What is a Yoga Teacher For?

What are we here to do, exactly? This isn't quite as simple a question as it seems on the surface. That surface answer, or the one I think people would most commonly come up with, would be that a yoga teacher is there to tell us what poses to take in what order, and to correct clients when they aren't in the right shape.

(I will pause here to say that it was just really hard for me not to put the words "the right shape" in quotation marks. That's another post, but what is the "correct" shape?)

So, where does that lead us? Don't we attend classes (or watch videos, etc) so that they can do that? Yes (except "corrections") but that's not the full extent of it. Think about the classes you might have taken, and what made them good, exceptional, or crummy. Now, this is a personal preference of course, and what makes a fabulous class for you may be miserable for another. Often, the common thread of good-to-great classes is that the teacher held the space and made it safe.

What does that mean? Say you're moving through an asana class, bopping along to the beat of your heart and the rhythm of your breath. You come up against a pose that you haven't tried before, or a transition is offered that's unusual or funky and you give it a shot. You move in that direction, and find that the pose/transition doesn't fit you, so you just keep bopping along. No drama, no fuss, no correction, no "just do it" or "rest when you get home" messaging, just a space where you can try and fail, or fail to try, and it's no reflection on you as a person.

That's a safe space. Now, if you had tried and achieved said movement, that's great! But the achievements or lack thereof do not define you.

You might think that's not really a big deal, and maybe for you it isn't. But there are many people who do not allow themselves the space to try without expectation. For those people, a safe space can be transformational. A good teacher offers a challenge and the space to either take up the challenge or refuse it, with no judgement. The growth in a practice doesn't come from the teacher; it comes from you taking up the space the teacher creates for you.

Ultimately, your greatest teacher is your own self. Your yoga teacher is there to guide, present, and create the safe space for you to do your greatest learning. So keep on attending those classes. Keep on trying some stuff you've never done. See where it takes you!

Seated yoga pose with mudra