At the time it was hard not to take it as a warning. To be very careful. That if I hadn’t mastered all aspects of this practice then I had no business teaching it. I’d always had a fascination— which led to a deep respect— of the origins of the ancient practice.

So my teacher’s warning meant I had no business teaching at all. Right? This is a practice that for a very long time was taught by those who’d committed in a way that we can barely conceive of today. A monastic way of life, full of renunciation. We are then what the old masters would call “householders”. So how could what I knew at that point license me to teach others about yoga? 

But the practice evolves. It lives as you and I do. Learning and adapting. If the practice of yoga hadn’t evolved to accommodate householders, then practically speaking there’d be no practice of yoga at all. 

Yoga is a state. A state of consciousness. Of connectivity. Of awareness. Who can say who has the right, or is qualified, to speak of it? 

Why not you? Sure, you can certainly be an instructor. Right now! There’s always a surplus of those— no reason at all not to add you to the pile. 

But should you be a teacher? Yes, you should. With confidence. With authority. Because you live, you breathe. That’s awareness. Thats connectivity. Therefore, you know. No permission is needed and no one can grant it anyway. 

Hari Om

Keith