Hi, I was in the same position you're in, in fact I'm still sort of there myself right now. After about only a year of regular practice at a studio that's practically in my backyard, I realized I needed more, so I enrolled in the 200+ hour teacher training program there (started this past September, will finish in June). I work with people one-on-one as a personal trainer, so my goals aren't really set at teaching classes, nor have they ever been either. I do teach a couple fitness classes once a week and it's been a love-hate relationship for me for pretty much the entire time I've been doing that (three years or so). I find it difficult to feel effective for a group of people, rather than when it's only one person at a time. I don't know, maybe if and when I teach a yoga class, since the audience will be different (fitness vs. yoga), that issue won't be a factor. I've been told that what I'm trying to convey in my fitness classes is too subtle for "the masses" (YogaFit anyone?) and that people who attend those classes don't want to think so much, they just want the burn. Now I know that I definitely want to help other people learn and experience what I've been getting from all of my yoga practice (and we're not just talking asana here), so I do believe learning to be a yoga teacher is the right calling for me.

If you feel drawn to learn more, to study deeper, by all means go for it, and give no thought to your longer range plans right now. Though the general policy of my teacher is to have been practicing for at least a year before commiting to a teacher training program, and I tend to agree with that. Her suggestion when I first came to talk to her about wanting to sign up (and this was also after only about 6 months of practice) was to immerse myself in other aspects of yoga and attend the various other classes and workshops offered: sacred text study, meditation class, Kundalini, mantra practice, etc. At my studio, many of these classes are offered on a weekly basis, so I've been lucky enough to be practicing svadhyaya (self-study) pretty much as regularly as I do asana. If nothing else, delving into something like will definitely help inform you of what you really want in (and from) your yoga.

Hope that helped and good luck! OM

I think you may have misunderstood me (sorry about that)... I was talking about attempting to present subtlies when teaching FITNESS classes, not yoga classes. I don't presently teach yoga classes, in a gym or elsewhere. What I've been finding out is that the subtlies that I find so fascinating in yoga that I intuitively apply to my fitness teaching aren't as readily welcomed as I would've hoped for (I teach core training, interval strength and balance-based classes using the BOSU). A fitness audience isn't a yoga audience and vice versa, gym setting or otherwise, so yes I do agree with you on that point that yoga in a gym definitely does work.

I've been working with my private clients in yoga for a while now, so thanks, yes, I do know how rewarding that is . Again, unfortunately, it is met with some resistance, because for the most part, they really just don't want to think or feel, just move and do. So my client base isn't that huge. But I really couldn't imagine another way of training, honest. I guess my main point was to say that as much as there is lots of asana classes out there that are really just fitness in the setting of yoga (my personal experience with the YF training), what I do is present yoga in the setting of fitness. Yet another sublety, so there ya go.

I didn't take any offense to your comments, but I do appreciate you being so careful in your words, really. I totally agree with your point about the expectation of the class participant is what matters the most, and I also don't like that much myself either (is piyo the same as yogalates? probably). But when I'm teaching crunches lying over the BOSU in my core training class and no one is feeling the muscles being engaged because they're all using secondary muscles to make their bodies make the "appropriate" shapes, that's what I'm talking about by being too subtle, or ineffective, or whatever. I don't teach pranayama or meditation in my classes; I teach isolation of certain muscle groups in order to work other muscle groups, such as stabilizing the lower back and hip flexors, and not pulling up with the arms and shoulders when doing crunches, in order for the exercise to really be performed by the muscles we're trying to target. In other words, I teach PROPER FORM. I try to teach concepts for how to hold and use the body functionally as a unit, and maybe that's just not what is wanted. For me, that's a yogic way of thinking, incorporating the entire body as a unit to make it do work, not just working the legs today, the arms tomorrow, and do my crunches as the end of every workout.

I was just discussing this dilemma of mine with a friend a little while ago, and it's her opinion as well that I get out of teaching fitness and move toward teaching a formal yoga class already. Thing is, I still really believe you can be successful working the body in a fitness setting with the mindset I have and want to share. I also have a problem with quitting (but that's a whole 'nother story!). We'll see.

Oh yes, and to address your comment about my PT clients... here's a great example: I have clients that say they hate lunges because it hurts their legs. So I tell them (and show them, and try over and over again to teach them) that lunges aren't so much about their legs but their core muscles, hips, pelvis, all that, and that they can use the strength there to hold themselves up. That's too hard to think like that, I'm told.

It's really hard for me to forget all that I know and just give them what they want. According to my friend (also a yoga teacher trainee), I'm very effective when teaching yoga, so that's what lends me to believe that the audiences do differ in how they learn, process and execute, regardless of what I'm actually teaching. Maybe I'm totally wrong, though. Who knows.

OM

I completed Level I, Level II, Level III, Seniors and Core. About 2/3 of the way through the 200 hours, if I did the math right. I'm now about halfway through a different 200 hour RYT which I started this past September. I did learn quite a bit at YogaFit, especially in terms of alignment and adjusting in that I felt I was well prepared for the training in currently enrolled in. I know there have been many negative comments about Beth Shaw's form and alignment in this forum, but I've honestly got to say, I never really watched her when doing the home DVDs. I would only listen to her cues and then see if I felt how I'm supposed to feel in the pose (I supplemented that information with independent reading, YJ.com articles, etc.). When I finally did watch her once, I was appalled! Glad I never really looked.

OM

Yes, you're absolutely right, only ONE-third finished. Pesky typo monster struck again!

That's exactly what my trainee friend keeps telling me as well. Maybe if I were to meet some yoga teachers who also teach fitness, then I'd be able to gain a bit more perspective in that area. Anybody know of any?