A teacher's style can determine a student's view of yoga for life. Journalist Jennifer Whitehead asks students and teachers for their views on what makes a good teacher.
The first time Lorraine, a one-time yoga student, tried out a yoga class, her teacher made the other students gather around to examine her ‘strange’ feet. Needless to say, Lorraine’s first yoga class was also her last, and she now happily hoofs away in tap dancing lessons.
The contrast is a marked difference to my own first experience of yoga. Billed as a beginners’ class at my local gym, the teacher, Sarah, was inclusive and encouraging, making the students feel as if just turning up and breathing consciously was a step in the right direction.
She avoided bogging the class down with too many Sanskrit names or too much information about the more esoteric side of things, and took the time to explain things as simply as possible.
But as time has gone on, I’ve sometimes felt discouraged by the attitude of teachers. It can be because they fixate on something that seems – to me at least – relatively unimportant.
Others have singled me out in front of a class and then told me that the way I’m doing a pose, as taught by others, is wrong. In these cases, I’m often surprised to discover that other students have really enjoyed the class and preferred the style of that teacher.
Can a teacher appeal to everyone?
So how can yoga teachers get it right?
Well, the obvious answer is that there are different styles for different students. And different people want different things from yoga.
Robert, who practises ashtanga yoga on a daily basis, is one student who prefers a straightforward style.
He says: “I have to admit I can’t stick at classes that are overly talked through, and when the teacher starts telling me to ‘relax my mind’ or ‘flower my anus’ I want to run out!
“It took me several attempts to find a yoga style and teachers who approached yoga in a completely different and practical way.”
However, Rebecca has a completely different point of view.
She says: “In my experience it wasn't until I found a good teacher, who approached it from a spiritual/mental/physical angle and radiated a really lovely aura, that yoga really started to work for me.”
She was not looking at yoga from a purely fitness point of view, and understood that it was about far more than that.
“I like more of a spiritual focus with lots of breathing and meditation rather than purely focusing on toning your abs or being overly ambitious about reaching certain postures for example, so I'll tend to gravitate to people who can offer me that,” she says.
It seems that the best approach for teachers is to stay true to the style that suits them and hope that, as Rebecca puts it, students who are on the same wavelength, turn up – and keep coming.
A teacher's viewpoint
One teacher who is having to address such issues is Katherine Cullis, who has recently set up the yoga centre Yogaviva (www.yogaviva.co.uk) in an old converted chapel in Chelmsford.
“Because I run a business, I’m very aware of being grounded and very real,” says Katherine.
“I try to describe the body as much as possible without sounding too esoteric. I very rarely bring up things like chakras for beginners and if I do, I try to link it to anatomy.”
And she sees the role of a yoga teacher as “opening a door” for students.
Beyond the style of instruction, Robert says he needs to be able to trust his teacher.
“I would say it is essential to have an inspiring and knowledgeable teacher. It's what got me hooked on ashtanga yoga and is a big part of my daily self practice,” he says.
“It is about knowing that you are in the safe hands of someone who knows a lot and respects the traditions of the form.”
Obviously when there is any chance that a student could harm their body by doing a pose incorrectly, teachers must be vigilant.
Katherine says that the question for her is balancing discipline and compassion. She gives the image of the globe held in the coils of a snake, where the coils must be strong enough to support the world but soft enough to cushion it.
Fortunately for yoga teachers, most students keep trying until they find the right teacher. Rebecca says: “I haven't really been put off by a teacher, they've just not really caught my imagination or motivated to keep me going.”
Having said all of that, it’s hard to think of any excuse for criticising the shape of a student’s feet on their very first attempt at yoga practise. But sometimes yoga’s loss can be tap-dancing’s gain – at least in Lorraine’s case.
Jennifer Whitehead is a freelance journalist who mostly writes about the media, the internet, marketing and advertising, and is working on a book about cycling. She can be contacted at jennifer.whitehead@gmail.com
Picture source: Triyoga
