5 Tips For Choosing The Right Yoga Teacher

The preeminent Gurukula tradition of the Indian culture consigns the highest respect upon the Guru or the master. It’s a culture involving an initiation of the uninitiated and passage of 5000-year-old ancient wisdom down generations after generations of disciples and finding a meaningful collective practice rooted deeply in spirituality.

The role of the teacher or guru is ever so important in the Indian spiritual culture of which yoga is a part, because the knowledge here is not just verifiable and textual, but also experiential. According to the traditionalist view, your understanding of yoga will remain incomplete if you have not been initiated and guided by such a guru.

Here go five tips for seeking out a yoga master in India who resembles the idea closely—

Should Hail from a Place of Spiritual Significance

India is a vast geography and home to people of diverse cultures. Though yoga is a discipline that you will find people of all communities in India holding with great respect, the traditionalism can be found only at specific centers of yoga.

For example, Mysore- the city of palaces in the state of Karnataka is renowned for the legacy of Ashtanga. Appropriated from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras- an ancient text on the subject of Ashtanga, the modern masters Sri Krishnamacharya and his adherent Sri Pattabhi Jois from Mysore, codified Ashtanga in the form as we know it today.

Rishikesh- the riverine city in North India has seen the footfalls of yogis since the times of yore to the 20th century with the rise of the Transcendental Meditation proponent Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This town with multitudes of temples and shrines on the holy banks of Ganges is an important pilgrimage as well as being regarded the Global Yoga Capital.

When you find a teacher entrenched in spiritual cultures specific to such places of spiritual significance, you know you have struck gold!

Should Hold a Holistic Perception of Yoga

A yoga teacher having a holistic vision who is able to address your personal crisis, mind-body health, and universality is the ideal one to subscribe to. Yoga, in essence, means ‘yuj’ or unity- a thought process through which you can connect the fragmented parts of being and start understanding existence as one grand plan.

Someone with this vision can introduce the class to yoga philosophy, integrate pranayama and meditation as part of the asana sequence, and recommend lifestyle shifts and diet according to the student’s unique mind-body configurations.

Should Offer Multiple Styles of Yoga

These are also the teachers who can bring multiple styles of yoga to the table, each style motivated in a different way to intensify the mind-body discipline. Hatha and Ashtanga are two foundational styles that must come in the offered course.

Should Have RYT Accreditation or

Any Other Certification to Show for His Merits

The premier yoga educator and rating organization, the Yoga Alliance International and its subsidiaries in particular countries issue certificates of merit to yoga schools and yoga teachers. Though non-registered instructors can make great teachers just as well, you can use this pointer to determine the qualification of a prospective teacher. A registered yoga teacher (RYT) can be trusted.

Should Be Facilitating Students with Karma Yoga and Satsang

Karma Yoga and Satsang are concepts integrally related to the spiritualism of yoga. The idea of karma in Hindu philosophy is ‘action without attachment to the fruits of it’. This is the orientation to accomplish liberation from the constant cycle of life and attain moksha. Satsang is the stage for carrying out spiritual discourse by a wise person at a sacred gathering. Your respective teacher must bring you the opportunity to be a part of such programs.

Now you know what an ideal yoga teacher should be like, choose wisely and dedicate heartily towards their skills and expertise.