| I started training with yogafit in 2007 because I worked with my work and school schedule and being a certified personal trainer through ACE, I received a moderate discount.
After the level 1, everyone is required to complete 8 hours of community service with a letter of verification from the people that were the recipients of the service. I didn't feel qualified to teach anyone, even for free until I took the special populations trainings and the anatomy and alignment class.
The statement about the poses being out of alignment in the manuals? The manuals did have some flaws, but the classes are taught by a knowledgeable instructors, the manuals are used as a reference. The anatomy and alignment course was developed by a physical therapist and was taught to me by that same person, as were the courses on seniors and pre/post-natal. I feel very comfortable with the safety of the yogafit poses.
The thing that distinguishes yogafit from the other styles of yoga (that were also created by people, not directly channeled from Patanjali himself), is that it aims to include everyone. The esotericism and exoticness that surrounds yoga is intimidating to a lot of western people that can benefit deeply from even the most superficial yoga practice.
I read in one of Iyengar's books that most people in his experience (himself included) are attracted to yoga because of the physical benefits, the spiritual rewards become apparent as the practice develops. I think that the yogafit curriculum is designed with this concept. The beginning levels are relatively superficial, assuming most beginners want to work out or look better as a result. The subsequent levels dive deeper in chakras, chanting, meditation, philosphy and devotional practice.
Since yoga is a journey, whether you are a teacher or a practitioner, yogafit is a good place to start. It lays a great foundation with sound teaching skills and awareness of physical structure. It took my 3 years to complete the trainings because I felt that processing and integrating the information from each training was necessary. It is possible to fudge your way through the trainings and still get the certification at the end, that is unfortunate. But why would a person want to dump a lot of money down the drain to end up as a crappy teacher? I suppose it happens.
After 200 hours of training, 8+ hours of volunteer teaching and a few months of being paid for teaching I still feel like a novice teacher, but I have the information to build my skills and I am confident that the people in my classes are safe. |
| i'm glad that you are satisfied with your training.
i always find it funny how the 8 hrs is touted as this awesomely awesome thing. i did about 320 community service hours per year in my training. I trained for 8 years. I still do community service now--though it is more passive (i donate time at my studio for all of us teachers to teach by donation/free classes; we donate packages of classes and various other healing modalities to non profit organizations for their fundraising efforts; each month my studio has a NPO focus and we raise awareness and funds through the studio in various ways; each quarter we run a food drive for the food bank).
I also find it funny how it is touted as being the first inclusive form of yoga and also the first in the gym (or created for that environment). That is so ridiculous! I was teaching in gyms for the first time when Beth Shaw was, and easily adapted my classes to the needs of that environment and those students.
Beyond which, gyms also intimidate people--which is why i also taught in schools, churches, senior centers, community centers, the park and so on. Honestly, i've taught people from all walks of life, all educational and financial backgrounds, races, creeds, and ages since i started teaching. I have never found yoga to be too intimidating for them, nor too exotic or esoteric.
But heck, that's just me. 
Edited by zoebird 2010-06-09 11:41 PM
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YogaFit experience
