When I was very new to teaching yoga, I let myself be completely consumed by my role as a yoga teacher. So much so that I lost sight of the student within me. Being an immigrant and trying to really find my footing, I ended up working and being more of a yoga teacher and less of a yoga student for a very long time.
While the hustle served me in my early days, it also hurt me. I hit many periods of burnout repeatedly because I always showed up to serve. It’s only until then that I really started to ask myself, “What am I doing? Why am I doing it this way?”. That things began to shift.
The reason why I bring this story up is that I want to talk to you about this often overlooked aspect in our lives as yoga teachers, on where or how to draw the line between being a yoga teacher and a dedicated lifelong yoga student. These two are so intertwined that it makes it very tricky to navigate if we are to do justice on both sides.
Tricky even more with the fact that we are constantly being bombarded by fancy marketing and messaging from social media and other platforms that don’t really teach yoga in a sequential and clear manner.
That’s why I wanted to have a conversation with you about how to really recognize these two roles and strike their right balances. So grab your pen and paper as I’m sharing with you seven pointers that I’m hoping will help you become more engaged and effective yoga teachers.
