How I began teaching yoga

by Shubha Yale

I’ve always fancied teaching. The idea of sharing the knowledge that I have to help someone seemed very valuable to me. When I was 7, I used to role play as a teacher to a whole class of invisible students and a few years later my teaching graduated to helping my younger cousins prepare for their exams .

After a college degree, a job, followed by a marriage, a child and the rigmarole, I wanted to do something that would support me and my growth and yet not take away much time from my child. Having played sports during my school days, physical movement was integral to my being. I had practiced Yoga since my teen years and I decided to take up a Yoga Teacher's Training, Level 1 in 2016 with the intent of teaching Yogasana soon after completing the course. 

However, once I did the training program, my plans and confidence of becoming a teacher  plummeted. I didn’t feel brave enough to take up the responsibility of shaping another person's body and mind. Many excuses justifying my reasons not to follow my dreams came crawling out, whispering things like, “my child and family need me”,  “the class timings will eat my space”, “I am not good enough to teach”. I knew that I was using these excuses to  run away from facing my fears.  Meanwhile, I had my second child. 

As life continued, I got my first opportunity to teach when we were all swimming through the torrential waves of Covid-19. I dabbled into teaching an online session for a student but felt a deep disconnect. Given the tumult of the period, I wasn’t sure if the classes were hitting the spot and therefore, I discontinued. 

But, dreams never die! Eventually, in 2023, with renewed vigour, I decided to pursue my dream of teaching. I started reaching out to Yoga teachers who would be open to let me assist them in their classes. I got many positive replies, but I couldn't shake the persistent feeling of a tingling incompleteness: I wanted to study more. I looked for a course that would guide me in learning the art of teaching. That's when I came upon Level II of the Teacher’s Training Course by Amrutha Bindu Yoga whose syllabus had a lot of things that I thought would fill up the void that I experienced. I entered this course with a lot of trepidation knowing that my to-be batchmates were experienced teachers. This also gave me the added confidence that the YTT Level 2 would set me up and give me the support system I needed to take the plunge into teaching. 

YTT Level 2 was a heavy dose of theory and practicals for three whole months, but at the end of it, something  finally clicked in me. My guide, Medha Bhaskar pushed me to start teaching and in a month's time of completing the course, I was already teaching my first class. I began to observe classes at ABY which gave me immense inputs about the dynamics between a student and a teacher.

During these observations I learnt a lot about the body language, verbal cues, vibe of the class, observation skills required of the teacher and finally started taking classes by November 2023. My conviction to put that first step forward was gained by the confidence the student had in me.  And with this belief, I opened up the classes for others to join. 

I quickly learnt that teaching was a two-way process, while the students felt safe exploring their body, I was in-turn gaining  insight into different principles of biodynamics. It became evident to me that taking all feedback positively helps a teacher to improve her understanding of the situation and improve her classes further. Each posture could be experienced differently only when there is enough space for the student to experience it. And the entire gambit lay in the Teacher’s self practice. 

A few months after the TTC course and into teaching, I realised, rebuilt and refurbished my confidence. The challenge, I realised, wasn’t about facing others, but facing my fears. Facing myself was most terrifying to me. In hindsight, I came upon the realisation that it was  only after teaching that my self practise in yogasana  became  more regular and more intentional. I was mentally flexible to  experiment with other things that I did not venture into prior to teaching. My awareness of  my body has immensely grown and I can confidently say that teaching has taught me much more than I knew was possible. 

There are days when the imposter syndrome comes crawling back in,  leading to self-doubt , the way I meet this self doubt  now is different. I challenge myself to go deeper into what I am thinking and create an opportunity to make space for further learning.  When we close our doors of being a student , we fail to take in the subtle feedback which helps us grow in unimaginable ways. I now look forward to discovering the different versions I will be as I grow in practice and teaching.

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Shubha Yale is a full-time teacher at Amrutha Bindu Yoga. When she is not searching for biodynamic principles of asanas, she likes to read, write and reflect on her experiences!