The Benefits of Having A Yoga Instructor as a Beginner Yogi
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/how-to-find-the-right-yoga-teacher/
We often see a lot of resources to practice yoga online and that’s a wonderful way to bring this precious practice into your life and into the comfort of your home but what about frontal lessons? Let’s see which are the benefits of a yoga instructor
The role of a yoga teacher
The role of the yoga teacher is to transmit with respect, rigor, precision and availability the teaching that he, in turn, has received. The strength of this transmission by the teacher depends fundamentally on their own practice and experimentation with the methodology that yoga proposes.
In the line of teaching that is practiced at school, the teacher must explain and direct each exercise, understanding by exercises all those that are part of the methodology from body positions or asanas, breathing exercises or pranayama, concentration exercises or dharana and meditation or dhyana among others, so that students can follow him easily and fluently, step by step.
Teaching by the teacher, based on only theoretical knowledge of the exercises, or a mere execution of them, in front of the students so that they can imitate him, distracts them and does not reach them properly. It simply becomes a locution or mechanical performance of something that has been memorized but that, lacking the conscious and repeated experimentation of it, does not have the necessary transmission force.
The transmission is carried out from the knowledge and study of the exercise but above all, through the conscious and repeated practice of it. In this way, the teacher knows from his own sensations and experiences, for example, which muscles are involved in an asana, how is the correct adjustment of the breath in a pranayama exercise, when there are more possibilities of distraction in a concentration exercise ... and it can even warn the student in advance of the possible mistakes that can be made and the difficulties that they will encounter. He must also be aware of whether the student is present or not in the exercise, and place him back in it if necessary.
The most important benefit of a yoga instructor is the correctness of the exercises.
In this sense, the most important role of the yoga teacher after the transmission is the correction of the exercises. It is necessary a permanent disposition to it, the objective of each session is that the student learns, wakes up, advances, evolves… and for this the correct correction is fundamental.
This learning is not a mere physical knowledge of different body positions or a mere mental relaxation, it is much more. In the asana it is the combination of the shape that the position draws, encouraged by adequate breathing and maintained in turn by continuous attention to the area that is sensitized. In respiratory control (pranayama) and in concentration exercises (dharana), and in meditation (dhyana), in addition to maintaining stability and firmness in the meditation position, a constant presence of the student on the mental plane is required. The teacher's mission is to be present, to be aware of the work that his students are doing and to keep the student's attention in all phases of the exercise, intervening, correcting and encouraging him when necessary.
This continuous work on the part of the student constitutes a progressive training and each yoga session becomes a way to sensitize and integrate our different components: physical, energetic, mental and spiritual.
On the other hand, if we are constant in our practice, we will learn to develop active “presence” in our daily life, that is, in our relationship with the environment. This being the true role of the yoga teacher in relation to the student to modify his attitudes with himself and with others, aware of the role that corresponds to him as a human being.
"The yoga session is the beginning of a whole job in real life"
Just as the practice of asana exists to facilitate the movement of breath and pra?a, so does the mentoring relationship to move and transform us. We must be willing to tailor the form of tutoring in the individual teacher-student relationship to serve this role.
Both the yoga teacher and the yoga student must take responsibility for creating their own unique relationship. Before starting the relationship, it is advisable to discuss and agree on the main scope of the relationship and its operational spaces (training, therapy and personal transformation).
Since yoga involves evolution, it is also recommended that there is an ongoing dialogue and acceptance that the relationship is dynamic and that the dominant domain of the relationship can change over time. As yoga is fundamentally a process of change, it is more appropriate - and innate in its philosophy - that it adapts to our current needs as students and teachers of modern times.
If we take an attitude of openness, care and respect as the foundation of our student-teacher relationship, we will be more willing to ensure that the continued functional application of yoga is a transformational process towards self-empowerment.