To Teach or Not to Teach

Making the decision to want to teach yoga isn’t something that you decide… it’s a decision that is made for you.
If you feel inspired to share yoga with others it’s because yoga has touched you and changed your life in a way that you feel indebted to it somehow. You feel the need to share this blessing with others. It becomes a passion of yours automatically.
This is what happened to me. But before I dove in fully, I had to test the waters. I took a teacher training to see if yoga was my true path. I lived in an ashram for a month and immersed myself in the practice in order to see if I still loved it after dedicating this time to it. If I didn’t connect with it, then I only “wasted” some time and I could move onto the next career path. But if I loved it, then I knew what to do next. Naturally, I discovered it was my path and from then on I knew I no longer had a choice. I knew what I had to do. After becoming a certified teacher, I knew I had to keep studying while I started teaching.  It was something that filled me up in a way that nothing else could. Seeing the “aha” moments in my students eyes when things clicked, was a fuel of sorts for me. And in order to keep fueling my students I had to fuel myself. I kept seeking a true teacher for me and I was lucky enough to cross paths with some genuine teachers. They weren’t enlightened but they helped lighten my path.
One day at a time – 16 years and onward –  I study and seek the truth within myself. My journey isn’t over. I search… and share… and give… and take… and love… and do my best.  And this is how I know that it is in my deepest nature to teach what I have been given. Otherwise, I feel that I have been a disservice to those who have given so much to me. I can’t keep what isn’t mine. And ultimately nothing is mine so if you feel similar to me, then you might need to do a training just to see if this is a path for you. You’ll know for sure by the end of this one chapter within your adventurous journey of who you are in this lifetime.
“To Teach or Not to Teach” is like saying “To Be or Not to Be”… and for me it’s not a question… it’s a truth.