– or Does your yoga teacher know what it’s like to be stiff?

I had a very good yoga teacher not so long ago who admitted that when she started doing yoga she actually found it quite easy in many ways. Even without trying too hard she was naturally flexible and found that it wasn’t too much of a struggle tying herself into the various yogic knots.

It stands to reason that many yoga teachers maybe initially drawn to yoga because they were born bendy, can do a lot of the yoga poses well and find that they enjoy being good at it. So can someone like this really understand what it’s like to be a middle aged bloke who works in an office and struggles to touch his knees let alone coming close to reaching his toes?

A good yoga teacher will listen to their students and try to understand what difficulties they face and how they feel. If a teacher drops effortlessly in to a standing forward bend, places her hands flat on the floor and presses her chest against her thighs then she doesn’t really have a concept of what a tight hamstring is or a ridged low back and immobile pelvis. She has to rely on you, the student, telling her how it is for you.

It’s important to communicate with your teacher, and the same goes for a Pilates instructor or personal trainer.  They should be willing and keen to listen.  It’s also even more important to communicate with yourself. Yoga, Pilates and movement in general is a chance to check in with your own body and listen to what it’s trying to say. Don’t just rely on your teacher to tell you what you ‘should be feeling’, actually tune in and ‘really feel’ what your body is telling you.

Bottom line is that you are your own best teacher provided you take the time to communicate with yourself.

Also save a thought for the poor old bendy yoga teacher that is often too bendy. I treat plenty of yoga teachers and students that maybe bendy but they need to work really hard to gain and maintain the strength to hold everything together.