It’s easy to stand at the front of your clients, demonstrate an exercise and assume everyone is following along. After all, that's what we're there to do, right? Show people how to move, guide them through a sequence and give them a good workout?
But I think one of the biggest differences between a good instructor and a really great one is the ability to make people realise what they are capable of, rather than simply showing them what you can do.
When you're watching an instructor demonstrate a beautifully controlled movement, hold a seemingly impossible position or transition effortlessly from one exercise to the next, it's easy to think they must have some sort of superpower. That their strength, coordination or flexibility is something you're either born with or you're not. But nine times out of ten, that's not the case. They can probably do it too. They just haven't been shown how. Not yet, anyway.
When you're first starting out as an instructor, it's completely natural to feel like you need to demonstrate everything. You want people to know what they're doing, you want to make sure they're getting it right and, if you're anything like most new instructors, you'll probably spend the majority of the class doing every single exercise alongside them.
But the sooner you can move past this stage, the more you'll start to see your clients benefit. Rather than completing every repetition yourself, try stepping away from your mat. Walk around the room, get down to someone's level and offer a little adjustment. Explain where they should be feeling the movement, give them a different way to approach an exercise or notice who's ready for a little more.
It's amazing what happens when you give people the space to concentrate on their own movement rather than constantly watching yours. They start to understand the exercises, become more aware of their bodies and, often, pick up the flow of the class much more easily.
Demonstrating is only one part of the job. Educating is what makes the difference.
Think about the language you use. Instead of simply telling someone to ‘lift their leg higher,’ explain what they're trying to achieve. Rather than showing them the perfect position, give them the tools to find it themselves. A well-timed cue, a simple explanation or a small adjustment can often achieve far more than another five repetitions of you demonstrating at the front. And remember, not everyone needs to do an exercise in exactly the same way. Offering options, explaining modifications and helping clients understand how to make a movement work for their own bodies is just as important as teaching the exercise itself.
As a teacher you don't need to be the person doing the most impressive movement in the room. You need to be the person who helps everyone else realise what they're capable of, because the best instructors aren't the ones with all the superpowers. They're the ones who know how to help their clients discover their own.
Big love, Lizzie x
