Dress for Success

Take your seat in style and discover how what you wear affects how you feel and how
others feel about you.By Sara Avant Stover
Whether you buy your yoga wardrobe from WalMart or Lululemon, you can find just the right fashions to suit your size, budget, and mood. As a student, you might search for styles that show off your body or personality, but, as a teacher, there's more to consider. When you step into the seat of the teacher you become a role model. Then what you wear has a greater impact not only on how you feel but also on how others feel, too. The task is to dress in a way that uplifts your words, actions, and spirit in service to your students and your subject matter.
How can what you wear help you embody your teachings? How can you use all of who you are, inside and out, to inspire your students?
Appearance Matters
Like it or not, what you wear matters. We all know that when we look good, we feel good; and when we feel good, those around us can feel that, too.
"Our physical and subtle bodies can sense so much more than we understand intellectually," says Hari Kaur Khalsa, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, author, and director of education and training at Golden Bridge Yoga NYC.
"Understanding the impact of our actions and presentation is the path of the yogi," she adds. Therefore Khalsa puts a lot of attention into what she wears as a teacher, and she feels grateful that Kundalini founder Yogi Bhajan challenged her to link spirituality with fashion.
As a result, she says, "I have seen the power that sacred fashion has to uplift people
both in yoga classes and on the street."
What to Wear?
When choosing what to wear, consider what colors, styles, and fabrics are comfortable, practical, and uplifting for you and your students. Dress with the remembrance that you are a role model for your students.
"Yoga teachers would be wise to be dressed in a way that looks professional: clean, neat, and modest," advises Desiree Rumbaugh, a senior certified Anusara Yoga teacher. "After that, creativity and beauty would definitely enhance the body of the one who is taking the seat of the teacher with Grace."
Grace can have many different looks and faces. When you step into Grace, you
embrace infinite possibility and the courage to radically accept and present yourself, as you are, which is always a divinely unique being.
"Grace can be cutting edge!" Khalsa exclaims. "It is the coolest and most sought-after quality in the subconscious."
Living in New York City, she practices what she preaches and enjoys dressing in a
way that is creative and surprising. As a result, Khalsa is constantly stopped,
photographed, questioned, and complimented because of her attire.
Recently when Khalsa had exited a movie theater and was waiting to cross the street, a woman beside her leaned over and whispered in a thick Brooklyn accent, "I don't know what this is about, but whatever it is, I love it and so does my husband!"
Khalsa was wearing a white turban, a white silk kurta (long, flowing shirt), a dupata (scarf), jeans, and boots.
Adrian Cox, a vinyasa teacher and owner of Yoga Elements in Bangkok, Thailand, has only recently started to consider the correlation between his wardrobe and his teaching. "I've discovered rather late that fashion in yoga is part of the image I project as a teacher," he says. "Especially here in Asia, appearances are super-important." Cox now puts more thought into what he wears when he teaches. He opts for cleanliness, modesty, and simplicity by dressing in a standard uniform of white sweat pants and a T-shirt when teaching.
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