My favourite aspect of the SSSY teacher training was my incredible teacher Krishan Verma.  I could have gone to any school of yoga to receive training in how to do asanas properly, offer modifications, correct tiny details of postures, and to understand the functional anatomy of each posture. If yoga was just about physical fitness for me, then I might have made that choice. What I really wanted was a complete knowledge of yoga.

Having gone to many yoga classes at many yoga studios, I felt that not all, but many of the teachers were “pretending yoga” the same way children play house and the kids pretend to be the mother. There was some gap between the profound ancient tradition of yoga and the instruction in the yoga studio that had been diluted or modified knowingly or unknowingly somewhere down the line. The teachers had a lot of expertise when it came to asanas, but something was missing. I felt it not only when they tried to make some explicit reference to yogic wisdom, but even in the pauses between their words. I felt we were resting on the surface and I wanted something more.

In the SSSY, I found an authentic training that encompassed a full definition of yoga. While most schools these days give instruction in the history and philosophy of yoga, absorbing this knowledge from a teacher who is a living example of every pearl of wisdom is a very special experience. In our sessions, when Krishanji would elaborate on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras or the Yogasara Upanishads, I could feel the knowledge taking root in me.