why I teach yoga

Today I had the privilege of spending time with an old friend and fellow yoga instructor. We were talking about the process of becoming an instructor, from making the transition from student to student/teacher (after all, we are always students first and forever). It made me ponder the question: why teach?

I can't answer this for everyone, only myself. As far as I know there are no guidelines, no aptitude tests, no real ways to decipher whether or not one should teach yoga. I think the one thing most of us have in common is a deep and abiding love for the practice and a burning desire to share that love with others.

Yoga completely transformed my life. Before recovery, before peace, there was yoga. Back when I was a hard-partying college grad living in a strange city, I would go to yoga hungover and exhausted after being up all night. I went to yoga when I was on the brink of emotional collapse, and I can remember lying in savasana, sobbing. I felt a connection to something or someone greater than myself. I felt something divine reaching out to me, brought on by this strange and new thing I was doing with my body and breath.I often say in my classes that I'm not smart enough to understand the magic of yoga. I don't know how or why it works, I just know that it does. I have heard so many stories over the years with a common theme: living in dysfunction, yoga was the light that led so many of us out of our own personal darkness.  

I don't think of it as teaching so much as sharing my practice with others. What people do with the knowledge and how it affects their lives is essentially none of my business. I try to get myself out of the way and let the yoga do what it is designed to do. If I can be a clear conduit for the transmission of this ancient wisdom, I'm doing my job. I'm not the most talented teacher and I certainly am not the most experienced. I still hope people show up and like me. When someone stops coming to class, I wonder if it was something I said or did to turn them off. I have good days and bad days. I'm human. But something about yoga, either teaching or practicing, elevates my spirit and makes me feel closer to God. I think everyone deserves the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the divine spark that lives within each of us. Yoga doesn't do that for everyone, but it does it for me. And if it does for you too, I want there to be a place you can go to make that connection. So I'll be there every week. Same time, same place...