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| I have a few options to picking schools here in Calgary Canada. But I am finding that there are different types of classes durations. Also what is the difference between a RYT 200 and a Yoga Teaching Certificate with 250 instructions hours.
I would prefer to take a shorter term course so that I can get my career started.
Please help!  |
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| my recommendation is to go to all of the different yoga studios that have schools, and then see which studio you like best. take at least 10 classes at each place.
and then, when you find which ones you like best, continue to take class there for a few months, and then consider taking their teacher training.
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| Well, I think you should leap before you look. 
Afterall that's what you've done - here - this question has been asked numerous times. So if you haven't considered the previous responses. Why consider any responses you'd get now.
And there is no reason to think about quality of the program. How long personal growth/transformation takes. And then how you can bring that experience to other people. Yep it's all about getting that career started. #1 priority. 
Nope - the irony and sarcasm probably doesn't translate well.
Vic |
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| I believe a yoga teacher training should, ultimately, serve the lives of the students that teacher comes in contact with. Indeed it must, of course, in some way(s) serve the life of the teacher her/him self.
If one is anxious to begin one's career then take the briefest training available.
If one is anxious for that AND hopes to keep students from injury, then consider the training and the trainer more carefully.
I am certain Yoga Alliance has their requisites for an RYT-200 on their web site. If it is still the same there are five categories of material. In contrast, a certificate with 250 instruction hours may not have A&P or other elements - it would depend on that particular certificate program.
That is up to the prospective enrollee to ferret out.
Edited by purnayoga 2008-04-09 1:12 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| There are excellent Iyengar teachers in Calgary, but they won't let you begin training right away. |
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| Ok, I'm a bit turned off by this advice. I'm a relative new comer here - lurked for years, posted a long time ago, and have come back since I started my training - and I think if I was just starting down the path, the responses, which some might describe as 'snarky', would seem off putting, particularly in this environment.
If this is honestly how this community, which has a wonderful feeling of tightknitted-ness about it, feels newcomers should be greeted and thinks that it how they would have liked to be greeted when they were starting down their path... Well, perhaps we could consider being a bit more patient and encouraging of someone's growth, rather than judging, as has been mentioned in other threads here.
As for the original question, look up the websites for Yoga Alliances requirements for a RYT200 and whoever accredits the Yoga Teaching Certificate 250 (I've not heard of that one before, myself). Evaluate the criteria for yourself and what you believe is important to the qualities of a yoga teacher. Just as you can order a cheaper dinner, you may simply get a much lower quality one - so shorter is not necessarily better. Your time is an investment - find a quality investment.
The advice to try the studios is good, especially if it's the studio itself offering the training. (Some studios work with other organizations that go around the country/world doing training. Even when that's the case, there's usually an affiliation between the school and studio.) Taking classes there for a while, from a number of teachers, and getting feel for whether or not you are comfortable with the style is good. I would even encourage taking some workshops, to find out how they go into deeper study than just a general class.
While you may want to "get your career started", teaching is a position that requires great patience and humility - and that starts in the process of getting there. Make sure that *you* have a stable practice, have found a place that you are comfortable staying with and learning from, and can maintain a relationship with. Taking six months is not unreasonable.
And, I must say, taking a six-month (weekend based) training course, is nice in that it gives you time to really digest the material, practice it, and practice teaching it if there are friends willing to let you practice 'on' them, so that you can go back to training with more questions, and a better understanding of how to approach the training. It just provides a lot more information and feedback. Rushing it will just get you a superficial understanding at best, and get you out of a highly productive, concentrated learning environment, before you have time to formulate a lot of good questions. Of course, maintaining a good relationship with your teacher afterwards is vital regardless, but rushing it never helps. |
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Expert Yogi
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| Nicely worded, NE - did you think we were all snarky, though? I almost never answer these posts because most folks don't want to hear that they have to start Iyengar at Level I and study and practice for 3 or more years before entering teacher training. They all want to start right away. This is the only system I know, so can't offer much more than I did. |
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| I've re-read my post as a result of Tiffany's (Nuclear_Eggset) comments above. I read them many times over and redraft them several times before posting. I rarely post them with sarcasm, though it happens on occasion. And I work very diligently to remove such things from my communications.
In this particular case, after careful thought, I'll stand by my post and it's intention, which was to respond to the text of the OP's question in a way that might stimulate thought without advocating or discouraging.
In addition, this is a section of the board entitled "Yoga Teachers", rather then a General or Beginners section. Therefore the parameters are different, albeit slightly. There are certainly times where replies, my own included, are out of bounds. However, generally speaking, the responses are informative, on point, and empowering without an over abundance of lilt.
Edited by purnayoga 2008-04-09 9:28 PM
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| i think purna does have a point, because the truth be told, i've seen great variety in yoga programs (200 hrs or greater) that teach from such a variety of perspectives and over a variety of time schedules and so on, that it really is hard to determine which one is "best" unless you have a sense of who you are and what you want to do.
i mean, if you want to get your career started as quickly as possible, my recommendation is to take the ACE group fitness certification (which is essentially a test) and then take the YogaFit Level 1 weekend certification. having completed both of these (which can take as little as two weeks and cost about $500 or so), a person can teach at any number of gym facilities and related, and basically have a "career" as a yoga teacher.
if you really want to learn the details of alignment to teach an incredibly safe and adaptable (to various levels of ability/need) yoga class, then practicing and learning to teach in the iyengar method is a great idea. you start by taking iyengar yoga for at least 3 years consistently (i thought you needed at least 5 years, but perhaps that has changed), and then you take the iyengar training process, which can take many years before getting certification (as little as 2 and as many as 5 or 6 if i remember correctly).
and of course, there are many trainings in between. there is a training here that lasts 1 year. it is based largely in philosophy. this teacher doesn't care about alignment much, he just does a few simple stretches each class, and spends the rest of the class teaching pranayama and meditation, and then gives at least 35 minute lectures on yoga philosophy. each class is 1.25 hrs long, and some are only 1 hr. no matter what, lectures are 35 minutes. so in an hour-long class, only 25 minutes are spent on postures, pranayama, and meditation, with at least 10 minutes of meditation.  so, that leaves 15 minutes for asana and pranayama!
this progarm is a 200 hr YA registered program. each month of training includes a weekend of training plus an hour of mentoring. each month focuses on a different philosophical precept. each teacher keeps a journal exploring each precept in their own lives, and each writes a 5 page essay to be turned in the week before the training weekend, read by all the other teachers-in-training, and then these ideas are discussed at the training weekend. over the course of the whole weekend (18 hrs of training or so), about 3 hours are spent in postures--alignment and anatomy, both physical and energetic.
so, if an individual wants to teach a class that focuses on philosophy, then this is a great training. but if the person wants to teach a class that is more asana-focused, then it is not the right training.
we also have multiple types/styles of asana processes that are taught at a variety of schools. one school here has a very 'sports psychology" perspective, while another teaches traditional astanga, while yet another focuses on alignment and sequencing theory, without teaching a set sequence, and so on.
so, in all honesty, it is a very good question to ask "what sort of teacher do you want to be?" because this can help a person determine what kind of training they want to take. |
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| You guys don't have to be defensive. I was the snarky one.
Mostly I'd be willing to bet that the OP was a troll. Yeah - it's an assumption - but I'd put money on me.
I also find it frustrating that someone would ask such an important question in such a vague way to a total group of strangers. I'd give a less snarky reply to a question like "What criteria would you use to pick a yoga teacher training program." Or "Knowing what you know now what would you do differently in your training." -- I know lots of people that went to programs and felt afterwards that all they knew was what they didn't know. That's a nice philosophical point. But as a student I'd rather be led that by someone that feels confident about what they are teaching, how they are teaching and why they are teaching.
It also frustrates me that PurnaYoga and others have spent a lot of time answering this question in various forms. You only need to look down the first page to see one "I would like to be a teacher." Lots of good info in that one. Did the OP not bother? Or not find anything helpful in that discussion??? Who knows.
Snarky - yes. But the discussion that followed has been rather good. And would give someone some ideas about what to look for in a teacher training program.
And I wonder now - what is a "yoga career?"
Vic
Hey Tourist/Glenda is it possible to get a sticky about the teacher training program question?
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| What I have seen on other forums, is that new people often come onto a discussion board with a question, and don't look for existing information. It's not a matter of ignoring existing answers, but that they don't realize they're there or know how to find them. It's hard to imagine if you're web and board savvy, but believe it or not there are still lots of people that aren't. It does not occur to them to do a search, they don't know about the feature or how to do it. They don't browse through old threads, they haven't figured out their way around yet. They think they are the first person to ever ask that question, it doesn't occur to them the volume of things out there and that 100 or 1000 people have asked the same question before and they are not unique. They are just a bit clueless about the whole thing.
Occasionally people are just lazy, but that is usually obvious and I don't think it's the case here. Sometimes on a very large board there is such a volume of stuff to wade through it's hopeless so they throw up their hands and ask, though the people who know enough to try, will mention that they tried so they don't get flamed. I don't think that is the case here either. And then of course there's trolls, this didn't really sound like a troll post, but it's possible. I have little sympathy for the lazy people or trolls, but for the folks that need help (either about the board, or the topic) why not educate them gently? Links to previous threads on the subject are a great way to answer the quetson and teach how one might use the resource at the same time.
And sometimes they don't know enough about what they are asking about to put all the stuff in their question that would make it easier to answer. Of course, if they could do this it's possible they wouldn't even need to ask the qusetion. Now, if people ask for clarification and don't get it, maybe there's no point in continuing. Maybe they are a troll - or maybe they can't even figure out how to find the thread they posted on again.
Edited by aystam 2008-04-10 9:56 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| A sticky just might be the answer. I usually don't have time to do searches for people so one thread with all the "right" answers might be best. Is there a definitive existing thread that anyone thinks has the best info and no snarky? |
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| We'll I didn't expect to cause such an uproar.
I want to make things clear with my original post:
1. I did do a search and because I was asking a specific question between the two classes....I didn't not get the response I needed...so I wanted to get a more specific answer.
2. When I mean I want to get my career started, I mean that I have been doing yoga for about a year and love every minute of it. I go to work and can't wait for the end of the day to go to yoga. I have recently decided that I want to do this everyday and what better way to find a job that you love and get paid for it. I am anxious to get started because I have finally found my purpose.
3. Do I want to rush it and get myself or somone else hurt no! That was in part why I was asking if a 250 hour month long course would be good....as compared to a RYT-200 that takes a year and a half. Obviously the year and a half is a longer course sounds better but there are 50 less hours in instructor time. Also I wasn't clear on the registered part (which may or may not have been covered in another post)
4. The reason I posted in this section is because most of the people online are either teachers or aspiring teachers that would be able to give me advice. If you have concerns about newcomers not being allowed to participate in the teacher section of the forum you should make that clear. I am greatful to all of those who handed out constructive advice and for those of you are who feel negatively about us newbees. When we ask "dumb questions - Please feel free to pass on the next post that myself or some other aspiring yoga instructor asks.
Perhaps I should have been more clear when asking the original question in order to not have caused such a commotion. I will take all of your advice and I am greatful to all of the constructive advice that has been given.
Thanks
A troll? really? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Danielle - don't worry about it:-) Just consider that teaching yoga and practicing yoga are different things. Have you ever taught anything before? It takes a certain kind of person and a certain kind of energy. Also consider that some schools require significantly more study time. I mentioned Iyengar, which won't even accept anyone for teacher training with only one year of experience. More like 3 - 4, then the training itself is 3 - 4 years, then you do a national board certification exam. So 50 hours is pretty minuscule compared with that and the other extreme of a weekend cert is, for most people, not acceptable. You really have to think about what sort of teacher you want to be and work from there. Hope that gives you something more to think about in your search.  |
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| I know I am a good teacher. I have known that for a while. I do training at work and I work with kids as a cub leader with my son, as well as facepainter. (obviously kids are different) I have known that I wanted to be some sort of teacher for a while...but didn't put two and two together until a friend and I were talking about my passion for yoga. I just didn't want to spend 4 years of university to teach a room full of "captives" in some high school. I would rather teach people who want to be there and combined with my love of yoga I thought it would be a great fit.
I regularly attend danu health centre and they have a bunch of different classes that I have taken, really I like all of them. I am trying to do reasearch on different kinds of yoga. I was thinking that most of the classes I have been looking at are generally all of the same - I am guessing that they are somewhat beginner courses...then once I have a good foundation I can speacialize. That was the hope anyways, my question (which is really funny causing such a uproar) was really is there much of a difference between the two if one is taken over a year and a half...but has 200 hours of teaching time, is that any different than a one month course that has more teaching time. I will be doing more homework to find out exactally what the course entails but I thought that asking a room full of teachers for different kinds of advice, would be helpful. Ha ha what I got was quite interesting!
I know yoga is a whole way of life and is a process that people go through. I want to help people find what I have found.
My own dumb fault for not being more descriptive. ha ha! |
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| Tip - "concentrated" sounds better than "shorter."
I think part of the choice is what works for you. While some RTY200 classes are spread out over a year or more like you are looking at, there are others that are concentrated into less than a month. Having the time to let things to soak in, and get more experience and practice, is an advantage of a program that is stretched out. Some people learn better that way, or that is the only way they could do it at all because they can't take a month off all at once. Then again, some people might actually learn better in a concentrated situation, or it may simply fit their life schedule and needs better.
If you discover in your research that the concentrated course is a good one, and it's what you want, I see nothing wrong with that. It's (hopefully) not as if you stop learning at this point or it's the last training you will ever do. It's not like you're talking about taking a weekend class. But my sense is for someone who hasn't been studying yoga all that long, an extended course would be a better choice and make for a better teacher at the end of it.
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| Thanks for your help. I will do some more homework and let you know what happens.
Danielle |
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Location: London, England | Hi there,
All this makes me very glad I did it the old-fashioned way-no qualifications, just being a student and then being told by one of the few westerners to be considered adepts of astanga yoga that they wanted me to start teaching-who could resist?  And then giving me the skills and knowledge to do it, all the time allowing for my own personal growth through practice.
My teacher was always against qualifications-he felt they mask inadaquacies on the part of the teacher, and I say he was right-too many people say "I have this qualification" and expect me to be impressed-I haven't seen one yoga course that's impressive-not one that could be considered the same depth as a university degree-they're all just modules in comparison.
Perhaps consider doing it the old-fashioned way, and stop lining these folk's pockets
Nick |
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| Congratulations on embarking on this new path. I am just about to complete a 200 hr course that was held 1 weekend/month for 10 months. I chose it because I do not have the schedule flexibility to do a 'concentrated' program (I have a full time job). Some thoughts -the 10 month experience has been a blessing for me personally. We have homework each month reading, writing, class observations, preparing a workshop, and student teaching. I really need that month's time to a) make up for the lost weekend time in my day-to-day life and b) get the homework done. Also, by spreading out the experience, it feels like the personal growth opportunity has been so huge. I do not feel like I am the same person that started the training. That said, whether a course is appropriate for your needs really probably rests on the teacher, the course curriculm, and whether the style of yoga taught aligns with your practice and passion. Have you had an opportunity to meet with the teachers of the two schools you are considering? Have you spoken to local yoga teachers about where they took training? Lastly, what does your intuition say? And I thank you for coming back and clarifying your position and questions. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Nick - when I am dealing with the paperwork and bureaucracy around my certification, I am with you on the dislike of the new fangled stuff.  OTOH, in today's western world, it is nice to have a stack of paperwork and a certificate signed by BKS to show that I am who I claim to be.
Concentrated is a good word, but as you can probably guess, I am putting my support behind the group backing the idea of a longer, less concentrated approach. Yoga is often compared to gardening. Imagine you are in your garden in the spring and spending time there 24/7 for a month then have to leave it for an extended period of time. You will forget about some plants, some will die for lack of watering or weeding and others will overrun the rest. You will miss the ripening of some plants and not benefit from their fruit at all. Maybe a poor analogy here, I don't know... Or imagine doing 30 classes in a row with no savasana. There is little time for absorption. so yeah - my vote is for a longer, less concentrated training in general. |
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Location: London, England | Hi Glenda,
That's true-sorry, I just had a morning rant and continued into this thread I think I need a male equivalent of hormone replacement therapy Or maybe the female version will do the trick
Nick |
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| Nick - 2008-04-15 11:40 PM
Hi there,
All this makes me very glad I did it the old-fashioned way-no qualifications, just being a student and then being told by one of the few westerners to be considered adepts of astanga yoga that they wanted me to start teaching-who could resist? And then giving me the skills and knowledge to do it, all the time allowing for my own personal growth through practice.
My teacher was always against qualifications-he felt they mask inadaquacies on the part of the teacher, and I say he was right-too many people say "I have this qualification" and expect me to be impressed-I haven't seen one yoga course that's impressive-not one that could be considered the same depth as a university degree-they're all just modules in comparison.
Perhaps consider doing it the old-fashioned way, and stop lining these folk's pockets
Nick
Although degrees and certifications are just pieces of paper, they represent a minimum level of commitment. They are, unfortunately, important in our society which often prefers form over substance. A degree or certification does not imply skill or knowledge and has nothing to do with the possessor's ability to teach others that skill or knowledge. Besides being the most lucrative way for a teacher or studio to make money (teacher trainings), teacher trainings and their resultant certificates do help many budding yoga teachers get started. Many of those who take the teacher trainings never teach (although it probably deepens their personal practice). Many of those who teach should not. Some of the people who take teacher trainings develop into remarkable teachers over time.
Although the "old-fashioned way" worked for many years, the growth of yoga in the world today requires many more new teachers than the old-fashioned way would produce. We now have mass produced teachers. It is good in that more people are doing yoga. It is too bad that it has become more impersonal and superficial. |
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| I agree with your sentiment, Nick, and wish I had the resources to do that. I look at the 200-hr course I'm doing as my start, my initiation, if you will, into life-long study. It demonstrates to others (who find paperwork a useful tracking tool) that I have commitment) and offers some variety of structure.
To the OP, my training course is 200-hr, spread over six months. I like this format. It means that I have time in the off-weekends to do homework, incorporate what I've learned into my practice, and do some practice teaching with friends - and given the two to four hours or so I spend planning the two classes I do each week (it's the same script for both classes, so an average of three hours planning and three hours teaching each of 12 weeks), that's approximately an extra 72 by the end of the training, and an INCREDIBLY useful extra investment that I *highly* recommend doing *during* training above and beyond regular homework. There's just not enough time to do that in a one-month, "compact" training. |
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| Interesting that at first I was kind of put of by the certification requirement of my program. Once they certify you to teach in this lineagae - you have to meet certain requirements to continue to use the name. At first I was put off by it - but after reading Nicks response I realize that the intent is probably to monitor the teachers they have certified and to possibly ensure that anyone they certify will be capable of teaching and providing a safe atmosphere among students. I didn't pick the program to get the name - I picked the program to learn what they had to teach.
My 500 hour program feels pretty intense. Every weekend module is 17 hours. I spend at least this much time reviewing the material of the last module and preparing the next module. And this time can often increase based on the material covered and the level of prep required for the new material. I also spend at least an hour a day on a personal practice.
I think the thing I always wonder about the situation you describe is whether you are prepared to teach asana only or could actually cover more than asana?
I'm not actually sure the situation you described is the old-fashioned way. Jois, Iyengar, Desikachar, Ramaswami, Mohan all studied more than asana with Krishnamacharya. And Krishnamarchya himself was a scholar in languages and a skilled ayurvedic practitioner. Certainly studying one on with a teacher is not the same as attending classes for years at the local studio and then being asked to lead a class.
Vic |
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Location: London, England | Hi Victw,
Yes, I'm sure what I described isn't the old-fashioned way either-I think it was a result of a bunch of hippies going to India to learn the old-fashioned way and then going to Hawaii and using a hippy approach to teaching others I'm not sure that the counter-culture in those days would have been interested in the traditional methods
Nick |
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Help with picking a school
