5 LIMITING BELIEFS THAT ARE STOPPING YOU FROM TAKING YOUR TEACHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
Limiting beliefs…we all have them at some point and as a new yoga teacher this can be something that stunts your growth and career. So it’s important that you do the work to clarify and overcome these stories that you are consciously and a lot of the time subconsciously telling yourself so you can step forward with confidence to show up as the teacher and space holder that your students need. So lets’ explore some common limiting beliefs that yoga teachers have and how to overcome them.
SO FIRSTLY WHAT ARE LIMITING BELIEFS?
Limiting beliefs are created overtime. They are simply the thoughts, stories and ideas that prevent us from seeing our true potential.
They’re the internal voices in our heads telling us we’re not good enough, or not ready to take on a new challenge. A lot of the time, they can be difficult to pin point because they are often in the background, in the subconscious layer and fast-moving throughout our minds. This can make it hard for us to identify the thoughts as they occur, especially when we’re stressed out and overwhelmed with all of the other responsibilities running through our minds. So they just end up governing the way we show up and the way we respond to certain situations.
WHY DO WE HAVE THEM?
Well alot of it is about ego and a limiting belief is there to protect the ego but also sometimes its our minds way of keeping us safe.
The belief is there to control our behaviour in some way to protect our ego and self worth. When you go through an experience that has pain, trauma, uncomfortable experience or failure attached to it the mind can create a shield in the form of a limiting belief such as “I’m not confident enough, I’m not good enough” so as to protect itself and keep you in the ‘safe’ & comfortable zone.
The key to start to work our limiting beliefs is to firstly start to weed out the background dialogue. Weed out the stories that are stopping us from moving forward and ask ourselves “What is actually reality here? and What do I want to be my reality?”
WHAT HAPPENS IF I DONT CHANGE THEM ?
What you believe to be true will be true, so if you continue to have these beliefs these will be your reality.
If you don’t start to clarify and change these beliefs it is quite sure that you won't be moving forward or you will be moving forward in a way that in inauthentic and/or playing the small game. They’ll keep you stuck and you won’t be reaching your full potential as a yoga teacher.
These beliefs will keep you playing small, not allowing you to expand, they will limit your potential in the world. They keep you comfortable which may seem fine…for now but in turn they will keep you in a place where you’re saying no to opportunities that are presented and not showing up as your true authentic self. I know if you’re reading this this is not what you want.
Let’s look at 6 Common limiting beliefs that might be stopping you from leveling up and how to overcome them.
Your thoughts & beliefs will shape your reality, which is really exciting because that means YOU CAN create your reality by understanding & reshaping your limiting beliefs & thoughts that you may have been holding onto for years, setting you free & setting you up for massive evolution.
1. I’m not confident enough to be a good yoga teacher
When you are learning something new, things are going to feel uncomfortable…that is a FACT. You will make mistakes and this is all part of the journey of becoming. It is normal to feel shaky and to be lacking confidence. Training to be a yoga teacher is not easy, especially if you’re not used to standing up in front of people, public speaking or presenting. Confidence is something that must be grown, nurtured and worked on.
There are many things you can do to help..
Develop your teaching skills by teaching as much as possible, getting feedback and getting further training.
Work on your mindset – this is key. You can get all the training in the world but if your mindset is off this will hold you back.
Be kind to yourself – celebrate how far you’ve come so far, practice selfcare, speak kindly to yourself.
Build your support network – Its all about building on and reaching out to your community.
Listen when you receive praise – sometimes all you will listen for is the critiques but make sure you listen and receive all praise you are given with an open heart and mind and really listen.
Take the focus off you and put it onto your students - move from a place of service. Get out of your head and into your heart.
2. I will never be as good as the teachers I admire and follow
I know that it can be easy to look at someone you admire, compare yourself to them and possibly be comparing your start to their 5 or 10 year journey. Something to keep in mind and to remember is that at one point they started at the beginning also and they have most probably worked hard to get where they are… success doesn’t happen over night. You may be seeing them now but you have missed out on the hard work, sweat and tears that they have put in that is behind that success. Overnight success as a yoga teacher is a myth. Comparing yourself to other teachers can lead you to feel less worthy & less accomplished. Especially if you're comparing your start to their 10 year teaching career. This can paralyze you.
The number one way to remedy this is to CREATE more than you consume.
Creating content for your classes, for your community, for your marketing, for your offerings and creating content that speaks to your ideal student and that is authentic to you. And create from where you are. What have you learnt so far that you can share? What are you interested in that you can learn more about and research and then teach?
If you’re spending more time looking at others, especially on social media, in the end, you become the loser because it’s wasted time & energy you could be using on focusing on YOUR PATH & how you’re going to show up for your students.
Put your blinkers on & keep moving forward, growing, learning & doing the work.
3. I have to teach 25 classes a week in studios to make a good living
This is a belief that will leave you hustling, exhausted, burnt out and potentially feeling like you never want to step foot in a yoga class again.
It isn't necessary to teach a lot of classes a week in studios if you want to make a good living. In fact, it's not even necessary to teach in studios at all!
Studio classes have many amazing things about them. The community you can connect into, to grow and serve to lead them on to your other offerings. The support you get from the studio. Connecting with other teachers but the £££ doesn’t add up. The fact is that you can make a great living teaching yoga full time. And that really doesn’t need to look like a whole lot of hustle and burn out. Thinking outside of the ‘Box’ (studio) is key.
There are so many ways to expand your offerings outside of the studio, if you want to dive into full time teaching its time to put your yoga business owner hat on. Take time to brainstorm all the ways you would like to work with your students, all the things you want to create. Then create a plan, looking at how much you want to earn and breaking that down into your different offerings with a timeline.
Some examples of higher priced offerings could be private clients, workshops, a 4 week course, online courses and memberships, retreats and much more. Don't be afraid of trying new things and experimenting with different ways of earning an income as a yoga teacher.
Creating higher ticket offerings means that you can hustle less and spend more time on creating high value content and offerings to grow a community you love to work with and transformational experiences your community are going to love.
4. I don’t have the skills or talent to succeed
Skills and talent can be learnt and built. Coming out of your YTT you have learnt a lot and probably taken in more than you think. This new knowledge, new skills you have learnt, now need to be put into practice so you can develop the skills and talent to succeed.
The most important thing to do when teaching is to teach from where you are. Then moving forward, think about the gaps in your skills and knowledge and the things that you’re struggling with and seek out extra training if you need it or get support develop the skills you have already learnt.
Keep showing up, keep teaching and your skills, confidence and talent will grow. Rome wasn’t built in a day…be patient, keep taking daily action and believe in your abilities.
5. I have to do this on my own.
Seeking out support in your yoga teaching journey will catapult you forwards. Thinking you have to do this all on your own will hold you back and will mean you are restricted to the experience you have in the job and industry.
It's a limiting belief that I hear and see a lot, and it's one I've struggled with myself. I tried to wing it and do things on my own for way to long and as soon as I invested in help this catapulted me forward.
Every time I have invested in an apprenticeship, business coaches, mentors I've seen massive growth. Not only in these situations was I learning from people that where steps ahead of me so sharing their knowledge and experience so I could grow mine, it meant be held accountable to get the work done and an ear to listen and support me when I needed it and eyes on my teaching giving me feedback to help me develop my teaching skills and grow even more.
You can wing it and work with trial and error for sure but this will take much longer in reality than if you have someone guiding you, sharing with you the things they have made mistakes with so you don’t have to do the same. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Learn from someone that has been in your shoes and knows what’s going to work. Seeking out support can bring time saving guidance, accountability to keep you on track, someone empowering you to step up and level up and someone that is in your corner cheering you on, and we all need a bit of that right!!
Support can come in many forms. Collaborations, partnerships, groups you create in studios (having everyone check-in together and encourage each other), or people who are further ahead on the path than you and can serve as guides and mentors, and yoga teachers who will happily share their knowledge and help you see where there's room for growth.
Doing this on your own can be stressful, overwhelming & time consuming. Doing this with support can feel exciting & fun. If you want to fast track your success, getting support is the answer. Reach out to others and build your support entourage.
6. I’m not sure I want to spend much more time and money into this in case it doesn’t work out
This limiting belief is based around fear of failure. I’m going to tell you something that you might not want to hear….You are going to fail….at some point. Its inevitable.
You are going to make mistakes. I can’t count how many times I’ve ‘failed’ as there have been a lot but these have been the moments I’ve grown the most. I got back up and tried again and you will too. You will get back up and learn from that experience and come back stronger.
So time to reframe failure. Failure and mistakes can be opportunity to take a moment to step back, gain new perspective and learn something new.
Now if you're half in and your half out this will firstly deplete your energy levels. It will also mean that you stay exactly where you are or you will potentially stop teaching and I don’t want that for you. So decide right now…are you in…or out??
Believe in yourself, believe in your ability to teach, believe in your message and show up to serve your community and students.
Get clear on why you want to do this? Then get clear on what those fear based stories in the background that are holding you back, then you can start to reframe your mindset.
SO….let’s look at what you have spent/invested so far…
Yoga teacher training
£3000+
200 Hours +
How many hours of study and practice have you spent so far?
Hours of time you have spent trying to teaching classes and build community so far?
Hours of time you have taken winging it and trying to make things work?
Ok you have come this far…this is not the time to give up.
Any time and money you ‘spend’ on your yoga teaching career is going to help you move forward and get to where you want to be.
The key mindset shift here is instead of thinking you’re spending time and money – (no one wants to do that right) think about it as a time investment that will help you develop your skills, gain confidence and grow your yoga biz. An investment is something that will feed back into what you’re working towards. Investing time & money on more training and support will help to catapult you forward, grow your teaching skills, career and business and save you time and money in the long term.
Take time to reframe your mindset
The stories that you are telling yourself will become your truth. If you’re running limiting stories in the background they will be holding you back. So the great news is that you have the power to change them. It’s your mind and you can reprogramme the subconscious.
Rewrite the story. Start slow and be patient with yourself. Use reflection and mediation. Journal it out. Weed out those stories that you’re running in the back ground.
You don’t need to be a slave to your limiting beliefs. It’s YOUR MIND and you can control it. Weed out those beliefs that are not helpful and create empowering beliefs that will help you to move forward.
Time to build your confidence and kick those limiting beliefs out the door!
One of the most common limiting beliefs I hear from yoga teachers is that they need to figure everything out on their own.
You don't have to do this alone.
There are so many programs and mentors available to you that can help you navigate the challenges of being a new yoga teacher. There is so much support out there. You can learn from other teachers who have been where you are now. You don't have to reinvent the wheel — learn from others who have made all the mistakes before you and have stories of success they can share with you.
If you’re a new yoga teacher wanting to up level your teaching and fast track your career forward by developing your teaching skills, building your confidence, tapping into a supportive community of teachers that are in the same boat as you and gaining support and guidance from experienced teachers that have been where you are, we are very soon going to be opening the doors to our Evolve Together Mentoring programme. We have been running this programme for the last 5 years and open the doors just twice a year.