Personal Practice & Knowledge of the Teachings (Part 1)

In this section, we delve into these key points:

1. To be an excellent teacher requires prioritizing personal practice and self-study.
2. Remain a student: be curious and intent on improvement. Solicit feedback. Invite awareness of personal weaknesses and mistakes and enthusiastically embrace professional development.
3. Excellent teaching requires a wide and deep knowledge base and skillful application of yoga teachings.
4. Be clear about the difference between “naive practice” (a form of repetition) and “purposeful” or “deliberate” teaching practice, which specifically builds on strengths and improves weaknesses.
5. Teach only what you know and have embodied. Do not teach what you don’t know, and that which you are in the process of learning.
6. Be prepared to refer students to other experts for topics beyond your capabilities.

Personal Practice & Self-Study

To be an excellent teacher requires prioritizing personal practice and self-study.

• Your practice is key in so many ways, not the least of which is its role as your teacher.
• It may be tempting to spend precious time doing any number of things, but the task is to train ourselves to keep personal practice and self-study as the foundation.

YOGA IS A PRACTICE OF SELF-STUDY

Yoga is a practice of self-study. The act of consistently being on a yoga mat trains our bodies and minds, and it also illuminates patterns, habits, and routines. – Emily Rosenberger 

YOUR PRACTICE BECOMES YOUR TEACHER

Your practice becomes your teacher. Without a practice, you never really discover yoga—you’ll get a lot of information, but you’ll never know yoga. As a teacher, without a personal practice, you are living from and teaching from only twenty-five percent of the knowledge available from yoga, and you’ll never be a great teacher; you can only be good. – Shari Friedrichsen

PRACTICE A LOT, TEACH A LOT, BUT DON’T TALK A LOT

Practice a lot, teach a lot, but don’t talk a lot. – David Life

The key is consistency.

• More important than length of each individual practice time is consistency of practice. A daily practice, of any length, serves us better than a less frequent practice.
• Personal practice is not defined as a daily 90-minute asana sequence! Personal practice can last any amount of time you deem appropriate and may consist of pranayama, chanting, meditation or any combination of yoga techniques.

FREQUENCY OF PRACTICE PREDICTS BENEFITS

Frequency of yoga practice, either with or without a teacher, was the most consistent positive predictor of experiencing nearly all types of benefits. – David Keil 

THERE’S ALWAYS A SHORTAGE OF TIME; DO THE ESSENTIALS

I find it is necessary to realize the value of time. If we constantly put off doing the essential until tomorrow, this kind of hesitation might well accompany us all the way to our end. The right moment to start is now. – Sounds True 

MAKING IT FIT

Yoga must fit into your life… not the other way around. This is the practice of the mystic. It’s not once a week for 90 minutes. It’s every day, throughout the day in small ways that add up. – Alanna Kaivalya 

MULTITASK IF NECESSARY

I acknowledge that it is a non-traditional approach, but I think it is okay to do your practice, when necessary, while you’re taking a walk, commuting on your way to work in public transportation, or even while taking a bath. Your attention will naturally be somewhat divided if you are doing your practice while doing something else, but if it is the only way you can squeeze it into your day, just do it. I don’t recommend making a habit of this type of multitasking, especially if you are new to mantra meditation. However, in our modern busy lives, sometimes it is the best we can do. 

– Anandra 

See Also

• Personal Practice & Study + Embracing Suffering (Part 2)

Personal & Professional Development

In the section above we focused on personal practice and self-study — looking inward.

Here we highlight an aspect of personal and professional development that involves seeking input from outside.

• Excellent teaching requires a wide and deep knowledge base and skillful application of yoga teachings. This naturally requires studying teachings on philosophy, anatomy, biomechanics, and so forth. It’s not possible to be “done” with the study of yoga or the learning of ways to support students. There is always a way to be further inspired and empowered! Be curious and intent on improvement.
• In addition, it’s invaluable to solicit feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. Invite awareness of personal weaknesses and mistakes and enthusiastically embrace personal and professional development.
• The bottom line here is that every good teacher remains a lifelong student.

SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS

The best advice I would give a new teacher is to ask for and be open to feedback from your students. Listen, reflect, and then either take it in or let it go; but remaining open to their feedback is important, as it could be the only way the universe can give us the guidance that we need. 

– Desiree Rumbaugh 

SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM LOVED ONES

If you’re having a hard time finding any of your own ego serving habits? Try asking a good friend, or better yet your significant other, the longer you’ve been with them the better! – Ryan Leech 

THE MORE YOU KNOW YOU DON’T KNOW

There is no end to how much we can learn and evolve as teachers. True to the maxim posited by the Greek philosopher Aristotle that “The more you know, the more you know you don’t know,” the further you go in your training, learning, and experience as a yoga teacher, the more you’ll realize that there’s an infinite universe of knowledge and wisdom to bring to the practice. This becomes more abundantly clear as we come to better appreciate and understand our students which is absolutely essential if we are to guide them well in their practice. – Mark Stephens 

THERE’S ALWAYS MORE TO LEARN

At the end of my life there [will] still be undiscovered treasures out there… Even after more than 25 years of practicing, an excellent 500-hour teacher training, numerous special workshops, and ongoing independent studies of yoga history and philosophy, there is still so much I don’t know. 

– Nina Zolotow 

See Also

• 2 Minute Message #3: Teaching as Path of Continuous Learning
• 2 Minute Message #1: The Gift of Personal Practice & Self-Care
• Vision & Goal Setting