Start Where You Are

One of the original modern Indian yoga mentors, BKS Iyengar, advises yoga beginners to “start where you are.” There is incredible wisdom in this statement that allows for myriad entry points into the practice of yoga.

I am pondering this statement again as I participate in a social media conversation about the announcement by CVS that new stores will include space for yoga classes. The poster of this information asked opinions of the local teaching community. As expected, those responses are all over the map, from this is a disaster for real yoga to bring it on.

Bring it On

I sit in the Bring it On camp.

Many serious practitioners advocate for the student to seek out a single mentor/teacher to study under exclusively. This comes from the old-school Indian model where practitioners sought out a local yoga master with whom they forged an exclusive bond to study yoga from for life. This was their guru. Their guru taught them not only yoga postures, but yoga philosophy, Auyervedic medicine, and even religious doctrine.

This model allowed many famous teachers to learn and disseminate yoga wisdom, to our ultimate benefit. However, this model is expensive, daunting, and for most people, inaccessible. Also, it allowed some Indian gurus to grow huge followings, even attaining semi-divine status. Predictably at that point, several became serial abusers as their egos took over.

Excellence and Ineptitude

My personal journey started with a class at a local gym. I didn’t know where else to start and this was handy and seemed doable. I was lucky. It was taught by a serious yoga practitioner with a beautiful teaching method. She possessed a strong understanding of the mind-body connection which she effectively passed on to her students. It led me down the path to a beautiful studio, to teacher training, and into a strong personal practice.

I can say for sure that there are excellent teachers found teaching free community classes, and horrible teachers in expensive, big-city studios. And vice versa.

My career requires frequent travel, and I try to maintain my practice while I’m on the road. So I have taken classes in many towns, cities and venues. By far, the worst teacher I ever had was at a high-brow studio in a major metropolitan area. On the flip side, one of my all-time favorite teachers offers free classes in public spaces in my home town.

Excellence and ineptitude can be found anywhere. The key is to start somewhere – a studio, online class, community class, or with a book. If that first class doesn’t work for you try something else. Keep trying until you land on a teacher, method, style and venue that works for you. Study with that teacher for as long as it suits you, then move on when or if your practice requires it.