Yoga Teacher Training: The Value of the Sage in Yoga

We live in a time when the masses have to bethem to every day life.
impressed by the extremes. When people think ofThe value of a sage cannot be under estimated.
Yoga, they often think of circus tricks, pretzel bodies,Unfortunately, the news shows us that wisdom and
and gymnastic feats. Feats of physical prowess are acommon sense have been taking a "vacation" for
wonderful thing, but you do not need a Yoga teacher'sawhile. In Yoga, a sage does not need a light show,
instruction, or a sage's advice, to perform them.fireworks, smoke, explosions, or special effects to
When I was visiting a colleague's Yoga studio, a youngcapture the imagination of his or her Yoga students.
woman signed up for a free introductory Yoga class,In Yoga, we look to the sages of the past, and
and a free Tai Chi class. Before the Yoga classpresent, through the written or spoken word. The sage
started, she was walking on her hands, touching heris a Yoga teacher who can capture your imagination
heels to the back of her head, and doing full splits inand guide students without any special effects.
every possible direction. She also put on the sameMaharishi Patanjali might be the first sage that comes
performance before her Tai Chi class.to your mind - when thinking about the Yoga sages of
Needless to say, she did not sign up for either class.the past.
About Yoga: She claimed that one Yoga class was allSo, where do you find a sage? Please remember that
she needed. She had "been there and done that." Shea sage is usually a mentor of spiritual and philosophical
was bored by Yogic philosophy, Pranayama, andsubjects, who is a source of profound and innovative
meditation. She had "mastered" everything about Yogawisdom.
in one beginner class.This does not mean he or she has to be a Yoga
My Grandfather used to say, "You can't reason with ateacher, but this is someone you can constantly learn
horse's tail." So, there was no point in reasoning withfrom. If you need a notebook to keep up with all of the
someone, who already has all of the answers to life'swisdom you hear from your mentor, then you have
many mysteries. In my life, my Grandfather was to befound a genuine sage.
the first of many sage's for me to learn from. He didThe true sage has been where we desire to go and is
not know much about Yoga, but he knew a great dealcapable of teaching all of us.
about common sense, philosophy, and how to apply