The Long Game

I was talking to a long time friend of mine who is now a yoga teacher. He is the unlikeliest of yoga teachers. He runs his own factory, had no connection with spirituality or philosophy and joined yoga out of curiosity because he wanted to accompany his mom. His mom stopped, and he continued and continued. 

For 12 odd years. 

At the end of which he knows enough to be a teacher - somewhat, in his words. And he started teaching a few people,assisting the experts in teaching and so on and so forth. The line of yoga he is a teacher is in - is the world renowned Iyengar Yoga. 

It has no certifications, no fixed hours, no syllabus and follows a rigorous method of learning. People learn for years and there is a method and an order for it. 

All around, while there are others offering quick fix teachers certifications and yoga courses, this method continues to follow a time honoured tradition of building skills and expertise. 

This is not about whether it is right or wrong and all that. 

As we spoke the other day, it set me thinking that there is incredible value in sharpening a skill. A skill is sharpened over years. 

As a consultant - my facilitation skills is one such skill that I have worked and continue to work. In the last nearly 2.5 years, I have logged in approximately a thousand facilitation hours and every single time, a little bit of it gets sharpened. And I have miles to go before I can say, I have this skill - there are people who I look up to and they are exponentially better than I am.

And yet, every grain of sand builds the metaphorical bridge and I am able to see my evolution pre and post this thousand hours…And this is kind of how my friend put it for his yoga practice as well. In the space of a year, he has grown immensely as a teacher, as a student and a practitioner. If that isnt growth, what is...