Yoga Tips For Your First Yoga Audition
You finally made it, your first yoga audition and then your mind starts wondering. I hope I can get it, Please God help me, I need this job… etc. But all that just makes you nervous and you’ll start to doubt yourself. Instead, stay calm and use the tools you know and express who you are. Remember we project what we feel. Take a few deep breathes, feel your feet on the floor, show them who you are, have fun, and relax; it’s just an audition. Hey, nobody is perfect; if that studio isn’t for you it’s for a reason.
Take time ahead to plan and prepare for your audition. Don’t try to do it the night before. Prepare the sequence with the tools you learn in your yoga training. The more you practice your sequence the better. Stick with simple and basic sequences, use poses that you are familiar with and practice. Show what you know and keep things simple, real, and mindful. Provide hands assist or have the ability to verbally break down a pose. Remember to share some important pose points with the students like breath work, mula banda lock, transitions, and thematic. Demonstrate your knowledge.
Practice your sequence with a friend or family member. Practice makes everything better. The more you do it the better, and the more confident you’ll be. You can also film yourself performing the sequence; this is a great tool to help you perform optimally. Forget the small details, auditions are short. They look for your personality and how you can connect with others. Don’t be a perfectionist be creative. If it goes in a direction you don’t want, improvise and make that moment yours. Don’t use scripts and don’t even try to copy another participant, if some one teaches a similar class as you had planned simply change, or use, one or two different poses. Don’t start the same as the others, give yourself room to improvise and be creative. Also, visualization is a great tool to gain confidence. Visualize yourself, as you want to perform. Thoughts are things and if you think you’re going to be great and you will pass the audition, guess what, you will.
Studio owners want to work with responsible people. They want to count on you. The day of you audition don’t make any other plans. Plan for the audition to be all day. Arrive 15 minutes early. Be there first. Be nice and smile at the person behind the counter, costumers, auditors and participants. Be humble, be alert, be present and be you. Introduce yourself to others, wish them good luck and support them too. Be willing to be the first. Dress accordingly with the occasion, express yourself, dress your style, but don’t go over. Remember this, the auditions start the moment you set foot in the parking lot.
If you know what you’re doing you will have confidence and you will be able to control your nerves. Make your sequence simple and effective. Don’t try to teach something you never practiced before. Teach for the benefit of the participants, your job is to provide them with an experience not demonstrate your talents. Connect with people and laugh. Just be ready and be you. Slow down and be present, look at the participants and make eye contact. Teach them pranayama breathing it helps you to calm down and helps them too. Feel your feet on the floor and stand straight, walk around the room and make the group feel good about the practice.
They want to see you relaxed and confident, they want to feel your energy. Nobody is perfect; don’t try to be perfect, just be a human being. Show the things you know, if you make a mistake it’s okay, laugh about it, but don’t apologize no one will know that you made a mistake except you. Overall, be early, be nice, be humble, be present, be you and know the things you are going to teach and share.
Good Luck, You got this!
Albita