crazy, so teaching yoga drives me sane. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| kimberlee - I could add other scent to your comment on cats. Some folks just are not aware and I have had students remark they never wear perfume but obviously have some other scented product on that they are not aware of. I work with small kids and although they clearly do not wear perfume, some of them have such highly scented shampoo or laundry detergent, I really don't like to spend as much time near them. 
I don't even know if I am allergic to some of these things, but I find them distracting and irritating. |
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| fwiw, my husband pointed out that the management issue is not limited to teaching yoga and therefore not really a thing about yoga that drives me "crazy." he said that management also drives him crazy, and that--as a new manager--he's sure that he drives others crazy too. LOL
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| tourist - 2008-04-27 11:24 AM
kimberlee - I could add other scent to your comment on cats. Some folks just are not aware and I have had students remark they never wear perfume but obviously have some other scented product on that they are not aware of. I work with small kids and although they clearly do not wear perfume, some of them have such highly scented shampoo or laundry detergent, I really don't like to spend as much time near them.
I don't even know if I am allergic to some of these things, but I find them distracting and irritating.
Laundry detergent is a big one I've noticed. My regular students are quite good about it, but I teach at a place that is very welcoming to beginners (which I of course approve of) and so when I teach beginner classes it can be a mixed bag. |
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| Ok,
Here are mine.
1. The overall holier then thou attitude of most yoga teachers in my area.
2. Students who come to my classes and think they just now EVERY thing about Hatha yoga.(even though their techniques is horrible)
3. The cut throat environment of the yoga business in general.
4. Yoga Journal (don't get me started)
5. Having to work teach so much to make end meet.
6. Early morning classes. (About start teaching 3 of them in June
 )
Ahh, I feel better. Have been hold that in for awhile. Brian go take long nap now. |
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| Nothing-I love it. I'm in the perfect place and i feel blessesd beyond measure. |
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| Where do you live? Sounds like a rough area to teach! |
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Regular
Posts: 89
Location: Montana, US | Contentment. At the end of the day i feel happy after chit-chatting with students, enjoying the stay with them, understanding their problems and finding a solution for their problems. This feeling of contentment drives me crazy. |
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What drives you crazy?
