Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher
Yoga Teacher Confidential is your backstage pass to the unspoken truths of being a yoga teacher. Sage Rountree, PhD, E-RYT500, dives into the real challenges and rewards of teaching yoga, offering expert advice and secrets to help you build confidence, connect with your students, and teach with authenticity. Sage draws on her two decades of experience teaching yoga, running a studio, and training teachers to share practical insights you can use right away. You'll also hear advice from her books, including Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, The Art of Yoga Sequencing, and The Professional Yoga Teacher's Handbook. Whether you’re navigating imposter syndrome, mastering classroom presence, or refining your skills to teach specialized niches like athletes, this podcast empowers you to lead your classes with clarity, grace, and ease.
Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher
31. Season 1 Recap: Building Confidence + What’s Next for Yoga Teacher Confidential
In this episode, I’m celebrating 31 episodes of Yoga Teacher Confidential by looking back at what we’ve covered in season 1—an entire season focused on building confidence as a yoga teacher. From centering your students to handling nerves and dealing with difficult moments, we’ve built a foundation to support your teaching for the long haul.
I’ll revisit key lessons, like:
- Why you’re the guide, not the hero
- How to reframe student walkouts
- The power of learning names
- What blank expressions really mean
- Why consistency matters more than variety
Then, I share what’s coming next: a shift from a rigid seasonal format to a more fluid, responsive release schedule. I’ll still be touching on themes like classroom management, studio dynamics, and career growth—but now with the freedom to respond to your questions and insights in real time.
This episode marks a turning point, and I couldn’t be more grateful to have you along for the ride. Here’s to growing together in confidence, one class at a time.
* Scavenger hunt: if you're watching this on Spotify as a video podcast, you'll notice my "safe word" that I missed while editing—the first one to comment there with the correct word will win a prize!
Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Get in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you—let's chat there!
For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:
And come explore my mentorship program, continuing education workshops and 300/500-hour teacher training programs. It's all at sagerountree.com.
Can I tell you something? I wasn't sure about this podcasting experiment until I got started making Yoga Teacher Confidential, I didn't even really listen to many podcasts, even though I had a podcast in the first wave of podcasting in 2006, and I spent six years announcing on and producing public radio. But a combination of needing to put myself on a strict news diet, realizing I had a lot to say to yoga teachers about confidence, and getting such a sweet, positive response from y'all, have made this a real delight for me. Today, let's recap what we've covered in these last 30 episodes, then talk about where we're going next. I'm Sage Rountree, and this is Yoga Teacher Confidential. This first season has been all about building your confidence as a yoga teacher. We've covered so many angles of this topic, from recognizing that your students are the heroes and you're just the guide, to centering your students over yourself, to how to deal with difficult classroom moments. Let's review some of the key takeaways from season one. You are not the hero, you're the guide. In our very first episode, we talked about this foundational concept. When you center your students instead of yourself, everything changes. Your students are Luke Skywalker and you're Obi Wan Kenobi. You're not the actor on stage, your students are the actors and you're the stage manager. This mindset shift relieves so much pressure and helps you focus on what truly matters, supporting your students in their yoga journey. You only have to be you. In episode two, I shared the story of my second ever yoga class, where I stepped in when the regular teacher, Bryan, couldn't make it. I kept apologizing for not being Bryan until two students gave me the feedback that changed my teaching. We could tell you weren't Bryan. So you didn't need to apologize for not being Bryan. You don't need to apologize for who you are or who you aren't. When students walk out, it's not about you. Episode 3 reminded us that students leave class for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with your teaching. From remembering they left the kettle on, to emotional processing, to just trusting their gut, their choices are their own. Learning your students names in Episode 4 showed us how this simple practice creates connection. When you welcome your students by name, you show them they are seen and valued. Your strengths as a practitioner might actually be your blind spots as a teacher. The things that come naturally to you might be the hardest to explain, while the struggles you've overcome equip you to help others with similar challenges. We also talked about managing nerves. Remember that nerves are actually a good sign. They mean you care about your students. The day you stop feeling nervous before teaching might be the day you should stop teaching. We discussed why consistency trumps variety in your class planning. Students need repetition to learn. And you'll build more confidence when you're teaching a sequence you know well. One of my favorite topics was episode 8. Why blank expressions aren't what you think. Those blank faces looking back at you don't mean disinterest. They mean your students are having a deep internal experience, which is exactly what yoga is about. And we've covered practical topics too, like holding space during hard times, teaching workshops, giving feedback, and confident pricing. In our episode on teaching off the mat, we discussed how moving through the room connects you with your students and builds your confidence. Your mat isn't a raft protecting you, it's more like a paddle board you can step off of to dive into deeper connection with your students. We tackled what to do when no one shows up to your class. It happens to all of us, and it's an opportunity to practice teaching, to record yourself, or to use the time for lesson planning. And we talked about teaching private lessons, something many teachers find terrifying, but that can be incredibly rewarding when you approach it with the right mindset. These confidence building lessons are the foundation of a fulfilling teaching career. Without confidence, you might spend way too much time planning your classes, get thrown off when things don't go as expected, struggle to connect authentically with your students, take student behaviors personally, under charge for your valuable services, get burnt out trying to reinvent the wheel with every class. But when you build your confidence, you can create a container where students feel safe to explore. Adapt on the fly when things don't go as planned. Connect authentically with your students. Value your time and expertise appropriately. Sustain a teaching practice that serves both you and your students. And best of all, you'll have more fun in the role of teacher. The beauty of building confidence is that it's a positive spiral. The more you teach with confidence, the better your students experience will be, which leads to even more confidence. And that confidence extends beyond teaching yoga. It affects how you show up in all areas of your life. I think one of the most important themes that emerged across all these episodes is that teaching yoga isn't about performance. It's about service. When you shift from trying to impress your students to simply serving them, confidence flows naturally. When I got started thinking about launching this show, I plotted out a lot of topics and then sorted them into several buckets. The thinking was that each bucket would represent a season of this podcast. Season one focused on confidence, that is what goes on inside your head as you teach your yoga class. The original idea was for season two to focus on what goes on inside the yoga classroom. Think managing student behavior from the upcoming all yoga pants are see through episode. Well, that might actually be all we need to say about that. All yoga pants are see through. To when students try to teach. Basically, we would cover everything from heart attacks to fart attacks. Season three would be on what goes on inside the yoga studio that is navigating studio drama, how to be a model employee, and a little series called Studio Owner Confidential to share what studio owners wish teachers and even students knew about how tough this work can be. I got as far as planning season four, which would then follow this progression from inside your head, to inside your classroom, to inside your studio, to inside your career. The idea was that I would hedge my bets by thinking in seasons. That way there would be a built in break so I could catch my breath and shift my writing time from podcast scripts to drafting book manuscripts and creating courses. The thing is, I am having so much fun with this. I feel ready to roll on through, and I think you deserve to get content from me on a regular schedule. I have so much to say that instead of trying to exhaustively cover everything I have to say about classroom management next, I'd rather grant myself the freedom to jump from topic to topic. That way you can get the advice I'm most excited to share and you can ask the questions you most need answers to, and I will generate podcasts in response. Now, if you listen carefully, you'll probably still hear the original strategy I planned. You'll hear topics on classroom management topics on studio drama and navigating your career, but it's going to come at you in a mix so you can pick and choose the advice that will help you best. I hope you will connect with me. Send me a message on the socials at@sagerountree or send me a message in my virtual studio for yoga teachers at comfortzoneyoga.com so that I can hear how these episodes I'll be working on next will help you best. Also, you'll soon see a new set. If you've been watching this as a video podcast, either on YouTube or on Spotify, you'll see a new backdrop in the next episode. Here's your affirmation for today. I am growing in confidence with every class I teach. I am growing in confidence with every class I teach. For more support on your teaching journey, I invite you to join the discussion in my free community for teachers called the zone at comfortzoneyoga. com. You'll find the link in the show notes. If you've enjoyed this season, please leave a rating and review wherever you listen to podcasts. Your feedback helps other teachers find this resource and helps me know what's most valuable to you. And if you have questions or topics you'd like me to cover in future episodes, please reach out. You can find me at sagerountree.com or on socials at @sagerountree with no letter D. Thank you for joining me for these first 31 episodes of Yoga Teacher Confidential. I'm so grateful for your attention, your enthusiasm and your commitment to growing as a yoga teacher. I'm Sage Rountree and I'll see you next time.
