Trust

Yoga isn’t always easy. We hit obstacles in our practice and struggle to get past them.

To overcome these obstacles, it’s vital that we trust our teachers, something that is often overlooked in more casual yoga practice. That’s fine if you are just doing yoga for fun and for a bit of exercise but to truly initiate change yoga must involve trust.

A bump in the road

Whenever we try to make a change and make progress within ourselves, we get stuck along the way and drawn back to the temptation and ease of old habits.

We can only get so far by ourselves, and eventually we’ll need help to get around those obstacles and problems.  

The easiest way to do that is with a teacher you trust, someone who has faced those challenges themselves and who can guide you through them. If you don’t have this help, then it’s just a matter of time before you quit, as facing the same issue everyday and not knowing what to do is tough. I totally get that.

Building trust doesn’t happen overnight.   

So you won’t find a yoga teacher you trust by hopping around to different classes and yoga styles every week. You need to attend the same class with the same teacher for some time, so they can get to know you and you can get to know them.

That way you can be sure they know what help you need to achieve progress and growth, and you can trust that they will provide this for you.

What you want vs. what you need

I like to think of a good yoga teacher as being like a parent. I don’t always make my kids happy, but I always do the right thing for them.

I could let them eat candy for breakfast and they would love it, but instead I make sure they eat a healthy breakfast that will give them energy for the day. The same is true of a good yoga teacher. You might not like what they have to say to you, but you should have trust that they are steering you through the obstacles in your path in the way that is best for you in the long term.

This cultivating of trust within your teacher, and also within yourself, is a vital part of practicing yoga and moving through obstacles on your path.

As you practice yoga for a long period of time, you’re going to notice that you have more faith in yourself.

You are more connected to the choices you’re making.
You are more focused in your own life.
You’re not constantly seeking answers outside of you.

And this happens just by doing your practice day after day. Not in a way that’s necessarily the most fun, not in a way that’s cool or a fad but in a way that is effective. And you will get an effective practice for you if you work with a teacher you trust.

How are you building shraddha (faith) into your practice? I’d love to hear if the idea of trust is resonating with you today and how it affects your yoga – let me know in the comments.