As I've been preparing for teaching the first complete yoga classes since I completed teacher training, I've had to dig farther into what I know and specifically what and how I can teach it. I've realized more acutely that there's a difference between knowing how to do something and knowing it well enough to teach it.
Thinking of three nested circles of knowing has give me a framework to use in developing class plans and sorting out what I can teach now and what I still need to work on.
The inner circle, which I'm calling "Core," is the deepest level. I have internalized the pose, actions, and instructions - I can teach these poses. Attention and repetition are needed to internalize. This process applies to each asana, and also, separately, to a sequence of poses, such as a vinyasa flow. The sequence, the flow from one pose to another, also has to be learned and internalized.
The middle circle, I'm labeling "Proficiency." I know these poses, I practice them well. More awareness of essential actions and instructions, and refinement through repetition, is needed to move them to the Core.
The outer circle, I call "Exploration." These are poses I am still figuring out for my own practice.
By sorting out my practice and identifying which circle each pose is currently in, I know what I can teach now, and have information to develop practice plans to move new things from Exploration to Proficiency to Core.
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