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Yoga Teacher Talk (YTT) is authenic yoga conversation with your favorite yoga mentors, trend-setting yoga teachers, and wellness experts who are changing the paradym on traditional instruction. YTT invites you add to your 200 or 500-level yoga teacher training and elevate your presence as an instructor. Host Becca Schmidt, E-RYT5000/YACEP, has more than 20 years experience on the lead mat, having taught more than 10,000 classes, workshops and wellness retreats. This show, formerly, The Language of Yoga, offers a fun, engaging platform for yoga teachers of all branches of yoga to gain confidence and continue their YTT for years to come.
Holly & David Interview
===
Becca: [00:00:00] Hey, welcome to the Studio Yoga Teacher Talk. Well, today I have two guests, Holly Izi and David lik they are, uh, very experienced yoga teachers and they're here to talk to us today about co-teaching the Magic of Co-Teaching. Welcome, y.
Holly: Thank you for having
us. Thank, Thank you.
David: you. I'm, I'm excited
Holly: to be here.
David: Glad to be here.
Becca: Good. Well, y'all are experts. I'm really looking forward to hearing a few tips that, uh, maybe our listeners can jot down. All right, so before we dive into the whole topic of co-teaching, I wanna give our listeners a chance to meet you individually and then, uh, maybe some of the aspects that make your two personalities unique and also good for co-teaching.
And we'll talk a little bit about how. Being a unique instructor shows up in the Cote teaching that sound good? Mm-hmm. Sound like the plan. So you both have a background in teaching academics. [00:01:00] David, your early career was teaching French culture, language, and pronunciation at a Montessori school.
You've taught many years of high school. And , I wanted to know a little bit about how Oh, and also theater. That's a big one. I saw you had an extensive theater background. Let's talk about how. Your background with maybe the Montessori style program and the theater high school, how some of that shows up when you, when you teach
David: So I think some of my experience. Teaching, , academics really helped me to meet the students where they are, you know, and be able to assist them from there. Because in a yoga class, we've got so many different levels of people going on that it helps me to individualize,
Um, what the specific person needs.
Becca: I love that.
David: Yeah. And I think the theater works into the yoga [00:02:00] class.
It helps
me to create a mood.
create a
container to get people's nervous system calm and relaxed. 'cause it is a little show inside the yoga studio, you
Becca: you know,
David: I am the leader for, for that time. So creating that mood and environment to really put my students at ease.
I think that's the biggest takeaway from the theater.
Yeah.
Becca: Tell me a few things you did in theater.
David: Oh golly. I've gotten to do 95 shows in five different states. Um, I prefer directing and stage managing. I'm a fair actor. Um, I am not musically inclined, and I am okay with that. Um, I think my favorite roles have probably been I got to play Hamlet.
, I got to direct 12th Night, which is another Shakespeare play. , and I had a really fun gig in New York at the new school where we did 26 1 Act plays in eight
Becca: Oh my gosh.
David: was great.
Becca: Wow. Uh, just a [00:03:00] follow up question on that. What would you say that you use maybe occasionally some real dramatic vocal variety or,
David: of course.
Becca: yeah.
Down dog, everyone.
David: Um, especially for the beginning and the ending to help people calm down and relax. , my, my vocal quality is very specific
Becca: I'm hearing the soft voice
David: sometimes yes.
Becca: . Holly, you also have a background as a school teacher. , talk to me about your background and, and how some of the, maybe directing a classroom of what, 22 kids typically, how that shows up on your yoga mat when you teach.
Holly: Yeah. I
got my start in
elementary school,
so I went to school
for elementary education.
and began teaching at
a charter school in Melbourne
Florida.
I was there
for a little bit. I moved over
to Orlando and started to teach at a Title One school in Orlando. And , that's
where I really developed my love
[00:04:00] for teaching actually.
And
teaching has showed
up in everything that I've done since then.
Becca: Mm-hmm. So,
Holly: um,
that bled
into
yoga teaching. Um, and, and seeing that my way of, I guess just helping people and being in a
leadership role to help
people, I've become
really passionate about. and Kind of brought that
into every position that I've held.
Um, and I've learned a lot from those kids that I was able
to teach and.
I actually, I started yoga teaching while
I was in the classroom and
I would bring yoga into the classroom
to The kids,
Becca: for example. What, what might you use?
Holly: We would do a yoga pose of
the week. It was so cute. I actually still have some pictures on my phone from it and they would get so excited and a lot of times I would just write it on the board and I would say yoga pose of the
week.
And it would say tree pose or
Becca: Yeah.
Holly: And then, um, they'd all be like, oh, tree pose. What's tree pose?
And I would actually use it as a way to get them to, [00:05:00] as like a callback for them to be quiet
and listen. Yeah. Um,
so I would say, alright, everybody tree pose then everybody hit tree pose and then they'd be quiet and then like put their eyes on me. So. It was just a creative way for me to
tie together two,
Becca: it's a very quiet pose, everybody.
Holly: Yeah, yeah. We're calm. We're
Becca: into,
Holly: Yeah.
Becca: I love that. And it, it seems like it would be a good way to kind of get their sies out to movement, right? Yes. We know that how important it is for kids to move, right?
Yeah.
Holly: movement piece is so important, especially with how much they
spend behind a screen, So
to get them out from that with each other. Breathing together, moving together. It was so special to see that and such that young kids.
Um,
and so I loved being able to expand that past
and, and then further teach adults too.
Becca: Have you ever taught kids yoga,
like outside the, the school?
Holly: not officially,
no. Um,
I always did it within
my school, but,
Becca: you know, yeah. [00:06:00] Yeah. Uh, it's kind of a whole different. Whole different ball game. Yeah. From teaching adults, so
Holly: absolutely. A little more, um,
Becca: very different.
Holly: I guess I'll say.
Becca: Yeah. I've taught that. Yeah. I've kids yoga a couple times, and I'm not certified as a kids yoga instructor, and so when someone asks me to teach yoga. For children. I'm like, oh no, I'm not qualified.
Go find someone who's qualified. Adults.
Holly: the adults listen a little better.
Becca: I feel like I'm just better with the
adults.
Right. Yeah. So let's shift over to your yoga path. Holly. You mentioned that you started taking some yoga teacher training while you were still teaching in the school. Mm-hmm. So maybe what piqued your interest? What were some of your first trainings? And what level are you? Tell me your, , training level.
Holly: 500 hour
yoga teacher. And
I actually, a big thing that got me deep into my yoga practice was COVID.
Becca: Mm. [00:07:00] Just
Holly: I had all the time
in the world and I was like, what am I gonna do with this time? And I started with doing, uh, YouTube videos, yoga by myself at home. And eventually, luckily being in Florida, we started to open up and then I would go to classes regularly.
'cause I just felt such a shift for myself. So I was going almost every single day of the, week. , so from there I was like, I've, I've got to Do more
with this.
And I knew I was in
teaching already, so
I then explored different local options of,
yoga teacher trainings. it was really important for me that it was
in person.
So I was looking,
it was hard to find that back
then. so I was looking specifically like, who is
still doing this in person I'm not learning
Becca: feet apart with masks, but hey, we can,
Holly: And I will say, I did my training, we did it in person, but we had masks on. It was weird. but Hey, we did it and it was a person,
Becca: If you can fall in love with teaching yoga with those parameters, yeah. More power to you. [00:08:00] David, how about you?
David: You know, I can't say, I remember when my first yoga class was, , I grew up, uh, country line dancing, and then I had a few gigs as a dancer. So I know yoga classes were incorporated into that. But what really got me back into it seven years ago. Is for about two, three months, I was taking some classes around town and I heard about this heated yoga, yoga in a hot room and oh gosh, what's that?
I planned to take it one day and that night, that morning, one of my oldest closest friends had died. So just the synchronicity. Having that chapter end and this new chapter begin, I was like, okay, there's something here for me. You know? and I, I dove in head first and I took my yoga teacher training because I kept saying, I want to deepen my practice.
Becca: Yes.
David: don't wanna teach. I just want to deepen my
Becca: practice. Mm-hmm.
David: And my teacher, she's like, oh, that's cute. [00:09:00] She goes, David, your dharma is to teach. You already have the experience teaching in the classroom, right? You're effective at this. Why are you denying other people this? I said thank you. Okay, thank you.
Holly: out.
Called out.
David: Called out. Called out.
Becca: And I love that you had the movement and sort of mind body connection through your theater And then you, but you were more tuned into more the, you know, what's happening in my head and my heart space. And that's what drove you to yoga rather than the. The movements. Right. The body, the asana wasn't the
David: I mean, it's a, it's a yes and it's a yes and you know, um, I had just gotten away from doing triathlons and I was looking for something else to, to enjoy myself and yeah. And then once I learned that Asana is only one of eight parts of yoga.
Becca: show me the
David: that's really when I fell in love with it, right?
[00:10:00] Because it's not just physically taking care of ourselves, it's a whole system to take care
Becca: yourself. Right. Our listeners are of course, very aware of that delineation between the, the asana and the pranayama and the, the other, all the other, the yamas, niyamas, and then the four stages of meditation.
But
one thing I like to share with our listeners through our guests is what your pathway was. So I like that you mentioned that, Holly, what convinced you along that eightfold path to really dive into yoga?
Holly: I
think. Feeling the, I don't know if this is fully answering
your
question, but what made me really love yoga
is
allowing me a
space to just fully drop in and be present.
And I feel like being present
in anything
during
any time of
the [00:11:00] day is
where you get like the real fullness
of life. and it just brings you a joy that
you're kind of like, I don't know why I am happy right now, but I am.
and you kind of can't explain it to
somebody until they do it or experience it, So
that I was, that's kind of doing it over and be showing up consistently is when I started to feel that. And then that's when I realized I wanna share this with other people. More people
need to feel this way.
And
You don't need anything. You don't even need a mat. You literally just need your body to
be able to do this.
and that's why I loved it so much. So I got passionate about wanting to share it with
other people. when I felt the difference.
it made. in
Becca: That's a perfect answer. All right, so let's, uh, talk about co-teaching. . So my only memory of actually me co-teaching was in many of my yoga teacher [00:12:00] of them. And, you know, it's like, okay, we're gonna now learn, , adjustments. Okay. And you're gonna teach with.
These two or three or four other people, and it is like the most awkward thing. Like you just like, oh my gosh, I, I am now tapping it over to somebody else. Are they gonna, figure out what I just taught? Like they're, to me it was very awkward and it seemed like the only instruction we ever got in.
Co-teaching or tap teaching is to throw somebody in child's pose. Like every single transition had to go into child's pose. Whether you were doing all these, you know, wonderful standing poses. Like, okay, let's go from triangle to child's pose. Get down so you cannot see the switch. So just kind of off the top of your head, what are some of the, I don't know, five top tips that really work?
For you. I
David: talk about our relationship [00:13:00] first. 'cause I think that's why we were effective as a co-teacher. So we had worked at, um, the same yoga studio about a year and a half ago. Yeah. Right.
And we met there and it was just a mutual respect and comradery and, oh, I like the yoga shi doess, and I guess she liked the yoga I did.
And so with that, we had built a friendship throughout it. And then, , I had a bunch of challenges I went through where I couldn't take yoga for a while. So I actually invited Holly to my house to send me through my first yoga practice that I could do in like three months. So I think we had that foundation of trust and respect first.
Mm-hmm. And that's how we're able to
Becca: do it. So that's tip number one,
David: I like the person trust.
Becca: Alright, so tip number one is trust. That's an excellent one. So what else sort of shows up, like how do you design a class? Holly, what would you say are some of the other things that you wanna, like if you were just to [00:14:00] kind of jot down some notes for yourself, co-teaching in a month.
Let me think about some themes or ideas. What do you do?
Holly: ,
Something that's kind of simple that comes to mind, but creates a really seamless process for everybody taking the class and keeps the flow is whenever you decide to switch off. Have them in some sort of position where they're not looking at you. So if forward fold down dog It doesn't always have to be child pose, But it can be if it naturally comes that way.
Becca: when it's appropriate, right? Yeah.
Holly: But we, we were really, um, cognizant of that. And, , what was cool about our classes, is it flowed really well and we transitioned back and forth, but people didn't even really know. Yeah. Um, and we planned ahead of time those different poses. Okay. What kind of.
Downward facing pose would work here as a
transition where we can
pass the mic essentially to the next person to go. So just being cognizant of transitions, kind of like you previously brought up
where it's, Yeah.
Becca: , I [00:15:00] teach very lighthearted classes. I teach with a lot of humor and just vulnerability and sometimes silly. So are there perhaps opportunities where you are co-teaching and you might say, take it away, David, or just be a little more. Have a little more levity in that transition or
David: what you mean. I see what you mean. I think it, uh, depends on the particular container and particular type of class that we're building. , I think we had built ours, so it would seem seamless. , what we ended up doing is we each built our own little five minute sequence, five minute sequence, five minute sequence. And we gave feedback, you know, to each other. But for the most part, we kind of gave each other autonomy for our individual sections, right? And then the transitions we worked together.
, but it flowed, it flowed. And if a certain pose wasn't fitting, she would.
H would say, Hey David, check on that, and vice versa. Yeah. Um, but it was a good check for each other. Something I didn't realize was what an, [00:16:00] what a artistic venture each yoga class is, because we're choreographing, right? Mm-hmm.
We're making up a dance. Yeah. You know? So to be able to co choreograph was, but I think because we had that foundation of respect and like for each other, that we gave a lot of space.
Becca: Yeah. Right.
David: Um, so I don't think we're really bickered at all. No,
It was
for it.
Holly: for us. Yeah, it was. It was.
Becca: was. So let's go to just a couple of mechanics. So, you know, in a, just a general format, you have your seated pose. You might then go to, you know, your table sequence and then you go into down dog, maybe some sun and then you, do typical standing poses. warriors, triangles, things like that.
, do you tend to take a chunk in that, in those natural progression of a class? Would you, like Holly, you would do maybe the seated meditation and intention and [00:17:00]
David: Exactly.
That's exactly what it did. Did you take our
class? That's
exactly what it was.
Becca: yoga class is broken up.
That's all it is. Who likes teaching Shavasana the most?
David: We actually, um,
Holly: we kind of both taught
David: it
because we
both wanted it. Yeah. We both really wanted it. We both really wanted it. So
we,
Holly: made a way to make it work.
David: Yes. Yeah.
So I got them into Shavasana and she got them out of
it.
Holly: Well, you pulled them out too. And then I did the closing. Oh, that's right.
David: I got them in and out a little, but then she went back to, um, bring the intention backer around
Becca: We're talking about maybe the one class that I took, which I did a couple of weeks ago at the yoga festival. And that was so much fun. And I, so here's like a side question.
What happens when something goes wrong? Like somebody's microphone cuts out? Talk to me about that. 'cause that really did happen. So Holly's mic went out and that was so seamless. So just talk to me about that,
David: Yeah, we, um, we. We thought we would have two working mics. We didn't [00:18:00] really think about
Becca: You just assumed that. Just assumed it.
David: assumed. Just assumed it because they knew
Holly: two people were
David: teaching, right.
Holly: I was like, oh, they got a
David: handle, but we were the only co-teacher anyway, so hers started going out and I just ripped it off and she threw it on.
And if the students noticed it or if it bothered them, we didn't notice,
Becca: It really underscored your trust.
I'll say that. Yeah, it was. I noticed, of course, 'cause I teach. Yeah. But weren't really paying that much So another question, so, um, that really wasn't one of the tips 'cause hopefully people will not have problems like that. a question with the, um, the co-teaching is, , kind of your tone.
Like, do you try to match the co-teacher's tone or is there, I don't know, I may know the answer to this, but is there one that's like, not good cop, bad cop, but like maybe the, the straight guy and the funny one or anything like that? What, what's your sort of [00:19:00] take on
Holly: I feel like I, I personally really respect every yoga teacher
being an
individual and showing their,
own personality.
so whenever David and I met, I.
was just like, full trust, like you said, just do your thing. , it was never a question of when we practice and everything together, like, oh, I don't like how you say this, or,
speak up a little bit more.
We didn't really have any, I feel like maybe I'm wrong on this, but we both felt pretty comfortable to just fully be ourselves and talk in our own tone.
And
Teach the way we like to teach, even though it was slightly different. Mm-hmm. And that's what made it kind of
beautiful in a way too.
We found ways to work together but still
be individuals.
David: And I think that's why it landed so well. Because we weren't performing. Yeah. It Wasn't fake acting. Yeah.
Becca: Although you were tempted.
I'm saved the drama for the stage [00:20:00] only.
, so then tell me about themes or music, what could help some of our listeners who are thinking about, you know, I have a real, a buddy I really love at the studio, and I, we wanna do a workshop or we wanna do a, minute class or
David: I've used and it's
been successful,
Top 40 hits of sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and today. Um, and it works 'cause people relate to it. and I do understand sometimes it gets them back in their head, you know, and it gets them outta their body.
But at the same time, the few classes that I took in the past where teachers would play songs, I was so much more into it. So that's what those are. My go-tos
is
Becca: songs, so those are music. And how about you Holly?
Holly: um,
I'm a little different, so I just kind of. Kind of create a
general
v vibe, I'll say of a playlist
if I want
more like.
of a soft
tone or more [00:21:00] upbeat. and I like to mix in instrumentals
so you do have time to not hear lyrics. So I like to have a mix. But that was what was neat about us getting together, is we did have different kind of playlist styles. And to make it simple, you don't have to, I think what we've learned through this process too is to not overcomplicate. So we said, Hey, we're gonna make an hour long playlist. You add 30 minutes, I'll add, 30 minutes, and then let's move it around.
we added, we both added over 30 minutes and then we would plug and play and delete and everything. And then we kind of, David actually went and organized them and then we kind of got together and, and decided, you know, which one should be moved around. But that's one way to keep true to who you are as a teacher, but also welcome somebody else.
is Just split it in half and then mix it around.
It's, you know, It's not that serious too.
Becca: I love that you didn't just, well, you said split it in half and I was thinking more in terms of, you know, David teaches a half an hour, you teach a half an hour.
Um, would that [00:22:00] work?
David: We thought about that. , but that would've been two separate classes. That wouldn't have been a partnership. Right. And that's what we wanted to model. That's what we wanted to celebrate. Right. It's two of us can come together to do this. , so I think that's why I think we had 10 different blocks. If we swapped back and forth five times each, you know?
And the same with the music. No, I think if we, if we had separated 'em, I don't think it would've been nearly as
Holly: fun,
It almost would've been jarring. I feel like, like, oh, okay, we're now doing a different
David: That's a good word for
Holly: it. yeah. And because of how we mixed together and we mixed our playlists, and we mixed our flows and we are just going.
And I feel like it all kind of
flowed into its own kind of made up separate thing.
David: I do remember we were very particular after we switched the mic and there was a new person speaking. The first few words were very soft, you know, to
let, to
let them know, Hey, it's a new person now, [00:23:00] and then we could get going again.
Becca: So I have a question along those lines.
What if it's you and me teaching Holly and we have a kind of a similar voice. I don't know if we really do or not. David over there, my producer could tell me. But, , is there maybe something that we need to give our students, like, Holly, turn or anything like that? Just so they do know that the next person is teaching.
So there's not, and I've been in classes that were co-taught. Where the voices were so similar, I didn't even know that the new person had taken over, but I wanted to know, like I might peak, you know who's up there talking now. So what do you think? What do you suggest?
Holly: That's a good question.
I think generally speaking, the inflection of your tone helps when you
initially come on.
And
I,
I like the example that David said where we come on soft initially, but it may help in certain circumstances. If it's in the middle of class, [00:24:00] maybe you
come on a
little bit stronger, so it's like, okay, there's a change
here. like a noticeable change.
Becca: right. And maybe you add a little bit more time between
Holly: Mm-hmm.
Becca: Mm-hmm. Maybe it's 30 whole seconds
Holly: Yeah. Or it
could be a more obvious transition of, okay, we just finished sun
salutes. now we're going into more of a flow, and then the voice
changes. So it's a little more obvious that we're,
in like a
next.
part of a
Yoga.
flow.
Becca: Alright. Good suggestions. What else would you suggest to somebody who's just wanting to try this?
Anything
David: Keep it fun.
Don't be attached to the outcome of it.
Becca: I've heard that before.
David: I know sometimes when I'm teaching a class on my own, I've got a great plan and then all of a sudden a student wants to do a certain thing or I forget something or I have 10 extra minutes and well, we ran
Holly: ran
David: that, we gotta do something. And we did run into that.
, stay
Holly: to think on the fly.
David: Stay flexible with it. [00:25:00] That's the most important thing. So, and I know that comes with time and experience,
um, and. It's like from the theater world, the audience doesn't know when I forget a line, you know? So just keep it going. They won't know.
Becca: Anything coming to your mind, Holly?
Holly: Yeah, I was just thinking of, , don't overthink it, but also go with the flow and a sense of sometimes things happen, like the microphone
thing that you mentioned. also.
when you're teaching your own class and you have extra time left, it's easier to think about just yourself of how you might approach that.
But when you're with somebody else, it, we had a moment where we kind of looked at each
other like,
what's next? And we figured it out last minute and I don't think anyone even noticed where the kind of. I'll say hiccup, but it wasn't really a hiccup not really happened because we just kind of looked at each other.
We knew each other, what we were kind of saying through our eyes [00:26:00] and just figured it out and keep moving.
So, and
David: picked up, you took our two individual flows and she put 'em together and then they had a peak sequence with each of our flows
and
Holly: wasn't planned initially. Yeah. So don't be afraid to think on the fly and don't overthink it and.
Let both personalities shine, that's really important for both people to have that trust and have fun and feel a weight off their shoulders and just enjoy teaching like they always do, to just be yourself.
Becca: Yeah, I love that. And I've co-taught just way back in teacher training with personalities that were much more strong than mine.
And I think one thing that I would advise if I could just, , throw in my 2 cents too, is to. Just not try to correct anything if like, let's say I the balance sequence or something and then all of a sudden the next teacher who is supposed to be teaching something other than balance will [00:27:00] step on the toes of the, the that one.
So just to be
cognizant about, you know, their container, if you will, and that you don't like, go try to fix something within theirs. That's just, I think, maybe respect. So let's add respect to
David: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I think that's why that relationship first is real important. Of
Holly: take each other's classes. That's huge too, right? Just learn how they are as a teacher.
people
don't do that
Becca: That's
great advice. Oh, I am such a proponent, I, I studio hop all the time because I feel like I've been teaching, this is my 21st year of teaching and I'm like, well, I have a whole lot still to
learn. Mm-hmm.
It's only 21 years. My gosh.
There's a lot
to learn. So I go to, I go to studios all the time and just, and I literally steal from other people in a, you know, way.
I've been trying
David: to say borrow,
Holly: steal
Becca: Non
David: Hold on. Lemme say bar, right? Este?
Becca: We
David: Yeah. Let [00:28:00] me borrow.
Becca: All right. So, um, that was great. Good advice. So let's just, uh, talk about you. What's coming up for you, David? What's coming up for you?
David: Um, I've gotten in with.
Yoga company that takes classes into, uh, drug and alcohol rehabs and then into juvenile justice systems. And I really like that work because it's, um, expanding accessibility, right? Um, I still like teaching in studios, but I get more appreciation from people that normally don't have access.
And the effects and the impact is often greater.
So I still wanna teach in studios and I've got some, you know, but I really see myself going into more, I guess, humanitarian type of work with it.
Becca: think we should all devote. Certain percentage into just teaching [00:29:00] community classes free when we can, or maybe, you know, very steep discount or take advantage of, you know, maybe non-traditional spaces. Uh, Holly I took a class of years a few years ago in a little, uh, boutique. Mm-hmm. And I thought that was so lovely because it might be somebody who was, you know, I, I feel good in this boutique space, but I.
I don't feel all that comfortable with yoga, so that's just a good way of, you know, and maybe they're not underprivileged or anything, but it might just be somebody who really Holly, what about you? You do, uh, retreats, is that right? Tell me about
Holly: Yeah,
I have a retreat coming up.
next month, And it's from April 16th through the 19th. It's a digital detox yoga retreat.
yes. I know. I feel like I'm, I'm very passionate about just taking time away from your phone and,[00:30:00]
and we are just so addicted. We are. it's a part of our everyday life.
It's in our pockets everywhere we go. I mean,
you're on the road and someone's. Texting or the, the light's green and they're not even going through, and you're like, let's go. But there's, it's just everywhere. And I think it's so important. The same reasons why I fell in love with yoga, of just
being
fully present
and just being in the,
room and not using that time to
not be on your.
phone.
I just am taking that into my retreat for a whole
Becca: I love that. So will they check their phone in a basket
on Friday night and get it back Sunday night?
Holly: I'm gonna, I'll have some flexibility for it for sure. What's nice about this is it is a kind of closed container where when we're doing our yoga practices, those aren't around and we're gonna have things like disposable cameras and stuff and bring back things from, that we
used to
have when we were younger, you know, that were, you can still capture the memories and, and do that in fun ways.
I have digital [00:31:00] camera too. So you still have the opportunity to to capture those memories, which I know people love to do so much and is a big reason why they bring their phone so they can take
pictures. Right.
So I have different elements that I am putting in there so that it allows people to truly drop in and they can still remember the whole
Experience that
they had too.
Becca: I love that because I'm sure you're taking them out in nature. Correct.
Holly: yes, we're going to, Vera Beach, so it'll, It is all beachfront.
Becca: Yeah. So people will have an opportunity to put their little bare feet in the sand and really connect with, I don't know, you can still do grounding on sand of course.
Mm-hmm. I always think about it on grass, but you can do grounding for sure. Mm-hmm. On sand and just all the elements, , fire, wind, water, the whole works. And you don't have to take a photo of that. Right. You can't take a picture of the wind, but you can certainly be affected by
Holly: Yeah.
Becca: All right. . You all have been teaching for many, [00:32:00] many years. What sort of advice would you give to somebody? Maybe they're not just fresh out of YTT, maybe they are a few years down the road. I love that you both mentioned just let your own personality shine.
David: I would say prioritize your personal practice before any teaching. Any teaching. , because when I first started teaching, uh, I was doing eight or nine classes a week and I was practicing once and I did not like how I was showing. Right, because I wasn't doing what I had to do for myself. Luckily it wasn't my only source of income, right?
So I had that privilege there. But that's the biggest thing for me, is it's like I can only give from the saucer.
I
can't give from the teacup. And when I wasn't practicing and just teaching, I was given from the, from the cup. So yeah, put your own practice first.[00:33:00]
Becca: wholeheartedly Holly.
Holly: I would agree with that too, actually. And, , just don't lose sight of
why you're,
doing or why you're teaching I think
sometimes people get used to their routine and
go through the motions
And,
Going
to
classes can kind
of Bring that back
out of you of why you love it
so much And
I think it's also important to go into different
environments and trying
different, classes, different instructors.
If breaking out of your routine would maybe
be something of a
suggestion from to make it different from what David said. because I would also agree with that.
But breaking free from your regular routine once in a while. So maybe you go to
a new
studio or try a new instructor or even a new class type that
you're not
Becca: to.
Exactly. That's exactly what I was thinking.
Holly: Mm-hmm.
Becca: you know, maybe it take a, a kundalini class. Yeah. Or, you know, maybe that one hot power class, or [00:34:00] go back to Ang for a little bit and just, you know, maybe you rediscover some aspect, like Ashtanga is so disciplined and so controlled and so regimented in most Ashtanga practices and. You're either gonna say, oh yeah, this is what I fell in love with, or this is why I don't teach Ang,
which
is my case too. Yeah. , so just, it, it it's that self-learning, that self-study, that spot yaya that you get when you studio hop and go by yourself. Yes. You don't have to like, have a buddy. Go by yourself and, you know, sit in your car for a moment, take some reflect,
David: I found, , when I go to a new studio, I want to be invisible. I don't want anyone to know that I'm a teacher. I just want
Becca: to
cardinal rule.
David: and leave.
Holly: I always go in the back
corner and
David: hide. Yes.
Holly: don't
talk to
Becca: anyone. Right.
Holly: [00:35:00] Except
afterwards I might compliment the teacher. I like to always provide compliments. 'cause it's, it's nice to hear that you're doing a good job.
Yes.
Becca: One of the things, and I, I'd like to hear your opinion on this. Is it hard to turn off that instructor mind when you're taking someone
David: depends
on the instructor. There's some classes when I go in and right away I'm comfortable and I trust the person. and there's some classes where for an hour I'm sitting there in my head being like, oh, they're not doing it well.
Um,
Becca: they had their back to me the whole
David: and that's my, that's my own judgements to work on. Um, so it depends on the teacher.
Becca: But it also has you as a accept.
what I'm sort of practicing I've, I've been in that. In that mode for quite a being able to accept and
David: That's something else I'm trying to experience is, oh, this is, this is your yoga. Let me [00:36:00] experience your
yoga.
Becca: Any last words?
Holly: I think just kind of tying it back
to The
co-teaching thing, that's what makes co-teaching.
so beautiful.
It's, It's kind of a, a method of that,
you know, we're learning how
each of us sees yoga and respecting each other and our different views of yoga and then bringing it
together.
And making
it
into
something new.
Becca: I love that. it really Very close up.
It was such a pleasure. You all were awesome.
David: You also Thank you. This is cool.
Becca: Hey, thanks for listening today. Holly and David were so much fun and they had so much good information. For anybody who is interested in co-teaching, appreciate you listening. Have a great day.