I have been blessed by many, many wonderful teachers in my life. I would include professional trainers, yoga teachers, CPD facilitators, therapists, bodyworkers, facilitators as ‘teachers’. Each relationship has its own naturally occurring seasonal cycle:
Spring: the excitement of discovering new possibilities
Summer: fully engaging with learning and falling in love with the subject
Autumn: developing discernment in what suits me or not and where there may be issues to address
Winter: letting go of the relationship and turning away for a while
Sometimes this happens with ease and sometimes it’s a little more chewy and damaging as you’ll see here. Lucky for us, trainer, mentor and author Norman Blair has done some deep thinking about how we can assess whether a teacher will be a good person in which to place our trust. In his article The Practice of Teaching: Circles of certainty and critical consciousness he outlines warning signs, worrying signs and some excellent questions to ask teachers before you sign up and hand over the cash. He has generously let me share it here for you to download. If you do decide to share it, please remember to credit Norman and direct people to his site.
If you find yourself uncertain or concerned about a yoga teacher or trainer you’ll find an excellent resource in Yoni Shaki The Movement
