Why I became a yoga teacher
By Laura González
I have observed are two reasons why people are drawn to yoga: seeking or suffering. Where one finds themselves in this spectrum can change over a lifetime too. I began my practice due to aches and pains and the reality that I needed to tend to my body. I tried the gym, but it was not me. I had never done any sport, although I danced a fair amount. But dancing is inconsistent and space dependent. I needed something that would offer grounding and be there no matter what. Yoga offered that and soon my pain, physical and psychological, abated. Yet, within a few moths, I became a seeker of answers to the deeper questions human beings ask: who am I, where do I come from, what am I doing here?
I remember the journey from suffering to seeking very vividly but what is less clear to me is why I became a yoga teacher. I did my first training (the 200-hr course) in Glasgow over a 12-month period in 2016-17. At the time I had been a regular practitioner of Ashtanga Vinyasa for some time. I had also been a dance and an art teacher in universities for 15 years. I had absolutely no desire to teach yoga. I had a full-on teaching schedule and knew very well its darker side. I was also not looking for a change of profession or extra income, even if those are very valid options. What I did want was to understand how yoga works at a subtler level, which is sometimes hard to grasp in regular studio classes. I wanted to enquire into what yoga is – the philosophy side – to explore other modalities in a well-curated way – pranayama, meditation, chanting, Sanskrit – to discuss paths with fellow practitioners and, of course, to do more yoga.
I had a really beautiful experience in my training, and it fulfilled all that I asked. I consolidated my yoga practice both in a class setting and also alone. I had so many wonderful conversations with my fellow students that we named them blablasana, giving yoga chat the same status as our postures. I learned about philosophy, breath and sanskrit, the language of yoga, with such curiosity that I am still studying regularly with the teachers that introduced me to these practices. The training opened up paths new and unknown to me at the time. I am so honoured that I now teach sound practices, including chanting, and this fills me with joy. It also made me wonder about aspects that were not covered – for example Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science – and it gave me the confidence to consult teachers and attend courses.
I will tell you the full truth through, the course did not answer all of my questions. Yet, it did something more important. It allowed me to refine those questions. When I began, I thought a 200-hr course was like a degree, it gave you a qualification and that was it. You were a yoga teacher. But now that I have walked many more years on this path, I think that my first training provided me with the tools to continue learning, and seeking. It was not an end, but a beginning. Where I ended up was the starting line.
In the end, I taught yoga too. And this was a simple, but not easy decision to make – many in the course chose not to teach and they have beautiful, rich practices. To teach, I had to make sacrifices and change schedules, to make space for something that although nice, also made demands. I began teaching because I found myself in environments where yoga was needed and nobody else was able to offer it. David Swenson, a much loved teacher of mine with whom I went on to do post-200-hrs training in 2022, often says that what defines the yogin is that they leave a place a little better than they found it. Teaching is my way of doing that. Although I still think teaching is too grand a word for it. What I feel I do is share something I experience regularly, which I love and which I know has worked at many stages of my life and in many situations. My initial 200-hrs course gave me enough tools to begin this journey of sharing, with curiosity, care, attention, and, very importantly, ethically, acknowledging all that yoga is.
If you are curious about the full picture of yoga, join Studio 70’s 200hr teacher training where I will be teaching a few modules including sessions bhakti, the subtle body and an introduction to sanskrit.
Free Teacher Training Information session on February 25th, 2-3.30pm, info & registrations here.
More information about our 2024 200hr Yoga Teacher Training is available here.