Having been active most of my life and as a dancer, I’ve been blessed with teachers who go beyond the dance as a movement and performing art to teach me invaluable values and principles in life. I have in some capacity trained others in dance and functional capacity and have imagined teaching yoga to be similar –  be good at postures, both in terms of physically attaining the postures and the theoretical aspects of the postures (which muscles are engaged, how to safely practice the postures, variations, breath, benefits) and the ability to teach should come naturally.

Yet as I learn more about yoga and more specifically teaching yoga, I’ve come to realise that it was so much more than that. There is an incredible amount of information that a yoga teacher is capable of sharing and it goes way beyond the physical and emotional aspects in instructing most sports.

This was best captured in “Teaching Yoga: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship” by Donna Farhi who countered “in what other profession must one take into account the physical, psychological, physiological, emotional, and spiritual condition of an individual, and speak to all these dimensions in the course of teaching?”

 This realisation has opened me up to the wondrous and world of possibilities in teaching yoga, but simultaneously, the responsibilities a yoga teacher bear not just in the studio but outside of the studio.

As Master Sree constantly reminds us through his classes “(he is) learning together with us”, that is how I now envision what it means to teach.

The best and only way to teach would be to practice what I teach.

(Continued)

In yoga sutra, one of the very first yamas we learnt was ahimsa.

a·him·sa: nonviolence towards oneself and all living creatures; an attitude of universal benevolence; the spontaneous expression of the highest form of love; the complete absence of violence from mind, body and spirit (Adapted from Yoga with Adriene)

Ahimsa extends beyond the concept of what we do unto others to what we do to ourselves. It redefines the fine line between pushing our limits and knowing when to stop pushing ourselves. As a fitness junkie (as much as this term makes me cringe, I do identify with it), I have, countless a time, pushed myself to work out hungover, sleep-deprived, sick, or injured. Having spent 12 years in dance training, a year and a half in functional training, and 3 years practicing yoga, I’m no stranger to injuries. My dance background has provided me with good knowledge on correct postures and how to prevent injuries but injuries remain inevitable. The belief that training when you’re tired makes you a better (read:stronger) athlete and that age-old adage “what doesn’t kill you make you stronger” have been ingrained in me. As much as I hate to admit it, they are, more often than not, himsa – committing violence to my own body.

Of course, there’s a need to distinguish between training when fatigued and training to fatigue. There is scientific evidence to support that training when fatigued can make one a better athlete through maintenance of strength and postural control.

No one could have said it better than B.K.S. Iyengar – “the pose begins when you want to leave it.”

But when does one cross the line? No one would know this better than ourselves and the onus is on us to treat our bodies with love. It has been, is, and will always be a continuous journey of learning about our body, our potential, and our limits.