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| Hi to all
I have been involved in fitness for many years and teach aerobics, Pilates, and muscle conditioning classes. I absolutely love it and want to expand my skills and start to teach Yoga (Yoga has always been the tool I use to center myself so it will be great to share that with my students.)
Having said that I really would like to learn and get a certification from a well known organization… where the training is worth while from an anatomy, diversity, spirituality and teaching perspective.
Any ideas or recommendations? I would love to do it abroad (i.e. In India, Thailand, or South America) but not sure if it will be recognized if I intend to teach in Canada or the US.
Any ideas would be more than greatly appreciated
All the best
Bailey
p.s. I have just resigned from my full time job and intent on making wellness a full time thing so hence the need for a well known certification where I can be equipped to teach an enjoyable class.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| Bailey - the best way to do this is to find a style that works for you and then work toward teaching. Go to classes, get ideas from friends and explore yoga yourself first. When you find a style that draws you in and a teacher who inspires you, look at training in that style. Then you will be able to teach from a place of understanding and passion. If you are looking for the most comprehensive and challenging training, that would probably be Iyengar. You need to be a serious student first, then be accepted into training (often by a panel of senior teachers) then spend 3 - 4 years training (teaching after the first year or so) before taking the introductory certification exam. Good luck and let us know what you choose! |
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Location: Upstate NY | www.sivananda.org |
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| Rather than promote a certain style or discipline I want to propose a couple of questions.
Do you know what you are getting into?
Are you prepared to have your own life changed?
Do you consider Asana to be Yoga?
I ask these questions out of respect for Yoga itself. There are many teachers. In fact teachers are being belched out in record numbers and yoga is quickly disappearing in the effort to teach more yoga. What an irony.
There are may ways to teacher-train that are not within the integrity of classical yoga texts. That is to say you can get a training in this or that in very few hours, be given a certificate as a "yoga teacher" and get a position in a fitness facility in the span of two weeks. Is such a person prepared to share Yoga with others? And if so in what way(s) with what sort of authenticity or integrity?
Some trainings fit in with a fitness background while others will challenge its very foundations. And by "fit in" I mean they propagate a concept that society is alreay hammering which is -go go go go go, faster faster, more more, now, now, and me, me, me. More lifting, more weight, more sweat, more cardio, more work for the adrenals. I think anyone considering teaching yoga (not asana) should consider such things.
So what lies ahead is either doing a training wiithin this context thus doing more of the same, or doing one within a context of yoga that builds a growing person from the inside out without agrandizing their ego and their sense of external reference to determine who they are. In the second scenario you might find a dichotomy between your training and your current career path. And that is why I asked if you are prepared for your own transformation. As long as one makes the decision mindfully, then it is fine to go either way.
In the better trainings it is this very thing, the teacher's own change and growth, their own willingness to bring yoga into the cells, to look at themselves in a very honest way and to make significant change in the way they manifest themselves in the world that produces a good yoga teacher. In that way the teacher is sharing from integrity and authenticty as they are teaching from how they live.
There are many good programs and Tourist has given you direction on how to find one that resonates with you. Keep in mind that more hours do not always equal better training but it is more likely to be well trained in 500 hours than it is in 40.
To teach in a gym or fitness center you merely need 18. Go figure.
Edited by purnayoga 2007-07-16 10:15 PM
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| Thank You Purna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
purnayoga - 2007-07-16 10:11 PM
Rather than promote a certain style or discipline I want to propose a couple of questions.
Do you know what you are getting into?
Are you prepared to have your own life changed?
Do you consider Asana to be Yoga?
I ask these questions out of respect for Yoga itself. There are many teachers. In fact teachers are being belched out in record numbers and yoga is quickly disappearing in the effort to teach more yoga. What an irony.
There are may ways to teacher-train that are not within the integrity of classical yoga texts. That is to say you can get a training in this or that in very few hours, be given a certificate as a "yoga teacher" and get a position in a fitness facility in the span of two weeks. Is such a person prepared to share Yoga with others? And if so in what way(s) with what sort of authenticity or integrity?
Some trainings fit in with a fitness background while others will challenge its very foundations. And by "fit in" I mean they propagate a concept that society is alreay hammering which is -go go go go go, faster faster, more more, now, now, and me, me, me. More lifting, more weight, more sweat, more cardio, more work for the adrenals. I think anyone considering teaching yoga (not asana) should consider such things.
So what lies ahead is either doing a training wiithin this context thus doing more of the same, or doing one within a context of yoga that builds a growing person from the inside out without agrandizing their ego and their sense of external reference to determine who they are. In the second scenario you might find a dichotomy between your training and your current career path. And that is why I asked if you are prepared for your own transformation. As long as one makes the decision mindfully, then it is fine to go either way.
In the better trainings it is this very thing, the teacher's own change and growth, their own willingness to bring yoga into the cells, to look at themselves in a very honest way and to make significant change in the way they manifest themselves in the world that produces a good yoga teacher. In that way the teacher is sharing from integrity and authenticty as they are teaching from how they live.
There are many good programs and Tourist has given you direction on how to find one that resonates with you. Keep in mind that more hours do not always equal better training but it is more likely to be well trained in 500 hours than it is in 40.
To teach in a gym or fitness center you merely need 18. Go figure. |
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| Please read Purna's response carefully and pay heed to it. Following is my addition:
1. If you already know what is centering in terms of using it for other exercises you are teaching, and that is what you want your students to benefit from, you do not need to go anywhere. Just teach them what you already know.
2. If you want to expand your knowledge of Yoga and then teach that knowledge to others, you have to know that the audience may not be as big as your current exercise students.
3. Depending on what you want to learn there is no need to go abroad.
4. Learning aroad has nothing to do with being recognized, if you are a great teacher. In fact, no certification is necessary if you are a great teacher. Great Teacher = Great Student of Great Teacher + Great Practice.
liveitup_Bailey - 2007-07-16 6:46 PM
Hi to all
I have been involved in fitness for many years and teach aerobics, Pilates, and muscle conditioning classes. I absolutely love it and want to expand my skills and start to teach Yoga (Yoga has always been the tool I use to center myself so it will be great to share that with my students.)
Having said that I really would like to learn and get a certification from a well known organization… where the training is worth while from an anatomy, diversity, spirituality and teaching perspective.
Any ideas or recommendations? I would love to do it abroad (i.e. In India, Thailand, or South America) but not sure if it will be recognized if I intend to teach in Canada or the US.
Any ideas would be more than greatly appreciated
All the best
Bailey
p.s. I have just resigned from my full time job and intent on making wellness a full time thing so hence the need for a well known certification where I can be equipped to teach an enjoyable class.
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I would love your opinion
