What Two College Kids Discovered About Yoga Teachers

One of the questions I have often heard a great deal from people enthusiastic about yoga is "I would want to know how I can find a good yoga teacher?" And if your ready to begin practicing yoga and asking that question yourself, your smart to do so.

Having a good teacher is quite vital that you your growth and progress on your yoga path. There are many of things that occur along the way, changes connected with physical, energetic, and spiritual growth, and sometimes obstacles emerge. All of these things make a student of yoga curious, sometimes anxious, other times maybe even susceptible to a false feeling of power (ego.) Having a teacher that may respond to questions and provide reassurance at crucial moments, and the capability to help balance and adjust a student's perspective when necessary, is vital.

Since I truly believe I have one of the very best teachers of Hatha yoga on the planet, the most simple way I can think of to help answer the question above is to talk from experience about the qualities I have seen in my teacher, Shashi Pottatil.

Shashi is a man within his 50's (although he could pass for late 30's) that has been a teacher of yoga for more than thirty years. He is from Kerala within the South of India, where he hails from what is known their as a "yoga family." Consequently for generations upon generations, his direct ancestors, including several of his uncles other current loved ones, were yoga teachers. In a sense, yoga is "in his blood" perhaps literally.

Currently he is just one of the highest ranking certified teachers of the Yoga Alliance, the most prestigious yoga certification organization based here within the states. He regularly volunteers as a teacher at churches, synagogs, retirement homes, and works with cancer patients to help them harness the health-giving power of yoga to fight their disease. His studio in Mira Mesa, CA "Yoga and Meditation Center" is a thriving yoga practice that he started several years ago - with no marketing budget. 99% of his student base was built upon word of mouth, as well as the other 1% came by way of walk-ins or the yellow pages. (Here is a great hint in your look for a teacher - talk to that person's students and find out how enthusiastic they can be about the training and guidance they may be receiving.)

Besides his experience and credentials in traditional Hatha yoga, he has degrees in science and business, and was an executive for pharmaceutical company based in India. From this connection to the scientific community, he participated in scientific research studies of the affects of yoga on the human body and immune system. This experience gives him a unique perspective, one based upon both the traditional Eastern philosophy of Ayurveda and Yoga, and also the science based Western philosophy of "show us proof and we are going to believe."

Admittedly, it may be very hard to seek out a teacher that happens to have this unique combination of expertise, background, and credentials. As well as to begin studying yoga, you don't necessarily need someone as qualified as my teacher.

The important point is the fact that the yoga teacher has some verifiable training or certification that may vouch for the truth that they know both the theory and application of what they are teaching. Ideally, this will certainly be someone that has valid certification as a teacher. Whether your teacher attended free classes at the local area center for long enough to absorb an excellent foundation, or paid plenty of money to attend every certification program and yoga retreat available, they both are valid paths to teaching. How qualified they're is determined by the individual's natural talent, the time they spent training, and how qualified their teachers were.

This may be even more important than point 1 above. With the very best of credentials, in the event the person you are considering as a teacher has "alterior" motives outside of helping people advance both as students of yoga, and on their journey towards (yes, I am going to say it) enlightenment, then it may be a red flag.

Now, I am not claiming that yoga teachers should only teach from the goodness of their heart with no eye towards creating a viable business and livelihood for themselves with their teaching endeavors. What I am saying is, if their motivation is inappropriately slanted towards personal gain (whether financial, sexual, or otherwise) or if perhaps they are overly obsessed with a "power dynamic" related to being within the role of a teacher, then you could have a problem.

As ironic and unfortunate because it is, although yoga is a spiritual and also physical path towards well being as well as well-being, by its very nature, it is vulnerable to "misuse" as well as abuse. We have all heard stories of organizations that seemingly start out with the best yoga training intentions and after that find yourself within the news being accused of cult-like practices.

As much as I am not trying to scare anyone with this discussion, I am simply saying, take your time and do your investigation. Talk to some students, and attend at least one class just to observe (if possible.) What is the dynamic between the students and teachers? What does your intuition tell you about both the qualifications and character of the teacher or studio you are considering?

Lets return to my model yoga teacher, Shashi. His yoga studio is truly "thriving" - and this includes financially. Ironically, this appears to be the case due to how focused he is on helping people, not taking from them. To put it a different way, it's what he gives away, just about every day and week, that brings him such a successful school of yoga.

What I mean by "gives away" is everything from the time he volunteers to various community organizations (i.e. he teaches for free wherever he can locate a necessity for yoga in the community) to being available to students outside of classes to enable them to with any challenge they might be facing. He is a natural "therapist", and people speak to him about anything from health problems to marital problems, crisis in business or career, or what ever.

He does this because he truly believes that human beings in our times are in desperate need of the wisdom contained in yoga, on both spiritual and physical levels. His most prominent motivation, both in his words as well as in his deeds, is to "help people." This quality of his character can be very apparent, and I am certain it explains the success of his yoga practice.

Although there's absolutely no perfect formula and even "perfect" yoga teacher, I hope that by using my teacher as a model, I have given you a useful frame of reference as you set out to discover your yoga teacher. Just do some homework and trust your intuition, and keep in mind, enjoy each moment.