July 31, 2007

Teaching Hatha Yoga: The Transformation

Tip! Do Your Practices With A Free Mind: It is not enough to reserve time for yoga, with your body doing the exercises but you mind continuing to worry about other things. When you stop to do your yoga and meditation, you should remember that the next 30 or 40 minutes has been reserved for yoga and for your development.

Anyone who decides to become a Yoga teacher goes through many transformations, but your students will go through a variety of transformations, as well. The relationship between Yoga teacher and student is healthy because of the sharing of knowledge. Due to this constant sharing of ideas, the Yoga teacher and his or her students become healthier, wiser, and spiritually connected.

Yoga Teacher Transformations start from the moment you decide to become a Yoga teacher, but they continue as you decide to take a Yoga teacher training course. After the Yoga teacher certification process, most Yoga instructors continue to learn more about Yoga philosophy, anatomy, other forms of Yoga, meditation, Ayurvedic medicine, or any one of the many Yoga subjects that Yoga teachers would logically pursue.

Tip! Be Patient: Sometimes you will feel the effects of the yoga and sometimes you will not feel anything. Don’t worry about the immediate effects, continue to practice.

However, teaching Yoga classes on a regular basis is a form of continuing education, as you learn to teach Yoga students with different bodies, minds, and health conditions. This is where many Yoga teachers go through a gradual transformation toward Samadhi. Samadhi is the ability to control functions of the mind and body, while eliminating life’s daily distractions from the goal of complete consciousness.

To anyone who has never studied Yoga this seems like “mission impossible.” Yet, Yoga teachers learn to “walk the talk” of Yogic philosophy. What, at one time, seemed like a lofty goal; can actually be realized gradually. This all stems from teaching, sharing knowledge, and becoming a living example of steady Yoga practice. This is not a mystery, but a path that all Yoga teachers should walk.

These changes of body, mind, and spirit do not happen instantly. Some Yoga teachers and serious Yoga practitioners will receive different benefits and reach different levels of Samadhi, as a result of steady Yoga practice.

Yoga Student Transformation can sometimes be more easily felt or seen. In fact, a new student, who has never practiced Yoga before, may find relief from head aches, hypertension, or a back ache within a few Yoga classes. This is not a guarantee, but it does happen often. When a Yoga student feels the physical or mental benefits of practice he or she becomes transformed by discarding pain and gaining new found enthusiasm.

Tip! Do it Together With some Friends: Learning how to give and share is an important part of yoga, so don’t keep �yoga� to your self. If possible find one or two friends who would benefit from practicing yoga, and do it together with them.

Within any given Yoga class, there is a form of collective transformation that students and Yoga teacher experience. If you take a typical Hatha Yoga class and consider the warm ups, Pranayama, Sun Salutations, asana practice, meditation, relaxation, or an integration of any other Yogic components; the transformation is quietly happening to the entire group.

There is no mystery here. Transformation of mind, body, and spirit is a result of steady Yoga practice.

Paul Jerard is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center, in North Providence, RI. He has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. To receive a Free e-Book: “Yoga in Practice,” and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

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