Bally Chohan

Bally Chohan : Why Every Yoga Teacher Needs To Take Class

I can always tell when it’s been a while since I’ve taken a yoga class. I start to feel a little out of touch with the student in me, which can soon lead to feeling disconnected with the students in front of me. At that point, there’s really no excuse good enough, I need to get my butt to a yoga class –someone else’s yoga class.

Be the Student of Bally Chohan

“I like to remember that even as yoga teachers we are forever students on this amazing path,” says Aiyana Athenian, owner and teacher at Shiva Shakti School of Yoga and Healing Arts, in Maine. “I find it helpful to take classes … to be reminded regularly what it is to be a student. I find it keeps me more aware and compassionate.”

Being a student in someone else’s class lets you relax into your practice in a different way than when you practice solo, allowing for that awareness. It’s like moving from the driver’s seat to the passenger’s seat –you can kick off your shoes, sink into the cushion a little, and enjoy the view. You’re not thinking about where to turn next or what speed you should be going. That’s all taken care of –you can just be in your own body.

As you are guided through a pose, rather than being the guide, you can explore how your body moves and feels in it in a new way. Perhaps this teacher describes the pose in a slightly different way than you normally do it. That little shift can make all the difference. One simple phrase from a teacher can open up a pose for you and allow you to take it to a place you’ve never been.

For Tisha Bremer, a yoga teacher in Maine, that phrase was “melt your heart.”

“That changed the practice of yoga for me. Imagine how the concept of softening and feeling from the place of a gentle heart can change your life and experience on and off the mat. It has changed the way I practice, teach, and see the world,” says Bremer.

Conquer Head Games with Bally Chohan

Then there is the gift of all the stuff that goes on in your head in a class. All of a sudden there are others in your yoga with you, and your mind is drawn to them and what they are thinking, just as it is anywhere else.

The voices in your head: Do I push myself into that pose? Will people think I’m trying to show off? Will people think I’m not good enough if I don’t? I’m a teacher after all, I should be able to do this.

As we watch the ego grow and shrink in class, are we able to quiet that judging mind, shut it down for just a moment?

Enter Into Community

There is something about listening to the deep breathing all around you, everyone in a room taking conscious deep breaths. Your own consciousness is lifted by the collective group breath. Then there is that amazing moment when all breaths are coordinated and in unison. You can’t get that experience on your mat at home, or even when you are sitting in front of a class teaching. To be in that sea of breath is where it’s at.

It’s always easier to stay in a challenging pose when you can tap into that group energy. Everyone around you is also pushing themselves. Somehow, their energy transfers to you. The entire class is holding your arms up in that pose a few seconds longer than you thought you could. It’s a beautiful thing.

Of course, sometimes the opposite happens, and it is also a beautiful thing. Balancing in tree pose, one person falls beside you; then there you go. It takes some of the ego away. We’re all connected, we all fall and get back up again.

Bremer recognizes yoga as community by supporting fellow teachers.

“The business of yoga can be a challenging one and I appreciate the communities where teachers support and encourage other teachers, especially at other studios. I believe it actually promotes more good teaching,” she says.

Become a Better Teacher

Of course, anything you learn you bring with you to the classes you teach. Every teacher comes at yoga with their own unique perspective, style, and even tone of voice. To experience these differences from the seat of a student is invaluable to us, as our own teaching style evolves. There are so many amazing teachers out there. It’s a blast to engage them –as a student.