How to become a Yoga Teacher?

I get asked a lot if I offer yoga teacher training and my typical response is No, not at this time. But I can point you in the right direction and offer some suggested schools if you tell me what your interests are."

I completed my "teacher training" in 2008 but that did not mean that I was ready to teach. I honestly believe this is the case for most graduates of a 200 hour training. 200 hours is not enough time to become a teacher.

"Yoga Teacher Training: From 0 to 200

Most master teachers in the West—yogis with 30-plus years experience you’d seek out for advanced training, such as Richard Freeman, Mary 
Taylor, Gary Kraftsow, and Patricia Walden—became teachers the old-fashioned way: by studying for years with a mentor or guru. They didn’t keep a timesheet or checklist of anatomy training hours. Nor did they abandon a topic like philosophy after fulfilling the requisite hours of study. Rather, many devoted themselves 
to the practice month after month, absorbing all they could before their teachers deemed them ready to take over a class. “You had to really want 
to learn,” says Taylor, who was 
introduced to yoga 35 years ago and practiced daily for years before her teacher, K. Pattabhi Jois, said she 
was ready to teach. She believes the old way allowed enough time to experience the ups and equally important downs of yoga. “You used to have time to mature in the practice and the opportunity to cultivate compassion through the process,” says Taylor (Eichenseher 2016)."

So I ask, what are your expectations of a teacher?
Do you just want someone who has been a yoga a few years to teach you what they were taught and give you pointers? Do you want someone who has spent most of their life studying and acquiring all much knowledge as they can, not only to teach it but to live it and then to share it?

Second I ask, what kind of teacher do you want to be?
If you merely want to work a gym and teach a yoga class then teacher training isn't what I would suggest. Do you want to grow as an individual? Do you want to learn the secrets of the heart and body? Do you want to take on a more physical therapy approach?

The point is, that there is a lot of inner research that you need to do before becoming a teacher, whether you decide to do that before or after yoga teacher training.

Many of us are so caught up in the action of completing a training because we are so focused on the outcome (which is good in one since) that what we should be focusing on is the journey.

Yoga is called a "practice" because there is no end, no finish line. It is an up and down journey with never ending learning and experiencing.

So, the truth is, to start your teacher journey you don't need to enroll in a teacher training, not yet.
Start with experiencing yoga, try every studio in town, try every video you can, read every book and talk to people. When you visit the studios and you find one that you truly love then ask if they have a training.

The best your training programs are going to be the ones that require at least a year of doing yoga before enrolling, having a passion for yoga so that you could write an essay of what yoga means to you and requiring pre-reading.

     "Yoga is a complex practice with thousands of years of history and the ability to transform lives. Yet many 
  of today’s YTT programs suggest that after just 200 hours of training—
the equivalent of 10 to 12               weekends—you’ll be able to transmit this ancient wisdom to a roomful of strangers suffering from any number of diverse issues, including knee pain, trauma, and depression, some unable to touch their toes while others twist like pretzels, all with varying levels of experience on the mat. For instance, a search on marketing material from YA-registered 200-hour YTT programs turned up promises like graduates will learn pose modifications that are “safe and effective for every body,” will learn how to “heal ourselves, our students, and the culture at large,” and will be able to “register with Yoga Alliance and teach anywhere in the world,” with “no further training required (Eichenseher,2016).”

"Ok, but where do I start? That is why I want yoga training, so that I have a beginning."
Google. It's the answer for everything isn't it?
Simply google studios near you. See if they have any specials, like 30 days for $30 or first class free or a discounted class.
Once you visit the studio let them know you are new there and very interested in yoga, ask if they have a Facebook group with free or cheap classes around town.
Keep a yoga journey journal.
Check out the required readings of yoga training and get a jump start.
Make this your year of yoga.

"This sounds very time consuming and is going to cost a lot of money!?"
Yoga teacher training is expensive. In Louisville, Ky and surrounding areas it is normally about $3000 plus books and workshops however most studio will allow free month passes to their studio while you are in training. Some offer payment plans but most training are 6 months, so you are paying $300-500/month.
Taking time before shows you that you have the time and discipline to make that investment and that you can keep up with the study and homework.
Taking the time before will allow you to ask better questions and delve deeper into your practice.

Feel Free to ask more questions!

A Great Article in the Yoga Jounal Magazine November 2016:

http://www.yogajournal.com/article/teach/200-hours-enough-teach-yoga/

Medithasana Yoga: Back to Basics

"A new style of yoga that takes yoga classes back to basics: breath, mindfulness and meditation in movements; focusing more on breath and alignment than power. Its about awareness not tricks."


Medithasana Yoga is a new "brand" of Yoga that incorporates various styles of yoga while focusing on Mindful Movements and alignment.

Let's break down the components of the name:

Medi for Meditation.

Th for Therapy.

Asana for poses.

Each session starts with at least 5 minutes of breathing awareness or basic meditation.

Poses are held and focus on alignment promotes restorative qualities similar to yin yoga. Strength and mindfulness are incorporated similar to bowspring yoga and breathing as in hatha yoga. 

The underlining philosophy and spiritual component is derived from Buddhist philosophy as well as ancient yoga texts.

Teachers of Medithasana Yoga must be trained in kinesiology/biomechanics, meditation, buddhist philosophy, yoga texts, pilates, tai chi or qi gong, yoga and exercise science.  

Level 1 training

Is comprised of 350 teaching hours that is completed during 12 months.

Approximately 30 hours per month which can be further broken down into 7.5 hours per week.

Prerequisites are required before submitting an application for Level 1 teacher training. 

Level 1 training qualifies the graduate to register at 200 minimum hour Yoga Alliance Level. 

Level 2 master teacher training

Graduates of level 1 teacher training may apply for level 2 training after 1 year of teaching/hands-on experience.

Level 2 application requires a 10 page summary of level 1 training, experience and expectations for master training; and audition. 

Created by Elizabeth "Izzy" Nalley Thompson

August Journal Challenge

Guided Meditation

Koru, a program designed to teach mindfulness and meditation for college students, provides a great free resource page with audio and videos to assist with your new or continued mediation practice.

http://korumindfulness.org/guided-meditations/


Bellow is a Guided Meditation script. 

If you are new and looking for an easy read to explain mindfulness, Jon Kabat-Zinn is a strong place to start.

http://experiencelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Wherever-You-Go-There-You-Are.pdf

Guided Sitting Meditation

This guided sitting meditation will help you learn to simply be and to look within yourself with mindfulness and equanimity.  Allow yourself to switch from the usual mode of doing to a mode of non-doing.  Of simply being.  As you allow your body to become still, bring your attention to the fact that you are breathing.  And become aware of the movement of your breath as it comes into your body and as it leaves your body.  Not manipulating the breath in any way or trying to change it.  Simply being aware of it and of the feelings associated with breathing.  And observing the breath deep down in your belly.  Feeling the abdomen as it expands gently on the inbreath, and as it falls back towards your spine on the outbreath.  Being totally here in each moment with each breath.  Not trying to do anything, not trying to get any place, simply being with your breath.

You will find that from time to time your mind will wander off into thoughts, fantasies, anticipations of the future or the past, worrying, memories, whatever.  When you notice that your attention is no longer here and no longer with your breathing, and without judging yourself, bring your attention back to your breathing and ride the waves of your breathing, fully conscious of the duration of each breath from moment to moment.  Every time you find your mind wandering off the breath, gently bringing it back to the present, back to the moment-to-moment observing of the flow of your breathing.  Using your breath to help you tune into a state of relaxed awareness and stillness.

Now as you observe your breathing, you may find from time to time that you are becoming aware of sensations in your body.  As you maintain awareness of your breathing, see if it is possible to expand the field of your awareness so that it includes a sense of your body as a whole as you sit here.  Feeling your body, from head to toe, and becoming aware of all the sensations in your body.

Being here with whatever feelings and sensations come up in any moment without judging them, without reacting to them, just being fully here, fully aware of whatever you’re experiencing.  And again whenever you notice that your mind wandered off, just bringing it back to your breathing and your body as you sit here not going anywhere, not doing anything just simply being, simply sitting.  Moment to moment, being fully present, fully with yourself.

Now as you sit here once again allowing the field of your awareness to expand.  This time, expanding your awareness to include thoughts as they move through your mind.   So letting your breathing and sense of your body be in the background and allowing the thinking process itself to be the focus of your awareness.  And rather than following individual thoughts and getting involved in the content and going from one thought to the next, simply seeing each thought as it comes up in your mind as a thought and letting the thoughts just come and go as you sit and dwell in stillness, witnessing them and observing them. Whatever they are…just observing them as events in the field of your consciousness…as they come into your awareness and they linger and as they dissolve.

If you find yourself at any point drawn into this stream of thinking and you notice that you are no longer observing them, just coming back to observing them as events and using your breathing and the sense of your body to anchor you and stabilize you in the present.

The thoughts can take any form, they can have any content and they can be either neutral or very highly charged.  If thoughts come up that have fear in them, then just be aware of fear being here and letting these thoughts come and go.  The same for worries, preoccupations, and so on.  Regardless of the feeling that a thought might create for you, just observing it as simply a thought and letting it be here without pursuing it or without rejecting it.  Noticing that from moment to moment, new thoughts will come and go.

As the meditation ends, you might give yourself credit for having spent this time nourishing yourself in a deep way by dwelling in this state of non-doing, in this state of being.  For having intentionally made time for yourself to simply be who you are.  And as you move back into the world, allow the benefits of this practice to expand into every aspect of your life.

Reference:  Mindfulness Meditation, CD Series 1, Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness Based Emotional Intelligence Training

"Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence (MBEI) Training: A New Approach to Reducing Human Suffering and Promoting Effectiveness"

http://www.acceptandchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/ciarrochi-and-blackledge-2006-mbeit-in-ei-everyday-life-2006-ciarrochi-forgas-and-mayer1.pdf