I can remember the day so clearly. I’d booked a local village hall and put a Facebook post a week earlier advertising to my friends that went something like “Next Tuesday, 7:30pm at Jubilee Hall, I’m going to be running my first ever DDP YOGA class. This class is free of charge and is purely for my teaching experience. If any of my local friends would like to attend please let me know. Thanks!” Nobody replied! I was ready to turn up and have an empty hall. At least I could get used to calling the workout to a large room even if no one came along. At 7pm I packed my yoga mat, towel, water, heart rate monitor and camera in my car, and headed over to the hall. Fully expecting to be alone, I got a shock when 2 people walked in, 2 complete strangers. Over the next 5 -10 minutes another 5 people arrived, 3 more strangers and 2 friends. It appeared that one of my friends had shared my Facebook post without my knowledge. Very quickly the game had changed. No longer was I going to run the Level 1 workout alone, I had a pretty full class! As people kept calling it yoga (sorry Dallas, I couldn’t bring myself to chop them), I decided it best to give them an Introduction to DDP YOGA style workout. In hindsight, this was not the best idea as I had only studied the Level 1 workout for teaching purposes. I hadn’t yet got the idea of how to create my own flow based on the Diamond Dozen.
Even though my nerves were pretty high I did what I could. In the 45 minutes I had to teach (15 minutes had disappeared with them getting settled and me explaining DDP YOGA) I made it through the Diamond Dozen. But there was no flow, no real workout, just a series of moves. At the end of the class one lady approached me and said “That was easy, my back feels looser but I don’t see why its supposed to be a workout!”
By the time they all left I felt drained and pretty defeated. I kept asking the same question “how do I teach this?” The answer was right in front of my face, I’d been studying it for nearly 2 months. I’m talking about the Level 1 Workout!!! I know the Level 1 Workout seems like a monster session to go through but (to quote DDP) it can be the easiest workout you’ve done or the most hallenging. That theory applies to the people in your classes. By giving them the modifications they will be able to get through the full workout. It’s your job to show them how to make it their own.
If I could go back and teach my first ever class all over again here’s how I’d do it…. I’d teach the Level 1 Workout but I’d modify everything! In most cases when you start practise teaching a class, they will most likely have no previous DDP YOGA experience. Don’t stress yourself on getting through the entire workout on your first class. Show them modifications, take your time. You want these people to come back each week, you want them to tell their friends to come and try your class. Each week your teaching will get better and better. Each week you will get further and further into the Level 1. Each week, those first people will come back to your class and make more progress…..and that’s not a good thing, THAT’S A GREAT THING!
Keep rocking it out there! See you next time.
If you have any DDP YOGA Certification based questions or ideas you’d like me to
cover in a future blog please email them to me at haydn@ddpyoga.com
