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About Kara-Leah Grant
Kara-Leah is an internationally-renowned writer, teacher and retreat leader. Millions of people have been impacted by the articles, books and videos she has published over the last ten years. Her passion is liberation in this lifetime through an every day path of dissolving layers of tension into greater and greater freedom and joy. You can find out more about her, including when her next retreats are, on her website. Kara-Leah is the visionary and creator of The Yoga Lunchbox.
I totally agree. I opened a studio last year and have closed it this week, as all was doing was teaching. I was unhappy. My own.practice had vanished, because I was too busy preparing.classes. now, with just a few days of not teaching, I am.practicing my own yoga and happy!
would love to discuss this but privately, if at all possible
Hey Trish,
Of course – send me a message through my contact page.
When we practice daily we turn the everyday mundane into the spiritual. The commitment to repetition brings about stillness of mind and body that provides an awareness to transforms mechanics into intuition. As a teacher I believe we hold a healing space for others, so to hold that space with authenticity we must first heal ourselves. Otherwise its just an exercise class.
It makes much sense, thanks for you insight.
I agree with the sentiment but we need to remember that many of us teach one class a week fitting that class round our day job which in my case averages 60 hours a week. I teach because I love yoga and I want to share this with other people. I will never be Donna Farhi but I have a strong regular class with a group of people who enjoy my teaching and have developed their own practice over time. I do have a daily practice but it’s usually ten minutes first thing in the morning with more extended practice at weekends. Tell me this harms my students and I will stop tomorrow. Tell me they would get a better experience from Donna Farhi and I will laugh – of course they will. #justdoingthebestican
Hey Kerry,
Many thanks for your comment. It sounds like you DO have a daily practice… right?
Good article… ruined in my opinion by the need to use the F word
What counts as a home practice? 5 minutes? What if I only have time for 2 sets of sun salutations before I go to work in the morning?
Hey Tracey,
I work on a minimum of seven minutes a day. Although if I’m teaching, it also means that on at least three to four of those days I’m getting in at least 45 minutes of practice (which can be meditation, pranayama, chanting, asana, reading texts…)
Plus self-reflection and awareness as related to the Yamas and Niyamas throughout the day is powerful too.
… then, you get up earlier…
Nice Post Kara-Leah.
I just started teaching yoga. These post is very helpful for me. I will focus these things for sure.
Regards Nandita
Yes. Just, yes.
I’m currently training to be a kundalini yoga teacher. It most definitely has been drummed into us the importance of having a home practice. Plus we have to do a 40 day kriya as part of the course requirements.
I work 50 hour weeks and juggle everything else in my life, but still fit in daily yoga – it’s just that important!
Hey Mel,
Great perspective to share, thank you for weighing in. i’m loving hearing about everyone’s different experiences.
I have this debate all the time with fellow teachers, from those too busy teaching to practice to one who refuses to teach anything he hasn’t practiced in the past two weeks (his mentor won’t teach anything he hasn’t practiced in the last 24 hours!). A lot of it, I think, comes down to one’s interpretation of what yoga is and what constitutes a home practice. Teaching can’t be your practice but so many other things can incorporate one of the many limbs of yoga – who is to say what counts?
Great comment Kim… it’s an awesome dialogue to be having. What does “count” as a home practice for a teacher? Watch out for an article on this coming soon.
Love to see that article
Here you go Caro: Home Yoga Practice: What Counts if You Are a Yoga Teacher
Such an important topic! My first YTT through a large chain of studios had zero mention of personal practice, but instead required hours of attending more classes at the studio, often times taught by teachers who didn’t have a personal practice themselves. Hope this message reaches more aspiring teachers, because the greatest gift as a student is being guided through class by someone who is truly living and breathing the practice.
It is such a huge gift to be taught by someone who has a personal practice. I adore it… so much! Many thanks for your comment – I have loved hearing everyone’s perspective.
Funnily enough, I’ve just shared with my students that my home practice has declined recently. I’d lost my ‘presence’, feeling a bit grumpy and out of sorts. I wonder why????
Today I set an intention to practice daily, so your post has been a very timely reminder to set that sanculpa. Thank you.
MY pleasure Jeannie. May your practice flow with ease.
Thanks for this article. I am often disturbed that people take up yoga then decide they want to become a teacher six months later. I think you’re right, that it comes from perceiving competence at creating an aesthetically pleasing form to be the primary goal of practice. What disturbs me even more is that a shallow practice results in teaching that is the repetition of stock phrases and erroneous ideas, that have not been tested and verified in either study or personal self-discovery. It doesn’t take long, in a regular personal practice, to realise many of the standard cues given in a yoga/asana practice are not practical, possible, or beneficial for many bodies (or any bodies sometimes!). It seems also to me that a personal practice results in more respect for the unity of breath and body, more appreciation of the journey of self-knowledge, and a hard-earned philosophy of practice – so one would actually have something to share besides physical instructions and a great playlist.
I love my home practice. Sometimes its short, sometimes long, but it always feels wonderful and I congratulate myself for the effort. Im not a teacher, I go to regular classes, but my home practice is so important to my daily self care.