Did You Just Click? Embracing Our Realness as Yoga Teachers

When your yoga student discovers you are "more human" than they thought

In my salad days as a new yoga teacher, my knee clicked during a demo in class. Loudly. One of those echo-off-the-walls, unmistakably human, creaky joint kind of clicks. A student looked up at me, wide-eyed, and said, “Did you just...click?”

“Yep,” I smiled, “that was me.”

She blinked. “I didn't think yoga teachers clicked like that”.

She wasn’t being rude — she was genuinely surprised. As if clicking joints and yoga teaching simply didn’t go together. Like I’d somehow broken the rules of the job description.

The Myth of Perfect

And there it was. That tiny, honest question landed right in the middle of a big ol’ myth: that yoga teachers are supposed to be... 🙏🙏🙏... perfect.

Let me tell you now — I click. I pop. I occasionally swear when I stub my toe (NEVER at any other time). I’ve been “caught” in the wild (at a festival in Bristol) drinking a pint of lager. I eat fish. Sometimes chicken. I enjoy a night out. I have known, in very specific circumstances, the healing power of a well-placed F-bomb.

And yet — I teach yoga.

Not in spite of these things, but alongside them.

What does the word "yogic" really mean?

There’s this persistent idea floating around that being “yogic” means being serene at all times, eating only lentils, levitating at sunrise, and greeting traffic jams with a soft smile and a whisper of Namaste. But yoga isn’t about fitting ourselves into a tight mould of spiritual perfection.

It's not uncommon after class for a student to sidle up to me and say something like, “It’s actually kind of nice when your knee clicks... makes you seem more human.” Which is always said in the tone of someone offering a compliment — as if my humanity was in doubt until proven by a rogue joint noise or the occasional eye roll about the Yogi Tea "inspiration".

Yoga is about being with what is. Living honestly. Listening inwards. And sometimes what’s in there is a dodgy knee, a deep sigh, a craving for fish and chips, or the need to dance until daybreak.

What happens when we start embracing our realness

The danger in pedestal-placing yoga teachers (and I have done this myself) is that it creates distance. It can make students feel like they need to be something else before they can belong in a class. That they’re not ready, not enough, not pure enough, not perfect enough.

But if my knee clicking helps someone realise that their body, just as it is, is welcome on the mat — then I say, click away.

Yoga isn’t about transcendence away from our messy humanity. It’s about dropping deeper into it, with compassion, curiosity, and, yes, the occasional sound effect. In fact, once I started embracing my realness publicly as a yoga teacher - especially those things that seem incongruous with the flawless purity of yogic life - I became more connected to myself and my students.

So let’s drop the illusion of perfection. Let’s embrace the pops, the quirks, the snacks, the swears, the beautifully imperfect bodies and lives we inhabit. That, to me, is yoga.

And if you ever hear a suspicious click in class — don’t worry. It’s probably just me, doing my best human impression.

Train as a yoga teacher with us - 200 hour yoga training and further training

If you are thinking of walking this path as a yoga teacher, our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training - Your Own Voice, is an empowering journey for those who want to live their practice and teach a mindful approach to yoga. Get in touch with me for a discovery call if you want to find out if our course is a fit for you. I would love to chat to you.

Learn about our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Course in North Somerset

• 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training

Lead Teacher Morven Hamilton

Morven Hamilton has been practising yoga since 1995 and training yoga teachers since 2011. She studied in Rishikesh, India with Yogrishi Vishvketu in the holistic Akhanda school of Himalayan yoga where she received 200 hour certification in 2008 and training to deliver 200YTT in 2015. Morven did her trainer internship at Anand Prakash ashram in 2015.

She lives and works in Weston-super-Mare where she is a dedicated student of yoga, updating her training continually with her teachers Tias Little, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Gary Carter.