Six things one Dharma Yoga Teacher wants you to know….

By Fay Inger

·        I don’t judge you, your body or your practice.

Life is interesting because people come in all shapes and sizes, with personalities as diverse as snowflakes. I’m no better than my students because I teach yoga. As Sri Dharma teaches, we are not our bodies and we are not our minds. You have a body and you have a mind, but you are so much more than the sum of your parts. Your body is perfect, you are perfect and your practice is exactly where it should be at this time.

·        My practice isn’t perfect either.

I’ve been practicing yoga for ten years, and while that may seem like a long time, it actually isn’t relevant to poses that I’ve “mastered.” I am naturally flexible with a very bendy back, but I lack raw strength. It’s easy for me to do king pigeon but my forearm balance and handstands are nonexistent. That doesn’t mean I can’t teach poses I cannot do - in fact it makes me a great teacher because I understand you have your own strengths and weaknesses. We are all a work in progress, I just happen to be the one guiding the class.

·        I take your limitations and baggage seriously.

Your range of motion and limitations are a factor in your yoga practice. Because of that I would never force a student to go into a pose they couldn’t get into on their own, or force someone into a pose they didn’t feel ready to do. I was always terrified of doing headstands despite the gentle encouragement of my teacher. Once, a well meaning substitute teacher took me into headstand and failed to provide adequate support. It resulted in me falling over and reinforced my fears.  Ultimately it wasn’t encouragement or support that helped me move past my fears, it was time. We all have our issues to work through and sometimes they manifest on the mat.

·        You need to be pushed.

Not physically pushed as in pushed down a flight of stairs, but pushed to what you think your limit is so that you can surpass it. I know this because in my Life of a Yogi 500-Hour teacher training I was pushed to my limit multiple times and my practice evolved and excelled because of it.

The second day of our second month of training I was absolutely convinced that I could not do one more humble warrior; convinced my quads were too sore and my hips too tight to cooperate. I asked to sit out one asana practice so my achy muscles could rest. At the time I was annoyed when my request was denied.  I didn’t understand I was told “no” for my benefit and for me to grow.  But being told “no” did just that.  It forced me to push on, past the tired, sore and achy muscles.  It pushed me to realize that I am stronger than I thought I was.  I was pushed to understand that although my body may not have wanted to, my mind is stronger than my body.  I was pushed to ultimately realize I am so much more than just my physical body.

Real change begins when your back is against the wall.  You can rise to the challenge and surprise yourself with your strength and determination, or you can cower into the wall and refuse to grow.  I am your cheerleader and always want you to grow.

·        I didn’t become a yoga teacher because I wasn’t qualified to do anything else.

In fact, let me follow that statement with: I chose to forsake other, potentially lucrative professions because I love yoga. I love it so much that I want to devote my life not only to practicing it but teaching it; so much so that I love spending my days being my student’s cheerleaders, enriching their lives and helping them grow stronger in their practice every day!

·        Sometimes I worry.

Did you enjoy my class? Will you come back? Yoga teachers have feelings too, and sometimes we feel insecure. It helps to remember that the class is for my students benefit and not my own. It also helps if you liked the class to say so!

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Fay Inger is a 500-Hour Certified Dharma Yoga instructor for levels I to IV and completed the 800-Hour Dharma Yoga Life of a Yogi Teacher Training in August 2012. Fay took up yoga 10 years ago to help with her bad posture.  The bad posture is gone, but Fay’s love of yoga has stuck around! Currently living in Los Angeles, California, Fay primarily works as a private instructor. As she always says, “Yoga is a gift,” and it is her favorite gift to share!