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| Hi,
I posted this in the Anusara forum and realized perhaps I should have posted it here instead? Forgive the double post then. I'm a newbie...
I just started the first part of my Anusara teacher training. I am half way through the immersion with the intention of going all the way through the formal teacher training.
I had only taken one Anusara class before I chose to make this my teacher training. I come from a mostly Ashtanga and Iyengar background, with a little bit of everything else thrown in. I made the decision to teach after faithfully studying with one teacher for the past three years. I chose Anusara as it seemed to add an element into my practice that I felt I had been lacking. I also loved the alignment aspect of it and the emphasis on community.
I think the issue I'm having is that I'm not a flowery person. I don't like the invocation in the start of class where we are supposed to sing. It just feels weird to me. I'm also not entirely sure how I feel about the constant workshopping element of it. I am missing the flow of a class where we go all the way through. It doesn't help that on the third day of the training the teacher gave me a hard time for not knowing the answer to a question when put on the spot. He also has a tendency to say no to people when he is asked to repeat something. Not all of us are his followers nor have studied with him for years. I think I'm feeling a little like an outsider right now and it kind of sucks. I find myself writing notes and walking away with holes in them because I didn’t feel comfortable asking him a question. So, I'm feeling a bit lost at present. I want to feel encouraged, not self conscious...
I am wondering if I should consider finding another school to do my training where the instruction is broader and therefore gives me more options for the future. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to learn more about Anusara. There is a lot about it that makes perfect sense to me. I am just not entirely sure it is the kind of yoga I exclusively want to teach. I don't have much to spend right now, so I want to make sure I choose my training wisely...
Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mille Grazie! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 1738
   
Location: right where I'm supposed to be | Well, it sounds like something deep down isn't connecting. Only you know whether it feels right or not.
Not repeating an answer to a question would bother me, but that's me. Some would see it as a sign to pay close attention which I'm sure that is what this teacher is demanding, but that doesn't work for me.
I don't want to say what you or anyone else should do.
But maybe laying in savasana for a while focusing on your breath will help. Once you're nice and relaxed, start to think about what you should do, what you want to do. See how your body physically reacts to thinking about pursueing and staying with this style. Is your body relaxed and breath smooth? Is your body tense and your heartbeat quickened? You should be able to find your answers within.
Good luck!
mish |
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| Sounds like your teacher doesn't have the answers you need. Sign of bad teaching. Get out of the training and get your money back for the rest of the training. Go to what you know. Do a yoga training you have background in.
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| Hey, thanks for the insight and great answers!
I am just finishing the immersion and will decide about the TT afterwards. My teacher is a nice guy and I feel myself "clicking" with him more. Still, I'll sit with this and see what comes up for me. If it is meant to be, I'll see it through, and if not, I'll head back to what I already know. It's all about the journey, right?  |
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| There may be two components at play here FMG.
The first is the invocation piece that feels weird to you. The second is the relationship between the teacher and the students.
I've taken an Ashtanga class or two and I wasn't, at that time, all that giddy about their opening and closing. It just wasn't MY mantra at the time. ON that front it's okay to not join in - the same way beginners would likely not begin Oming in their second class. Some do. Fine. Many are not yet at understanding.
Component two is so large that it dwarfs this first component.
A teacher lacking compassion makes any training difficult. And it serves no one to not repeat an answer.
There ARE some instances where a question needs to be put off or an answer withheld. This does not apply to repetition for repitition is a foundation of teaching. Without repetition no student learns. If the leaders of this particular training are not willing to repeat things they are instructing (verbally) then what does that say about their concept of instruction overall? Not much. And frankly I don't give a rats behind why they don't repeat. You ask, you paid, you get. Period.
It's not a well crafted learning environment when the teacher isn't willing to repeat when asked.
Do you want to be in a well-crafted learning environment? If not, stay. If so, find another that suits you.
Being a "nice guy" is a qualification for being a human being and the qualifications for a yoga teacher are over and above "nice guy".
Edited by purnayoga 2006-08-20 8:06 PM
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Yoga teacher training
