Getting Out Of A Teaching Rut

We can all get stuck in a teaching rut, teaching the same exercises the same way, feeling a lack of creativity, or just feeling a bit run down. Today I'm sharing my strategies for getting unstuck! Tune in!

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Show Notes:

Learn what Momentum Fest is all about and get your tickets at https://momentumfest.com

Check out Rachel's awesome work over at @radpilates

Support the podcast:    

Visit https://links.oliviabioni.com/affiliates to take advantage of some sweet savings!

Episode Music:

Tracks: Tobu - Good Times, Tobu & Itro - Sunburst 
Tobu Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/tobuofficial
Itro Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/officialitro
Released by NCS 
https://www.youtube.com/NoCopyrightSounds

Transcript

[00:00:00] Welcome to Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Join the conversation and the Pilates community on Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show. Today's chapter starts now.

[00:00:56] Hello, hello everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. [00:01:00] Today we're going to be talking about getting out of a teaching rut. Before we jump into that. I just want to give a shout out to Momentum Fest. Pilates Teachers' Manual podcast is sponsoring Momentum Fest 2021. If you haven't already heard me talk about Momentum Fest. It is a three day movement party. We've got Pilates, yoga dance. All kinds of movement, modalities, all kinds of really groovy things to explore it's happening, both in-person and Colorado and virtually this year. It's for both teachers and students. So probably if you're listening to this podcast, you're on the teacher side of things, but it's definitely something that students can enjoy as well.

[00:01:50] It's not only about getting your CECs, although you can get CECs as well. I love the tagline of Momentum Fest and it really resonated [00:02:00] with me when I attended virtually last year that you're celebrating why you fell in love with movement, and it really is just fun and delightful. And I hope to see you there. It's happening June 25th to 27th. You can buy tickets and learn more about Momentum Fest at momentumfest.com. 

[00:02:20] As I said, today's episode is focusing on getting out of a teaching rut. And what I mean by that is sometimes, myself included, you find yourself teaching the same exercises the same way, and you might be feeling a little bit low on creative juice. You might be feeling a little bit stuck in your teaching. 

[00:02:46] A lot of things can be a reason for that. You can feel spread too thin in terms of what you're teaching. If you're teaching, you know, way more hours than you'd like, or than what is ideal for you, even though on one hand, that's a [00:03:00] blessing. You know, more teaching hours means that you're going to be making a little bit more money, but if you're feeling tired, if you're feeling stretched really thin, if there's other things happening in your life that are not Pilates related, if you've got a lot of stuff going on, that's asking for your energy. We get tired and uninspired. 

[00:03:17] And sometimes it feels seasonal. I know that I have a lot harder time being perky and joyous when it's very, very cold and very, very dark outside in the winter in Chicago. Um, so there can be a lot of, of reasons behind it. And, and this episode isn't to guilt you because you're already doing amazing and you're doing a lot, and there's so much that happens behind the scenes as a teacher that you know, your students and the "you" that is at the studio is like really a small piece of your personal puzzle. 

[00:03:51] But I want to share with you some of my ways that I've gotten unstuck and these strategies might work for you. I've got a bunch of them. [00:04:00] You may have your own strategies for filling your cup when it feels empty, but here are some of my suggestions. We give so much as teachers, we care for our students so deeply, we care for the method and movement and the health of the people that we work with, like so deeply. And I do think that being a Pilates teacher requires a lot of compassion, a lot of patience, a lot of empathy. It can be difficult to give to your students and your clients and the people you work with when your feeling run down.

[00:04:40] So how do you refill your cup when it's empty? I know that self-care is a buzz word and definitely self care is more than, you know, have a spa day and take a bubble bath and eat a cookie. Those are all delightful things, but. I'd say the first thing when we talk about [00:05:00] self-care is just knowing what recharges your batteries like, do you need to take a day off? Do you need like a mental health day? Do you need a staycation or, uh, more time to spend with family or more time to sleep? Do you want to go for a walk or take a day trip and go for a hike in nature? Like maybe those things are things that help you refresh. 

[00:05:24] An exercise that has worked well for me, when I'm feeling kind of in a slump is called the rampage of gratitude. It doesn't have to be even Pilates focus necessarily, but it's an exercise in which you set a timer. Maybe you set it for five minutes or 10 minutes or two minutes or whatever, and you have a notebook. I feel like it works better is a handwriting exercise versus like typing in your phone or on the computer. But for whatever time you've set, you just start writing down everything you're thankful for, like literally [00:06:00] everything from huge things like your body, your family, your house, you know, those really big needs, but also the chair you're sitting on and the snacks you've got in your cupboard and the charger that charges your phone.

[00:06:16] Like you just go and whether, regardless of what time you set it for, it's always longer than you think. So you have to get a little bit creative and thoughtful about the things that you're thankful for. And gratitude itself is just a practice that's really powerful and a really big mood elevator. When you force yourself to say thank you for all of the things that you have and all the things that are wonderful in your life. So if you're feeling a little bit down, that's definitely something that can bring you back up, but also reminds you of how wonderful it is even when you're feeling tired and run down that there are so many good things. It helps to kind of reshift your [00:07:00] perspective a bit. If you're getting hung up on a difficult client or a troubling situation or something, it really gives you a bigger perspective. And so I appreciate that. It doesn't solve all the problems, but it's a nice shift. 

[00:07:16] I'd say another thing you can do is take a class. You can take a class where you work because those classes are often free and I'm a big fan of that. You can also take a class where you don't work. And this is something that I really enjoy because I don't have to tell them that I'm a teacher. I can just go. No teachers are like, you know, can you cover my class on Saturday? You can just go and be a student and reconnect with yourself. The same reason that our students come to our classes and want to disconnect from their busy, stressful lives and jobs and obligations, like we are offering that [00:08:00] service. And I think we also need to take advantage of that service and move. 

[00:08:06] It can even be an, a modality that you don't teach and you can just be student. I feel like I talked about it was a long time ago because I didn't do a lot of skateboarding last year, but how much fun I was having learning how to skateboard because I have no- I had no idea. I mean, now I have like a very, very small idea, but just to do something that you don't normally do for the sake of doing it, for the sake of, you know, you have a body and you can move it. And all of these fabulous ways, whether that's rock climbing or learning dance, or really anything. You go for hike. Like you can do something that's me- maybe not in your usual list of things that you do for yourself and just be a student and enjoy that. 

[00:08:53] You can also take those classes online. There are so many offerings and so many things [00:09:00] that you can do online. Now, whether it's, you know, learn a language or just like, I don't know. There's great stuff that you can do. And when you're doing it for yourself without any expectation of, you know, well, I have to demonstrate this exercise so that they know what I'm talking about, or I teach at this studio and so other people who are in the class know that I'm a teacher and they're looking at me to see how I'm doing it. And it's like, I don't need that pressure. I can do it in my living room, in my pajamas and with my camera off. Um, so that's really nice as well. 

[00:09:30] Coming up after the break, I'm going to expand on that idea of taking a class for yourself and also just the importance of moving for yourself and reconnecting with the work in a way that's meaningful for you. That's coming up next.

[00:09:53] I hope you're enjoying today's chapter so far. There's great stuff coming up after the break, too. Be sure to subscribe [00:10:00] wherever you're listening and visit buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts to support the show. There you can make a one-time donation or become a member for as little as $5 a month.

[00:10:11] Membership comes with some awesome perks, including a shout-out in the next episode, a monthly newsletter, a monthly zoom call with me and more. You can also visit links.OliviaBioni.com/affiliates to check out some sweet deals on products I use and love. Now back to the show.

[00:10:49] Even beyond taking a class for yourself, whether it's in a modality that you teach or in a brand new way of moving or doing, you can [00:11:00] also, if it's financially within your means and time-wise in your means as well, attend a workshop or a conference. What I like about that is that it's like a movement vacation. A workshop might be like a day cation, I, a conference might be several days that I think it's important to unplug. 

[00:11:23] And we can really get in a rut in a lot of ways because we're doing the same thing over and over again, because on Monday nights I teach for four hours and I teach the same classes. A lot of times it's the same people. That doesn't mean that I have to teach the same things in those classes, but my schedule is very similar from week to week, if not exactly the same from week to week. And when you do something like take two days, take a day, take three days for yourself and [00:12:00] just dive into not being a teacher. It can be really nice and you can really reconnect with the exercises with movement in a way that you'll be able to share. 

[00:12:13] Because, you know, it's important to learn from multiple teachers because even if it's the same roll up, this other teacher is going to cue it in a different way. They're going to see something that you're doing and give you feedback and offer a suggestion in a different way. That's gonna light up new connections in your body and your brain. And that's the stuff that makes the movement fresh and gives you things that you share with your students. Because, you know, I was doing the roll up and, you know, a teacher told me to find this and it totally changed it. That reignites your passion. It really does. 

[00:12:52] So I've talked about momentum Fest. That's coming up in June. It doesn't have to be Momentum Fest. It can be literally [00:13:00] anything but attending a conference, whether it's just a straight up, I'm going to learn more and get my CEC's for a certification renewal, if that's a path that you're on. But even if you're just taking the class because, Oh my gosh, I love this teacher and they're offering a workshop it's, it's really valuable and it's really important beyond the monetary and cost of time that it's going to take you to go. It's really going to pay you dividends in giving you new material to teach and new ways of looking at things and just connecting with the exercises. 

[00:13:37] Again, you can do that in person or virtually. I'll be attending Momentum Fest virtually again this year, but the value is still there. The connection is still there and the joy is really there.

[00:13:51] This is kind of an overarching theme, I believe in this episode and I want to give credit to Rachel over at [00:14:00] Rad Pilates on Instagram, I'll link to their account, that they are really inspirational and definitely are an inspiration to me. They've been talking about recently this idea of moving for yourself. And I think that that's the thread through getting out of a rut, because if you're only giving for others and teaching for others, you can lose that connection to the movement and it's just draining. But when you move for yourself, that for me, at least, has been something that has lit up my body and my brain and my life in so many ways.

[00:14:41] That maybe you just get on the reformer and just go and you don't need to follow an order and you don't need to do any number of reps and you don't need to do it on any specific spring setting, or maybe you just lie on the ground and ask yourself really honestly, like, [00:15:00] what do I need to do? What do I want to do? 

[00:15:03] Sometimes, what do I need to do, in that, you know, I'll, I'll sit or I'll lie down. And in that silence, you can really see. Okay. Like, what's talking to me, what is asking for my attention in my body? And if it's something like my shoulder, I can then ask, okay, well, what does my shoulder want to do? Is it feeling a little tight? Am I feeling a little bit of trapezius action? I've been carrying boxes of plants over to my new place. And obviously you don't want your trapezius doing all of that, but you know, 15 boxes later and your trapezius is doing a little bit more probably than you want it to, but your back's a little tired. Your biceps are a little tired. Like I get it. I'm not mad at my traps for that, but like, what would they like to feel better? And maybe it's movement, maybe it's foam rolling. Maybe it's lying down in the tub for a bit. But when you give yourself that space to really listen to yourself- 

[00:15:55] Because you know, every class that you're teaching, it's a full body adventure. So we're [00:16:00] doing something for everything, whether you're demonstrating or just on your feet while you're teaching, it can take a toll on your body and you don't necessarily need to do those exercises six times a day, even though you're teaching six different classes in winter, in which those exercises happen six times in that day, you know what I mean?

[00:16:22] So really taking the time to care for your body to check in with yourself and to move in ways that feel good. Not everything needs to be the most intense exercise session ever. Maybe that's what you need in which case definitely do it. But if that's not what your body needs, and you're just doing that to do it like, well, how would it feel if you just grabbed a strap and just did the leg stretch series, or if you're in the studio and you've got a ladder barrel, like throw your leg up to the ballet stretches. And like really do them, not just like three breaths in each position. Like, can I stay for two minutes and hang out and notice how it changes? 

[00:16:58] Just having the space and the [00:17:00] time and the commitment to move for yourself is, is I think what it's all about. And I think one of the tools that we're giving our students well, that we're leading them through these exercises, this is giving them these options so that they can make the choice. You know, what feels better? Um, I was doing a kneeling arm series where, you know, there were three different ways you could be doing this arm series. We could be doing it with both arms at the same time, one arm at a time, or holding it, and then releasing one arm at a time. By introducing those three ways of doing it, you try each way and then you decide like, what do I want to do? What feels comfortable? Where do I feel the most stable? Where do I feel the most strong? How much energy do I have in class? 

[00:17:45] And when you do that for your students, they will appreciate it, whether they tell you or not. And when you do that for yourself as well, you will feel re-energized and recharged. I hope that those suggestions are helpful in terms [00:18:00] of helping you get out of any teaching funk that you may find yourself in.

[00:18:05] I'm really thankful to all my supporters on Buy Me A Coffee. We've got another, uh, zoom chat coming up next week. So if you'd like to be a part of that, definitely visit that, Buy Me A Coffee page and contribute to the project so you can get in on that goodness. I hope you have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you again soon.

[00:18:32] Thanks for listening to this week's chapter of Pilates Teachers' Manual, your guide to becoming a great Pilates teacher. Check out the podcast Instagram at @pilatesteachersmanual, and be sure to subscribe wherever you listen. For more Pilates goodness, check out my other podcast, Pilates Students' Manual, available everywhere you listen to podcasts. 

[00:18:56] The adventure continues. Until next time.[00:19:00]