“Before embarking on important undertakings, sit quietly, calm your senses and thoughts, and meditate deeply. You will then be guided by the great creative power of Spirit.” ∼ Paramahansa Yogananda
I welcome your desire and interest in taking the necessary steps to pass on the message of yoga to others. The world has many professions and careers full of people getting ahead but only a few sincere individuals dedicated to focusing on inner growth, with a desire to help others.
Becoming a teacher involves much more than just doing a course and getting a yoga certification. It requires your full commitment, a deep interest and a sense of duty, and the discipline to continue and grow in your practice. Without these, teaching becomes a job and not a vocation, and you will fail to communicate to your students the true message of yoga.
What does it mean to teach? What kind of responsibility does it involve? What is yoga anyway? Hopefully these are some of the questions you’ve been probing, as well as the practical side of achieving yoga certification. The first thing you should look at is your own practice. How committed are you? How regularly do you practice? What is your practice? Patanjali clearly outlines in Yoga Sutra 1.14 what it takes to be successful in your practice: do it for a long time, without interruption (i.e., continuous), and with full sincerity.