If you want to get good at something, practise, practise, practise.  I have also learned to have a thick skin!  Teaching fitness is a very personal thing.  People come to classes or to train and are often feeling very vulnerable due to percieved body issues, mental health issues or perhaps because they are having to wear gym clothing. 

Being the best instructor I can be doesn't only mean delivering classes safely and accurately (when it comes to classes that are choreograped by others), but it also means being sensitive to what people have going on that may affect how they enjoy and benefit from the class. 

I truly believe that yoga is a life-saver, it gets our bodies moving, gets us in touch with our breath and builds strength and resilience.  Never stop learning, trying something new and working out what is right for you.

I will start with my 'why'.  I am a fitness professional, but I wasn't always.  I have made my living doing various jobs and they were almost always a means to an end, the end being the paycheck at the end of the month.  After a second redundancy in 3 years and looming ill mental health, I decided to take the plunge and study for the Level 3 Personal Trainer qualification.  I had enough savings to see me through the perdiod of study and I would dog walk and do massage therapy to keep some income flowing.  That was November 2019.

Fast forward to April 2020 and I had just started my Level 2, had a few dog-walking clients, as well as some massage regulars and then the world shut down.  I had no job, no income, no qualification for my new career and now, no clients. 

I turned to yoga.  I had two 3kg dumbells and a yoga mat, some walking boots and a very large tangle of anxiety, plus a bad back (I used to go for a massage once a month when I had a monthly paycheck). 

I walked 3 miles every day through lockdowns and did yoga every day.  I managed to keep my anxiety quiet (er) by doing yoga and meditation and did what I could to keep myself going.  Level 2 was done and dusted by October 2019 with the amazing help of my tutor, as well as my fellow classmates, who I had weekly zoom study calls with.  

When the gyms opened again, I started attending classes every morning at 7am.  It kept me sane and it was nice to get out of the house and see people.  I attended a non-branded 'pump' class and the instructor was reading the choreo off a piece of paper on the floor.  I thought 'I'm sure I can do better than this' and I went home and signed up to the Les Mills Body Pump instructor course. 

I failed the assessment the first time and got in touch with a local instructor coach as per the Les Mills recommendation on the feedback form.  The local lady I got in touch with got me my first audition to teach a BodyPump class and got my foot firmly in the door with group fitness.  Everything happens for a reason they say! 

Nearly two years later and I am a freelance group fitness instructor, now qualified in Les Mills Body Balance as well as Les Mills Body Pump and I also teach 'Stretch & Flow', 'Small Group PT', 'HiiT' and 'Stretch & Strength' classes at a local gym in Hitchin. 

Group Fitness has been a steep learning curve for me and it brings me such joy to meet people and see them develop as they attend classes over a long period of time.  Group Fitness instructing was a huge distraction and that Level 3 qualification has been elusive so far, as discovering I am borderline Autistic explains the inability to focus on one thing due to the hyper focus on another thing! 

I am strategising on how to get that Level 3 in the bag and then plan to get my yoga teacher training out of the way before figuring out what happens next.