As a Teacher Do I Need My Own Practice? | Mark Whitwell

New York City NY

20 February, 2021

3:18 AM

Description

Mark Whitwell | Heart of Yoga The one thing that qualifies you to teach is that you practice yourself. If you practice, then you can teach others from the authority of your own experience of what Yoga is: your direct participation in Reality Itself. It can be a difficult job being a Yoga teacher because your students will have had teachers and authorities telling them the right way to practice. People will say, “This is not yoga” and “Why is there so much focus on the breath?” With the strength and the certainty of your own experience you meet the student with their mixture of ideas. And with the authority of the fact that you are intimate with Life as it actually is, then you teach them. Mark Whitwell | Heart of YogaA Yoga teacher is not an authority in the usual sense of hierarchy and power. But an authority that is born out of a sense of love for all other people. You love everybody in a fundamental way as Life Itself. And you know that this technology of asana and pranayama enacted according to the principles that Krishnamacharya brought forth actually helps people feel their prior connection to Life. The key is to translate your own experience of Yoga according to the needs of the student. We adapt the Yoga to individual needs according to body type, age, health and culture. Many students will be religious people and many will be people who have thrown out religion. We teach by making Yoga relevant to each person’s background and with respect to who they are. Read the full article here: Mark Whitwell About: Mark Whitwell has taught yoga for over three decades across the globe, and is the founder of the Heart of Yoga foundation, and the Heart of Yoga Peace Project. Mark Whitwell is interested in developing an authentic yoga practice for the individual, based on the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989) and his son TKV Desikachar (1938-2016), with whom he enjoyed a relationship for more than twenty years. Mark Whitwell is the author of four books: ‘Yoga of Heart,’ ‘The Promise,’ ‘The Hridayasutra,’ and, ‘God and Sex: now we get both.’ He also edited and contributed to his TKV Desikachar’s classic yoga text, ‘The Heart of Yoga.’ Mark Whitwell is a father of three and a grandfather. He now resides between New Zealand and Fiji and continues to write, teach, and speak.