The biggest challenge I face as a yoga teacher? Taking over someone else’s class.

When I started teaching yoga, every time I took someone else’s class I had a full-blown ego trip. Instead of being in my body, I was stuck in teacher brain mode and too busy evaluating and criticizing to actually settle into my own practice.

Sometimes I would just sit there judging the teacher in my head the whole time. That signal was good. That transition was sloppy. I would never put it in order like that. Other times I left irritated, even angry, because the lesson was not what I had wanted or expected.

Ultimately, I realized that if I continued taking classes this way, I would never be a student again. I wasn’t getting much out of my practice, and honestly, I didn’t like the version of me that showed up in those mental rants. So I made a decision: From then on, I would find something I enjoyed in every yoga class I took.

Because if we are honest, as students we can get something out of every lesson. Even if the teacher repeats the same sentence what seems like a hundred times, he hardly prepares the class for the peak pose, or the music is so loud that you can barely hear the cues.

Yoga teaches us to sit awkwardly and notice strong feelings without getting carried away by them. Sometimes the irritation itself – and the discernment of how to navigate and disengage from it – is is the practice. Sometimes there’s something useful you can take away—whether it’s a sentence, a transition, or an adjustment—that will make you a better student and perhaps even a teacher.

Nowadays, when I find myself in one of those situations, I focus on trying to notice how frustration shows up in my body. It’s not pleasant. But it is presence. And I remind myself, This is still the practice. I move, I breathe, I learn.

Sometimes that means embracing a class I don’t like. Sometimes it means catching my ego when a teacher gives a ‘basic’ signal and my brain screams: I already know this. And sometimes it means I’m surprised at how much better my practice feels when I just shut up and listen.

It’s an approach I’ve tried over the years and it’s not easy. The snarky me especially struggles when I refuse to participate in the teacher’s ego trip. Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

Sometimes you’re going to hate it
The music isn’t your vibe, the sequencing doesn’t feel right, or the class just isn’t clicking for you. Congratulations! You were just practicing something you didn’t like. That is also yoga.

Sometimes you get exactly what you need
A cue that lands differently. An assist that changes everything. Or simply the gift of not having to teach for once and (trying) to be present with yourself as a student. Accept it even if you don’t like it.

Letting go of your judgment – ​​and being a student – ​​will improve your teaching
If you practice only with your favorites, your lessons will start to sound like theirs. By expanding – even with teachers you have no contact with – you can develop your own education.

Ultimately, taking yoga classes as a teacher can be messy. Sometimes you are judgmental. Sometimes you are humiliated. Sometimes you are just grateful for Savasana. But every time you are reminded of the point: yoga is not about just doing what you like. It’s about showing up, with your ego, your resistance and your breathing, and still practicing.