The Yoga Teacher Rut: How Tracy Simmons Found Her Next Level After a Decade of Teaching
Tracy sent a message into the Elevate community chat after one of her classes. She'd just had a moment, not about a cue or a sequence, but about her own body in the room. "When I slowed my body, my movements down," she wrote, "the whole room became clearer. I was more present. My confidence just soared." I read it and smiled. Not because it was surprising. Because Tracy had just named something it takes most teachers years to understand. And she'd found it through her own real-time observation, in her own class, with her own students.
That is exactly who Tracy is. A teacher who pays attention. Who sees what's in front of her. Who, as it turns out, already had far more than she realized. She'd just needed someone to reflect it back. This is the yoga teacher rut most experienced teachers don't talk about: not a lack of skill, but a lack of someone to help you see the skill you already carry.
In This Article:
Who Tracy Simmons is
What the yoga teacher plateau actually feels like from the inside
The one thing a decade of training couldn't give her
What shifted in her teaching and in her classroom
What this might mean for you
Who Is Tracy Simmons?
Tracy has been teaching yoga for over a decade and currently teaches at Purefire Yoga in Washington, DC. She came into Elevate with a long list of certifications, a full teaching schedule, and a quiet but persistent feeling that something was missing. She's taught general populations, beginners, advanced practitioners. She's built out programming for students with disabilities, developing a particular skill for reading bodies with specific and unique expressions of mobility, adjusting in real time, meeting people exactly where they are. In other words: Tracy knows how to teach. She did not need the basics explained to her. And yet, when she saw Elevate in her inbox, something made her pause.
She's not alone. Melody Billings found a similar turning point through Elevate, coming from a very different place in her teaching journey.
"I Was in a Rut and I Knew It"
Here's what Tracy said about the moment she decided to sign up: "I wasn't sure Elevate was for me when I saw the program in my inbox. I've been teaching for a decade. The description felt basic. I was in a rut though and I knew it. I also believe going back to basics can often times be the best action to take. So I signed up. Was it basic? No, it wasn't." That is the yoga teacher plateau in a nutshell. You've been doing this long enough to have your systems, your regulars, your rhythm. And also long enough to feel the ceiling. It doesn't mean you've stopped growing. It often means you've outgrown the container you're in, and haven't found a new one yet. What Tracy didn't know when she signed up was that the thing missing from her teaching life wasn't more training. It was mentorship.
The One Thing a Decade of Teaching Hadn't Given Her
Tracy's training history is substantial. Her 200-hour. Art of Assisting. Art of Sequencing. Baptiste Level 1. An immersion weekend with Rolf Gates. Adaptive yoga certification and numerous specialty trainings. Ten years of continuing education. A decade of real classes with real students. And in all of that, she had never had a mentor. "It is one thing to take your own class and give yourself feedback," she said, "but through this entire process since I've started teaching yoga, I have never had a mentor. I've always wanted one. And being able to receive feedback is just such an important part of getting better at anything. I can't imagine moving forward without it." This is more common than most teachers want to admit. The yoga world has built excellent systems for getting certified. It has not built excellent systems for what comes after. Most teachers graduate their 200-hour training and figure the rest out alone, with the feedback of students who loved the class, which is warming but not particularly instructive. Tracy had felt this gap for years. Elevate was the first container that filled it.
What I Saw in Tracy
One of the things Tracy brought into our mentorship calls was her work teaching yoga to students with disabilities. She was navigating questions about how to adapt, how to read bodies with specific and unique expressions of mobility, how to know what was appropriate for whom. She came with questions. Was she approaching it correctly? Was she seeing what she needed to see? What struck me immediately was how much she was already doing right. Tracy has a remarkable ability to observe. To look at who is in front of her and understand what they actually need. To notice not just what's happening, but what is NOT happening, and respond to that rather than to what she'd planned. She'd been doing this for years without naming it. Part of my work with her was simply shining a light on what was already there. Not adding something new, but helping her see the skill she already carried. That shift, from "am I doing this right?" to "I can see what I'm doing and why it works," changed how Tracy showed up. That is what mentorship can do that more training rarely does. It shows you yourself.
The Practical Shift: Landing a Theme
The other significant shift for Tracy was concrete and practical. One of her goals coming into Elevate was to teach one clear thing per class. Not move students through a sequence. Actually teach them something. Land a theme so clearly that when they rolled up their mat, they carried something with them. "I know you're committed to helping students slow down and actually learn something in each of your classes," I said to her. Her answer: "If I can slow the room down, I've done my job well." That intention was already there. What we worked on was the practical execution. How do you build a sequence around a single idea? How do you cue toward a theme without forcing it? How do you know when it's landed? This is the teaching work inside Elevate, and it's where Tracy found real traction. Not because she lacked instinct, but because she'd never had a framework for making that instinct consistent. The proof came in her students. They started coming up to her after class differently. More specifically. Thanking her for what they'd actually taken in. She could feel the difference in the room. When the teaching lands, everyone knows it.
"Instead of Waiting, I Went and Found It Myself"
Something Tracy said that I keep returning to: "So often, I haven't seen many yoga studios who have been super supportive of their teaching staff, not in the way that I wish that they would be. And so, instead of waiting for them to offer it, me going out and finding it myself — just the ability to open your mouth and work some of these things through — is so powerful." That is the shift I see in teachers who take their growth into their own hands. They stop waiting for the studio to see them. Stop waiting for the continuing education calendar to offer something that fits. After Tracy graduated from the initial Elevate program, she, like other teachers, opted to continue the journey with me. She shows up to our bi-monthly calls ready to go deeper, not just to report what's going well but to name where she wants to keep growing. That willingness, after a decade in the practice, says everything.
The Bottom Line on the Yoga Teacher Rut
The yoga teacher rut isn't a sign you've reached your ceiling. It's a sign you need a different kind of container. More training adds knowledge. Mentorship adds clarity about the knowledge you already have. Tracy didn't come into Elevate missing skills. She came in missing someone to help her see them, use them, and build on them. If you've been teaching for years and the ceiling feels real, Tracy's story is worth sitting with. Not because mentorship solves everything, but because going it alone was never the only option.
Get Curious! Q&A
Is Elevate only for experienced yoga teachers? No. Elevate is for teachers at all stages. Tracy came in with over a decade of experience and found it among the most valuable professional development she'd done. And some teachers join right after completing their 200-hour YTT because they want to hit the ground running with clear frameworks and support before they've even taught their first class. Wherever you are, the work is about your next level. What if I feel like I already know the fundamentals? That's exactly the right reason to consider mentorship. The fundamentals are a starting point, not a ceiling. Elevate goes beyond what you know into how you teach it, how you observe, and how you build confidence that shows up in the room. Will there be space to work through my specific teaching challenges? Yes. The Community membership includes live small group coaching calls where we go deep into your actual teaching challenges, not just concepts. If you want an even higher level of support, the Breakthrough tier adds private one-on-one calls with me on top of everything else. How do I know if Elevate is right for me right now? If you've been teaching for a while and feel like you've hit a ceiling, if you've never had a mentor, or if you want your classes to land more consistently and confidently, read through the program page and see whether the problems it describes sound familiar.
Go Deeper
Tracy's story isn't unusual. It's a pattern I see in experienced teachers everywhere: so much skill, so little support for growing it.
Elevate Your Impact Beta 2.0 is open now and starts April 14. Six pillars of curriculum, live coaching calls, and a community of teachers who are serious about their craft. If you're ready to stop going it alone, I'd love to have you in the room. Enroll in Elevate Your Impact →
About the Author
Dr. Trish Corley is a Doctor of Physical Therapy (Physiotherapy) and yoga teacher trainer with over two decades of clinical experience. She helps yoga teachers learn anatomy, give clear cues, and create classes their students love. Based in Lisbon, Portugal, she leads the Enlightened Anatomy Course, the Elevate Your Impact Mentorship, and the Power to Lead 200-Hour YTT.