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.
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.
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