Why is Yoga progress & Teacher Training so SLOW? 😬

Why is everything so SLOW? 😬

I get the above question a lot. In regards to everything (not just my classes 🫣). Why does flexibility take so long? Why does your teacher training take so long? 🤷🏾‍♂️ Someone enquired about the advanced TT the other day and she said she wished that I did an intensive training over 1 month rather than one that is stretched out over 10 months. I raised my eyebrow (picture it 🤨) and asked her: "What's the hurry?." And she really didn't know.

Firstly, the research is pretty clear that we retain less from intensive cramming than we do from learning that is spread out over many months. That is why, if I was in charge of a national curriculum of yoga teacher training, I would ban intensive yoga trainings. Hang on, that's an interesting title for a future email 😏.

So people just don't learn when they do intensive trainings. They just want a certificate and to run onto their Instagram and tell people they are 500hr qualified. But what have they really learnt? 🤷🏾‍♂️

And aside from the science. The philosophy points at a more patient approach too. I often think of this time when I was younger, in the presence of a Sufi mystic. And he was asked why genuine spirituality is such a slow and painful process. Why is "enlightenment" never fast? And I paraphrase, as I was 14, maybe 15 at the time. But the answer started with the same question that I asked. The mystic replied: "What is the hurry?"

The problem with rushing the learning process is that there are no roots in that learning. Meaning that when studying yoga is rushed, everything you learn, what you retain anyway, is purely superficial. You only remember the lines you were taught. But that doesn't change you. That type of learning just gives you a script but you remain the same. You have no roots 😤. But learning over an extended period means you have the time to absorb what you are learning. What you are told and what you are learning should become like seeds for your mind. And over time, you grow roots of your own. Confident to stand on your own. And you are only confident to stand so tall because your roots go so far into the ground. Do you know what I mean?

Why am I so confident at what I do? I mean, I'm actually shy by nature, but why am I so confident in my craft? So confident to put myself out there in front of the world. To write a book, and to make reels where I talk my talk with no concern in the world about what anyone might say to me. That confidence in the science and the tradition of yoga comes from knowing my roots go deep, that I have allowed what I'm learning to grow in my mind 🧠. I don't just copy what someone else said. I keep learning and learning without rushing until my understanding comes from my core.

Laura is the same with her handstands. People don't see the roots. The hundreds of reps and hours of commitment. People want a quick fix. But when you come to her handstand workshop, you'll see that she plants seeds in your mind, that you can do this. And then the reps that you put in will grow those same roots.

So everything takes time. There are no shortcuts. Each step has to be enjoyed and celebrated. Each module on the TTs should be a celebration, an achievement. Not another means to an end. And what end? You arrive headless because you haven't absorbed the process.

Plenty of trainings will promise you the finish line by a certain date, and it appeals to the modern mind. But trust the slow process. Savour the journey, or one day you arrive and have no idea where you are.

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Namaskar - Eternal Seeker

Zahir Akram

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