The positive impact a teacher can have on a student, every single person around them, and their future
"Yoga anga anushtanat ashuddhi kshaye jnanadi apthiraviveka khyatehe’’
My fascination with yoga is beautifully encapsulated in this one sutra on the practice of ashtanga yoga. While it is easy to discuss each sutra for hours. I feel the vastness of this sutra skillfully integrates what yoga is all about. When we think of yoga and a yogi, we get caught up in the asana practice and the physical aspects. This sutra brings me back to the true practice of yoga transcending the body and the gross aspects of life to move to the subtler ones. The eight limbs seem to cultivate so gracefully together. I have noticed within my students and myself that the intention of yoga automatically starts this cascade of positivity and one can very quickly start noticing that starting to practice any of the limbs brings you closer to the others. After asana and pranayama, one can easily go inward into dhyana which is a form of pratyahara in itself which seems to have a huge positive effect on dharana. They may take any order or form, it is so unexpected the ways the eight limbs can manifest and how with the simple practice of these one can attain such skillfulness in life.
What does yoga teaching mean to you? Why do you do it?
Delivering an experience that I am certain will have a domino of positive impacts on a student, the people around them, and their future has to be the biggest motivator. Every time I feel lost or disconnected from my practice, I think about the guru that brought this art to me, changing my life and the lives of so many others. How I am as a person, react to situations, how my family is, how my students feel - has all been enhanced so much due to this practice. The positive change one teacher and one practice can bring are truly unknown and the fact that yoga teachers hold so much power for positive change is an incredible responsibility that keeps bringing me back to the teaching of this incredible practice. The practice of yoga is a candle we all have, those of us who choose to illuminate it notice the incredible brightness it brings into them.
Written by Aadhya V.
A little note: As community conversation facilitators, we believe in giving an individual the autonomy of expression. The views expressed in this piece are the author's own.
