I became a meditation teacher last weekend. I have been a student of Atma Kriya yoga meditation for one year and I loved it so much that I kept bugging my teacher to give me training so that I could teach others this amazing meditation.
So today, I thought it is appropriate to talk about teachers and Gurus. See, when you have something that others want, like knowledge or experience, and you feel like you should share it with people, you SHOULD NOT hold back.
Yes, it may be difficult to position yourself as an expert because you might fear that how can you possibly know the most about one topic, surely there’s someone else who knows this stuff better. Or you think that establishing yourself as an expert is arrogant BUT if you feel the calling to do so, then do it.
Why should you follow the Calling to teach or become an expert in something?
[blockquote_right] That’s one reason being a teacher may not be the easiest task because you will be forced to, by the universe, to face things within yourself that you don’t necessarily want to see. This is a good thing though because it will make you grow personally and spiritually in ways that nothing else can make you grow. [/blockquote_right] It is because when you embark on the journey to teach, the challenges that teaching job throws at you are actually very deep issues within yourself that you have to face in order to grow as a person. I used a great example using jewelry design in the video, what did you think of that example? These issues are subconscious so they don’t want to easily be seen and dealt with till they are forced out by a separate and bigger venture that you embark on, like teaching.
Another example is the Runaway Bride. In that movie (I’m not saying that being a wife was Julia Robert’s characters calling, but it’s an example) the moment she was about to get married, she would self-sabotage because she didn’t believe that she deserved to be happy.
As a Teacher, you are also a Mirror
A separate aspect of becoming a teacher or an “expert” is that you have to be willing to be the mirror on which your students project their “stuff” that they don’t want to see in themselves! I used an example of a student who might accuse you of being a fake because of their own issues in the video above. They are projecting their own belief or suppressed desire on you, so watch out for something like that.
As an effective teacher, you have to be ready to face these challenges that come up from within you as well as from outside, from your students. However, I urge you to still think about the one thing you feel called to teach, to share, to talk about and find a way to teach just one other person. I urge you to Follow Your Calling. The amount of growth that you put into motion within yourself and maybe also in the other person cannot be learnt in any other way.
Now your turn
What is the one thing you feel like you need to share? What did the journey of sharing it bring up within you that you had to address before you could progress? What do you find others project on you as well or pick on you for? Could they be projecting their own issues onto you? Let me know in the comments below or send me an email, I would love to talk more about this.
With Love,
Ritu
P.s. I’m running a workshop in London on Following Your Calling. Come and join me!
Teaching, also being somewhat new to me – always takes me out of my comfort zones.
My fear of not being good enough comes up as I wonder if what I am teaching has “gotten through” to my audience.
I am learning not to be attached to the outcome of my teaching. It is so important to just give of myself gracefully and in a heartfelt manner. That alone can and will be enough.
Chris, you are so right about not being attached to the outcome if the teaching. My teacher tells me to do the same thing.