Your Most Important Teacher

From an early age, we are trained to seek permission from other people before taking action to meet our basic biological needs.

In school, we had to raise our hands and ask permission to go to the bathroom or get a drink of water. We were told when it was lunchtime or rest time — and forced to conform to those schedules even if they didn’t meet our needs.

This conditioning stays with us even into adulthood.

Almost every week I’ll have a student in my yoga class who asks my permission to step out of class to use the restroom, or get a drink of water.

I regularly remind my students that we are no longer in third grade. They don’t need my permission to take care of their needs — even if their needs in that moment include doing something other than the sequence I’ve created for class.

Part of the practice of yoga is learning to connect your mind with your body.

I endeavor to cultivate a space where my students feel safe to listen to what their bodies are telling them. I want them to assume the agency to act in their best interests.

For some, this part of yoga is more challenging than the physical poses.

In school, the teacher stood at the front of the room.

In a yoga class, you learn that your most important teacher is the one within you.