The Elephant in the Room for Movement Teachers
Most people train as Pilates or yoga teachers because they love the practice.
They’re good at it.
They feel at home in their body.
They imagine themselves doing Pilates or yoga every day, teaching what they love, surrounded by like-minded people.
And during training, that often feels true.
You train with the same group.
Bodies are relatively young, capable, and conditioned.
People understand where their limbs are in space.
They move with a shared language.
But here’s the elephant in the room.
Practising is not the same as teaching.
This difference rarely becomes clear during training.
It shows up after you qualify, when you teach your first real class with real people.
Not fellow trainees.
Not movers.
But everyday bodies, arriving with history, fear, pain, and expectation.
Practice Is a Personal Experience
When you practise, you are inside your own body.
You already have:
body awareness
coordination
confidence in movement
a felt sense of alignment
You self-correct.
You adapt intuitively.
You know when to stop.
Practice is internal.
Teaching Is an Act of Translation
Teaching is external.
And for many new teachers, the first group class is a rude awakening.
These are real bodies.
Overweight bodies.
Injured bodies.
Frail bodies.
Older bodies.
Anxious bodies.
Bodies that have never been “body awakeners”.
People who flail slightly, like baby birds leaving the nest for the first time.
People who don’t know where their hips are.
People who can’t feel their breath.
This is teaching.
When the Class You Planned Meets Reality
You’ve planned a beautiful, dynamic class.
Then you look up.
Three older women.
Knee issues.
Hip issues.
Fear of pain.
Limited range.
This is where many teachers freeze.
Because the skills required here are not about how well you can move.
They’re about how well you can see, adapt, simplify, and prioritise safety.
Why This Gap Matters
If this gap is not acknowledged, teachers often:
feel like they are failing
overcomplicate to compensate
cling rigidly to plans
quietly lose confidence
Or worse, they teach only to the bodies that can already do the work.
The students who struggle get overlooked.
They fall behind.
They feel confused, embarrassed, or out of place.
And many leave believing Pilates or yoga is not for them.
Not because the work isn’t appropriate.
But because it wasn’t translated for their body.
None of this means you are a bad teacher.
It means you were trained in a practice, but not yet fully supported in the responsibility of teaching real bodies.
That distinction takes time, humility, and experience.
Where Real Teaching Begins
Real teaching begins when:
you stop performing
you slow down
you choose fewer exercises
you prioritise clarity over creativity
It begins when you realise that your job is not to teach what you love doing.
It is to teach what supports the body in the room.
This is where personal practice becomes essential.
This is where standards matter.
This is where mentoring makes a difference.
A Note for New Teachers
If your first classes feel confronting, you are not behind.
You are meeting the real work.
Every teacher who stays in this profession long enough crosses this threshold.
The ones who last are the ones who stay curious, refine their skills, and learn how to work with real bodies in real time.
Mentoring
If you’re early in your teaching career and want guidance navigating pay, boundaries, class design, and longevity, I offer private mentoring for movement teachers.
Details and applications are available as part of my Excellence Rituals professional development channel.
Feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear from you.
Bessie Refalo is a Pilates and movement teacher based in Chelmsford, UK. Through her journal she explores movement philosophy, teaching and the experience of living in the body.
