The Yoga Teacher’s Burden

The first time I ran into one of my yoga students outside of the studio was at a bar in LA, I was mortified. I was 22 and smoking a cigarette (don’t worry, I’ve since quit), and the moment I saw my student’s face when she clocked my Marlboro, I fell deep into a shame spiral. Imposter-syndrome kicked in hard.

Yoga students by-and-large put their teachers on a pedestal. During my desk time after class, I’ve been treated like a doctor, a therapist, and a confidante.

It’s weird how when you get someone to trust you with their body, they tend to trust you with their minds and emotions as well. They assume you’ve got it all together just because you were able to realign their warrior two. You must have some deeper, profound wisdom about the state of humanity–after all, all yoga teachers are vegan, sober, wise, and well-adjusted… right?

It’s like being a yoga teacher is one of the only entry-level jobs with a morality clause.

Well, it’s not technically entry-level, most studios only hire Yoga Alliance certified instructors, but considering that “competitive pay” for yoga teachers is normally in line with Minimum Wage, it’s not too far off to describe it as such.

Yoga philosophy includes several concepts called the “Yamas and Niyamas,” essentially guidelines for how a yogi should live on and off the mat, including Ten-Commandment-esque observances such as “non-stealing,” “truthfulness,” “purity,” “sexual moderation,” etc.

That right there could be noted as proof that yoga teachers should be held to a higher standard—practice what you preach, right?

Well… kind of.

What I would argue is that the Yamas & Niyamas are a tool for personal growth and accountability, not a tool to be used to judge others’ worthiness.

Every human on this earth is constantly in flux. Outside variables are constantly pushing, pulling, and twisting us in different directions. Old habits, patterns, and new stimuli all cause us to react or behave in ways that might be less than ideal.

Yoga isn’t the practice of achieving the highest level of perfect morality, and then staying there forever, but rather is the practice of noticing how we ebb and flow (which is a natural and necessary part of human growth), and making the choice to realign.

Perhaps in that way, it might be part of a yoga teacher’s job to lead by example, but that doesn’t mean they have to quarantine themselves from fun and don a nun’s habit. A yoga teacher doesn’t have to be a robot, or a saint, or anything at all.

In my opinion, a yoga teacher’s job isn’t to be a model for humanity-perfected or to inspire every student every single class, but rather it is as simple as to help their students to connect with themselves on a deeper level.