What a Good Yoga Teacher Will Tell You

Written by James Bailey
Yoganonymous, November 2015

What a good yoga teacher will tell you:

A good yoga teacher will tell you that yoga is the journey to oneself … you. Yoga is only yoga so long as it is yours. So long as it reveals a deeper understanding of you. A good teacher will tell you not to idealize or imitate them. Learn their methods, modify them, make them yours over time. A good teacher will show you the way to yourself, not to codependency. If you need me, you’re in the wrong room. Do not do mine or anyone else’s yoga. Do your yoga. Try not to idealize, fantasize, or romanticize anyone else’s practice. Stay on your path. Half the work is staying true to ourselves in spite of the distraction of the spiritual marketplace around us. Be in your body, in your mind, in your heart, and care for yourself wisely. Be self-assured that you are as brilliant and magnificent as anyone else, and that your journey is equally worthy of love, and that your life is a story equally worth telling. Believe in your yoga. A good teacher will tell you that.

What a mature yoga teacher will tell you:

A mature yoga teacher will tell you to be clear about the authenticity of your path: You are one of a kind. Your life experiences, your childhood, your family karmas, your physical needs, your nutritional needs, your emotional needs, everything you need to stay alive and in balance is original and as unique as the fingerprints on your fingers. You are like no one who has ever lived. I shouldn’t have to say this, but we are not Hindu gods or goddesses. Unless you were born Hindu, you’re not even a Hindu. You can’t self-realize by trying to be the Buddha, or Krishna, or Shiva. To self-realize, you must realize you yourself. To put it another way, we are real, we are self-aware, we are complicated and fascinating beings to self-reflect upon, to fully understand and to one day fully accept. To know yourself, it is not required to speak in Sanskrit or wear a bindi on your third eye. You needn’t put your feet behind your heads, eat raw foods, be vegetarian, look sexy in yoga wear, or post selfies in handstands on FB. Those are objectifications, and in the deeper world of yoga, they are dangerous distractions. It may be helpful for some, but we needn’t chant the name of Hindu gods or change our beautiful birth names to “Devi” or “Shakti” or “-ananda”. Your name is already perfect and exquisitely you. Do not reject yourself, and replace it with an idealized form of someone else. Embrace your core self and the family karmas that make you uniquely you. As unpleasant as some of them can sometimes seem, you were meant to have difficult experiences as well, to grow from. They do not go away when we change our name or who we think we are. They just dig in deeper. The greatest form of yoga is a life lived in balance. A mature teacher will tell you that.

What an older yoga teacher will tell you:

An older yoga teacher will be more direct. They say the things that younger teachers won’t dare to say. They will tell you that doing someone else’s yoga is not yoga and does little other than to develop the teacher’s yoga business. If done authentically, your yoga will look like nothing out there because it’s a reflection of who you are, and there is no one like you. To practice your yoga, you should first know: you are already perfect just as you are. You are complete in a humanly incomplete way, which gives you room for growth. You are deliciously flawed, and that gives you rich character. You are more beautiful than any rishi could have ever imagined, so there’s no need to feel insecure around others – ever! Should you run into your shadow along the way, you’re definitely on the right path. Do not identify with the shadow. Work with it fearlessly and compassionately with eyes wide open. The only faith required is in yourself, for the divine is only as beautiful as you feel you are. On your path, authenticity is spiritual power, as it is the highest expression of faith in oneself. Without faith in ourselves, we can not generate faith in anything else. Be fearless in your potential, and authentic in your practice. An older teacher will tell you that.

Most importantly … just be you.

James