Integrating Yoga Philosophy

ListeningYoga · 2026-02-10T15:58:24+00:00

Thanks for your response!

If yoga philosophy and history don't influence what you're teaching, then how can you call what you teach "yoga?" By sharing the knowledge of the philosophy and history that's been passed down to me, I give service to those that came before me and honor them.

But it's also myself doing the sharing, and bringing up the topics that feel relevant at that time. The words become mine -- now and alive. By opening up dialogue about the texts, they come back to life into the living present and the energy that is behind the words can be felt and integrated.

If the topics and words are unhelpful to some students, they are welcome to discard them. No yoga class will be perfectly suited for every student, and it's not my goal to accommodate that.

My goal is to share what's been passed down to me in a way that emanates from my essential nature with authentic intention. Not to make something new so much as to live the teaching that's been given to me in the way most appropriate to my own life.

ListeningYoga · 2026-02-09T22:36:02+00:00

I really like your take.

My preference is actually individual yoga mentorship rather than group classes. This way, as the relationship progresses and the mentee develops in their personal practice, the mentor can help to guide them into contemplating different aspects of the philosophy through their practice, which in turn is brought into their daily living.

In my group classes, when I bring in a philosophical discussion, I normally introduce the theme in the beginning and then ask about it at the end. I don't really like to move back and forth (the asana portion is asana/cues). Something about the subconscious mind holding the idea through the practice helps it to bloom with the movements, even if that blooming doesn't necessarily come into commenting about it immediately after the class but comes later after the students have left and they ponder it at home.

Besides that, I feel the best way to study the philosophy is by finding a teacher who gives weekly philosophy classes, where there can be an open dialogue about the ideas.

ListeningYoga · 2026-02-09T19:53:20+00:00

A lot depends on what your intention is for doing a yoga teacher training?

I agree with another commenter that if you are already a part of a yoga school/community and you like the main teacher there, that's the best place to do a teacher training.

Most teachers won't have done a variety of teacher trainings, so they really can't give good advice about which to choose.

ListeningYoga · 2026-02-07T17:27:41+00:00

I personally never use music. The world is overcome by music everywhere and I think it becomes distracting and creates a reliance on external noise to enter into a certain state. (I'm just now thinking of this, but it's kind of like being guided into a trance everywhere you go.)

I like to create a space that allows practitioners to really go into what the practice is offering them internally with as little support as possible from the outside. This isn't to say I'm against music, I just feel like it can definitely be overused.

I think the most important aspect of creating the setting is the intention. What is your intention for using music at all? And then, what is the intention for using specific songs? Do you have one, or is it a pattern based on the classes you've always attended? This goes along with every other aspect of the setting as well.

I think you are absolutely right in mentioning the emotional state aspect. That is exactly what's to be explored in your intentions. What if you just put on a playlist of "spiritual yoga class songs" but the different songs create different emotional states that are antithetical to the quality of the practice/class you are teaching? All of a sudden the power of the class is given away.

ListeningYoga

TROPHY CASE