The Ultimate Secret Of Certified Yoga Instructors

One of the questions I have heard a great deal from people enthusiastic about yoga is "I would like to know how I can locate 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 can be very crucial that you your growth and progress on your yoga path. There are plenty of issues that 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, in other cases maybe even susceptible to a false feeling of power (ego.) Having a teacher that will respond to questions and provide reassurance at crucial moments, and also the ability to help balance and adjust a student's perspective when necessary, is necessary.

Since I truly believe I have among the very best teachers of Hatha yoga on the planet, the most straightforward 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) that has been a teacher of yoga for more than 30 years. He is from Kerala in 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 family members, 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 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 few years ago - with no marketing budget. 99% of his student base was built upon word of mouth, and also the other 1% came by way of walk-ins or even the yellow pages. (Here is a good hint in your search for a teacher - speak to that person's students and find out how enthusiastic they may be about the training and guidance they are 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 on both the traditional Eastern philosophy of Ayurveda and Yoga, and the science based Western philosophy of "show us proof and we shall believe."

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

The vital thing is the fact that the yoga teacher has some verifiable training or certification that will vouch for the truth that they know both the theory and application of what they're teaching. Ideally, this is going to be someone that has valid certification as a teacher. Whether your teacher attended free classes at the local community center for long enough to absorb a good 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 is determined by the individual's natural talent, the time they spent training, and the way qualified their teachers were.

This might be much more important than point 1 above. With the very best of credentials, should 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.

Fundamentally, 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 can be overly obsessed with a "power dynamic" connected with being within the role of a teacher, in which case you might have a problem.

As ironic and unfortunate because it is, although yoga is a spiritual and additionally physical path towards well being as well as well-being, because of its demands, it is vulnerable to "misuse" or maybe abuse. We have all heard stories of organizations that seemingly start out with the very best intentions and after that 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 investigation. Speak to some students, and attend at least one class only 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 really "thriving" - and this includes financially. Ironically, this appears to be the case because of how focused he is on helping people, not taking from them. To put it yet another 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 in the community) to being available to students outside of classes to help them to with any challenge they could be facing. He is a natural "therapist", and people speak to him about everything from medical conditions to marital problems, crisis in business or professional life, or whatever.

He does this because he truly believes that human beings in visit our website times are in desperate need of the wisdom contained in yoga, on both spiritual and physical levels. His most prominent motivation, both within his words and 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 isn't any 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 as you set out to seek out your yoga teacher. Just do some homework and trust your intuition, and as always, enjoy each moment.