Ep 300 Adam Keen – What I Learned From My Yoga Teachers

Keen on Yoga host Adam reflects on what he learned from teachers whose methods sometimes inspired, challenged, or discouraged him. Through stories from Ashtanga classes, Mysore practice, and teacher trainings, he explores how rigor, technique, charisma, and careful communication can help one student while harming another.

Key  Topics

• Adam frames the episode around how teachers can teach valuable lessons even through experiences that felt difficult or unhelpful at the time.
• A poorly organized first class helped Adam realize he could teach without being perfect and that students often need a supportive space more than a flawless performance.
• A charismatic teacher's handstands motivated Adam to stay with Ashtanga but also made yoga seem performative and obscured the practice's vinyasa technique.
• Mysore self-practice offered a profound group experience, but little technique instruction contributed to Adam pushing through postures and injuring both menisci.
• Adam recalls a teacher-training comment about his worn-out body that eventually helped him recognize over-practice, while arguing that truth should be delivered with care.
• He criticizes teaching that is too advanced or inaccessible for the people in the room, emphasizing that instruction must meet students where they are.
• Adam questions adjustment-centered teaching and rigid progression, arguing that students need technique, agency, and the ability to modify practice.
• The episode's recurring paradox: rigor can support progress or drive overexertion, while encouragement can welcome students but also leave practice sloppy.
• Adam says teachers should be careful with offhand remarks because a few words can remain painful for a student long after the teacher has forgotten them.
• He describes Sharat's demanding Mysore approach as raising his standards while also contributing to pressure, over-practice, and injury.

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