What’s Not Talked About - Yoga Teacher Edition

I think one of the most interesting parts of being a yoga instructor is showing up for others when trying to navigate through the perils of our own lives. We are as human as everyone else, yet we choose to take on this roll of someone to come to for health and wellness. Taking this course in life of leading others doesn’t just mean we’re teaching a few poses to help a backache and calling it a day. We are there to show how these movements can heal the body overall, become a quiet observer of even our most turbulent emotions, learn that we can take a breath even when we feel suffocated by our timed schedules, and that light can be found even in the darkest of places. However, what happens when the teacher is in the midst of a turbulent, suffocated and dark place themselves?

For example, I’ve been in situation where my morning definitely didn’t go to plan and a loved one and I are going down that path to nowhere of disagreements and disgruntled arguments. It’s getting close to when it’s time for me to put on a brave face and get in front of eager students, who are now counting on me to teach them the secrets of a zen master. It’s in those moments when I’m stepping in front of a class and I think “who am I to be teaching you any of this, I haven’t even mastered this stuff myself.” Thoughts roll in that maybe this is meant for someone who is actually a master. Then, Class starts and the magic begins to unfold. Once teaching begins, it is learned that a yoga class isn’t a teacher to student scenario at all, it is a student to teacher. The ones who I have in front of me are the zen masters, allowing me, completely human and all that comes with it, to guide them through a moment in their day that they cherish.

Being a “teacher” has taught me that I can be a quiet observer while I’m holding space for others through a meditation, that I can take a breath as I invite the rest of the room to take a breath with me, and that light can be found in the most unexpected places. It is nothing but a give and take, learning relationship that happens, working together like some perfectly preformed choreographed dance. It shows that the healing isn’t being created by one being, but by the collective energies in the room, coming together with love and gratitude for each other. It shows that our strongest moments aren’t when we retreat from all the problems surrounding us, it is when we face them head on with no other choice. It breaks us open and allows the light to come in. So, no matter what roll you have taken for yourself, know that the times you’re thinking you’re not where you should be, it may be exactly where you need to be.