Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

50. Phase Two of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: Finding Your Teaching Identity and Confidence

• Sage Rountree • Episode 50

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Five years into teaching, I realized I was sounding just like one of my mentors—same words, same tone, same everything. It made me wonder: who am I as a teacher when I’m not imitating someone else?

In this episode, we’re diving into Phase Two of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline: the Identity Formation Zone. This is where you’ve moved past the overwhelm of Phase One and into regular teaching—but still feel like an imposter.

We’ll unpack:

  • Why imposter syndrome can be a sign of growth.
  • How to set clear boundaries with students.
  • Ways to streamline your planning using the S.E.R.V.E. Method.
  • Tips for building a niche and marketing yourself authentically.

Phase Two is all about finding your voice, teaching with confidence, and laying the foundation for a sustainable career. Let’s navigate it together.

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Get in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you—let's chat there!

For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:

And come explore my mentorship program, my Yoga Class Prep Station membership, continuing education workshops and 300/500-hour teacher training programs, and my many books for yoga teachers. It's all at ...

Can I tell you something? About five years into my teaching career, I had a moment of panic. I was teaching a workshop on yoga for athletes my specialty, and halfway through I realized I was using the exact same language patterns as one of my early mentors. Same phrases, same tone, even the same way of moving around the room. And I thought, who am I as a teacher when I'm not copying someone else? Welcome to Yoga Teacher Confidential. I'm Sage Rountree, and today we are diving into phase two of the Yoga Teacher Success Timeline, what I call the identity formation zone. If you're teaching regularly, but still feeling like an imposter. If you're spending more time planning than teaching or if you're wondering when you'll stop feeling like you're playing dress up as a yoga teacher, this episode is for you. Phase two of the yoga teacher development timeline is where things get interesting. You've moved past the initial overwhelm of phase one. You're teaching regularly. Maybe you have a few classes on the schedule. Maybe you're subbing consistently. You understand the basics of sequencing, and you're not spending four hours planning every 60 minute class anymore, but you're facing a whole new set of challenges. Here are the telltale symptoms of phase two. You're teaching regularly, but you still feel like an imposter. Students are showing up. They seem to enjoy your classes, but you keep waiting for someone to figure out that you don't really know what you're doing. You're struggling to balance consistency with variety. You know consistency is important from your work in phase one, but now you're worried your students are getting bored. How much repetition is too much? How much variety is too little? Planning might still take more time than teaching. You could be down from four hours to two hours, but you're still spending way more time thinking about your classes than actually teaching them. You're feeling pressure to be creative for creativity's sake. You see other teachers posting innovative sequences on Instagram, and you think you need to constantly come up with new Instagram worthy flows. You are forming relationships with students, but you feel a little unclear on boundaries. Students are starting to open up to you. Maybe share personal information or ask for advice about things that have nothing to do with yoga. You want to be helpful, but you're not sure where the line is. You have questions about when and how to raise your rates. You started teaching for free or for very low rates to get experience, but now you're wondering when you're qualified to charge more. The big underlying theme of phase two is this. You're trying to figure out who you are as a teacher, not who you think you should be. In phase one, you might've been trying to teach exactly like your favorite teacher from training. That's normal. We all start by imitating what we've seen work and what we have enjoyed as students. But in phase two, you start to realize that their style might not be your style. Their personality might not be your personality. Their way of holding space might not be your way. And that can feel terrifying because if you're not teaching like them, how do you know if you're doing it right? Here's what's really happening. You're in the messy middle of professional development. You're competent enough to see the gaps in your knowledge, but you're not yet confident enough to trust your instincts. So why does this identity formation phase happen, and why does it feel so uncomfortable? First, let's talk about why feeling like an imposter is actually a sign that you're growing. The fact that you're questioning yourself, that you're aware of what you don't know, that's not a weakness. That's wisdom. I remember reading about something called the Dunning Kruger Effect, where people with limited knowledge overestimate their competence and ability to do a task. The opposite is also true. As your knowledge grows, you become more aware of how much you don't know, so that imposter feeling, it might actually mean you're getting better, not worse. But here's what I want you to understand about phase two. This is where you start to develop your professional systems and your boundaries. And these aren't just nice to haves. They are essential for sustainable teaching across time. Let me share something that happened early in my phase two. I had a student who started staying after class to talk about her relationship problems. At first, I felt honored that she trusted me, but then these conversations started lasting 30 minutes, and other students couldn't approach me with questions about yoga because she monopolized my time. I realized I needed to learn how to be caring without being a therapist. How to be available without being a dumping ground. How to maintain professional boundaries while still being warm and approachable. This is identity formation work. It's not just about what poses you teach, or what themes you guide, or how you cue the shapes. It's about who you are in relationship to your students and to the practice. Another big piece of phase two is learning to charge what you are worth. I see so many teachers get stuck here. They think they need to be good enough before they can raise their rates. But here's the thing. Your rates aren't just about your skill level. They're about the value you provide, the energy you bring and the space you hold. I started teaching and charging for workshops very early in my career, not because I thought I was the most skilled teacher in the world, but because I had something specific to offer yoga for athletes, and I was solving a real problem for people. You don't have to wait until you feel completely confident to start charging professional rates. Confidence comes from doing the work, not from waiting until you feel ready. Now let's talk about the planning time issue. In phase two, you're often still caught between wanting to be prepared and wanting to be spontaneous. You might have a solid sequence planned, but then you second guess yourself and add a bunch of variations just in case. Here's what I have learned. Good planning includes space for spontaneity. When you know your base sequence really well, you can adapt it in the moment based on what you see in the room. But if you're trying to wing it without a solid foundation, that's not spontaneity. That's just poor preparation. This is where the S.E.R.V.E. Method for planning becomes really helpful. Serve stands for S Structure with purpose. I suggest you base on sound physiological principles and on movement optimism, and use my 6 4 2 framework as a checklist to ensure your sequence is balanced. The E in serve. The first E stands for experience your lesson plan for yourself. Do it as though you were a student. The R is to repeat your lesson plan over time. Don't change it every week. Your students learn from repetition and you do too. The V vary, but vary with intention, not just because. And that second E in serve, evolve over time by evaluating what worked and what didn't. Give yourself the grace and room to develop and change. Following this serve method and repeating your lesson plan over time will give you consistency across your teaching month, while still allowing for some variety and growth. The beautiful thing about phase two is that you're starting to collect data about your self As a teacher, you're noticing what kinds of students you connect with most easily. What styles of teaching feel most natural to you? What aspects of yoga you are most passionate about sharing? This is how you begin to find your niche, not by deciding from the outside what you think would be marketable, but by paying attention to what energizes you and what you're naturally good at. So what do you actually do if you're in phase two of the yoga teacher development timeline right now? First, develop a monthly planning system using the S.E.R.V.E. Method I just described. Stop planning class by class and start thinking in monthly arcs. This will save you time and give your students a sense of progression and intentionality in your class. Second, build a variation bank instead of starting from scratch each time, keep a running list of pose variations, transitions, and modifications that you can draw from. When you learn something new in a workshop or a training, add it to your bank. Then you can pull from this collection rather than trying to remember everything in the moment. It's like knowing recipe variations, so you could make a frittata using whatever veggies and cheese you have in the fridge. Third, implement purposeful repetition across weeks. Yes. I know this is repeating the cue to repeat from the S.E.R.V.E. Method. Repetition is the key to learning. Repetition is the key to learning. I know repeating your sequences still feels scary, but your students will thank you for it. Teach basically the same sequence for three to four weeks, then make one significant change. This gives students time to refine their practice while also keeping things fresh. Fourth, create clear student teacher boundaries. Decide ahead of time how you'll handle personal conversations, what kinds of advice you're comfortable giving, and how much time you would spend with an individual student after class. Having these boundaries doesn't make you less caring. It makes you more professional. Fifth, begin specializing in areas where you have personal interest or experience. Don't try to be everything to everyone. If you're a runner, consider teaching yoga for athletes. It's a fantastic niche. If you struggle with anxiety, maybe trauma sensitive yoga training would be valuable. If you love the meditative aspects, perhaps yin yoga is your path. By the way, I offer continuing education trainings in all of these specialties at Comfort Zone Yoga. My virtual studio focused on teacher development. Sixth, start collecting testimonials from your regular students. Ask for specific feedback about what they appreciate about your teaching. Not only will this help you see your strengths, but you'll need these testimonials when you start marketing yourself more professionally. Speaking of which seventh, create a professional media kit and teacher bio. This doesn't have to be fancy, but having a one paragraph bio and a professional photo will make you feel more legitimate, and it will make it easier for studios to promote you. It's also good to update these regularly. I'm in full makeup today because I just had a brand shoot this afternoon. If you are feeling ready to go deeper into the sequencing and planning aspects of phase two, mastering The Art of Yoga Sequencing is designed exactly for teachers. At this stage, you'll learn the serve method deeply. You'll get immediate access to a library of Done for you lesson plans. You'll access a full six month curriculum that will take you from timid to confident, and you'll join me and your colleagues on twice monthly mentorship calls, where we work through these identity formation challenges together. If you're specifically interested in working with athletes, teaching yoga to athletes is my comprehensive self-paced training that shows you how to meet athletes' needs without making your classes feel like workouts. It's a great example of how specializing can actually expand your opportunities rather than limiting them. I have a new membership, the Prep Station, designed to help you implement the serve method, especially to structure your classes and to experienced balanced sequences as a student. It's only $39 a month. Check the show notes for the link. Or if you're looking for free support in community, you might enjoy the Zone where teachers at every phase of this Yoga Teacher success timeline, journey connect for monthly live calls and professional discussions. The key thing to remember about phase two is that identity formation takes time. You're not supposed to have it all figured out yet. You're supposed to be experimenting, paying attention, and gradually becoming more yourself as a teacher. Remember, your students don't need you to be like anyone else. They need you to be genuinely authentically you, which is something only you can figure out. Thanks for being here. In upcoming episodes, we'll continue exploring the phases of teaching development, including what happens when you start to hit your professional stride. I'm Sage Rountree. This is Yoga Teacher Confidential, and I'll see you next time.

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