“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨.” – 𝘑𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘶 𝘒𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘪
I often share with trainee teachers the importance of repetition. That attending one training is never enough. With each training we learn new theories and concepts, but this is just the starting point.
In order to begin to understand - to be at a place from which to teach - we need to practice svadhyaya. We need to study, practice, embody the teachings, gain insights and from there, ask more questions. Most importantly, we need to be humble enough to realize that all that we think we know, is merely a mere speck of dust, in the vastness of what actually is.
I meet a lot of teachers who say they’ve ‘done their yin training’, believing that one short 30/50hr TT has equipped them with all they need to teach yin. The truth is that even *if* we absorbed all the info from a short training (which is impossible) we are highly unlikely to have understood it to the point where we can teach it as skilfully as we’d like.
In my experience, we often need to listen to the same information again and again, in order to really hear it. We need to study with different teachers - even the same content - to be able to actually absorb it. At this point, we unveil the areas that didn’t quite land the first or second time and from there, we study and practice more, we gain new insight, so as to hopefully find *some* gravitas from which to share.
Next, we go out to teach. Here we uncover, yet again, a whole new world of uncertainty and the realisation that we know very little. Or at the very least, what we did understand or experience personally, doesn’t apply in all situations or to all students. So, we prepare more questions and continue to seek.
Welcome to the life of a yoga teacher.
Do you have the humility to know that you don’t know and are you willing to keep searching?
If you are ready to keep expanding on the knowledge you already have. Then join the Yin training :)