In Search of a Teacher(s)

Anyone will tell you that an essential and first step to developing your own yoga practice is to find a "Guru" or teacher. One who initiates, guides and challenges you in your practice of Yoga. However, no one really talks about how to go about finding a Guru, let alone recognizing greatness when you do meet someone. I knew I was in the presence of a great teacher this morning when-

She opened the practice with the simple chant of OM, followed by a prayer, a mantra from the Upanishads "Asato Ma Sad Gamaya..... from asat to sat, from darkness to light, from death to immortality)";

During the practice she repeated several times that she was there only to teach through observation of her students and the end goal was for each student to develop his/her own Self-Practice; and

In closing she reminded everyone to pick up and clean up after themselves and leave the studio in the same order as when they first arrived.

The physical practice of yoga asanas is not the only element of a yoga practice. Yoga is a process by which we evolve in consciousness. The invocation of 'Om' (which is the primordial sound of the Universe) at the beginning of a yoga class is a reminder to us of this transformative process which connects us with a state of awareness that enables us to experience our identity with the Universe. The prayer or chanting of the mantra was a collective plea for assistance in this transcendence. And finally, the request to clean up or "sauca" (cleanliness) is part of the second limb of Patanjali's yoga sutras: Niyama.*


*Note: Sage Patanjali is believed to have written the text known as the Yoga Sutras which outlines the eight limbs of yoga - Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharna, Dhyana, and Samadhi.