BECOME A YOGA TEACHER

There are many excellent reasons why a person chooses to become a yoga teacher, and some not so-good-ones too.  If you are contemplating exploring this possibility for yourself you just may find this article useful.

Let’s start on the upside of this investigation.  To become a yoga teacher requires undergoing a training that, in most cases, will bring about a real change first in you.  To become a yoga teacher means that you have to gain a real understanding of what can be altered.  You can’t be like the  natural health practitioner, I once met, who would advise his clients to do one thing and totally disregard the instructions himself.  When questioned about his approach he replied; “The advice I gave was sound.  I tell them to do as I say and not as I do.”

This approach definitely won’t even work with yoga.  You’ll need to not only be able to demonstrate the various intricacies of yoga movement combined with specialized breathing, but facilitate your students entering into these practices safely  and in a way that enhances their wellbeing.

Another thing to consider is that “yoga” involves a whole lot more than postural and breathwork.  Yoga involves a great deal more than achieving fitness and flexibility.  Authentic yoga practice has evolved from a highly sophisticated tradition that has a millennia old history.  The impetus for the development of yoga practice arose out of the yearning to find an end to the existential pain that any deeply searching person must meet.  And extraordinary solutions were discovered and codified into systems of practice that enable a person to become established in a state of total wellbeing that far exceeds fitness.
 
Complete yoga practice also transforms a person’s psyche.  Although physical pain, especially chronic, can have a hugely debilitating effect on someone, undoubtedly the cause of suffering no one seems immune from is predominantly psychological.  I have observed over many years that many people who engage the very specific strategies yoga has for countering anxiety, depression, boredom and fear achieve a state of vitality and joy that in not easily diminished or tarnished by challenges big and small.

To become a yoga teacher then is to aspire to become a more complete person, who not only is happy in themselves but strongly feels moved to assist others to release their pain, whether it be physical, psychological or of the soul. In other words, the sincere and dedicated practice of yoga awakens a strong compassion.  In this way, yoga is not so much a ‘career path’ as it is a vocation.  There are any number of yoga teachers who have created a beautiful and bountiful life for themselves.  Some have even made a lot of money doing so.  But the best yoga teachers I’ve had the good fortune to train with uniformly display a profound connection with a source of inspiration that transcends the desire for material gain, success or even recognition.  Their motivation is trans or meta personal- beyond and greater than preoccupation with their own condition.

To become a yoga teacher is a worthy aspiration.  You will find yourself being transformed from the inside out if the training is true and potent.  You’ll certainly get fit, you’ll get happy, and if you’re fortunate, discover a beauty in you and in the world that nothing can remove.

Contact us on info@shantarasa.com to find out further details and obtain a course information pack.