An interview was just published with Tom Sutherland, a yogi and yoga teacher who has studied with both Bikram and Tony Sanchez. There are many yogis out there who have studied with both, including Benjamin Lorr author of Hell-Bent, but this is the first article I've seen that directly addresses the differences between the two teachers who come from the same yoga lineage.
I recommend the article to any interested yogi, especially those in the Bikram/Ghosh lineage. Here are some of my favorite parts: "At Bikram training we're taught to teach one way and that this is the only way." "There's nothing rote about [Tony's] system at all." "[Tony's] biggest thing is about sustainability." “It’s been very difficult… I was a very different, very outcasted teacher… I was actually fired from two studios and had to quit from another.” Read the whole article by Kara-Leah Grant here.
0 Comments
Each teacher has a different style of teaching. Some practice with the students, doing every posture while describing the motions. Others are mostly verbal and occasionally demonstrate. Others are completely verbal, using only explanations to lead the students through the practice. These teachers do not demonstrate at all; it is especially common in my tradition - Ghosh yoga - including Bikram.
As teachers it is important for us to consider how our students learn; how any students learn. Imitation is one of the most basic and powerful forms of learning. We see it as children develop - they do what their parents, older siblings and peers do. This is called Mirroring; when we imitate an action because we have seen someone else, especially an authority or role model, do it. Bringing this concept into the yoga realm is easy enough. Our students will learn better and faster if they have role models to mirror - if we demonstrate what they are supposed to do instead of just describing it. This is a huge improvement we can make to the Ghosh and Bikram traditions that function largely on verbal cues. If we add demonstration to the cues, the students will comprehend more readily and progress faster in the right direction. They will learn from seeing someone execute the postures correctly. I have seen it happen to so many great yogis: when they start teaching regularly their personal practices drop off and maybe even stop altogether.
We only have so much "yoga time" in our lives, and if we let both teaching and practicing eat away at that time, it is inevitable that when we add teaching, our practice must diminish to balance things. Teaching is for the students. The teacher makes him/herself available as a guide for less experienced practitioners. This time is self-less for the teacher, who is completely focused on the presence, ability and needs of the students. Being a good teacher requires a lot of personal experience and knowledge which usually comes from practice. So the best way to be a good teacher is to have a good practice. Personal practice is time dedicated to progress and introspection. This makes it quite distinct from teaching. While practicing, a yogi focuses intently on the self, obliterating all distractions and separations. Practice is introverted, teaching is extroverted. Practice is for the self, teaching is for the student. To me yoga is about one thing: happiness.
We walk the path toward happiness Through health, strength, resilience, humility, compassion and inner peace. The path of yoga is different for everyone. It is the goal of the yogi to find his/her own path And then to walk it. It is the goal of the teacher to aid the yogi in finding that path. Most every day my teacher Tony Sanchez posts something about yoga to his Facebook page. Every now and again he writes something that really resonates with me. Yesterday was one of those days. His post is below. I love the encouragement that self-confidence, like everything else, can be practiced and developed. I also love the reminders to stay humble and true: "Practice for understanding and not for power over others." His complete post is below.
"GUIDED YOGA PRACTICE Empower your practice with faith in yourself and in yoga. Don't expect progress when doubting yourself. Personal doubts are apt to backfire and set you back. Indifference and lethargy grows out of lack of confidence. Work on self-confidence for best results. In the beginning of yoga practice bad days are common. Persist and good days will shine forth. Practice for understanding and not for power over others. Be effective, not vain." For years TKV Desikachar taught yoga to the great philosopher Krishnamurti. Krishnamurti was a humble and respectful student. Through all the years they spent together, he only offered three short pieces of advice to Desikachar: "Sir, don't become a guru, don't exploit, don't become rich."
From Health, Healing and Beyond by TKV Desikachar If our teachers are inspiring, it is because they are authentic; they teach from their own personal experience. A good teacher passes on what is absolutely true and pure to them, not a dogma or a tradition but real and immediate and personal.
If we are to be authentic we can't possibly teach what our teachers taught us. We must teach the yoga as is true to ourselves. We can try to copy our teachers by imitating their expressions, sequences and even word for word, but that yoga becomes stale quickly. We become puppets or copies or foot-soldiers. We must take our own inspiration and hold it dearly. We must nurture it and help it grow. We must explore our own yoga - what feels good, what feels right, what pushes us deeper, where are our blocks, how do we get past them? Then we must teach that. It will not be the yoga of our teachers, it will be our own. We must always practice yoga, always explore, always move deeper. Then we can teach from true and immediate experience and inspiration. Once we begin to study yoga in depth, find our own path, and especially when we begin to teach others it is easy to believe that our yoga is the best or truest form. When we take a class under the guidance of another teacher we can ignore their instruction or even think to ourselves "this is wrong" or "my way is better."
I have heard the good advice "when you take class with another teacher, take the class." Don't analyze their technique or criticize their approach in your head. Stay present, follow their guidance and learn what you can from another yogi's perspective. I have found that the concept of "taking the class" is much easier when I have a firmly established home practice. In my own practice I can explore my own postures, alignments, depths, durations and intentions. I can do whatever I want on my own time, so I feel that my practice is sufficient and developing along its own path. I don't need the classes with other teachers to fill my yoga quota for the day or week. When I am comfortable in my own expression of the practice I am more willing to give the control to another teacher for a short period. A post from my teacher Tony Sanchez.
MY MISSION In the mid 70's when, I first met Bikram, he was on a clear mission. He taught me the value of yoga and made me a believer. He used to say "Nothing is good unless you do honest work for it". I learned the value of daily practice with intent. And I understood that if, you teach and train the body and mind through Hatha yoga and healthy eating, they will serve you well. Hatha Yoga is a self-repairing system that will restore the body to optimum working order in a gradual and even way. Healthy eating will provide you with the needed nutrition to keep the body and mind going. The mission, I felt was to teach the world a simple, effective and natural way to stay healthy. And in good physical shape and mental peace in this challenging times we live in. It almost, sounded as if, at one time, it was Ghosh's mission. "I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect.... Truth being limitless, unconditioned, unapproachable by any path whatsoever, cannot be organized; nor should any organization be formed to lead or to coerce people along any particular path. If you understand that, then you will understand how impossible it is to organize a belief. A belief is a purely personal matter, and you cannot and must not organize it. If you do, it becomes dead, crystallized; it becomes a creed, a sect, a religion, to be imposed on others. This is what everyone throughout the world is attempting to do. Truth is narrowed down and made a plaything for those who are weak, for those who are only momentarily discontented. Truth cannot be brought down, rather the individual must make the effort to ascend to it. You cannot bring the mountaintop to the valley. If you would attain to the mountaintop you must pass through the valley, climb the steps, unafraid of dangerous precipices. You must climb upwards to truth... I maintain that no organization can lead man to spirituality... The moment you follow someone you cease to follow truth... I am concerning myself with only one essential thing: to set man free."
- From a speech by Krishnamurthi, excerpted from Health, Healing, and Beyond by TKV Desikachar |
This journal honors my ongoing experience with the practice, study and teaching of yoga.
My FavoritesPopular Posts1) Sridaiva Yoga: Good Intention But Imbalanced
2) Understanding Chair Posture 2) Why I Don't Use Sanskrit or Say Namaste 3) The Meaningless Drudgery of Physical Yoga 5) Beyond Bikram: Why This Is a Great Time For Ghosh Yoga Categories
All
Archives
November 2017
|