Oh hey, guys.

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for a while. I had originally planned on writing it in December when I first finished my 200-hour Power Yoga Teacher Training (PYTT) program, but then I decided to hold off until after my 50-hour extensions (XP) program.

Then, the New York Times ran a piece that was super critical of CorePower Yoga and its teacher training program, so I decided to keep holding off so I could sit on my thoughts a little bit more.

However, at this point, it’s been almost half a year (!!!) since I received my 200-hour yoga teacher certification, so I figured I should just suck it up and get the words (and photos) out in a blog post.

One of the coolest things about becoming an actual, real yoga instructor is finding my teaching style. It’s been a few months since I stepped into this new role, and so far, I love it.

I’ve been experimenting with different styles when it comes to the various elements of teaching: Sequences, assists, vocal tones, cue wording, music selection — there’s honestly so much that goes in to teaching a yoga class that I never even noticed until I started doing it myself.

One of the biggest small things (if that makes sense) that we learned in yoga teacher training is the importance of cultivating a class atmosphere that conveys what you want it to convey. Like I said, there’s so much that goes into this! Everything from an instructor’s vocal tone to the studio’s lighting and music selection/volume — it all plays a role in creating a very specific atmosphere for your class. As the teacher, you have to do what you can do in order to craft and control that atmosphere. For contract teachers (like me!) sometimes, that’s a tall order. You’re often given what your studio has to work with, and depending on the type of environment you want to offer your students, that may not be enough. As a Type A control freak (I know, ironic), sometimes, that’s a little too unstable for my liking.

Enter: My yoga teacher “go bag.”

One of the questions I get asked the most as a yoga teacher — other than “can you teach me how to touch my toes?” — is:

“What yoga mat should I buy?”

Buying a yoga mat — especially if you’re relatively new to yoga — is actually pretty hard. It’s a super personal decision! Every yogi’s body needs something different, and while “yoga mat” sounds like a simple request… it’s definitely a little more complicated than that.

There’s a lot to take into consideration when buying a yoga mat.