How to choose a Yoga teacher

I started practicing Yoga in 1999, and Ashtanga Yoga in 2003, and in these 26 years as a practitioner I have met many teachers. And although I thank the people who were part of my path, the truth is that not all of them remained as a reference.

I don’t know if it was the fact that I started at a time when there were few people teaching Yoga, or if it was just my intuition, mere luck, chance, or destiny, but for me it was easy to choose a teacher to accompany me and guide me on this journey of practice and life.My choice was made according to how I felt when I was around these people. I have never deified anyone, we are all human, with skills, talents, but also conditioning and shadows. And the Yoga teacher is not a saint, he also makes mistakes. But there is something unique that a Yoga teacher can achieve, which is to activate within us our own  consistency,  determination,  strength,  courage, simplicity, humility,  focus,  harmony,  kindness, faith and love.

Nowadays it is difficult to choose a Yoga teacher, there are thousands of options, Yoga styles and people. And there is enormous confusion about what it means to be a Yoga teacher, and what its role is.

• Choosing a Yoga teacher goes beyond the idea that if that person has a certificate for X hours of a course that they will be able to teach.
• Choosing a Yoga teacher goes beyond the idea that this person has to be popular on social media, or have a lot of likes and followers.
• Choosing a Yoga teacher goes beyond the idea that this person has to bend like a pretzel, because if that were the case, all talented and dedicated circus artists would be Gurus!
• Choosing a Yoga teacher goes beyond the idea that this person will be our best friend. The role of the teacher is simply to help you find your own inner strength to create the necessary discipline that allows you to transform your life. Yes, count on someone who is empathetic, capable of offering you a hug, or listening to what you are feeling and what is going on in your life. Yes, count on someone who is neither a relative nor a friend, but there will be another category that cannot be explained, which has to do with what they help to activate within you.
• Choosing a Yoga teacher goes beyond the idea that this person will be a cane, or a cassette tape that repeats and repeats the instructions while you mentally make your weekly supermarket shopping list. Make no mistake, the relationship you will have with your Yoga teacher is balanced, the famous and ideal 50/50, he is there to teach and you will have to be fully present to learn.
• Choosing a Yoga teacher overcomes the idea that this person will flirt with you! In fact, be suspicious if this happens! Because a Yoga teacher touches a woman in the same way as a man, he makes no distinctions of gender, age, profession, status, level of flexibility or strength, he acts with empathy and respect for everyone.

A Yoga teacher is a person who is dedicated to the practice and study of Yoga, and who lives according to specific ethics and principles. A Yoga teacher is not a saint, he has challenges, difficulties, shadows, conditioning, limitations, but he dedicates his life to overcoming them, teaches with his heart in the right place, and seriously seeks to act with consideration and attention on the Yoga mat and in his daily life.

The Yoga teacher is a guide, a help.
Practice is the way, Upaya.
And you are the one who takes this path, which will involve consistency, dedication, reflection, focus, faith and love, to change your own life.

Nowadays choosing a Yoga teacher is complicated because we are all our own Gurus, and yet it is essential to have someone we trust to help guide us on this path that aims to overcome ego, conditioning, thought and behavior patterns, beliefs, and ways of acting and reacting.

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