Holding grounded space as a teacher is one of the most important and most hard to teach skills for new yoga teachers. How can you be confident doing something you are new at? Do you need to actually be confident? What do we do when challenging situations knock us off our center?
To answer these questions and more, Iām so honored to have my teacher and friend Ethan Nichtern with us today. Ethan Nichtern (he/him) is a renowned contemporary Buddhist teacher and the author of Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Lifeās Eight Worldly Winds and several other titles, including the widely acclaimed The Road Home.
In this episode youāll hear:
how we define confidence, and why as a teacher of buddhism, Ethan wanted to write a book about it
how a conversation about privilege and social location is necessary when talking about confidence
the myth that Buddhist teachings advocate for overcoming a sense of self and how fits into a Buddhist book about confidence
an overview of the 8 worldly winds and how they show up in our lives
US election thoughts and predictions! š¬
Learn More From Ethan via his socials below:
Recent Podcast Episodes
In this episode, I share practical strategies for designing a teaching schedule that reflects your energy, values, financial needs, and responsibilities outside of work. We'll talk about why it's important to know your ideal weekly and daily schedule, how to decide whether to keep or drop a group class, and why you may need to give a promising class at least six months to grow.
The big takeaway: You can't control every fluctuation in freelance yoga teaching, but you can intentionally build a schedule, business, and teaching practice that become more sustainable over time.