All yoga teachers are not created equally. Several students have asked me about how to chose a yoga teacher, and since we did add 'yoga teacher' in the title of our blog, here is my advice.
Advice #1: Find a teacher that resembles your body type or a type you want to work toward. This advice usually works. If you are a sexy, thin, young thing in perfect shape who wants to achieve Scorpion by next month, find a young, energetic instructor that will challenge you. On the other hand, if you have a little extra abundance and find certain poses difficult due to said abundance or injury, find an experienced teacher who may share that lovely padding or injury. Furthermore, men and women have different bodies (just in case you failed to notice). A man or strong woman might better understand difficulties in flexibility and balance poses that most men have whereas a woman may understand pregnancy better.
In my experience, I have found young, athletic teachers many times do not teach technique and fail to understand many of the common challenges of the average person in basic poses. These teachers may teach headstand, shoulderstand, and/or upward bow (backbend) in the very first class. It may work for some, but to me, this is not yoga; it is a workout...and a dangerous one at that. Yoga isn't about doing the most difficult pose. It's about performing each pose such that you find ease, comfort, and peace. Returning to the basic poses to focus on different aspects can be life-changing (hmm, maybe I should do a post about that).
Advice #2: Find a teacher with a similar personality. If you tend to be an introvert, longing for quiet and solitude, find a teacher that exudes this. But don't forget to try classes with variations on your personality, but not necessarily the opposite. Most introverts will come out of a class taught by an energetic, type A teacher with a headache, feeling drained or shaky. However, by searching for a teacher slightly more outgoing, you may leave with a little of that energy, feeling uplifted and happier and open to new things. This holds true for extroverts, artists, intense personalities, and crazies.
Advice #3: Don't give up on yoga after a single teacher. Personally, I greatly disliked my first yoga teacher and only somewhat tolerated my second. However, because I enjoyed dance, martial arts, and my yoga DVDs, I persisted in my search for a yoga class when I moved. Here, I loved my first teacher and adored my second. I even dragged my husband to the classes and he fell heart first into the relaxing, strengthening, lengthening, and ohm-ing experience.
Advice #4: Try several teachers and classes. I have had some students ask to ohm at the end of class while others feel it's too spiritual. Some want perfect silence to focus inward while others want a community. You might prefer strength poses or balance poses or a longer Savasana. Some instructors may repeat the exact same poses every class while others mix it up with lots of variation. All in all, the class style will be almost as important as the teacher.
Personally, the style I teach and the style I prefer are quite different. Both focus on technique, sometimes working intensely on a particular body part in a set of poses or holding poses for several breaths. Both allow movement and flow within and between the poses while building strength, flexibility, and calm. However, while I teach an interactive class, where I allow my students to talk, ask questions, or laugh with peaceful music playing in the background, I prefer to take a class that is mostly silent. I like to take these moments to bring my awareness fully inward to focus on where my limbs are in space, how my lungs expand and deflate, and what emotions may arise during the pose. My brain tends to be overactive, so this pulling inward helps to deepen my practice.
So, in other words, try a little of everything. Find a home class but always branch out a little to learn something new, both about yoga and about yourself.
