“If you want to learn something, read about it.
If you want to understand something, write about it.
If you want to master something, teach it.”
― Yogi Bhajan
This quote underpins our *entire* yoga teacher training offering.
With all learning in life – whether it’s instructions on how to do something, how to say something (maybe in another language), a muscle name, a pin number… you are so much more likely to recall that information if you know, that in the future, you might have to explain it to someone else.
Many people who embark on our teacher training courses have absolutely no intention to teach a single yoga class in their life, but we still encourage them to teach yoga classes to their peers, and then to friends and family when the time is right.
We truly believe that the information that we pass on, whether its the almost overwhelming meaning of universal consciousness, or simply the insertion point of the Rectus Abdominis muscle, will be retained much more effectively under the, errrrrrm, threat (?) of needing to explain it to another human being.
Right from Day 2, our trainees teach each other sequences, meditation techniques, alignment cues, and so much more. This ‘threat’ of teaching means that trainees immediately look to integrate the knowledge their gaining. Questions that might otherwise go unasked, comprehension that might otherwise just be surface level, confidence that otherwise may never have been found, all come to the forefront. Yes, mistakes are made, but they’re corrected in this safe environment, and when teaching others, you very rarely make the same mistake again 🙂
Try it. Next time you want to learn something; read about it, write about it, then teach someone, and just see – does that knowledge stay with you that little bit longer…?
Written by Holly
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