6 Yoga Teaching Mistakes to Avoid (From a Yoga Mentor)
For the love of downward dog, don’t do these things in your classes!
I love yoga. I love teaching yoga. I love the potential of yoga to help people feel stronger, calmer, more at home in their bodies.
But…
There are a few things I see (and experience) in classes that make me internally scream into my mat.
This isn’t about teacher-bashing. It’s about offering individualised care for each of the students in your class, really understanding what it is you are offering with your yoga tuition and it’s about professionalism.
I’m writing this both as a long‑time yoga teacher and as someone who has studied applied anatomy & physiology with Dr Andrew McGonigal. I’m also writing it as a yoga student who has felt intimidated, confused, pushed, or quite frankly, a bit alienated in classes with teachers who meant well.
If you’re a yoga teacher, a studio owner, or someone looking to cover classes, host guest teachers, or run workshops, consider this loving-but-firm nudge from your friendly yoga teacher mentor.
1. Stop using nocebo words (they do more harm than you think)
If I hear the phrase “try and…” one more time, I may combust.
Here’s why.
Language matters. A lot.
When you say:
“Try and straighten the legs”
“Try and get deeper”
“Try and keep your knees safe”
…you are unintentionally planting a seed.
You’re telling the nervous system; "Something might be wrong here."
That’s called a nocebo effect - which is the opposite of a placebo. When words imply a suggested danger or risk, our body can respond by tensing or over-compensating. Even if we don’t consciously realise we’re doing it.
And what do we do when we feel subtly judged or challenged?
Ego can step in.
People push. They strive. They might force themselves into shapes their body does not want to be in. Not because it feels good - but because they want to “do it right”.
Yoga isn’t a competition. But the language you use as a teacher can absolutely turn it into one.
Instead, cue choice:
Offer options, not ultimatums
Describe sensation without judgement
Avoid implying that something is unsafe unless it truly is
Your words have the power to shape the room.
2. Please don’t make the class about your practice
Yes. We know.
You’re bendy.
You’re strong.
You’ve been practising for years.
And that’s wonderful. I love that for you!
But when a class becomes:
“Watch me, watch me!”
…it kinda stops being about teaching and starts being about performing.
The students become subtly aware that the class really isn’t about teaching them something at all. They’re required to be an awe-inspired audience.
Ask yourself; why am I demonstrating this advanced version of the pose? Are there students in the room for whom this is a helpful guide?
Demo’ing out of context can create unrealistic expectations. Students feel like that’s the correct way to do the pose and they’ll strive for it. Ego starts bitching. Bodies start grumbling.
Some people do like a challenge - absolutely. But if you pitch the challenge outside of their short-term reach, they won’t come back.
Worse? They may decide yoga “isn’t for them” and walk away from the practice entirely - sadly, I’ve spoken to far too many people who have told me they tried yoga once and it was just too hard, they were almost embarrassed they couldn’t keep up.
And at the extreme end of the scale, you may even be setting your students up for an injury.
Good teaching isn’t about how impressive your asana looks.
It’s about how your lessons are received by your students in their bodies.
3. Don’t give us trust issues with your counting
Let’s talk about planks.
Specifically… lying plank counts.
If you cue:
“Hold for 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… …3……… 2………… 1”
…we need to have words not extended gaps.
Especially if this is at the end of a tough class.
I can hold plank. But when the dot-dot-dots in between the countdown numbers get longer and longer and starts to stretch into an eternity, my nervous system doesn’t feel empowered – it feels betrayed and I feel irritated.
I love a well-placed joke from the yoga teacher as much as the next person and yes, I agree challenge is great.
And tapas, inner fire and resilience are all really useful tools on the yoga mat.
But be honest. Guide the practice. Encourage without trickery.
Trust matters in a yoga class. Because once it’s broken, people stop listening – or worse still, they’ll brace or tense up. And that’s probably the opposite of what you are trying to achieve, right?
4. Be mindful with physical adjustments (and for the love of balance…)
I’m not anti‑adjustments.
If a hands‑on assist helps someone explore their practice more safely or comfortably, I’m all for it 👏🏼
However.
Please don’t:
Physically adjust the same person over and over
Adjust someone new to yoga without context
Leave the rest of the room holding a pose while you tend to one body
If you adjust the same person three times in a 60‑minute class while no one else gets touched, they will absolutely think they’re doing it wrong. And the rest of the class will think there's favouritism.
Also - and this is crucial - not all bodies are built the same.
Some hip sockets and femurs will never allow knees to rest on the floor in cross‑legged sitting. That’s not resistance. That’s just anatomy.
Yoga is about balance.
Left and right.
Effort and ease.
Teaching and observing.
I also feel like it’s bad etiquette to leave a person wonky; if you adjust their trikonasana on the right side, make sure you offer the same modification on the left so they experience both. You and I both know that bodies are not symmetrical so it will feel different.
And for the love of your mat, please don’t leave the rest of us hanging in Warrior II with our thigh muscles screaming at us while you workshop one hip.
5. Don’t assume everyone knows how to get into a pose
I love Sanskrit. Truly, I do.
The sing‑song magic of it, the lineage, the poetry - I am in! I use it because it’s important to honour the culture and the history of all of this wonderfulness.
But saying “Trikonasana” and expecting everyone to magically arrive there… is not inclusive teaching for a mixed group of people.
→ Some students are brand new.
→ Some are neurodivergent.
→ Some are simply too deep in their practice to have to remember all the names.
→ Some panic when they feel behind.
Name the pose and guide them.
And this is true of people who are familiar with the asana names as well because whilst I appreciate a heads-up of where we’re going, I get all fizzy-excited when we arrive in a pose that I just didn’t see coming because I’ve never approached it in that way before.
To me, that feels like a delicious, different meandering pathway to a familiar and well-loved picnic spot.
Teaching is translation.
6. Don’t presume to tell me how something feels in my body
“Relax here.”
“Enjoy this.”
“This should feel lovely.”
Should it? Should it???!
Because while Balasana or Child’s Pose might feel nourishing for you, for someone else it might:
Pull on the lower back
Create knee pain
Feel claustrophobic or unsafe
Presuming sensation robs the student of their ability to notice the sensation for themselves. Agency and bodily autonomy are everything.
Instead, invite curiosity. Ask them where in their body they feel the pose.
Everybody’s body is different so be sure to offer alternatives and certainly normalise opting out.
Because yoga is never about forcing relaxation.
It’s about choice.
Something I say often in my classes and in my coaching practice
“Your body, your rules. Always.”
A final word (from a yoga teacher mentor)
If you’re a yoga teacher looking to grow, if you’re looking for someone reliable and body-aware to call on if you need cover for your classes, or if you’re looking for a knowledgeable teacher to host guest workshops - you should know this stuff matters a lot to me.
Studios don’t just want beautiful sequencing.
They want teachers who:
Understand bodies
Communicate clearly
Create safety
Keep students coming back
Great teaching is subtle.
It’s thoughtful.
It’s empowering.
And it’s a skill you can absolutely refine.
So for the love of downward dog – let’s teach in a way that actually serves all of the people in the room.
All my love,
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