Do people acually try to learn yoga at home without a real teacher?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#8

Well, from what I’ve seen, I don’t really think that there is a lot of “teaching yoga” going on even when you HAVE a teacher. Since I’ve gotten back into yoga these past several months, I’ve noticed that, at many yoga classes, they aren’t really “teaching yoga.” It’s more like they’re calling a square dance. “Now we’re going to do this posture. Now we’re going to do that posture.” And if you don’t know the posture, then you are expected to just look around at your neighbor and try to put your body in roughly the same position. That is, apparently, considered good enough.

This is the single biggest shock to me since I’ve gotten back into yoga this time around because the first time, I was learning Iyengar yoga from a very, very highly qualified teacher who went into incredible detail about the correct postural alignment of the asanas.

And now I’m doing Ashtanga on a regular basis which is, essentially, a self-taught system. They will go through the postures with you a few times and will correct the posture if they see you doing something wrong, but you’re basically left to learn it on your own.

The yoga workout in the P90X system is, from what I understand, a perfectly legitimate Vinyasa-style workout. Since you have a video that you can return to again and again (and, presumably, the postures are demonstrated correctly), I’d say that you might actually be getting MORE detailed instruction than you get with a lot of yoga classes, depending on how the instructor teaches.

#9

A lot of people settle for what is easily available for them ,if you have to make a trip across town for great instruction I would think by all means it is worth it . The wisdom and energy from a great teachers class is worth some effort on the practitioners part imho
if it is a workout you want then do 100 push-ups 200 sit-ups 100 Hindu squats , 50 pull ups then run 3 miles = about the time of a yoga class
Cheers

#10

That’s true. But how does one find great instruction? I’ve been to many different classes with a many different teachers at a variety of yoga studios in the Indianapolis area. This appears to be the norm, not the exception, in this day and age. The class I’m going to on Tuesdays and Fridays has more detailed instruction, but most of the other classes I’ve attended all seemed to be designed for people who pretty much already know how to do the asanas and just want to practice them in a room with other people.

#11

The studio I go to has different levels listed. Say 1/2 to 3. By the time you get to 2 or 3 it is expected that you know the basic poses. However there is good instruction even at the higher levels with the instructors moving around making comments or adjustments.
My studio is small. Max people there would be maybe 15. Usually it is around 10.I guess I’m fortunate.

#12

[QUOTE=shumanfoo;80762]The studio I go to has different levels listed. Say 1/2 to 3. By the time you get to 2 or 3 it is expected that you know the basic poses. However there is good instruction even at the higher levels with the instructors moving around making comments or adjustments.
My studio is small. Max people there would be maybe 15. Usually it is around 10.I guess I’m fortunate.[/QUOTE]

You are fortunate ,
Enjoy cheers

#13

Yes Fixed a lot of people do what they must to learn yoga. We are not all so fortunate to be surrounded with yoga studios and wise teachers. I have read several yoga books and have dvds that I have learned from. I went to a yoga class but the teacher taught nothing. Internet has been my greatest resource. Dont get me wrong there is a lot of trial and error, but if you want it bad enough you can make it happen. peace

#14

I think the most important thing is find a teacher you trust and do what is expected without questioning , that is the biggest difference I see with modern students as opposed to students in the 70’s .imho
Cheers

#15

Fixed do you still have the same teacher since the 70s? Or do you have many different?

#16

The same teacher and others ,
" A well know ancient saying in India holds that the attitude of the student determines the quality of the teacher "…the first line from the second chapter in the book Krishnamacharya His Life And Teachings , by A.G. Mohan
I have had one guru but many teachers, I work with people like me I show them yoga people with brain injuries they teach me far more than I show them imho

#17

You show them yoga or teach them didnt understand the last sentence of yours.

#18

[QUOTE=fakeyogis;80769]You show them yoga or teach them didnt understand the last sentence of yours.[/QUOTE]

Sorry I have a brain injury also in my brain injury recovery group I show some pranayama techniques to help with anxiety issues that we can suffer from …
After almost forty years of raja yoga I will be attending Hatha t.t. In January after that I will add asana for those able or willing , I see the need and I want to help ,brain injury …we may look normal on the outside but on the inside there can be terrible pain.
Cheers
Peace

#19

Great that you try to help others. I hope you finish hatha t.t. With exellence.

#20

Who taught the first teacher?

Oh, wait…should that have been “Whom” rather than "Who?"
What’s the object/subject?
Is there a teacher of grammar in the house?
Ain’t that a lot of questions?

#21

[QUOTE=Tor_Hershman;80949]Who taught the first
Hatha?
I think it was Shiva
Cheers

#22

[QUOTE=Fixed;80953][QUOTE=Tor_Hershman;80949]Who taught the first
Hatha?
I think it was Shiva
Cheers[/QUOTE]

Yes, that is why he is also called Yogeshwara- The Lord of Yoga

#23

ZenGuy:

But how does one find great instruction?

That is the question isn’t it? I guess you don’t know how long you have to search until you find it. I think that if you make the observation that the teacher seems to be a “square dance instructor”, you haven’t found a good teacher yet. So continue the search, and stay focused on the path. It was probably always the case that it was hard to find good teachers (except for Fixed, lucky b*****d). We are blinded by the shiny stars of the Internet, but fools gold always came thirteen to the dozen, I think.

#24

[B]Do people acually /B [B]try to learn yoga at home without a real teacher ?[/B]

Would the great sage Patanjali have so eloquently recorded the Yoga Sutras if he thought it was not going to point?

#25

Good example is the birdman he experimented and came up with a cure to the incurable. He read books and had birds in cages in his cell. Experimenting to find a solution.

Reading and experimenting. He became greater than most birdpeople, but then he had time also.

#26

When I first started yoga there was no teacher available to me for the first two years, with the exception of a free class taught every few months at the university (which I eventually took over after she left). When I finally moved somewhere that there were teachers, I found that none of the classes gave me the same peace I could find at home. They were all very physically based and the many teachers I tried seemed too inpatient and careless with the needs of their students. It was almost another year before I traveled to India and finally found a group of people who could answer the questions I really needed help with. Nearly eight years after my first yoga book, almost all of my practice has been done on my own outside of the many month-long intensives of YTT courses. I do have a mentor/teacher, but I only see her once or twice a year, and her best role has been just to help me gain perspective and guide me through any obstacles I haven’t been able to traverse in our time apart. I travel a lot and live in different cities, and I sometimes daydream about joining in an every-day class and having a teacher who can guide me daily and maybe take the burden off a little, but at the end of the day I know that the best clarity can always be found just by kneeling down into balasana three feet away from where I sit right now. I really have been my hardest and greatest ‘real’ teacher and while I am grateful to all of the other teachers who have crossed my path, I wouldn’t trade my worst self in for anyone else.

Except maybe Vivekananda. If he were alive, I’d say he was my teacher for the first 3-4 years. Normal yoga classes couldn’t hold a candle to his teachings for me.

Just wondering it would seem like walking with your eyes closed imho

When I was a little girl, my father told me that when he locked the house up at night, he would deliberately shut all the lights off and find his way upstairs to the bedroom with his other senses, so that he would have have the tools to find his way someday when his eyes weren’t there to guide him. I was about nine and thought he was completely mad for fumbling around in the dark, but many years later this activity teaches me something new every day. So don’t knock it till you try it!

#27

I started yoga 9 months ago, lil by lil learning from the internet, yoga books, YT etc, I practice daily at home, each day I have been learning new things which once I thought I’d never be able to do. But its not limited just to the poses. I like my home & self practice, maybe some day I’ll find a teacher, but as of now I enjoy the awarness my practice brings & all that I have been able to learn in the process. Teacher can always be helpful in the process, but If I’d rely on that I’d never have come so far. So Yes one can definately learn yoga without a teacher.