Finding the Right Yoga Teacher

Photo by Amauri Mejía on Unsplash

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The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.

- Carl Jung

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The relationship between the yoga student and their teacher is the key to transformation - both for the student and the teacher.  The student is transformed by the gentle care and attention from their teacher.  The teacher is transformed by the curiosity and individual needs of their student.  If the fit is right, both grow as a result.

Finding the right teacher can take time.  Personally, I was a student of yoga for several years before I found the person I consider my Guru.  My teacher was a student of yoga for decades before she found her Guru.

You don’t need to find your guru to progress in yoga.  In fact, the true guru for us is within each of us.  However, it does help to find someone you connect with well, if you want to deepen your yoga practice.

For some, this may take the form of a private yoga teacher.  Others do just fine in a group environment.  For those of us who are looking for a little more personal attention, finding the right private yoga teacher can be the difference between a haphazard commitment to practice and the development of a lifelong understanding of how to live in yoga.

In service of this, I offer five tips to consider when selecting a private yoga teacher or Yoga Therapist.  Even if you’re not looking for a private yoga teacher, this list may help you identify a group teacher you feel comfortable working with.

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT YOGA TEACHER FOR YOU

1. Identify Your Personal Priorities - are you looking for a more flexible and strong body?  Find a teacher that has lots of experience developing hatha yoga classes for diverse students.  Is your goal to improve the mind-body connection?  Perhaps a teacher that leads meditation, or at least leads hatha yoga classes meditatively is the right fit for you.  Do you want a deep understanding of the philosophy of yoga?  A teacher that can speak about the Yoga Sutras and other vedantic texts would meet those needs.​
2. Get to Know the Teacher Before Scheduling a Session - instead of going into a session without ever having met your private teacher, it could be beneficial to attend some group classes with a variety of teachers first.  Then, approach someone you feel can help you meet the goals you have for your practice.  If the yoga teacher that seems to meet your needs doesn’t have group classes you can attend, see if you can have a conversation with them first.  Yoga can be a vulnerable experience and you deserve to feel comfortable with the person you’re entrusting with your practice.
3. Give it Time - just like a relationship with a new friend or partner takes time to develop, the relationship between you and your yoga teacher will do best with some time to blossom.  Yoga teachers are just people.  Try as they might, it can take time to learn what their student is looking for and create a space for that to grow.  I recommend giving it at least a few sessions to see if the relationship blooms the way both of you hope it will.
4. Make a Change if Needed - however, even if you’ve identified what you’re looking for, have found a private yoga teacher or Yoga Therapist that seems to meet those needs, and have given it some time to grow, sometimes the fit is not quite right.  Chemistry in relationships is a mysterious thing.  A teacher that really fits your friend with the same goals, may not quite work for you.  You may adore a teacher and resonate with how they teach, but that same teacher is not right for everyone.  That’s okay.  There are as many yoga practices as there are practitioners, so feel free to take the time needed to find the right private yoga teacher for you.  If you’ve taken a few classes and don’t feel you’re meeting the goals you set out to accomplish, perhaps it’s time to look for someone else.
5. Know that the True Teacher Is in You - Only you can know if your practice is progressing the way you visualize.  Although studying with the right yoga teacher, privately or not, can be a huge boon to a person’s development, your relationship with yourself is the ultimate goal.  Eventually, we must all drop attachments to things and people, even to our own body.  So remember that learning to practice yoga eventually leads to the deep connection with yourself.  The relationship you develop with your teacher is a microcosm of the relationship you’re developing with yourself.  The way your teacher views you, should uplift and inspire you to view yourself as the divine being you are.  That’s the purpose of a yoga teacher, to reflect your own true nature to you, like a clear mirror.  So that you are able to view yourself that way even when you are not in the presence of your teacher.

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Those of us who have found the right teacher are blessed (as are our teachers).  To those who are still seeking, I send you the blessings of all the saints and sages on your path toward greater self-understanding, self-compassion, and self-discipline.  May you surrender to the contentment and purity that is within you always.