There is no substitute for a great teacher. “When the student is ready the teacher appears, when the teacher is ready the student appears”. Developing a relationship with a Yoga teacher in the early stages of Yoga is very important, in fact, it is one of the most important elements of your early Yoga practice.
Finding the right teacher may take some time. Each teacher will interpret Yoga in their own way. It will depend on their background, their emotional history, the personality and their own ambition. Some teachers are great practitioners and lousy instructors, some are lousy practitioners and great instructors, some emphasize the spiritual and others the physical only.
It is wise to meet the teacher and at least read their personal bio before committing to the class. We will be drawn to people who exhibit the traits we love about ourselves and repelled from people who exhibit the traits we don’t like in ourselves. Objectivity in determining your best Yoga teacher comes from asking their history, qualifications to teach and their objectives for the class. The judgment about their personality is usually your stuff and very secondary. A Yoga class is as good a place as any to face that.
Contradictions in our way of thinking can be an essential part of the Yoga journey, and that is why it is better to evaluate the teacher on their style rather than personality. The word guru in Sanskrit means one who takes you from darkness to light. Therefore, in truth any person who teaches you something about yourself is a guru and as you will discover later in this book, everybody can teach you something. The highest guru of all is you—gee you are you.
Experience can be the best measure of all. Try a class here and there. Attend a beginners’ course and meet the teacher with direct and appropriate questions. A teacher who does not get to the point quickly may not value their own time, and therefore may not value yours. After all, your time is a very precious and irreplaceable commodity, why not spend it well?
