Yoga

Most Yoga teachers follow the lineage, which was designed before them. This is an excellent path to take, as our colleagues share collective thoughts within the "think tank" of a specific style. We have been told, "If we follow the traditional path of our Guru and colleagues, we cannot go wrong." For the most part, this is true. However, life may throw us a few curves. What if our Guru passes away, or we live on the opposite side of the world? What if we have fallen out of political favor within our style? What if we discover that some parts of our traditional practice put our students at risk of injury? There are many "what ifs." Some Hatha Yoga sub-styles may not be designed for all of our...

There is a perception that the world has plenty of competent Yoga teachers. Yet, when you attend a class, you discover teachers are attentive to their students and some who are not. Without speculating on the exact percentage of teachers, who are self-absorbed in their own practice during class time, we can easily imagine that this percentage of teachers is significant. For example: If you travel from New England to California, and stop at a Yoga studio, or ashram, every three hours, you are likely to see many styles of teaching. By this, I am not referring to the style of Yoga, but to the style and competence level of each instructor you meet on this trip. If you have been practicing any form of...

When teaching Yoga classes to the public, there are certain components, which separate some teachers "from the crowd." Luckily, all of these components can be learned, but what qualities should a Yoga teacher learn to develop? According to one survey, two thirds of all adults had never taken a Yoga class. If we ask the non-participating public to tell us what a good Yoga teacher should be, we usually hear answers like: Athletic, thin, vegetarian, flexible, strong, and the ideal body weight. These are good qualities for instructors who teach a physical style of Yoga, but they indicate nothing about their character or ethics. In fact, a Yoga instructor's mission is to teach us something, in each...

Yoga teacher training can certainly help rescue life by presenting the right way to live in good health. You no doubt know physical exercise is good for you. In an ideal world,, you are looking for ways to integrate physical exercise into your day-to-day schedule. In the event that your aerobic exercises aren't balanced with a good dosage of weight training, though, you are missing out on a fundamental component of complete health and fitness. So why become a yoga exercise professional? In a reasonably competitive world, presently there are hundreds and at times 1000s of yoga instructors in every area. With so much competition, to be a prosperous yoga teacher you must have interest, knowledge, and a...

Experienced Yoga practitioners make up the largest number of graduates, who pursue Yoga instructor certification online. Some of these Yoga teacher interns have decades of experience. This is followed by Yoga instructors who have been teaching Yoga for years, but who do not have a Yoga instructor certification. How is it possible for someone not to have certification, and still be a teacher, training his, or her, students in Yoga? Until recently, many traditional Yoga teachers did not have a formal certification, or diploma, "to hang on the wall." Independent study requires a lot of discipline to follow assignments through. A Hatha Yoga certification home study course is not something a novice...

r Fifty years before, a many of people still didn't know the difference between Yoga and Yogurt. These days, Yoga is so common that it's nearly a household word. Although it's very well common these days, it doesn't mean that public in reality understands what Yoga is. There are many myths about Yoga that are told by people that do not have a nice belief about it. Yoga is so complex that it offers something for all that chooses to embrace it. It doesn't matter if you are young, old, heavy, slim, flexible or inflexible; each one can gain from some form of Yoga. Yoga was originally shaped in India, but people worldwide enjoy the payback each day. Many people try to classify Yoga as one specific thing...

Opinions about the importance of physically assisting students, during Yoga posture (asana) practice, vary. Some styles, such as Iyengar, Restorative, Anusara, and Viniyoga, place much emphasis on proper alignment, props, and physical assisting. Most Yoga teacher training programs focus on physical assists, which guide a student toward proper alignment. Yet, many students attend classes where a teacher may not look at them for the entire class. Needless to say, there are no physical assists in these same classes. Why? Some teachers feel very uncomfortable physically adjusting their student's posture. Some teachers are not trained to physically assist students during asana practice. There is also...