Being a fitness instructor requires effective and efficient communication skills. For class participants it's really important to know whether there's two thousand leg lifts to go or just 6! It's also imperative that people transition to the next movement as easy as possible. A good group exercise teacher who works with music, will be able to cue at precisely the right beat to instruct and prepare for the next move to be executed safely. Once the words have left our mouths we then hope like hell participants know what it means. The cue “6 pointer mumba over the top” is always guaranteed to bring that glazed look that all instructors fear. Good communication can make the difference between a class that flows, and one which feels awkward and unenjoyable leaving an unmemorable experience. I have 20 years of teaching under my belt which means that extreme anxiety no longer dominates my 'performances' as it once did. I no longer have to deal with the sheer terror of standing up in front of a room full of people who have paid for me to deliver them an experience which matches their expectations. (That's also why the first visit is always FREE) Being able to execute a class now with little anxiety leaves me to be more aware of my participants needs. I can now be fully 'present' allowing me to connect easier with my class. Years of experience has taught me to know when that connection is present and when it is not, it's a 6th sense that has been quietly developing. I wish it was as easy as that outside of the classroom! Connection between people can be very complicated and blurry at times but there's one thing I know and that communication skills are imperative to connection, and connection is essential for building or maintaining levels of trust and intimacy. Perhaps this is why it is said that the 'hand that rocks the cradle is the most powerful hand in the world' as we learn the power of connection from birth. For those of us whose communication skills don't come naturally, it is possible to learn. It simply depends on whether connection with others is important or not, for most people it is vital but often not realised until it's too late. Communication can bring sustainability to relationships, and it could be as simple as pushing the occasional 'like' on fb. I think we all crave connection, Some people look for belonging or connection via unhealthy and destructive pathways like substance abuse, and others have been lead to believe that sex is the answer to connection, and often this mis perception leads to hideous crimes. As a society we talk a lot about the destructive use of drugs and alcohol but seldom is sex addiction confronted. We are still on the peripherals of being horrified at the sexual crime that exists but are yet to take the awkward plunge of the bigger picture surrounding this social issue.
I certainly function better on a day to day basis when I feel 'plugged' in or 'connected' ... Call it god, call it whatever you want, but all I know is that it makes me feel more fulfilled than any drug that I have experimented with or any human being that I have been in relationship with. I also know that there is certain things that I do, or that can happen that bring me closer to that sense. Sometimes my sense of connection is just a thought away and at other times it isn't. I don't understand why, and Im not going to try and work it out. I just have faith in something that I can't make any logical sense of. I believe that the pathway to connection is so individual, but I think it's safe to say that we all want a piece of it. It's not something we can take, demand or force from others and we can not falsely manufacture it via a pill, or gain it fully from a relationship with another person. However we slowly discover it through being in relationship with others, but at the same time we will discover that it was actually there all along.
I certainly function better on a day to day basis when I feel 'plugged' in or 'connected' ... Call it god, call it whatever you want, but all I know is that it makes me feel more fulfilled than any drug that I have experimented with or any human being that I have been in relationship with. I also know that there is certain things that I do, or that can happen that bring me closer to that sense. Sometimes my sense of connection is just a thought away and at other times it isn't. I don't understand why, and Im not going to try and work it out. I just have faith in something that I can't make any logical sense of. I believe that the pathway to connection is so individual, but I think it's safe to say that we all want a piece of it. It's not something we can take, demand or force from others and we can not falsely manufacture it via a pill, or gain it fully from a relationship with another person. However we slowly discover it through being in relationship with others, but at the same time we will discover that it was actually there all along.
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