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I'd like to be a yoga teacher Moderators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page]	View previous thread :: View next thread
Yoga -> Yoga Teachers	Message format

yoga-addict

Posted 2006-10-24 11:47 AM (#68039)
Subject: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

Veteran

Posts: 243
100

And I've applied for a foundation course at a school that looks good, specializing in Ashtanga Yoga which I like a lot. I am curious how other yoga teachers came down this path.. well, really I'm looking for encouragement- I've only been taking yoga once a week for 2 years and now 3-4 times a week for the last year- I feel intimidated by how much experience all the teachers I know have and also I'm not the most flexible person

and think, how can I teach it if I can't do it? But the idea won't go away so I've decided to at least take this first step. Any yoga teachers want to share a bit of their experience how they became teachers?

kulkarnn

Posted 2006-10-24 12:26 PM (#68042 - in reply to #68039)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

yoga-addict - 2006-10-24 11:47 AM

And I've applied for a foundation course at a school that looks good, specializing in Ashtanga Yoga which I like a lot. I am curious how other yoga teachers came down this path.. well, really I'm looking for encouragement- I've only been taking yoga once a week for 2 years and now 3-4 times a week for the last year- I feel intimidated by how much experience all the teachers I know have and also I'm not the most flexible person

From what you wrote exactly above, I have the following opinions:

- You should not teach a class to a group where most of the students are extremely flexible and athletic.

- You should teach a class to a group who knows less than what you know.

- This way, you do not have to compare to other teachers! And, still you can enjoy teaching, which is your wish. What is your location.

Posted 2006-10-25 12:36 AM (#68094 - in reply to #68039)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

I think the decision to move in the direction of teaching yoga has to be an outpouring from the heart. All too often, perhaps my case as well, yoga students decide to teach based on the thoughts in the rational mind.
The responsibility, to me, is very great and I take it very seriously.

One's felxibility of body, per se, is not an obstacle to teaching. Teaching requires the pursuit of knowledge, the ability to impart that knowledge so it can only be interpreted one way. Teaching requires living yoga. Teaching requires diction and pronunciation. It requires resonance and variance in pitch and pace.

Teaching requires the ability to focus and the ability to both look and see, hear and listen. Teaching requires the study of anatomy and a sense of safety and how to apply it in a lcassroom setting.

Note that these are not the same skill sets required for practicing as a student of yoga. The skill sets are completely different.

And you are correct, if you are not able to bring a pose into your own body then you have little business teaching it to others.

There's no reason not to take the teacher training as long as you can extend yourself the grace to simply see where you land upon completion.

Edited by purnayoga 2006-10-25 12:38 AM

jonnie

Posted 2006-10-25 3:31 AM (#68102 - in reply to #68039)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

I totally agree.

I work as a management trainer and some of my biggest clients are sales organisations. Traditionally, the best producing sales people were promoted to management positions. I always argue that being a good sales person does not always mean they will be a good manager. The two require different skill sets.

It's the same with yoga.

Being flexible and being able to achieve all the advanced poses and flashy stuff isn't a pre-requiste to being a good teacher. Knowledge and compassion are though. A lack of flexibility may also allow you to empathize with your beginners more as well.

Follow Neel's advice and your teaching will evolve with your practise.

yoga-addict

Posted 2006-10-25 4:10 AM (#68107 - in reply to #68039)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

Veteran

Posts: 243
100

Neel- I'm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
thanks everyone for your response..!

tourist

Posted 2006-10-25 10:30 AM (#68128 - in reply to #68102)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

Expert Yogi

Posts: 8442
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jonnie - 2006-10-24 12:31 AMI work as a management trainer and some of my biggest clients are sales organisations. Traditionally, the best producing sales people were promoted to management positions. I always argue that being a good sales person does not always mean they will be a good manager. The two require different skill sets.

jonnie - my spouse works in the computer business. Back in the 1970's most of the people in the biz were programmers so when management jobs came up, guess who got them?

Programmers possibly make the worst managers and sales people on the face of the earth.

It is very difficult to teach something that comes naturally. I have a lot of issues teaching forward bends and not nearly as many teaching backbends simply because backbends are challenging for me and I have had to learn them step by painstaking step.

jonnie

Posted 2006-10-25 2:10 PM (#68149 - in reply to #68039)
Subject: RE: I'd like to be a yoga teacher

Hi tourist,

I totally agree.

It's also interesting when you compare the 'official' Iyengar and Ashtanga teaching routes. One focuses on competence as a teacher and the other focuses on competence as a practitioner.

I'm one year through my Iyengar TT and it's hard. Not just physically but mentally with all the teaching practises, learning to adapt the asanas with props, A&P, philosophy etc. And I have a few more years to go. The Ashtanga approach is put your time in at the Mysore shala, demostrate excellence in the series, ask for permission from PJ and thats it! I had thought about taking that route but in the end took a YA 200 hr Ashtanga TT. It's not recognised by Mysore but I certainly felt more prepared as a teacher.

Edited by jonnie 2006-10-25 2:11 PM

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