How do you define success for a Yoga teacher? Each Yoga instructor will have a different answer. What is important to one Yoga teacher may be of little importance to another. However, each Yoga teacher has the passion for Yoga within him or her.

This is the common denominator within all instructors of Yoga.

Is success measured by your contribution to the common good? If you are helping people through teaching Yoga, then it must be so. Yoga has many aspects, but all of them are for healing and helping people.

If you have a student who is financially unable to pay, would you turn him or her away? Most Yoga teachers would find a way to help a student in need, regardless of the finances involved.

However, there is a big difference between a student who cannot afford to pay you and one who does not want to pay you. The difference is the perceived value of Yoga and his or her present financial circumstances. The poor see a value in Yoga, if they need it, but cannot afford it.

Here is an extremely special case: There was a potential Yoga student who told me he was financially strapped and could not afford to pay for Yoga lessons, but he desperately needed them for his back problems. He explained his case and had me convinced that I should help him at an extreme discount.

Unfortunately for him, one of my students, (his neighbor), recognized him on the way out. My student was almost in tears holding back his laughter. He told me to look down the street for the poor mans car. You could not see it from my office, but I made it to a different window in time to see his brand new Mercedes S Class drive off.

Upon further investigation, this potential student owned many luxury cars, a home with a garage the size of a house, a vacation home, and a thriving business. So, why did he do it?

Why did he waste my time with a fabricated story? It is quite simple: Although his character may be in question, he saw Yoga as worthless, of no value, and it was just something that might be fun to steal. In fact, he toyed with my compassion, my passion for Yoga, and my need to be needed.

This is an extreme case, and I am not trying to create cynicism. However, always be aware of the difference between those people who truly need you and those who see your time, contributing to the common good, as worthless.

Copyright 2006 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications