To Be A Great Yogi, First We Must Be A Great Student

As yoga students, we are always looking for a great teacher, someone who can inspire us, teach us, and take us to the next level. But the search for a great yoga teacher must start within us. We need to become a great student first.

Here are some guidelines for becoming a great yoga student:

1. Realize that everyone has something to teach you.

Yoga students and sometimes yoga teachers make the mistake of thinking that teaching yoga is about winning a popularity contest. Students compare notes in the studio lobby, "Oh, if you like Teacher A, you will really like Teacher B. I think Teacher C is too easy. Teacher D really works you out. But now I am at the point where I only want to go to classes taught by Teacher Z." I have seen students even show up to take a class and then walk out when they discover their "favorite" teacher is not there that day. They’re missing the point, Yoga is not about the teacher, it’s about the practice. Every teacher has something to teach you, and often it is not what you think it should be.

2. Respect the teacher within the teacher.

In the yogic tradition for hundreds of years, the teacher was the most respected person in your life, more so than your own parents or any figure of authority. We do not understand that here in the West because we often mistake the role of the teacher with the personality of the teacher. The role of the teacher is someone who shares the teachings. The teachings are the important thing, not the personality of the individual teacher. When you show respect to a teacher, you show respect for all teachers, for the teachings of Yoga, and ultimately for yourself. If you feel the need to rebel and be disrespectful, park in a no-parking zone, talk back to your boss, or engage in your favorite self-indulgent destructive behavior - but always respect the teacher within the teacher. It is the only way you can learn what yoga is really about.

3. Understand a teacher is a projection of the student.

Whatever you think about your teacher is almost all about what you think about yourself and has very little to do with the teacher. A teacher is a mirror that reflects the student. This is the only way we can learn about ourselves - through self-reflection. I remember hearing about a conversation that had taken place at certain center in the area. A student was asking another student who the Guru was for another school and after receiving an answer their next question was “can he do a headstand?” For this person, appearances are everything and any value the teacher could have offered is lost in a projection of the student's own insecurity. On the other hand, students can have positive projective fantasies about their teachers that are also more about their own needs than about the teachers themselves. I can recall numerous instances of students building great big stories of how advanced such and such teacher is because of… only to become disillusioned when the human side of the teacher shows through and it doesn’t fit the fantasy which has built up in the student’s head. Examine the reactions and thoughts you have about your teacher, they will tell you a lot about your current state of mind, fears, and the lessons you need to learn.

4. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

This is an old proverb in almost all practices and spiritual traditions. What it means is that you often get the teacher you deserve or, more politely, the teacher you are capable of encountering at the level of your current development. As you advance in your self-understanding, your capacity to recognize and attract the teacher you need to reach the next level also increases. Why should a master teacher waste time with you if you are not willing to master yourself? Students make the mistake believing that if they can only find an advanced teacher, they will advance. Instead you need to do the work with the teacher right there in front of you. Then you will earn the right to meet your next Teacher. One simple test is this: Are you ready to meet your teacher when they do arrive to teach you? Are you fully present, sitting in class and ready to learn? Or do you come in after the teacher has arrived and class has begun? We all have an emergency once or twice a year that may cause us to be late to yoga class, but think of the energetic message you are sending by showing up after the teacher has arrived. Who is waiting on whom to appear? Another test would by do you show up empty to receive the teachings being offered or do you show up full of preconceived ideas that your trying to confirm? Are you really ready to learn or just prove you our self-worth?

5. Know that the only purpose of having a teacher outside yourself is to realize the teacher within yourself.

A great student realizes that they are the teacher as well as the student. Ultimately your yoga practice must become self-directed, but not in the same way as the person who does his or her own poses at the back of the class. Through your yoga practice, you will increase you awareness, awaken your intuition, and learn to trust that guiding spirit that is present in all human beings. This awakening will direct you. Others will continue to teach you, but you will realize that is only through your own self-study, discipline, and surrender to grace that you will begin to understand the purpose of yoga. When you know such a teacher lives within you and within all others, then you will become a great student.

6. The Teacher is a Guide

A book or video is like having a map, a “Good” Teacher is like having directions, a “Great” teacher is like having GPS, and an “Advanced” teacher is like having someone knowledgeable of the area in the car with you. The whole purpose of the teacher is to guide you along the path that is the practice of Yoga. A book or video can be enjoyable but not interactive and capable of show you the correct way of doing things. A good teacher can demonstrate and teach the proper use of asana and other aspects of Hatha Yoga such as pranayama. A great teacher has an understanding of more in depth teachings and can relate them in a way which gives you understanding of them. An advanced teacher has been there before they have experienced the teaching and can show you the shortcuts and pitfalls within the practice and get you there more efficiently.

May you have great teachers in your life.
May you teach others by your presence.
May you recognize and honor all teachers.
May you recognize and honor yourself.