The Listening Space: November Gathering
Listening as the Heart of Yoga
Atha yoga anuśāsanam.
Now, the teaching of yoga begins.
— Yoga Sūtra 1.1
I’ve been sitting with this sutra lately, or really I simply always return to it — atha yoga anuśāsanam — the very first line of Patañjali’s Yoga Sutras.
It begins not with an explanation or a promise, but with a simple invitation: now, the teaching begins. Not “the teaching will begin when you’re ready” or “when you’ve perfected your practice,” but now — in this moment, this breath, this life as it is. If we’re truly present, the teaching is already here.
What is a teacher?
And then of course there is the question that arises of what and who a teacher is. I remember a moment when I was with a teacher a number of years ago and he was dissecting the sanskrit of the opening line of the Ashtanga invocation that really stuck with me. In this opening chant the first line is often translated as “I bow to the lotus feet of my teacher”, the very first word in the chant is the word for feet, but it is plural. This explanation at that moment really landed for some reason, it is multiple feet, meaning multiple teachers. All of our experiences and lived moments, all our moments of learning and all of our teachers are held by this simple word, vande.
So who’s feet are these? Is it the feet of someome who gives information, who shows us how to move or breathe? Or is it someone — or something — that helps us see more clearly?
Yoga reminds us that the true teacher isn’t separate from the student. Teaching arises from listening: listening to the body, to breath, to experience, to life as it unfolds. A good teacher helps us to ask better questions.
What is yoga?
If yoga is union, connection, relationship — then teaching is not a transaction but a meeting.
When we practice yoga, we are both student and teacher. We study the inner landscape of the self, and in doing so, we learn how to live and move with more awareness. The first step in teaching, then, is the same as the first step in practice: listening.
What does it mean to listen?
To listen is to soften the grip of knowing — to create space for curiosity and reflection.
Listening begins with the breath. It requires presence, patience, and humility. It means allowing something new to be revealed, even in what we think we already understand.
When we listen, we become teachable.
Questions for reflection
As you reflect on your own practice, perhaps you might ask:
What is a teacher?
What is yoga?
What does it mean to reflect? To listen?
Do you look to yourself to answer questions or do you rely mostly on others?
What has your yoga practice taught you?
Do you approach your practice as a learning experience?
What facilitates learning — for you, for others, for the world around you?
You might bring these questions to your mat, or simply into your day.
Let them breathe. Don’t rush to answer — just notice what arises when you ask.
The Listening Space — Sunday, November 9 at 12:30
This month’s Listening Space gathering will open up this very theme: What is a teacher?
Together, we’ll explore what it means to listen deeply — to ourselves, to others, and to the world — as a living expression of yoga.
Yoga Study & Teacher Training — begins January 9
At The Breathing Space, our upcoming 200-hour Vinyasa Teacher Training is rooted in this same spirit of inquiry. It’s not only for those who wish to teach, but for anyone drawn to study yoga more deeply — to become their own best teacher. Through breath-centered practice, philosophy, and reflection, we study not to perfect ourselves, but to learn how to truly listen.
Learn more about the Yoga Study & Teacher Training →
The teaching begins now — in this moment, this breath.