I Was Teaching English to a Yoga Instructor—Then He Said This
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear.”
― Tao Te Ching
Years ago, I used to teach two yoga instructors.
Each week, our lessons revolved almost completely around conversation. I had ample opportunity to support their emergent language, but more often than not, I walked away having learned just as much as I taught.
They had this ability to see things from multiple angles, to hold space for silence, to challenge assumptions gently. And during one of those conversations, one of them paused and said, “You know that quote? ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear…’” He couldn’t remember the rest of it, nor who had said it, but he made a point that I’ve never forgotten:
A teacher appears not through magic, but because the student’s openness, curiosity, and humility have created the conditions for learning.
Now, as teachers, we know this. Intuitively. But hearing it come from a student, who was also a teacher in his own right, hit differently. After our lesson, I kept turning it over in my mind. For days.
I was talking to Fernanda Cwiertnia the other day, and her words brought me straight back to that earlier reflection—the yoga teacher, the quote, the reminder I’d recently reconnected with. And as we talked, I found myself thinking about one of my students, someone whose journey with my course echoed that very idea.
Back in 2022, this teacher enrolled in my Language Development course. A couple of months in, she dropped out. I assumed, honestly, that it just wasn’t for her. That maybe I wasn’t for her. But then, in January this year, she re-enrolled. New energy, totally different vibe. She was motivated, engaged, clearly enjoying it.
Last month, she told me,
“Remember when I started your course a few years back and quit?”
I said, “Yeah, I do.” She explained that at the time, she was still finding her feet—teaching mostly beginners, working on her own English. The course didn’t feel relevant then. But now? She’s teaching intermediate and upper-intermediate levels. The course fits like a glove.
And it clicked. This year, she was ready. For the course. For me. For what I had to share. Her life, her context, her attitude created the conditions so that I could play a role.
Learning begins with a search—for answers, for clarity, for someone to show the way. And when we’re finally ready to listen, the world responds. A mentor shows up. A book falls into our hands. A challenge pushes us forward. The teacher appears—not by chance, but because we’re finally prepared to recognize the lesson.
Readiness isn’t just about wanting to learn. It’s about being vulnerable enough to unlearn, to admit gaps, to make space.
This experience made me reflect on our general English students too.
Many seem unmotivated, not because they don’t care, but because English isn’t real for them yet. They’re studying for a future that hasn’t arrived. And when English isn’t part of their current reality, staying committed is hard. Just like that teacher who didn’t see the course’s value back then.
We don’t learn just because someone teaches. We learn because we’re ready—ready to wrestle with discomfort, ready to rethink what we thought we knew.
As for the second part of the quote—“When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear”—well, that’s a reflection for another time.
Have you ever had a moment like this in your teaching or learning journey? When something finally clicked because you were finally ready? I’d love to hear your story.
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