Last school year, I spent four or five mornings a week at the JCC - Jewish Community Center (the local gym at which I'm a member). Every morning, I was greeted by Joe, the incredibly friendly older man who works at the front desk, and it always set my day off right. I attended my favorite yoga class two days a week and worked out with my friend Merri the other three days each week. It became my happy place. The exercise helped me feel better and focus more on my teaching and parent coaching, as well as on being the mom and wife I wanted to be.
Joe at the front desk started to encourage me to come work there, since, as he said, I was there all the time anyway. I told him I had no qualifications whatsoever to work there.
I looked into getting certified as a personal trainer, but what I really wanted to learn was about muscles, and specific exercises for specific needs. Instead the program covered more how to work with people, which I've been doing for the last decade.
I'd often entertained the idea of teaching yoga, but the training programs are at least $2500, usually more, and instructors usually make less than $25/class. The programs also take a good part of a year, including weekends, which I like to spend with the kids. So, I'd never followed through on that idea.
While I was entertaining the idea of how to get into teaching group exercise, I mentioned it to the secretary at the kids' school. She told me about an opportunity to get trained to teach Barre through the WAC - Wisconsin Athletic Club (our other local gym) for only about $100 and in only seven weeks. That sounded perfect, except for one thing. I'd actually only ever gone to one Barre class, and I'd hated it so much I never returned. But, that was years ago. I was a different person... and I was up for trying something new.
The seven week program didn't leave me feeling prepared me to teach, but it did get me excited to teach. I took another program online and applied to the WAC and the JCC. I had to have an audition, which was to teach a class to people who worked there, including those who'd hire me. I asked the women in my yoga classes to allow me to teach them some practice classes before I auditions, and then, in May, I auditioned.
I was offered a job at both places. Since I wanted to teach four days a week, and most places only hire a person two days a week, I accepted both positions.
I didn't want to start weekly classes until the fall so I could have the summer with the kids and be out of town as much as I wanted to be, so I began subbing at both gyms for other teachers who were gone. I only took the classes that I wanted to take.
After a couple weeks of subbing, the WAC was looking for a sub for a yoga class. I wrote to my boss that I wasn't trained for yoga, but I've been doing it for 11 years, and that I'd sub if she wanted me to. She asked if I felt 100% comfortable teaching yoga. I wrote back the I felt a lot more comfortable teaching yoga than I did teaching barre. She allowed me the chance.
I subbed that class and then was offered other yoga classes, so I taught yoga a bunch of times over the summer.
This fall, I'm teaching two barre classes at the JCC, one at the WAC, and a barre yoga fusion at the WAC. In October, I'm going through a program (that will only cost me $25 since I'm an employee) at the WAC that will officially certify me to teach yoga there. I'm excited to learn ways I can tweak what I've been doing.
It's been a super fun adventure. I love teaching, and I've always enjoyed teaching my Love and Logic classes. But I also love new challenges., and trying something brand new in my mid-forties has been a challenge. I've really been enjoying it.
