Stop Trying to Sound Like Someone Else
In my second-ever yoga class, I was covering for a teacher named Bryan. I spent the entire hour apologizing—”I know Bryan usually does it this way.” “I’m sorry, I’m not Bryan.”
After class, two students came up and said something I’ve never forgotten: “We could tell you weren’t Bryan. So you didn’t need to apologize for not being Bryan.”
That was over twenty years ago, and it captures something I still see yoga teachers do: try to teach in someone else’s voice. In the video above, I break down why your authentic voice is your most powerful teaching tool—and four specific practices that help you uncover it.
Authenticity Builds Student Loyalty
Your students can feel the gap between you and a performance. When you try to teach in someone else’s voice—your teacher trainer’s cadence, the Instagram teacher’s energy—something feels off, even when the words are technically right.
When you teach in your own voice—even an imperfect, still-developing voice—your students feel the authenticity. And authenticity is what builds loyalty. Learning from other teachers is essential. Performing as them is where it goes sideways.
Your “Weaknesses” Are Your Superpowers
Here’s a counterintuitive truth: the things that come most naturally to you in your own practice are often the hardest to teach clearly. When something is automatic, you stop noticing the micro-steps that make it work.
Meanwhile, the struggles you’ve worked through? Those are a gold mine. The yoga teacher who found balancing poses terrifying is often the one who knows exactly what to say to the student who’s about to give up. Your challenges give you empathy and specificity that naturally gifted practitioners sometimes lack. This is one of the throughlines in Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing, my six-month mentorship for teachers who want to teach from their own strengths.
Four Practices That Accelerate the Process
Your authentic teaching voice isn’t something you invent—it’s something you uncover over time by paying attention. Here are four practices that speed up that process:
1. Teach the Same Sequence Multiple Times
The first time through a sequence, you’re managing logistics. The fifth time, you’re finding your natural language. The fifteenth time, something settles that is distinctly yours. Repetition isn’t laziness—it’s how your voice emerges. If you want a ready-made template to practice this with, my free Greatest Hits Lesson Plan is built to be taught over and over, so your own voice has room to settle into it.
2. Record Yourself Teaching
The gap between how you think you sound and how you actually sound closes over time—and closing it is one of the fastest paths to finding your authentic delivery. Watch one class recording per month. You don’t have to do anything with it except notice.
3. Notice Which Students Thrive with You
Your voice will resonate more with some students than others, and that’s a map, not a problem. The students who keep coming back are telling you something about who your authentic teaching serves.
4. Study What You’re Drawn To
The poses, themes, and ideas that light you up as a practitioner are clues to what your teaching has to offer. Your enthusiasms aren’t accidents. They’re pointing somewhere.
Your Voice Will Keep Evolving
Your teaching voice at year two will be different from your teaching voice at year ten. That’s growth, not inconsistency. The yoga teachers who develop most consistently are the ones who make self-assessment a regular practice—not as self-criticism, but as genuine curiosity. The Prep Station is built around this exact rhythm: monthly live calls where we work through what’s actually coming up in our classes.
After each class, ask: what worked? What didn’t? What would I do differently? Over time, the noticing will shape your teaching more than any external feedback.
Keep Going
If you want to keep developing your voice alongside yoga teachers doing the same work, join The Zone—my free community with monthly live calls and over 2,100 members. And for more on this topic, check out the Yoga Teacher Confidential podcast.
