Good morning, folks! I am Jin with Morning Mindfulness Podcast. I hope you are having a wonderful time wherever you are! Let’s start with a breath and a smile.

About teachers and students

Many years ago my teacher said, if you know what to teach, how to teach, if you have whom to teach, and you won’t cause any harm, then why not teach? Let me elaborate.

I basically started teaching over 30 years ago. I began my training in early 1980s, and as soon as I got some knowledge, I was sharing it with those who did not have it. My teacher said, just don’t lie, don’t tell people who you are not. Be honest. In fact, some form of teaching was kind of mandatory in the class. Senior students always help junior students.

No, I am not talking about professional sports coaches. That is a different story. I am talking about non-regulated holistic or spiritual practices. And that was long before words like “Yoga Certification” came into our vocabulary. We did not have YTT-200 or 500. There were no programs. The teacher was somebody who was dedicating his life to training, and who was willing to share.

No, I am not getting into combative discussion about pros and cons of teacher training. Let’s assume it’s all good, OK? Here’s my point: we all walk our Path. Our Path may cross somebody else’s Path. They may interlace or go together for a while until they part. We learn what we can and we share what we know. This is life.

Teaching Yoga, Qigong, Martial arts, etc. is very similar. We can create as many certificates as we want, it does NOT make us teachers. I understand, you go into class and you have a teacher and students. I get the vocabulary. But really, we cannot call ourselves teachers. Somebody else has to. On the other hand, we cannot call somebody a student. They have to call themselves students. They have to walk their own Path.

I never really come to teach. I come to practice in different locations. If somebody wants to join, we will go together for a while. I will do my best to share what I know at that particular moment. By doing that I am learning and evolving too. As my teacher said, sharing is the best way to learn.
Am I a teacher? No. I am just a student of life, looking for the knowledge and willing to share what I’ve done so far.

Hope this all makes sense.

Thanks for tuning in! You can subscribe to my podcast on my site HPLN.org.
Now let’s breathe and smile. I will talk to you next time.

PEACE!
Jin

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