Weekly musings, 7/16/17: Experience

This funny thing happens when you are “the teacher,” or “the trainer.” Your clients assume you know all. They come to you for advice, they assume you understand how the body works, and they trust your knowledge. They are, after all, paying you for your expertise.

As teachers, we are only as good as the sum of our experiences and our knowledge. Experience can’t be bought. Watching people move, observing what cues work, and noticing how people respond to specific exercises comes from doing, from being the teacher or trainer. 

However, if we rely only on experience and we don’t value learning from others in our field, we get stuck. Listening to others explain things and seeing how they put things together opens doors to new vantage points. It keeps our brains engaged with the material of human movement.

It also keeps our brains involved with our bodies. If we aren’t continually playing with movement, seeing what happens when we do x, y, and z, the connection with our subject lessens. 

Whatever field you are in, taking the time to listen to what other experts have to say is invaluable. Interacting with the material on a deeper level, through coaching or a long term course, can have a profound impact on how you experience what you are teaching. If you don’t value what you do enough to spend money on it, how can you expect others to do the same?