Reflections - Are you ready?

March 11, 2017


Reflections on the article: The making of a Yoga Acharya  - Process and milestones
http://yogavahinichennai.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-making-of-yoga-acharya-process-and.html



To know what makes you a good yoga teacher, we don’t have to look beyond the first word of the first sutra of the first chapter of the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali: Atha.

Are you ready to take up this study?

I'm ready to move inward.  

I'm ready to explore the territories of mind-body complexity

I'm ready to take responsibility for my thoughts and actions.

I'm letting go off blaming and complaining about how the world is treating me

I'm letting go off self-reproach and guilt

I'm willing to transform negative energies into productive action

I'm ready to be HERE and NOW , take responsibility to create a better future.

ACTION: Commit to Personal Practice

Milestone: Integration of body-breath-mind make energy levels better, aches and pains diminish, self-awareness improves, reactivity reduces, experience more peace and joy

Learning classical postures and techniques helps to understand meanings from which the function of a posture is derived and how to intelligently adapt or modify a posture or pranayama technique to address a very specific and unique need of the student and achieve a desired function

Meditation as a process of refining and concentrating the mind, methods and techniques and beyond these methods and techniques, touching and experiencing glimpses of insight – from that part of the mind which is beyond thought

Study the basis of Sankhya philosophy that underpins yoga and Ayurveda and discover that the mind and body share a unified field of existence, cannot be addressed in isolation, and how every aspect of the universe is connected and striving to progress in a state of dynamic equilibrium. The question of personal and universal dharma and the quest for an integral balance arises.

ACTION: Keep revisiting the below questions as you progress in your studies

Am I now more connected with my body, can I understand and respect my body more?

Is my conscious breath long, deep and subtle? Can I allow my breath to guide me into the present moment, and help me understand my current reality?

Do I have the necessary skills to teach, observe, adapt practices to the changing needs of the student?

Am I willing to learn from the students, accept and work on my apparent limitations?

Can my mind be open to learning and unlearning? Can I hold my thoughts, my “borrowed” knowledge and beliefs lightly?

Has my threshold for reactivity gone up? Am I now aware of my judgments?

Can I go beyond my self and touch another person’s pain? Can I feel true love and compassion?

Am I ready to continue to learn and evolve my skills and my practice knowing that this is just the beginning?

To explore beyond the 200 hr training:

• Include study of classical and relevant yoga texts that is contextualized for the contemporary yoga practitioner and teacher.
• Explore advanced and highly individualized teaching methods and practices and their application in daily living.
• Opportunity for community service by engaging with groups such as homes for underprivileged children and senior citizens, schools etc., thus taking yoga into the larger community.

श्रीमते अनन्ताय नागराजाय नमो नमः