Yoga Teaching: Encouraging Students Through Questions
As teachers, we are of the greatest benefit to our students when we help them explore, discover, and fulfill their individual dharma. In class, encourage your students to contemplate their dharma by frequently asking powerful questions.
Ideally, ask questions when your student is sitting quietly. The beginning of class is an auspicious time, either after Shirshasana, Sarvangasana, or whenever your students are sitting and feeling the effects of the pose they have just completed. Of course, a perfect time is at the end of class during Shavasana, when the mind is quiet and the heart is being explored.
Many common notions do not serve our quest for dharma and, in fact, work against the journey of self-exploration that is yoga. For example, we think that “being number one” will make us happy, but is it so? We believe that the acquisition of things defines success, but is it so? I encourage you to ask deep questions and weave yogic philosophy into the fabric of your class. Ask people to question these often harmful assumptions that unscrupulous advertisers and well-meaning family members force upon them. You don’t have to interrupt the flow of the class to do this; sometimes all it takes is a well-timed question or a single quote at the right time. For example, if you find that some students are trying too hard while others are not, you can tell the class, “Yoga teaches us the middle way. If we work too hard, we burn out and cannot manifest our dharma. If we work too little , we stagnate and cannot manifest our dharma either”. Use your life experiences to inspire your students to open their minds, break their habits, and seek their life’s purpose. It’s not enough to loosen tight muscles: our job is to loosen restrictive thoughts and suffocating beliefs as well.
If asking such questions of your students makes you uncomfortable, then maybe it’s your turn to ponder a question: “Do I just want to teach asana or is it my dharma to be a true yoga teacher?” Either answer is acceptable, but it’s good to know.
Begin each class with a time of quiet reflection, thus giving your students a rare opportunity to become introspective and receptive to deeper sources. As they quiet down, tell them, “Move your mental energy to your Heart Center and look within yourself. Seek the true purpose of your practice and strive to rediscover the intention behind every action you take.” Instructions like these help students to get in touch with the Spirit within slowly but surely.
© Aadil Palkhivala 2008