During the course, I experienced that teaching friends in the course with me and teaching a total stranger who had limited yoga background was very different. It is a much more challenging task to transfer the knowledge of what we learnt during the course in detail, and still keep within the limitations of that 1 hour when I was with the beginner student. I wanted to impart some of the passion I had gained for yoga to this new practitioner, so that she too would see the benefits of yoga not only from a physical aspect but from a mental one.
Alas, I could only focus on the physical. It took a lot of effort to correct the alignment of the beginner student and at the same time be conscious that there were others in the class who could perform the asanas well. They were waiting for instructions while I was busy adjusting that one student. Some of my classmates were kind enough to chirp in with their own verbal adjustments as well!
For this reason, I think that everyone should take private lessons as least once, so that they may learn proper alignment themselves doing the postures, and know that there are props available to them to help them achieve that final posture. One may not be able to execute an asana perfectly today, but with constant work they will most certainly get it in the future. I love that yoga is a journey to self-discovery.
With love,
Afiza (YTTC October 2015)
