Overcome Your Fears to Find Your Inner Voice

Despite all their efforts aspiring yoga teachers find it difficult to gather the confidence to become a yoga teacher. Becoming a yoga teacher is primarily about finding your inner voice. However, due to this lack of confidence, many practitioners develop some fears. And these fears prevent them from finding their inner voice.

Let’s discuss some of these fears, faced by many aspiring yoga teachers, and see how one can overcome them:

I Don’t Have Enough Experience

With abundance of yoga teachers in almost every corner of the world, it is understandable that new yoga practitioners primarily choose yoga teachers who have enough experience. But beside the experience, students also check whether the teacher is someone who can understand them. While you cannot have the experience when you start, but you can develop the habit of understanding students’ needs and help accordingly, and that will be enough for them to join your class.

I Don’t Know about Many Yoga Poses

If you have developed this notion then you can never be free of it. Yoga has been developed over a period of thousands of years, by thousands or probably millions of sages, yogis and practitioners and its practice comprises countless poses. Therefore, having this feeling that you don’t know enough poses to start teaching is not quite thoughtful. The important thing is to know thoroughly about what you know. 

I Don’t Know Enough about Yoga Philosophy

Learning about yoga philosophy is an essential part of yoga training; however, it is not a compulsion. Besides, if you are practicing yoga sincerely then you will be able to unravel the essence of yoga by becoming aware of your being. And what your awareness will teach you is not going to be any different from what is already there in the text.

My Training Isn’t Helping Me in Finding My Inner Voice

Many practitioners develop these feelings because they didn’t get what they had expected from yoga teacher training. They feel that their program isn’t structured well and teachers aren’t providing the necessary insights that they need to find their inner voice. It may be just a feeling, or it may be the reality, but it doesn’t mean that there is no hope.

While instructions have their own importance in leaning the process, however, it is your own practice and dedication towards that process that primarily help you in finding your inner voice. All you have to do is try to understand the deeper meaning every yoga pose and meditate sincerely and the rest will follow.

Joining a renowned yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Dharamshala, in India or other famous yoga hub in the world can help you in overcoming these fears. Most teachers at these retreats are learned yogis who know what fears aspiring yoga teachers have and help them accordingly. Besides, most of these retreats are in the lap of nature that enables practitioners to become more aware of themselves, and this eventually helps them in finding their inner voice.

Perks of Being a Yoga Teacher

People have always been advising to choose something that you love to do as your profession. And when your passion becomes your work, then the challenges at work are no longer ‘problems’ but only the stepping stones. While any kind of work can give satisfaction, if it is what you like to do, but taking up yoga teaching as a profession has a whole lot of benefits to it. Let’s discuss some perks of being a yoga teacher.

Job Satisfaction

As a yoga practitioner you come to know whether the path leads you further or not. And if it does, then you know that becoming a yoga teacher is the right thing for you, because it is something that you love to do. Besides, according to a survey professionals in the fitness and health industry have the highest job satisfaction of 85%.

A Chance to Help Others

As a yoga teacher, your job is not only to teach others a handful of physical poses, but also to help them in overcoming their life’s problems. Helping others inevitably makes you feel good about yourself, as well as enhances the job satisfaction.

Become Healthier

Becoming a yoga teacher, whether full-time or part-time, allows you to practice yoga more. Needless to mention endless benefits of yoga, as you do more of it you start to have more control over your life.

No Shortage of Work

Yoga isn’t a fashion that will remain in hype for a limited period of time. People are going to keep learning yoga as long as it benefits them, which is always. So, unlike other professions, there is no downtime in yoga teaching. In addition, whichever part of the world you want to go and live, you will always get many opportunities as yoga teacher. In fact, many yoga teachers start teaching yoga at their native places, then roam around the world to give yoga lessons. Many yoga teachers also go back to teach at the yoga institutes where they took the teaching course. Yoga retreats in Rishikesh, Goa, Bali, and Dharamshala are most popular among travelling yoga teachers.

Continue Your Work and Education

As mentioned above, you can be a full-time or part-time yoga teacher. Therefore, as a part-time yoga teacher, you can easily continue your primary profession or other works. Even as a full-time yoga teacher you have plenty of time that you can spend on your education or in simply learning more about yoga.

Freedom in Life

As a yoga teacher, you are self-employed, which is enough to say that you have plenty of work freedom. You have the freedom of scheduling the classes, which allows you to spend more time with your family and to handle your personal matters.

Success in Life

Yoga teachers don’t  run after corporate success. Although, plenty of yoga teachers manage to establish their own yoga studios, but their primary goal is always to spread the awareness about yoga. The real success in life is having the chance to do your work honestly, remain healthy and happy in life and helping others in doing the same, for which yoga is your best option.

5 Simple Steps to become a Hatha Yoga Instructor

Hatha yoga is among the most popular forms of yoga today. And due to its popularity and inclusion of its poses in several other forms of yoga, hatha yoga is often referred as simply ‘yoga’. Basically, it comprises several physical postures to be practiced at slow to moderate pace while taking deep and gentle breaths.

According to some yoga practitioners, the term hatha yoga came from the Sanskrit work hatha, which means force, while the other theory says that the term is a combined form of Sanskrit words, ‘ha’ which means sun and ‘tha’ which means moon. Therefore, hatha yoga is considered to be as uniting force of a pair of opposites.

The reason behind its popularity is that it is easy to learn and practice, and provides immense benefits to our body and mind.

Let’s take a quick look on a few tips that can help you in becoming a hatha yoga teacher.
Decide Your Discipline

“If you will run after two hares, you will catch neither.” Therefore, the first step is to choose from different disciplines of hatha yoga such as Bikram, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Power, Ananda, Integral and more. Each discipline has a distinct set of yoga poses and a distinct style of performing them.

Decide How Much Time You Can Spare

Usually it takes 4 week time if you are joining a 200 hours training. There are other training programs available as well, such as weekend courses, monthly sessions, etc. Whether you decide to take a hatha yoga teacher training in Rishikesh in a residential retreat or learn it locally, important thing is to schedule your training in advance, as it allows you to take the right decision in accordance to the amount of time you can spare.

Find a Retreat/Studio

As mentioned, there are various sources from where you can get hatha yoga teacher training, so what you have to do is find a reliable yoga retreat or studio that offers training that satisfies your needs and meets your schedule. To ensure the reliability of an organizer, you can go through people’s reviews about them or contact their previous students.

Get Firmly Settled at your Yoga School

To begin with your yoga training it is essential to first make yourself feel at home. If you have decided to learn yoga in India or California, or any other yoga hub in the world, where most of the retreats are in the lap of the nature, you will find it easy to get settled. That is why residential retreats are recommended when you want to take your yoga knowledge to new heights.

Become a Part of the Yoga Community

As a yoga teacher, you are a representative of yoga community who is introducing the process to aspiring yoga practitioners. Besides learning poses, practice a yogic life and try to adopt the discipline that your teachers have in their lives. Develop a thorough understanding of each pose and process, so that you can deliver the same message to your students. And at the end of the day, you will realize that becoming a part of yoga community provides a lot of help in teaching yoga.

Patience: The Virtue Every Yoga Practitioner and Teacher Must Have

B. K. S. Iyengar, one of the most learned yoga teachers of our time, once said, “Yoga is an ocean”. An ocean of knowledge that one can never consume completely, and an ocean of efforts that one can make in learning it. And with every new effort, practitioners will always come to know something new about themselves and about the process.

The ocean is also meant as an analogy for patience. Patience to learn yoga; patience to practice yoga; and above all patience to teach yoga. If you have joined a yoga teacher training in Rishikesh or Dharamshala or in any other famous yoga hub across the globe, then the first thing you have to accept is that it will take a great deal of time and effort to become a yoga teacher.

Becoming a true yoga teacher is about adopting compassion in your nature, which will also give you the confidence when you are taking a class. But the first step is to have patience in learning the process and in developing the essential skills. You barely need to make an effort to keep up with your own pace. But when you have to take others with you, then it really becomes challenging, and it’s here the virtues of patience and empathy pay off. That is why it has been repeatedly said that teaching yoga requires more patience than learning yoga.

As a yoga student, it is necessary that you don’t get desperate when you see your fellow practitioners doing challenging poses. Concentrate on your own practice, make earnest efforts and allow yourself some time, and you will be able to do things that you previously thought were beyond your abilities.

While teaching yoga, you must have the patience to accept the fact that each student of yours is on a different level and requires different amount of time and effort in learning the same thing. In fact, your yoga practice is also a teaching for your students. Therefore, you must take everything slowly and step by step, even if you are repeating it for the 15th time, to make sure that every student of your class has understood the pose and its implication.

At a glance, a 200 or 300 hours of yoga teacher training looks good enough for becoming a yoga teacher, however, it takes way more time than that to become a true yoga teacher. The process continues even when you are off the mat. And as you learn more and more about yoga, you become aware of how much more there is to learn. And then the meaning of the “ocean” becomes more comprehensible. But again, patience is required to first, accept this fact then to tread upon the yogic path.

To have patience may often seem difficult, because we do not know our true capabilities. Through yoga, we become aware of ourselves and come to realize our true potential, and that awareness builds patience in us. One can see it as a cycle of learning; patience comes with yoga practice and with patience we learn more about yoga.

4 Fundamental Things about Yoga That You Might be Missing

It is quite possible to go on with your yoga practice for a long period without learning a few fundamental things about it. Usually, it is with people who start to learn yoga on their own. However, it doesn’t mean that if you have a yoga teacher, then you are sure to learn those things. Often enough, even teachers don’t mention these critical things because they presume that practitioners are already aware of them.

What are these things that have been missed out by beginners as well as experienced practitioners? Let’s find out.

Practice Yoga Empty Stomached

Firstly, this doesn’t mean that you have to fast every time for the sake of practicing yoga. The point is to refrain from having a heavy meal before the practice. To be more precise, wait for more than a couple of hours if you have taken a heavy meal and wait for an hour or so, if you have taken something light, like a fruit. In addition, except for the vigorous forms and styles of yoga, you should not drink water or any other fluid for at least half an hour before and after the class.

Our digestive system needs time to function properly. Practicing yoga right after having a heavy meal can disturb our digestion, as well as keep us from getting other benefits that we are supposed to get with yoga practice.

Practice Yoga during Early Morning

Yoga has manifold benefits when it is practiced during the morning hours, before the breakfast. The mind is relatively fresh and empty of thoughts, which allows practitioners to focus more on their moves. It also brings energy and builds positive attitude in practitioners for the day ahead.

Every Yoga Posture has a Deeper Meaning

We are all aware of the fact that yoga postures transform us physically, but each and every pose has a deeper meaning to it. Every yoga pose is associated with the functioning of an internal body organ. And learning thoroughly about every pose will help you in knowing about the poses that are most beneficial for you.

Yoga is a Spiritual Practice

As a regular yoga practitioner, you can’t miss out this, but it doesn’t mean that you will not ignore it. Unfortunately, many yoga practitioners avoid learning spiritual aspect of yoga since they believe it is hard to comprehend; when in reality it’s all about opening up to the idea of spirituality. All you have to do is focus on yourself, and contemplate each and every move. And by the end of the day, you will realize that yoga has so much more to offer, if only one can comprehend the process as more than just an exercise.

In case, you are lucky enough to learn yoga in India, for instance at a yoga retreat in Rishikesh or Dharamshala, then you have a better chance to learn about these small yet vital things, since teachers there understand that even the regular practitioners can miss out these details, and believe in starting every yoga class from the scratch.