Everyone is a student

“Yoga is contagious. It creates a flame - a fire. If you hang out with people who are on fire, you will catch on fire.” ~Richard Freeman

Yesterday, we started talking about teaching principles. The first principle: Do not think of yourself as a teacher. Everyone is a student.

“In fact, if you think you are a teacher – very dangerous,” Richard said.

This seems to apply to teachers of anything, and I think especially important for physicians to remember (where there can be a lot of ego). As Richard was explaining, a teacher should be saying: “Look with me at this cool thing” rather than “Look how cool I look doing this.”

He went on to say that teachers are not transmitting knowledge so much as teaching a tool: the tool of an inquiring, open mind. They should be “lighting a flame” in students.