Teaching yoga vs. Being a Teacher

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Apologies to those who frequent the forums if this question has been posed elsewhere. The internet is awfully big and I haven’t been able to find all of it :).

Somewhere in my youth I signed up for a 200 hour yoga teacher training. I was lost in life and by extension, my practice. The studio I was practicing at offered their teacher training as a sort of enlightenment course, a 10 week program that would change my life for the better.

Ten weeks and my meager life savings later, I was still just as lost, but this time with a piece of paper declaring me a Registered Yoga Teacher. For a while I tried to live up to that piece of paper, presenting myself with more knowledge and experience than I really had. I tried a halfhearted teaching career for a few months and then let it fall by the wayside. I moved onto other interests, other passions, life goes on, one foot in front of the other, etc., etc.

Recently, though, a yoga studio opened up a few blocks from my house. The teachers of the studio are friends, and they invited me to teach as a sub. I agreed, mostly for novelty’s sake. Since starting this second stint, I’ve found myself more grounded, more honest about my limited knowledge. I get positive feedback from my students, which give me a nice ego boost (as much as I try to shuck that guy, he keeps creeping back).

I’ve been bothered, though, by the awareness that my own knowledge is limited. I was recently mildly embarrassed by participating in a yoga conversation and making a wildly incorrect statement about the origin of a sequence. There are more obvious answers to this problem (500 hour, further study), but im interested to know if there are other teachers out there who feel inadequate(sp?) to the task of leading others on a yogic journey and know what they use to keep their own journey moving forward.

#2

I’m not a yoga teacher, but as a student I can tell you that I like what you wrote. I like teachers who are aware of their limits and are not ashamed of it. Who do not escape from life problems into a fantasy world build on yoga. I trust them more and I’m absolutely not bothered if they don’t know the answers. Opposite even, the more often I hear a teacher questioning himself the more respect and trust I have. I know that what they say is genuine and was born in their lives and is not just wishful thinking.

Maybe treat this inadequacy as sort of offering to be grateful for your journey and reminder to constantly learn and develop? Maybe in some ways it plays important role at the moment?
But I’m thinking now, inadequacy may motivate to learn, but in a long run it doesn’t sound right. So with what it should be “replaced”? Maybe with a feeling of responsibility for your influence on others?

#3

Yoga journey is unarguably an individual’s own journey. Books, teachers and practice are adjuncts to it.

Books are cast in print and don’t change, but a teacher can hold the same text in different light and change its texture. Practice entirely depends upon the will and perseverance of the seeker. A teacher would treat that as a growing sapling - and would till the ground, plant it right, ensure enough sunshine and water, protect it and let it grow.

Yoga sadhana is individual’s own, but a teacher has to take responsibility for it. Taken rightly, teaching is a challenge. A teacher has to have walked the path ahead of the seeker and has to continue to keep the lead as the seeker progresses. One has to be a student forever. There will be moments when the seeker catches up and needs to move on, a true teacher will bless and retire.

There is no other misfortune worse than the seeker realizing the limitations of the teacher, before a teacher does. More than the 200-/500- hrs run of the mill, a teacher needs a sanction from the inner conscience. Thanks Goldenbeat for an honest and teachable post.

#4

Hi Golden,

The yoga TTC s (200/500) only give you a certificate-which seems essential in today’s world.

You have not mentioned how long you have bee practicing. Originally yoga was taught only at Ashrams, where the yogis’ had presumably been practicing for several years, before they started to teach. This made them eminently qualified to teach. Teaching was spread over several years.

This also meant that access to the science was restricted to those who had the time and inclination to spend those seven or eight years in the Ashram to learn. In today’s world,when time is at a premium, the yoga TTC is a way to learn quickly and teach. However, I suppose while the asanas could be taught reasonably well by someone who has practiced for a few years, (pre/post the TTC), the higher aspects of yoga comes only through sustained practice.

Dont know if this helps.

Ravi

#5

Suhas has hit the nail on the head. A teacher must know their limitations. A teacher is always the student.

RYT 200 or 500 is only the beginning. It gives you a foundation from which you have the responsibility to build and nurture. As teachers, we are always learning and growing. This sets a good example for our students. As they look to us for guidance and see that we are honest in our knowledge and our ability this emulates with them. This is a very important lesson for the student to learn. They too must know and respect their own limitations and be honest with their knowledge. A good teacher makes this clear.

Teach only what you know and have practiced.

Thank you for a wonderful post Goldenbeat. The fact that you have questioned this is a sign of growth.

#6

Everyone’s knowledge is limited. Yoga is quite vast and that vastness is often only gradually realized as we move forward along the path. It is only those who self-deceive that think their knowledge is limitless, and of course that deception blows wind in the sails of the ego.

Teaching only what you know is called integrity. Having integrity is not only appropriate for the path of yoga but it also facilitates an inner harmony and therefore well being. Knowing you have limitations is called humility. Having humility, in conjunction with gratitude, keeps the ego at bay.

When we make mistakes and are honest about them we learn far more than when we are dishonest or have a pretense about our perfection. So embarrassment stems only from a belief that we are or should be error-free (perfection). Instead of embarrassment we try to find the beauty of our own learning, our own growth, in a field where we will not “know it all” over the span of lifetimes.

To me teaching comes from two sources; the lineage of practice I have chosen and from the experience of that practice in my own living. So the two short(er) answers are continued study (with someone who actually knows something) and continued practice coupled with self-examination.