I don’t often publicly express opinions or viewpoints until I have fully digested and integrated the experiences that lead to their formation. I realize that this has become increasingly rare in today’s world of social media where we can impulsively broadcast all of our experiences and opinions instantly. It is not uncommon for photos, quotations and reactions from a certain experience to be uploaded to thousands of people on Facebook, before the experience itself is even finished.
Often this sharing creates a fabricated picture of a fairy tale life, rather than a representation of the reality as it is. I find this fascinating, disturbing and bizarre all at once. Even before the era of social media and widespread use of the internet, I never owned or carried a camera, much to the disappointment of friends and family who wished to see visual documentation of my travels and experiences. I felt that the act of taking a picture was already turning the experience into a false representation of itself and removed me from actually participating in and experiencing it fully. I feel the same way about social media these days and so I do not tend to publicly share many representations of my day to day life.
Yet, I’ve been touched by the number of emails and messages I’ve received over the past seven weeks from friends and acquaintances who are genuinely interested to know how my time here in Mysore is going. After writing a similar description numerous times in email replies, I decided to write a longer reflection of my time here in Mysore to share with others.
In order to do that, I think a bit of background to the current situation is required:
Though I have been drawn to practice in Mysore a few times over the 16 years that I have been practicing yoga and the 11 years that I have had a daily Ashtanga practice, for the most part I have not felt it to be a strong priority. Not coming to Mysore had become a conscious choice, as I worked my way through the Ashtanga series and became a Mysore-style Ashtanga teacher. The next logical step for most people pursuing this track is to come to Mysore, practice at the KPJAYI and receive authorization.
In fact, I did come to Mysore in 2000, while I was still an Iyengar Yoga practitioner who had a strong draw to the flow and breathing in the Ashtanga method. After finding the old AYRI shala in Laksmipuram, I knocked on the door and met Sri K. Pattabhi Jois briefly. He asked me two or three questions and then advised me to watch a Mysore style session the following morning. My Iyengar biases did not lead to a favourable opinion about what I saw that morning and I happily left Mysore to return to my Iyengar teacher in North Goa.
In 2003, I met Mark Darby, and was inspired to switch my personal practice to the Ashtanga method, learning the primary and intermediate series from him. As I was already teaching yoga in the Iyengar style at the time, it was natural for my teaching to follow this shift in my personal practice. By 2006 my teaching had completed the transition that my personal practice had taken three years earlier to the “correct” Mysore-style method. As I was living in a remote part of Northern Canada at that time, without access to a senior teacher, I had to use my instinct and intuition to guide both my practice and teaching of the method as I founded an Ashtanga community there.
In 2007 I decided that things were serious enough that I should emerge from my Northern isolation and connect to the global Ashtanga community.
Coming to practice in Mysore seemed to be the most appropriate way to do that and I began to seriously plan for this.
During a course I took with Richard Freeman, a fellow student happened to recommend to me that I should visit Rolf Naujokat if I was intending to go and practice in India. She felt that Rolf and I would be a good match for each other. I instantly felt a strong draw to go and see Rolf and registered for classes with him that same winter. So, I had revised my plan to include a winter of practice with Rolf before I started going to Mysore. That was 2007.
That first winter with Rolf became seven winters. When you know you have met your teacher, it is clear.
Rolf initially took away my self-taught third series practice and insisted on teaching it to me in the correct way, which meant a certified teacher giving me the postures one by one. He re-taught me the third series over 3 winters, and then taught me the fourth series over 4 winters, which we completed in April 2014.
As I progressed through the advanced series and began to place more emphasis on my career as a Mysore style teacher – I would question from time to time whether I was doing the right thing by choosing not to go to Mysore. It would help me a lot as a teacher to get authorized and to “prove” myself to the greater global Ashtanga community in this way.
Yet, inside, I had no desire for the Mysore experience. I was spending 3 – 5 months each year with Rolf and also sitting an annual 30 – 60 day Vipassana retreat. I felt completely devoted to Rolf as my teacher. I had no desire or need for another teacher, and felt I was getting a truly authentic transmission of the Ashtanga lineage from Rolf. It seemed counterproductive to fragment my time and my Bhakti by trying to develop a relationship with Sharath at the same time as I was practicing with Rolf. If I went to Mysore during those years, it would only have been for the authorization certificate, which to me was not an authentic or appropriate reason to go.
In making life choices, I have always tried to allow my heart and my connection to my deeper yearnings to lead the way. Often, this went counter to what logic or reason dictated. I have always chosen the experiences that lead to deeper fulfillment inside me over experiences that might give me a strategic advantage in some superficial realm of life.
Many things in my life and inside me changed during the years of 2012 – 2014. One of those things was my feelings about Mysore.
In many ways, my relationship with Rolf came to a form of completion when we finished the fourth series in April 2014. While nothing about my feelings for him changed, the superficial aspects of our relationship did. There were no new postures to learn after that, as he had taught me as far as he had learned himself. While that did not mean I could no longer benefit from and enjoy practice with him, there were other aspects of his yoga shala that were less than ideal for me. These had become increasingly difficult to ignore.
In fall 2013 I was teaching for what would be the last time in my previous home of the Yukon in Northern Canada. I was starting to get ready for what would be my final trip to Goa to finish the fourth series with Rolf. I was researching something online and came across a blog post from a well known certified Ashtanga teacher. I casually read the post, which ended up being a description of some aspects of her experience in the shala on her previous trip to Mysore. She was learning the end of fourth series with Sharath and it happened to be about the same place in the series as I was at in my learning with Rolf. Though her description was brief, I had a powerful visceral reaction to how she described learning that part of the fourth series with Sharath. I could literally feel the intensity and focus of the shala in her description and I could sense how it would be to practice what I was practicing if I were in the shala in Mysore with Sharath.
And so, it was awakened – a deep authentic yearning to practice in Mysore. Not for authorization, not to prove myself to anyone, but simply to come and feel what it was like to practice here. And for me, that was the right reason to come.
14 months later, it is November 2014, and here I am – seven weeks into my first practice session with Sharath Jois in Mysore.
Which brings me back to how things are going here:
I came here with a very open mind, with as little expectations as possible as to what I might experience and how it might be here.
I’ve heard all the negative stories about Mysore – the superficial competitiveness and aggressive attitudes of some folks, the anonymity, the inexperienced assistants giving poor or dangerous adjustments, etc.
I also knew that I would have to let go of my fourth series practice for my time here, and start over as a beginner, surrendering to the pace that Sharath would deem appropriate for me to progress through the system again under his guidance.
Thus far, I haven’t felt negatively affected by any of these factors. I do see that some practitioners are competitive and superficial. They are desperate for some form of recognition from Sharath – chasing after the next posture, or authorization, and this forms the basis of their actions and experience here. It doesn’t seem like a pleasant experience for them.
Yet, I don’t find it to be anywhere near the degree that other people have reported. I also don’t experience the social discussions about practice to be geared in that direction either. Which posture or series one is on has only been given a passing mention in most of the conversations I’ve had with other practitioners, and that also in a non-judgmental way.
It’s also a fact that I am my usual hermit self here, and socialize very little. Most of the socializing I have done is with people I already know from other places and already feel some sense of like-mindedness with. So, it’s possible that I’m just blind to certain attitudes in the general student population. Nonetheless, I think the important point is that it is not a part of my own experience here, which shows that it is avoidable.
Another factor in this is that I have arrived in Mysore at an ideal time in my own journey. Having completed the fourth series with Rolf, I have my practice. It is something that no one can take away from me, and after 11 years of daily practice, I am beyond needing to prove anything to anyone. Whatever postures Sharath gives me has no bearing on the practice that my teacher taught me over the past 7 years.
I am also an established and respected Ashtanga teacher. Whether I get authorized and certified or not has no bearing on the opinion of the many students who have practiced with me as their teacher over the past decade.
So really, I have nothing to chase after here – only to enjoy what is given as a bonus to what I already have. If I had come here even 3 or 4 years ago, I might have felt more caught up in the chasing after recognition part of some other people’s experience here.
In terms of safety, I could not feel more at ease here, and I think that is the experience of many people. All the stories of bad alignment and frightening adjustments are not true, from what I have observed. In fact, I think more of this goes on in other studios around the world, and amongst teachers who have misinterpreted the Ashtanga method or feel like they as teachers have something to prove to their students.
Sharath runs a very tight and clean ship. He has an excellent sense of how and what each student should be practicing, and he keeps a close eye on his assistants and what they are doing as well. He is very good at making sure each student develops the protective factors of strength and alignment in the practice.
The only posture I have been adjusted in here is catching the legs in the final backbend. Sharath is truly masterful at this adjustment, and he continues to take me much deeper into it than I have ever experienced before. When he adjusts me in this posture, it feels almost effortless and very safe and well aligned. This morning he moved my hands to hold my knees for the first time ever. It was intense, but didn’t feel like a struggle. It was relatively easy for something that seven weeks ago I would have said was impossible for my body. When I came up from the backbend he was smiling broadly at me.
When the assistants adjust me, it is obviously without the level of skill and experience that Sharath has, but it usually very good and I have yet to have a “bad adjustment” here.
I could see the potential for less experienced practitioners who are also very enthusiastic and less aware of their own bodies and limitations to use the heat and intensity of the room here to push themselves too far in certain postures – but overall I would not say it is an unsafe place to practice, in fact it is the very opposite.
Coming from a daily practice of fourth series, followed by several hours of teaching on most days, I was looking forward to my time here as a bit of an easy ride. I knew I would be practicing primary series only for at least a few weeks, and then adding on Intermediate postures one by one. As I completed both of these series 9 or 10 years ago, I assumed it would mean three months of relaxed, easy practice. I looked to it as a restorative yoga holiday of sorts.
The heat and intensity were the first things that struck me here. I arrived at the very beginning of the season and Sharath started off with a series of 5 led primary series class for everyone. I’ve never practiced with so many people at once – 80 people in the room. Sharath’s pace and Vinyasa count was also quite strong for me and I felt humbled to be struggling in primary series during those first five classes. I enjoy hot, sweaty practices very much, but it has been a long time since I practiced in the kind of heat that I arrived to here. I’ve also done fast primary series practices, but holding chatwari was not something I was used to.
Ever attentive, Sharath called me out on several things during the first led classes, including holding the entire class up in chatwari for some time while he yelled at me from the stage to “do it properly”. I had no idea what he meant until he finally told me to “go lower”. I had been accustomed to keeping my upper arms parallel to the ground, but he insisted that I go down until my chest was nearly touching the ground.
Since I’ve adapted to his specifics and to the heat, I’ve enjoyed practicing primary series here thoroughly. I have taken the opportunity to develop more strength in some of the transition vinyasas and my focus on mula bandha more deeply. As the postures themselves are all very accessible for me, I’ve taken the opportunity to challenge myself more in other areas of the practice.
By the second or third week, my upper body felt noticeably bigger and stronger, but not in a way that was making me tighter. I still felt tired in my breathing muscles (due to being extra precise and clean in the Vinyasa) by the end of each practice until the end of the first month.
After practice at the shala, I come home and do my 45 minute pranayama practice in the open air on our balcony and I was surprised at first to find that this was also challenging due to the extra workout I was experiencing on the muscles of breathing and stabilizing. It was also a month before my pranayama practice regained its usual ease.
Sharath started me on Intermediate series at the end of my third week. He gave me a few postures every few days for a couple of weeks and then held me on Kapotasana for a week. This week he gave me the go ahead to start Supta Vajrasana.
Now that I feel fully adapted to all aspects of practice here, it is really a sweet practice experience. To be able to flow through postures that have long ago been integrated into my body and nervous system is now giving me that restorative experience that I thought I would feel in the first month. To be able to take the time to deepen the meditative and strengthening aspects of Vinyasa, breath and mula bandha in primary and intermediate series is a nice experience after all these years of putting my focus on the advanced series.
Sharath is an excellent teacher in all ways. He is truly a master of this system, and he understands all of its aspects from the physical to the psychological to the spiritual. His ability to be present and keep track of 200 – 300 students per day every day is stunning. He doesn’t memorize exact details about everyone, but he does know each person and where they are at. He also knows how to work with each person as an individual based on that understanding, and what each person is and isn’t ready for. The fact that he keeps this up for six months continuously, perhaps seeing 600-800 different people over these six months is truly astounding. He has my full respect.
His talks and the way he answers questions in conference are also very good. I was happy to discover that he does talk about yoga and what is important in the same way that I have come to understand. His storytelling and references reflect a context of traditional Indian philosophy – something I’ve moved away from in the past year or two – but the essence of the meaning and his understanding of it are similar enough to my understanding for me to enjoy his talks thoroughly.
Sharath tirelessly expounds the same essential messages to all the students. “The yoga has to happen inside you.” He says this several times during each and every conference. He regularly reminds us that he has woken up at 1 am every day for the past 25 years, not to self-aggrandize, but rather to convey the message of bhakti. He wants all students to understand that focus and dedication are essential ingredients for true understanding and experience of “the yoga happening inside you”.
In his physical adjustments, Sharath knows how to take you deeper into a challenging posture in a way that feels both safe and effortless. I’ve noticed he does not adjust very much. Only catching the legs in the final backbend (or working up to that for those who cannot yet catch), and a few other key postures from each series. Nothing that is not necessary. He spends a lot of time sitting on the stage, surveying the entire room, quietly watching.
A few mornings ago as I walked out of the shala after practice, Sharath happened to be standing near the door about to help someone in a backbend. He’d been up since 1 am, done his own practice, and was probably about half-way through his daily task of supporting and teaching 200-300 students for 6 hours.
“Thank you, Sharath”, I said quietly as I walked past him. He turned his head and for a moment met my gaze and smiled a true and authentic smile. He showed no tiredness, no impatience, no patronizing – neither of us wanted anything from the other. “Thank you”, he replied, and turned back to his next backbending adjustment.
I have little doubt that I have found my new home for developing my own practice, and my next teacher.
Thank you for this post. It brought tears to my eyes… I miss Mysore and miss Sharath. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to come this season. He really is quite a master at this system. Enjoy the rest of your time there.
p.s. I hope you don’t mind that I share this on my page on facebook.
Sure Bela, please do share.
So glad you are there and having such a wonderful experience! Very inspiring and definitely makes me long to go back…We are sorry not to have you in Nelson…but I imagine Bali will be a fruitful and magical place. Enjoy and hope to see you again sometime! xo
Thanks Katie, it’s so nice to hear from you. I hope you guys are well and enjoying life. I must apologize for never getting back to you about Nelson. I thought about writing to you with an update so many times over the last year. Yes, Bali has become home for now. Not what I was envisioning when we had tea in Nelson last fall, but it is the right thing right now. As I write this, I am remembering the beautiful drive and ferry ride from Nelson to Revelstoke. A small town in Canada is definitely still on the horizon for the future…..
Thanks Iain. Beautiful!
Beautiful sharing..Thank you for doing justice to our teacher Sharath, to the tradition of Ashtanga and Mysore. Namaste !
Thank you, Saba.
It is really beautiful the way you are sharing your experience in your yoga journey and what you are living here in Mysore. You are talking from the heart and that is touching me so much. You are saying the truth…….i am here in Mysore, my first trip too. Will be nice to meet you Ian. I really appreciate this blog, and if you don’t mind i would love to share it in my FB page just beacuse if i could write as good as you and express my expirience as an ashtanga yoga student as you did above it could not be more perfect expressed. You did it simple but in a way that nourished our soul and feeds our thirsty as a real seekers.
Thanks Claudia. You are most welcome to share it on your facebook page. Enjoy the rest of the time here, and I hope to meet you!
Thank you Iain!
One of my students posted this on FB, and I’m so glad she did. I really relate to so many things you said. I am also in Mysore currently, and I find that many of the negative factors people say exist here are totally avoidable. I’m also not super social: I don’t go to breakfast or hang out with lots of other students and discuss practice. I sometimes chat about it with my roommates but that’s it.
I think anywhere there will be people motivated for the wrong reasons. Mysore is no different. Sharath is amazing and can see people practicing from ego or people who want more poses. I swear he can read my mind sometimes! I also waited some time before making the trip here. I had an awesome senior teacher back in the US, and I really had no desire to come to India. Then one day something changed. I just knew I had to come here and I’ve never regretted any of my trips. I think it’s easy to dismiss coming here because of this minimal BS that exists, but the true benefits are so, so worth it. Practicing at the shala completely improved my focus and perspective of practice.
By the way, I’m also consistently humbled by how Sharath knows everyone’s practice. It’s amazing. I think he may be just a tad bit omnipotent….jk
beautiful. i’m especially touched when i read last two paragraphs.
and i always feel the same thing when i say thank you to him after practice.
i practice at 6:30. as i wait to enter the shala, i always enjoy watching your practice!
and i’m happy you like it here!
Thanks, Daniel!
Hi Iain, thanks so much for writing this, it was so interesting and so heart felt. I practised in front of you at Rolf’s for most of last winter which for someone like myself (stiff, old and quite new to yoga) was a total honour. I have often thought about going to Mysore but have been put off by the stories and gossip. I still have lifetimes of yoga to learn from Rolf but one day I hope to practice in front of you at Mysore. I’ll miss your energy this winter. Glad you have found a new home.
Nice to hear from you Gareth! I find those who are “stiff”, “old” or facing other strong challenges to be some of the most inspiring practitioners. There are so many versions of “I can’t do this practice because……..”. The practice is there to show us what is happening inside, and anyone who is capable of looking can do the practice, regardless of the external condition of the body. Nice to hear that you are back with Rolf this winter. Please pass my warm greetings and love on to him. And, I hope to see you here sometime!
Hi Iain, Nice post- I am in Anjuna, today was my first day to study with Rolf here in Goa.
I have studied with Guruji and Sharath for years and I feel many of the same sentiments that you have shared.
I was not accepted for November and again rejected in December-
Enjoy the rest of your time in Mysore,
All the Best,
Clayton.
Thanks Clayton, enjoy your time with Rolf and please pass on my warm greetings and love to him. I hope to get to meet you in person sometime!
Truly beautiful and inspiring !
Thanks Ian for sharing your point of view! Glad i ran into this and into you and your girlfriend 🙂
This was beautiful! I came in with the same doubts, but over the course of the first few weeks, my attitudes and thoughts completely evolved into a deep appreciation for Sharath and the shala. This was my first trip to Mysore and it is coming to an end, and this Sunday I leave for Goa to practice with Rolf for a few weeks. From what you have said, sounds like it will be very special as well. 🙂
You have such a beautiful and peaceful practice! Hope to meet you before I leave!
Very inspiring Iain,
Not only this, but also our brief conversations here in Mysore.
Looking forward to learning from you in May!!!
Interesting article Ian. I may try to make it to your class. I was wondering what your thoughts are about the following article: http://www.chintamaniyoga.com/asana/reformation-of-an-ashtanga-zealot/
It talks about the issue of orthodox Ashtanga and whether the traditional practice instructions should be strictly followed without modification.
I believe the backlash against “orthodox Ashtanga” has been created by practitioners and authors who have misunderstood the system. Those who took a strongly fundamentalist and narrow minded interpretation of the system, and later abandoned it because it did not work for them or their students, can tend to be very outspoken against what they see as a very rigid system. I think this shows more about the inner tendencies of these practitioners than it does about the system itself.
Sharath’s approach to teaching the system does not fall into this narrow minded category, from what I have observed. Sharath treats each student as an individual, and sets different standards for physical expectations based on the individual’s unique characteristics of age, injury, health, etc. He may set stronger standards for a young, healthy or physically capable student to achieve perfection in a difficult asana before moving them on in the series. With other students who are older, injured, or simply do not have the physical capacity, he will move them on without having achieved the same degree of perfection that other students may be expected to have. He may grant teaching authorization to someone who is less advanced in the physical practice, while someone who is further along may not be authorized.
In conference talks, Sharath constantly emphasizes that physical development in asana is only a doorway to the real yoga, which must happen inside oneself. He reminds us that someone who “only” does half of primary series can be a real yogi, while someone practicing advanced series may not attain this inner understanding and transformation of yoga. Sharath expounds the message that yoga is the transformation of the entire person, and that physical attainments in asana are not a guarantee of this inner transformation.
I have never met or practiced with an Ashtanga teacher who falls into the narrow minded, fundamentalist category as described by the author of the quoted article. Although I am sure such teachers do exist, I think they are by far a minority, and the greater Ashtanga community (especially those who are seeking training from Sharath today) do not fall into this category.
My own personal approach, and the approach taken by other teachers and peers that I respect and have worked with, is to adapt the system to bring healing and transformation to each student – on all levels of the being. A 65 year old with various chronic pains and injuries can practice the same system as a 25 year old who is strong and healthy. They can learn the same sequences. What will be very different is how they practice these sequences. The older, less physically capable student will likely move more slowly and possibly with some temporary or permanent modifications of challenging hip rotations, etc. The younger student may move more quickly, but be asked to stay at certain postures until the requisite physical changes to complete the postures come about. I have taught numerous students in the older and less physically able category, and found that they can attain great benefits from the practice, without having to change very much about the postures or sequences. Due to their maturity, their focus and understanding of the inner aspects of the practice is often much deeper than that of the younger and more physically able students.
As a teacher, I try to work intuitively and in direct relationship with each student as they really are, from moment to moment, rather than placing them in a certain category (like the author of the quoted article does) and following a formula. I try to see how the set sequence of the Ashtanga system can be made to work for each practitioner and their unique individual characteristics, so that the real yoga can happen on the inside. This allows for endless possibilities.
Following rigid interpretations of “Pananjali yoga”, “meditation” and “pranayama” can become just as dogmatic and unhealthy as rigid interpretations of the physical aspects of asana. All of these aspects of yoga have dual potential as either tools to help us deepen our relationship with ourselves, or as rigid dogmas which only serve to take us deeper in bondage and delusion. The difference lies in the intention and awareness that we bring to whichever practice or scripture it is.
Thank you Lain for your words of wisdom. I hope you really enjoyed your time in Mysore. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you personally. I read your post just before I came here this year at the end of Nov. and it reminded me of my first trip last year. I am glad you gave this place and Sharath a chance and didn’t listen to the gossip. Take good care, and see you down the road!
Thank you Johnny, I’m sure we’ll meet up eventually in the small world of Ashtanga!
Thank you for sharing Iain, I was looking forward to hear your experienced in Mysore. Your feelings and perceptions perfectly translate to mines while in Mysore. Although I had only practice the last 2 years with Saraswathi and on my way to a third time with her this March 2015. I feel there is a great foundation, knowledge, tradition, respect and many good things happening in Mysore. The negative aspects that some people talked about are our own karma experiences of samsara ripening on a world of suffering. I hope we cross path in the future again. Happy 2015 from San Frans!
Great to hear from you, Manlio. Please share my best wishes with all the San Francisco/Sidney Mysore community. I’ve heard great things about the new space that Sidney is holding classes in. I hope you’re enjoying it.
What you say about the negative reports of Mysore being people’s own karmic patterns expressed onto an external situation is a tricky subject, and worthy of a long article of it’s own! I feel there is some truth to that, in many cases. True yoga (in whatever form of practice, be it Ashtanga Vinyasa Asana, Meditation, Yama/Niyama, etc.) when applied correctly, is designed to bring our samskaras/sankaras out onto the surface for us, and possibly everyone else, to see. Then we have the choice, of either observing and working with them in a way that they will weaken, or we can also go the opposite route and use the opportunity to strengthen them, taking us deeper into the delusions that cause us to suffer. Negative habit patterns will come up for everyone that is practicing. The mark of a practitioner with real depth of understanding is how we choose to work with those patterns that come up. The real work of yoga!
Hi Iain, very insightful piece. I currently making plans to take an ashtanga month intensive to deepen my practice. I’m looking to eventually teach. My initial plans where to do a “conventional” teacher training but I don’t want to go that route anymore. I just don’t want to conform to Yoga Alliance. I want to just do and possibly teach Ashtanga. For that purpose my choices right now are between miami life center’s “Ashtanga Intensive”, Ashtanga Yoga Bali Research Center’s “1Month Mysore Plus “Light” Intensive”, David Garrigues (Ashtanga Yoga School Philadelphia) “Kovalam India Mysore Intensive”, Yoga Bones with Rolf and Marci (site currently down) and last my not least, going to the source, and just heading to KPJAYI in Mysore. Well, Miami Life Center is sold out so that’s that. Next is Bali, but I’d rather go to India. That leaves me with Goa or Mysore. You said that about Yoga Bones that “there were other aspects of his yoga shala that were less than ideal for me. These had become increasingly difficult to ignore.” You care to elaborate on that? Would you recommend just going to Mysore instead?
Hi Francisco.
I think you should practice with whichever teacher you feel most intuitively drawn to. If that feeling of inner connection is there for a particular teacher, then you should explore it. I also feel that it is important to develop a long term relationship with one teacher, if you really want to go deep in the practice. This will provide more integration and stability in your practice. It is much more valuable to have an ongoing relationship with a teacher who you can see regularly, then to have a one time experience with a well known teacher. Don’t count out the lesser known teachers. They often have as much, or more, experience and depth in their practice and teaching than the famous teachers do. I don’t recommend Rolf and Marci in Goa, based on what I have observed and experienced there.
Good luck and all the best to you.
Iain