When we ask, “Who is yoga for?”, we probably don’t think about yoga teachers. It is often overlooked that yoga teachers also need to practice, and not just at home in their personal yoga practice, but as students in a yoga studio setting. Yoga teachers need to be students as much as anyone else, but with a few extra reasons.
Lifelong Students
Yoga is very difficult, if not impossible, to master. It’s not a month-long course; rather, it’s an endeavour which carries on over the course of your life. Part of becoming a yoga teacher is the commitment to being a life-long student.
This means continuous study of texts and countless hour of practicing at home. It also means going out and learning from a variety of teachers.
Community
Not only do we, as yoga teachers, learn the little details of asana, pranayama, anatomy and meditation from our fellow teachers, but we also absorb new yoga teaching techniques. When we set aside our ‘teacher’ hats, and fully embrace our role as a student, we become better teachers.
When we attend yoga classes as students exploring new perspectives and interpretations, we strengthen what yogis and Buddhists call ‘sangha’ or spiritual community. Practicing anything in complete isolation is much more difficult than receiving the support of a community of like-minded practitioners.
Surrendering Teacher Ego
I definitely struggle with being a student. I can’t always keep my teacher mind from butting in, especially if I am challenging myself to practice in a very different style than I teach.
I often find myself scrutinizing and even judging my teacher over any incongruence with my ideal teaching style. This is obviously an unhealthy student attitude, one which blocks learning while building ego and negativity.
This is an interesting experiment for teachers, because it offers us another way to practice yoga. In these situations, we are again letting our ego control our thoughts and emotions. Of course it’s natural to believe that the yoga you teach is the best form, because it is the best: for you.
Embracing the value of each style, for its unique contribution to the whole body of yoga, has a very liberating effect. When we open and integrate numerous yogic perspectives, we form a more fully complete picture of this expansive practice; this is of benefit for our own yoga practice and, most importantly as teachers, for our students.
Fill Your Teacher Toolbox
Just as no two students are the same, so too are yoga teachers different from one another. We all learn and need different things in different ways, so having a yoga teacher toolbox is essential. When you notice one way of explaining a movement or position isn’t working, you can draw from other teachers to find what works.