The Truth About Yoga Teachers

One of the questions I have often heard a lot from people excited about yoga is "I would like to know how I can locate a good yoga teacher?" And if your ready to start practicing yoga and asking that question yourself, your smart to do so.

Having a great teacher is very very important to your growth and progress on your yoga path. There are many of things that occur along the way, changes related to 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 vulnerable to a false sense of power (ego.) Having a teacher that can respond to questions and provide reassurance at crucial moments, as well as the capability to help balance and adjust a student's perspective when necessary, is important.

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

Shashi is a man in his 50's (although he could pass for late 30's) who has been a teacher of yoga for more than thirty years. He is from Kerala in 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 family members, were yoga teachers. In a sense, yoga is "in his blood" perhaps literally.

Currently he is 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 enable them to 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 a couple of years ago - with no marketing budget. 99% of his student base was built upon word of mouth, and the other 1% came by way of walk-ins or perhaps the yellow pages. (Here is a good hint within 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 one's body and immune system. This experience gives him a unique perspective, one based on both the traditional Eastern philosophy of Ayurveda and Yoga, as well as the science based Western philosophy of "show us proof and we're going to believe."

Admittedly, it may be very hard to find a teacher that happens to have this unique combination of experience, background, and credentials. And to begin studying yoga, you do not necessarily need someone as qualified as my teacher.

The essential factor is that the yoga teacher has some verifiable training or certification that will vouch for the very fact that they know both the theory and application of what they're teaching. Ideally, this tends to be somebody that has valid certification as a teacher. Whether your teacher attended free classes at the local community center for long enough to absorb the best foundation, or paid numerous money to attend every certification program and yoga retreat available, they both are valid paths to teaching. How qualified they are depends on the person's natural talent, the time they spent training, and just how qualified their teachers were.

This may be even more important than point 1 above. With the very best yoga training 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 also on their journey towards (yes, I am going to say it) enlightenment, then it could 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 they're overly obsessed with a "power dynamic" linked to being in the role of a teacher, then you might have a problem.

As ironic and unfortunate because it is, although yoga is a spiritual and physical path towards health and well-being, because of its demands, it is susceptible to "misuse" or maybe abuse. We have all heard stories of organizations that seemingly start out with the best intentions and then find yourself in the news being accused of cult-like practices.

Around I am not trying to scare anyone with this discussion, I am simply saying, take your time and do your research. Speak to some students, and attend at least one class only 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 really "thriving" - which includes financially. Ironically, this appears to be the case as a result of how focused he is on helping people, not taking from them. To put it a different way, it's what he gives away, each and 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 find a need for yoga within the community) to being available to students outside of classes to enable them to with any challenge they could be facing. He is a natural "therapist", and people talk to him about everything 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 within desperate need of the wisdom contained in yoga, on both spiritual and physical levels. His most prominent motivation, both within his words as well as in his deeds, is to "help people." This quality of his character is extremely 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 bear in mind, enjoy each moment.