One of the reasons I feel like I belong as a yoga teacher...

...is because in the beginning, I was not such an amazing yoga teacher.

And, please, don't misunderstand, I am still in the very beginning stages of my teacherhood, I will forever be in the early stages of my teacherhood, and I hope to remain teachable... and I have had many teachable moments.

I am clumsy, awkward, shy, and often forget to filter my thoughts from brain to mouth. I have dropped chimes during savasana, butchered the aums in the beginning of class, am constantly terrified I will hurt someone in my class, and can't seem to make it through one class without mixing up words, transposing letters, or dropping an "oh shit" inexplicably.

Over the last 6 months I've taught over 80 hours of yoga. In those 80 hours I've learned how to be kind to myself, how to laugh at myself, and how to have confidence that I can lead a yoga class. I've learned that I have a voice, how to use my voice, and how to guide others to find and use their bodies. In no other realm of my life have a felt this sense of empowerment, a sense of belonging and love, not only for others but in my own skin, in my own brain and in my own heart. I teach yoga because I care about spreading this love. I teach yoga because I have found no other place where I have been so fully challenged and comfortable in my own skin at the same time. I teach so I can continue to learn and evolve my own life and practice and hopefully impart some of that love, excitement, and confidence in others.

Can I give you a tip?

I love teaching Yoga. I have never felt more full, of love and light in any other thing I've done. I love that every time I teach I continue to grow my own personal teaching style, continue to find out more tidbits about myself, get closer to my Self, shed light on the darkness and learn to love and embrace the darkness.

That being said, I was subbing an Intro class the other day, and one of the girls had come in late so she was going to pay after class. Turned out she loved the class and when paying asked if she could tip me. My gut reaction was NO! More in the "oh, no, honey, I LOVE my job, and sometimes I even do it for free because I LOVE it so much! And, never ever do I expect to be given more, for something that I love doing".

My other job is based solely on tips and I've worked in that industry for years. It's something I've been trying to get away from since I started. I won't deny that tips drive an economic engine that foster conversation, "going the extra mile",  and customer service, I would argue that a set wage would reduce the resentment attached to non- or sub par tippers. Okay now i've gone too far astray.

What I meant to convey, was, that I love teaching yoga, and en lieu of a tip I would love to have more people come to more classes and allow themselves to have more experiences in yoga. So, NO, please do not tip me, please come to more classes!

Any other teachers have experience or thoughts on this topic?