Yoga Trainers Reference
Among the questions I have heard a whole lot from people considering yoga is "I would like to know how I can find 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 physical fitness teacher can be very important to your growth and progress on your yoga path. There are tons of things which occur on the way, changes linked 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 susceptible to a false feeling of power (ego.) Having a teacher that may 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 crucial.
Since I truly believe I have among the very best teachers of Hatha yoga on the planet, the most clear-cut 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." This means for generations upon generations, his direct ancestors, including several of his uncles other current close family, 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 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, as well as the other 1% came by way of walk-ins or the yellow pages. (Here is a good hint in your search for a teacher - talk to that person's students and find out how enthusiastic they can be about the training and guidance they can 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 took part in scientific research studies of the affects of yoga on the body and immune system. This experience gives him a unique perspective, one based upon 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 search out 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 point is the fact 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 may be teaching. Ideally, this is going to be somebody that has valid certification as a teacher. Whether your teacher attended free classes at the local area center for long enough to absorb the best foundation, or paid lots of money to attend every certification program and yoga retreat available, both of them are valid paths to teaching. How qualified they're will depend on the person's natural talent, the time they spent training, and how qualified their teachers were.
This could 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 could possibly be a red flag.
Essentially, 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 else) or if they're overly obsessive about a "power dynamic" associated with being in the role of a teacher, in which case you would have a problem.
As ironic and unfortunate since it is, although yoga is a spiritual and additionally physical path towards well being as well as well-being, by its very nature, it really is susceptible to "misuse" or maybe abuse. We have all heard stories of organizations that seemingly start out with the top intentions and after that end up within 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 investigation. Talk to some students, and attend at least one class just to observe (if possible.) What will be 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 situation due to how focused he is on helping people, not taking from them. To put it one other 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 find a need for yoga within the community) to being available to students outside of classes to help them with any challenge they may be facing. He is a natural "therapist", and people talk to him about everything from medical problems to marital problems, crisis in business or professional life, or whatever.
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 quite apparent, and I am certain it explains the success of his yoga practice.
Although there is absolutely no perfect formula as well as "perfect" yoga teacher, I hope that by using my teacher as a model, I have given you a useful frame of reference while you set out to seek out your yoga teacher. Just do some homework and trust your intuition, and simply, enjoy each moment.
