Lecture Part One: Teaching From Inside

Ultimately, the yogic tradition teachers that it is our ability to surrender and center that truly defines our highest capacity. No amount of memorization can replace this essential facet of the process. This doesn’t mean we don’t have to study, it simply means we can’t stop there— we have to study and we have to surrender. This is the process of teaching. 

“Due to the impressions they have of what others think of them or expect from them and of their desire to help others, to satisfy them with boons, the yogi may lose their temper and become careless and uneven-minded, blocking their flow of God consciousness… So, although they are aware of God consciousness in the beginning and in the end, they are played by this universe in the center, played by hunger, played by thirst, played by every aspect of daily life. Therefore, the one who desires to achieve the highest being should not be attached to these outer impressions. (Mālinīvijaya Tantra)”

As we apply this Sutra to our work as yoga teachers, we see that our highest being as a teacher does not come from our desire to help others, or impress them, or live up to their expectations— in fact, according to the Sutras, we become ‘played’ by these concerns, distracted by them, and they become the very thing that push us out of our center, away from the Flow of God Consciousness.  

There is a current of awareness, like a river, that is constantly flowing from our heart. This current tends to flow into our senses and our thoughts, which can infinitely drink this river of awareness. There is no doubt that a large portion of this awareness needs to take shape in the cues we give as yoga teachers, movements of the body, attention to our student’s postures, and so on. But the yogic tradition tells us that if we can take a moment to redirect this river of awareness inwardly, that we will actually be more effective teachers. This is not the logic of the mind, or of western culture, so it’s totally fine to disagree, or to simply take your time with this teaching. 

“Because there are so many currents rising in that universal consciousness— currents of sound, currents of touch, currents of smell, and so on— that supreme consciousness is said to be like a great ocean…the depth of which is unlimited. When the yogi meditates on that supreme God consciousness, by diverting all the flows of their organs to the introverted, not the extroverted, state, they obtain the state of supreme I.”(LMJ commentary on sutra 1.22)

So how can we divert the currents of our awareness to heart, and not the head, while we teach? Of course, taking time to do this everyday in your personal meditation practice is the most efficient way of ensuring that this river is always flowing towards the heart. This is especially important on days that you are teaching, or at least in the time directly before you teach. Giving yourself time to center, and redirect your flow from outer to inner is at the heart of everything we do in yoga. 

While teaching class, though, we can actually create these opportunities to help us find our center. One method is though a centering breath that allows you to empty your head and fill your heart. In particular, you can utilize centering breaths before, during and after postures to help you find, maintain, and regain your center. 

Before and after a posture you can take more involved centering breaths that integrate the physical body. During postures, the breath has to be simpler, as you are juggling a lot more variables like time and cues. 

Before or after a pose, here is a centered breathing method that can really get you reconnected to your Flow. From standing, kneeling, or seated, start with hands at the heart. As you begin your inhale, let your hands rise up overhead. As you exhale, allow the hands to float down like wings, really letting yourself empty. From here, let the inhale fill you naturally, without strain, as the arms retrace their path back up. And finally we finish with another emptying of our cup with a slow and steady inhale ending with hands at the heart. 

As we learned from the proper practice of pranayama lecture, there is no need to over emphasize the inhale, in fact, our attention would be better served if we placed it on the emptying of our cup that occurs within our exhale, and even more particularly in the pause after our exhale. We aren’t trying to hold our breath, just participate in a conscious way. 

During the postures, there is a natural space to utilize a centering breath Finding your breath here can allow you to re-experience the posture, informing any explorations you may want to try before coming out of the pose. It is also very skillful to leave a conscious quiet moment in every posture throughout the class— it places the responsibility of the experience back in your students hands, helping them reconnect to their own personal flow. 

So to review— We become played by our individual concerns when teaching, our flow of awareness becomes consumed by the need to please others, teach correctly, or simply by the infinite distractions of the senses and mind. As yogis, our work is to redirect this flow of awareness back inside, to reconnect with our heart and breath. Even though this doesn’t seem to relate to the pose we’re teaching, or cue we are searching for, the yogic tradition tells us that this is the key to finding our Supreme Awareness. 

We practice this everyday in our personal meditation practice, and we can also make space in our teaching to re-find this flow. Before and after a posture, we can take the extended centering breath. We don’t want to get caught up in doership, ‘taking a deep breath’, and will always try to allow the breath to be natural. If anything, pay attention to the process of exhaling, emptying your cup, to find your internal balance. 

During a posture we may not have as much time, but there is always a moment after our primary movement to let everyone, including ourself, find our flow.