How to Overcome Yoga Teacher Imposter Syndrome

You became a yoga instructor because you want to teach others this beneficial practice. Yet, every time you step in front of a yoga class, you feel like an imposter or some type of fraud. If this sounds like you, you may have yoga teacher imposter syndrome. Learn what this syndrome is and how to overcome it so you can teach your yoga classes with greater confidence. 

What Yoga Teacher Imposter Syndrome Is

The American Psychological Association (APA) refers to this effect as the imposter phenomenon (1). It is defined as a “situation in which highly accomplished, successful individuals paradoxically believe they are frauds who ultimately will fail and be unmasked as incompetent.” 

The APA goes on to explain that this phenomenon is often associated with feeling certain things. It’s common to feel anxious or depressed, for example. You might also have lower levels of self-esteem and self-confidence.

If you feel like an imposter as a yoga teacher, you may question your ability to lead a class if you don’t do all the yoga postures perfectly or if you don’t remember the Sanskrit names for each pose. Over time, this can erode your confidence. If it erodes it too much, you may quit teaching altogether.

Learning more about imposter syndrome is a good first step to understanding what it is and how to get over it. Let’s start by talking about the different types that exist.

5 Types of Imposter Syndrome

The Imposter Syndrome Institute shares that there are five distinct types of imposter syndrome, each of which leads to feelings of failure and shame (2). They are:

1. The Expert. The expert is focused primarily on their level of knowledge. If you don’t know everything there is to know about yoga, you feel like an imposter. When leading a class as a new yoga instructor, you may be afraid that your students will uncover your lack of knowledge. You fear not having the answer to their questions and looking like a fool. 

2. The Perfectionist. This type of person is focused primarily on how things are done. You feel like a fraud if you can’t do yoga perfectly. If a student struggles to master the practice, you take this personally too. You are hyper-focused on your flaws versus your successes. Having just one flaw equals failure to you.

3. The Natural Genius. Someone with this type feels like an imposter if they can’t do things quickly or easily. Maybe it takes you longer to help a yoga student than it takes other instructors. Or you might have to work harder to create a yoga sequence. If teaching yoga doesn’t come naturally, you question your abilities. 

4. The Soloist. Feeling like you can’t have help or else you’re a fraud is the hallmark of this type of imposter syndrome. If a fellow yoga teacher offers advice after teaching your first class, for example, you may feel like you’re not capable of figuring things out yourself. Any recommendation made by an experienced teacher is taken as a sign of your incompetence.

5. The Superhuman. For this type, the inability to master all aspects of life—not just those associated with being a yoga teacher but other areas as well—can erode your confidence. If you’re unable to keep up with your yoga business while also managing your life at home, you feel like a failure. Falling short in one area means that you fall short in them all.

Any one of these imposter types can make teaching yoga harder. It’s difficult to improve your teaching skills when you’re constantly berating yourself for not being perfect, knowing everything, or being some type of superhuman. 

You may also get less satisfaction from teaching. Each class increases your anxiety due to fear that your students will recognize where you lack. And each time you don’t do things just right, you beat yourself up, lowering your self-esteem even more.

The Key to No Longer Feeling Like an Imposter

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to feel like an imposter anymore. The key to getting over imposter syndrome is increasing your confidence.

When you are confident in your abilities, you don’t feel subpar or inferior. You also don’t look down on yourself for something you don’t know. Instead, you know that teaching is a journey. You don’t feel the pressure to be perfect right the moment you start.

If you feel like an imposter, you may feel like you don’t have a right to be confident. You don’t know everything, after all, nor are you an expert. That’s okay because that isn’t what confidence is.

Confidence is defined as “a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities.” Notice that this definition says nothing about knowing everything or getting everything right all the time. It simply involves appreciating and trusting in your abilities and qualities. So, boost your confidence in yoga teaching and your imposter syndrome goes away.

Tips to Increase Your Confidence as a Yoga Teacher

When you’re a new yoga teacher, it’s easy to focus more on what you don’t know than on what you do. However, you don’t have to be a teacher for years to be confident. Here are a few things you can do starting today to feel more assured in your yoga teacher role: 

• Understand what an expert is. Many people think that an expert is someone who knows everything about a particular topic. However, to be considered an expert, you simply need to know more than the average person. So, let go of the notion that not having all the answers means that you’re incompetent. You can be a more-than-competent yoga instructor even if you do not know the answer to a student’s question.

• Seek to learn what you don’t know. The key to feeling confident in times when you recognize that you don’t know something is being willing to pursue the answer. It’s often said that the smartest people don’t have a higher level of knowledge, they just know where to go to get it. Compile a list of yoga resources that you trust. That way, the next time you’re asked something that you don’t know, you can find the answer. Answering students’ questions with “I don’t know” is much different than answering with “I don’t know, but let me find out the answer and get back to you.”

• Celebrate your unique journey. As a teacher, you know that each of your students has a different yoga journey. The same is true for those in an instructor role. What may be harder for you may be easier for a different teacher and vice versa. Don’t compare your journey with anyone else’s. Instead, celebrate what makes yours unique. When you do this, it encourages your students to do the same. 

• Stop negative self-talk when it starts. How many times has a student paid you a compliment after class, only to have you downplay it? Or maybe a student mentions that they’re having trouble with their yoga practice and you instantly blame yourself. It’s time to stop this cycle, snuffing out the negative self-talk as an immediate response. When the negative thought starts to enter your mind, visualize a stop sign or say “stop” out loud. Then replace the statement with a positive one. For instance, “I’m not good at teaching pranayama” becomes “With practice, I will become better at teaching breathwork.”

• Teach more instead of less. If you feel like an imposter, you may be inclined to teach fewer classes. However, like with anything in life, the more practice you get as a teacher, the more confident you’ll become. Look at each class as an opportunity to build your skills. Look at each new challenge as a way to improve.

• Talk with other yoga teachers. Chances are good that if you ask your fellow instructors if they’ve ever felt like an imposter, their answer will be yes. At a minimum, this lets you know that you aren’t alone. And if they’ve never felt like a fraud, that’s good too. Ask them what they do to feel so confident. Learn from them. You may even ask if they’d be interested in a mentorship, helping you grow your confidence as a yoga teacher.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome with Yoga Teacher Training

Another way to increase your confidence is with yoga teacher training. Completing a training course can make you feel more comfortable in your role as a yoga instructor. It provides a base level of knowledge that you can rely on when leading a class. This way, you don’t feel like you’re so far out of your comfort zone.

In a training course, you learn skills that can make you a more confident yoga teacher. This includes learning how to break down and teach each asana. You also learn about various yoga styles, from restorative yoga to Yin yoga and more. This enables you to make suggestions to students who may be looking for a different yoga class.

When you choose a teacher training that comes with certification, this can boost your confidence even more. There’s something about being a Certified Yoga Teacher that can make you hold your head a little higher. It almost validates your knowledge, making it harder to tell yourself that you don’t know enough.

If you’re ready to get started, ISSA offers a Yoga 200 teacher training course. This 200 hour online course is approved by the Yoga Alliance. It provides the knowledge and skills needed to become a successful yoga teacher. It also comes with yoga teacher certification.

References

1. APA Dictionary of Psychology: Imposter Phenomenon. American Psychological Association. (n.d.). https://dictionary.apa.org/impostor-phenomenon 

2. Young, V. (2023, March 20). The 5 types of impostor syndrome. Impostor Syndrome Institute. https://impostorsyndrome.com/articles/5-types-of-impostors/