A Nod to Our Teachers
Dear Soul Dive,
Yoga has been around for centuries. Historically speaking, yoga was a practice passed on from person to person. A dialogue, think a casual chat over coffee, that was so natural and organic to the culture. No scheduling apps, no big groups, just the teacher and the student. The yoga we know today is a far cry from history, and as with all things that grow in popularity, they become commodities thus we have a conundrum here in the Western world of selling a ‘product’ that never had a financial structure, to begin with. Imagine going to a coffee shop with a friend and just as you’re finishing your cappuccino she looks over and says, “That will be $200.”
History is what it is, and we’ve done our best here in the Western world to bring the practice and the teachings of yoga forward to our communities. We’ve even taken it a step further and wrapped compensation around the sharing of yoga. We’ve changed the course of history by not only creating spaces where many can learn but also paying those who bring forward the knowledge. That’s a huge shift for any business. Imagine if when Amazon was originally founded we all got a free bag of groceries with every book order. Now imagine Amazon decides to now charge for those groceries. You deem them essential because you need to eat, but I would bet anything you’d question whether or not you’re willing to buy them.
Yoga has evolved quite a bit since its inception and as a leader in the industry, I’m doing my best to honor the past while maintaining a progressive mindset to keep the business afloat. Growth is a challenge and yoga has experienced quite a bit of it over time. It is, in my humble opinion, due to the passion and dedication of the teachers that yoga continues to prosper. The teachers are who spread the yoga gospel through and through and the great teachers are the ones walking the walk and talking all the talk. None of us would be here sharing the gifts of yoga if it weren’t for our teachers. I am incredibly grateful for the passionate voices I had teaching me along the way. From back when I was simply a regular and through both my 200-hour and 500-hour training.
As we continue muddling our way through the evolution of yoga and commoditizing something that was never intended to be sold, let’s take a moment (or many) in gratitude for the teachers - especially those who have been sharing yoga for decades. Thank you for your continued service and for not giving up hope that we can in fact create a healthy business for yoga professionals to thrive. Growth is hard, especially for a practice that is centuries old (talk about rooted). But I believe in the practice and know firsthand what it can do to enhance your life.
I hope you’ve stuck with me here on this one… and if you have, it’s likely your mind has wandered to the teacher (or two) that has annoyed you to the ends of the earth during a class. We’ve all been there, and I’ll be the first to admit we don’t need any more 20-something life coaches when their job is to call yoga poses for an hour. But I’ll remind you, with age and time on planet Earth you gain this thing called wisdom. Wisdom can be defined as knowledge applied and all of this is decided by your own discernment. In other words, take what you love and leave what you don’t. The gift of discernment will allow you to thread in the nuggets of knowledge offered by your teachers for you to apply to your daily life. Discernment is what allows you to go from student to teacher should you wish to take the wisdom forward for yourself.
So while yoga has experienced monumental shifts over decades, at the end of the day it’s still a very personal exchange. We are all in a cycle of learner and educator, no matter if we have a teaching certificate or not.
I’ll close with this invitation. Next week we wrap up our very first teacher training. We did this program in partnership with Evolation Yoga, which focuses entirely on education. We will be celebrating 3 trainees as they teach their final classes. You’ll notice that on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the 4 pm classes are vinyasa community classes. This means they are free and open for anyone to join. Please come support our trainees during this momentous milestone.
I remember the very first class I taught. My mom called in the middle of it and interrupted my playlist (it was only then I learned of the do not disturb iPhone function). The music stopped as the phone rang on silent and just as it did the heavens opened up and it poured down rain. It was a beautiful mess.
Cheering for you Angela, Michelle, and Shannon! So excited to watch you in action next week.
See you on the mat,