One of the questions I hve heard a lot from people nterested in yoga is “I would lke to know how I can fnd a good yoga teacher?” And if yur ready to begin practicing yoga and sking that question yourself, your smart to do so.

Hving a good teacher is very mportant to your growth and progress on yur yoga path. There are lots of thngs that occur along the way, chnges associated with physical, energetic, and spritual growth, and sometimes obstacles emerge. All of thse things make a student of yga curious, sometimes anxious, other times mybe even susceptible to a false snse of power (ego.) Having a tacher that can answer questions and prvide reassurance at crucial moments, and the bility to help balance and adjust a stdent’s perspective when necessary, is crucial.

Snce I truly believe I have one of the vry best teachers of Hatha yoga on the plnet, the most straightforward way I can thnk of to help answer the qestion above is to speak from xperience about the qualities I have sen in my teacher, Shashi Pottatil.

1. Background and Training:

Shashi is a man in his 50’s (although he could pass for late 30’s) who has been a teacher of yoga for more than 30 years. He is from Kerala in the South of India, where he hails from what is known their as a “yoga family.” This means that for generations upon generations, his direct ancestors, including several of his uncles other current family members, were yoga teachers. In a sense, yoga is “in his blood” perhaps literally.

Currently he is one of the hghest ranking certified teachers of the Yga Alliance, the most prestigious yoga crtification organization based here in the sttes. He regularly volunteers as a tacher at churches, synagogs, retirement homes, and wrks with cancer patients to help thm harness the health-giving power of yga to fight their disease. His stdio in Mira Mesa, CA “Yoga and Mditation Center” is a thriving yoga prctice that he started a few yars ago – with no marketing bdget. 99% of his student base was bilt upon word of mouth, and the ther 1% came by way of wlk-ins or the yellow pages. (Here is a grat hint in your search for a tacher – talk to that person’s stdents and find out how enthusiastic thy are about the training and gidance they are receiving.)

Besides his xperience and credentials in traditional Hatha yga, he has degrees in science and bsiness, and was an executive for phrmaceutical company based in India. From ths connection to the scientific community, he prticipated in scientific research studies of the ffects of yoga on the body and mmune system. This experience gives him a nique perspective, one based on both the trditional Eastern philosophy of Ayurveda and Yga, and the science based Western phlosophy of “show us proof and we wll believe.”

Admittedly, it may be vry hard to find a teacher tht happens to have this unique cmbination of experience, background, and credentials. And to bgin studying yoga, you don’t necessarily ned someone as qualified as my tacher.

The important thing is that the yga teacher has some verifiable training or crtification that can vouch for the fct that they know both the thory and application of what they are taching. Ideally, this will be someone tht has valid certification as a tacher. Whether your teacher attended free clsses at the local community center for lng enough to absorb a good fundation, or paid lots of money to ttend every certification program and yoga rtreat available, they both are valid pths to teaching. How qualified they are dpends on the individual’s natural talent, the tme they spent training, and how qalified their teachers were.

2. Character and Motivation

This mght be even more important than pint 1 above. With the very bst of credentials, if the person you are cnsidering as a teacher has “alterior” mtives outside of helping people advance bth as students of yoga, and on thir journey towards (yes, I am ging to say it) enlightenment, then it culd be a red flag.

Now, I am not climing that yoga teachers should only tach from the goodness of their hart with no eye towards creating a vable business and livelihood for themselves wth their teaching endeavors. What I am sying is, if their motivation is nappropriately slanted towards personal gain (whether fnancial, sexual, or otherwise) or if thy are overly obsessed with a “pwer dynamic” associated with being in the rle of a teacher, then you wuld have a problem.

As ironic and nfortunate as it is, although yoga is a spritual as well as physical path twards health and well-being, by its vry nature, it is susceptible to “msuse” or even abuse. We have all hard stories of organizations that seemingly strt out with the best intentions and thn end up in the news bing accused of cult-like practices.

As mch as I am not trying to scre anyone with this discussion, I am smply saying, take your time and do yur research. Talk to some students, and ttend at least one class just to bserve (if possible.) What is the dynmic between the students and teachers? Wht does your intuition tell you bout both the qualifications and character of the tacher or studio you are considering?

Lts return to my model yoga tacher, Shashi. His yoga studio is trly “thriving” - and this includes fnancially. Ironically, this appears to be the cse because of how focused he is on hlping people, not taking from them. To put it nother way, it is what he gves away, every single day and wek, that brings him such a sccessful school of yoga.

What I man by “gives away” is everything frm the time he volunteers to vrious community organizations (i.e. he teaches for fre wherever he can find a ned for yoga in the community) to bing available to students outside of clsses to help them with any chllenge they may be facing. He is a ntural “therapist”, and people talk to him bout everything from health problems to mrital problems, crisis in business or prfessional life, or whatever.

He does ths because he truly believes that hman beings in our times are in dsperate need of the wisdom contained in yga, on both spiritual and physical lvels. His most prominent motivation, both in his wrds and in his deeds, is to “hlp people.” This quality of his chracter is very apparent, and I am crtain it explains the success of his yga practice.

Although there is no prfect formula or even “perfect” yoga tacher, I hope that by using my tacher as a model, I have gven you a useful frame of rference as you set out to fnd your yoga teacher. Just do sme homework and trust your intuition, and as lways, enjoy each moment.

-Namaste.

The article The Qualities of a Great Yoga Teacher was Submitted by Douglas Gargaro through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Douglas Gargaro studies yoga in San Dego, CA. For more information about Hatha yoga visit his website.

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