My entire life is one big awkward moment. I’m only funny by accident, I am completely out of touch with most of my generation, and I usually don’t think before I speak.
This has lent itself to quite a lot of “That was awkward” moments in class as a yoga teacher, and I’m here to tell you not to lose hope if you feel like teaching yoga is a far-off dream due to your childish sense of humor lack of public speaking skill.
If my ridiculous, accidental lunacy hasn’t been enough to get me disowned by the yoga community, I think you’ll be fine. Here are some of my best awkward moment gems.
“You’re Going to Feel This Deep in the Butt.”
That’s what I said. Out loud, into a microphone. What I was trying to get across was that Bridge is pretty intense work for the glutes…swing and a miss on that one! The worst part was that I was subbing a class, so it wasn’t even with anyone who knew my style and NO one laughed except me (but of course!). I’m a legend there, I’m sure.
That One Time a Client Farted. In My Face.
I was showing this guy how to use a strap in a Bound Angle, so I was sitting in front of his feet tying the strap. That’s when it happened. It wasn’t discreet either—oh no, there was definitely no playing that one off!
And I probably would have just moved on and forgotten about it had he not locked eyes with me right after (YES)…I felt like he was waiting for me to do something. I wasn’t sure what, exactly, so I just started laughing.
“I Only Use Essential Oils on My Privates.”
The best part about this was I said it with a completely straight face and it took me a good 10 seconds to realize the words I’d just said. I was talking to some yogi friends about using essential oils in class during Savasana, and wanted to say that I only use oils with private clients. Really “private” indeed…
For the rest of that week I got teased with things like, “Erin, did you run out of Lavender? Your privates are not going to be happy!”
I’ve had so, so many more faux pas as a yoga teacher but I think I’d be here all day if I had to recount each of them. Maybe you can share some of your own in the comments so we can split the burden.
