joining our teacher team

The Intention of Our Practice​

• At Oak + Lotus, the intention behind our teaching is to help our students feel their best: physically, mentally, + emotionally. We approach yoga as a set of tools that offers a wide variety of benefits and can be used in many different ways. We do NOT approach yoga as a race with a finish line or specific end goal.

• While we do teach advanced physical skills in certain classes and encourage our clients to play with their boundaries and challenge their bodies when they want to, we do not present the achievement of advanced poses or any kind of physical feat as the ultimate goal or the "best result" of our practice. 

• Instead, our focus is on teaching students to connect with themselves, listen to the messages their bodies are sending them, and then choose from the wide variety of tools our practice has to offer them in order to leave their mat feeling better than when they arrived. Some days that might mean a restorative Yin practice; other days, a challenging Energetic flow. ​​​

• We teach our students not to worry so much about how a pose looks (because it looks different in every body), but rather to learn how it's supposed to feel. That's why we don't have mirrors.

Inclusivity: Make Every Body Feel Welcome

• We offer variations/options whenever possible, without making one sound like a "lesser" option that the other.

• We encourage students to use props to make the pose feel best for their body, and frequently offer our students suggestions on how to use props to customize poses to their unique bodies. We do NOT view using props as "cheating" or a "lesser" version of a pose or transition. 

• We never assume students already know how to do something. We always offer alignment and engagement cues, rather than just saying the name of a pose.

  • For instance, when offering the option of a prop, we never just say “you can use a block in this pose if you want.” We will always explain and/or demo how to use said block.

Teachers Who Actually Teach

• We give instructional cues, and lots of them. We don’t just recite a list of poses, and don’t assume people already know how to do anything. 

• We keep demos to a minimum. If you're up on your mat demoing the whole time, you can't see your students, and you certainly can't assist them if they need help.  Only demo if you notice that people are confused, or if you’re cueing something that you know is new and likely to be confusing to your students. 

• We are always on the lookout for students who need assistance, and then go assist them.

• We offer hands-on assists frequently and with purpose. (More on that below.)

• Our cues are based on actual physical anatomy, not imagery (we say “spread your toes” or “relax your feet” rather than “breathe through your toes” ) or the “energetic” anatomy (we say “Reach the crown of your head towards the ceiling” rather than “Send energy out through the crown of your head”)

Consistency Across Classes

• We want our clients to fall in love with the studio and our way of teaching, not with any one particular teacher. We all follow clear sequencing and cueing guidelines to ensure consistency across classes. 

• Also, it’s very confusing for a student when teachers offer conflicting instructions. This is why we do our best to ensure that we are all teaching alignment the same way, and using the same names for poses.

• That said, there are some poses that can be taught safely more than one way.  As long as you know your reason for choosing the cues you do and share those reasons with your students, you’re good.

Safety First

• Our sequencing structure is designed to keep the body safe. We warm our students up properly and build up to deeper stretches and advanced poses, rather than throwing them in at the beginning. 

• Our teachers understand that not all bodies behave the way theirs do, and know how to sequence and cue accordingly. They can teach to all body types, not just those that look and behave like their own.

Rhythmic, Musical Flow

• No matter what level of class or speed of practice, we ​cue a rhythmic, steady flow with a strong emphasis on moving with the breath. ​(Except for Yin, duh. ;-)

​We teach the Spiritual without the Religious

• We are completely secular, in both the language and music that we use when teaching. 

We teach the Philosophy without the Fluff

• We relate the Yoga Sutras and the philosophical principles embodied therein into modern, everyday experiences rather than using esoteric quotes or figurative language to explain them. ​

Hands-On Assists (Once it is safe to offer these again)

• ​There are three possible intentions behind an assist: fix alignment, offer TLC, or suggest how a student could go deeper into a pose.

• When assisting, we always put the student's safety first. This means:

  • Physically supporting the student when necessary to ensure they don't lose their balance or fall out of a pose.

  • We don't do the work for them; we use our touch to show them how or where to move, but let them do the work themselves. 

  • We always let the student choose how deep they want to go; we never give forceful deepening assists. ​

Music

• A well-crafted playlist can significantly enhance a student’s practice, both in the rhythmic Vinyasa classes and the calming Yin classes!