You are probably thinking of starting yoga soon…as in as
soon as you can.
It could be your New Year’s resolution, or your family
telling you that you need to unwind, or your doctor wisely suggesting that yoga’s
going to be good for you. I agree. Yoga can be good for you and yours. Teaching
yoga for over a decade has been a great opportunity to observe people in
action. I can see that those that enjoy their practice the most find a deep
intrinsic value in it, not just a work out.
Enjoying your practice, usually, is a combination between
the environment, the teacher and your emotional connection with the
practice. How at home you feel at a
place and how much you resonate with a teacher will determine how deep you go
into the practice. This will
reinforce your emotional connection to your practice and with that in place
your commitment will solidify.
What to look for in a place is a matter of taste. Generally,
you want to feel comfortable with the environment and the folks you will be
sharing the space with.
Your emotional connection to the practice is something that
you alone can determine. So, when you think of yoga do you think “healthy”, “happy”,
“free”, “peaceful”? What do you think? Usually what you are looking for is an emotional
state of some sort. If you just think of yoga as one more thing to do today,
your enthusiasm for it will be over before you know it.
Here are ideas on what to watch for in a teacher.
1) Your teacher should understand you. If the teacher
forgets to ask your name and about injuries, that’s not a teacher who’s there
for you. If after asking you what your injuries and challenges are, that same
teacher proceeds to offer you postures that you cannot do with those injuries,
than that teacher did not listen to you. Most teachers will ask about injuries,
automatically, but do not know how to translate this information into
meaningful and safe experience for you. Find a teacher who can.
2) You go to a class and the teacher is doing his/her own
practice. That’s the teacher that’s never looking at you, is not paying
attention to the class and not adopting the practice to fit the practitioner. Find a different teacher or offering options.
3) The teacher talks about themselves a lot, or makes
everything about them, or insists on you trying what they tell you even when
you feel like they are asking too much of you and you are hurting. Find a
different teacher.
4) The teacher walks around, never demos a pose (and even
drinks her/his coffee) while instructing and generally looks like she/her just
stopped by and is not invested in your process. This just happened to me in a
yoga class I took in LA. The teacher was walking around in her scarf and a mug
of hot tea (or eggnog??)… Find a different teacher.
5) The teacher is constantly experimenting with new postures
that may be fun but you are not ready for or he/she is not ready for and unable
to explain properly. Along the same lines, the teacher stops in the middle of the
class to ask “What do you want to do next?” This may sound like an egalitarian
practice designed to empower you, but if you think you can do it yourself, why
go to a yoga class? On the other hand, it is a common practice for teachers who
have no plan, don’t know what to do and are trying to buy time. Find a new
teacher.
Teachers are trained differently and teach differently, so
finding your pace, level of challenge and style of practice makes a big
difference. Teachers come with different credentials. Here’s what they mean:
RYT = Registered Yoga Teacher. The number following that
tells you how many hours of training the teacher has (RYT 200 or RYT 500).
E-RYT = Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT200, E-RYT500). E-RYT 500 would be the highest designation a
teacher can earn.
You should be hoping that the person teaching you would have
at least 200 or even 500 hours of training because even though 200 hours is
enough to get a certification, it’s a ridiculously low amount of learning to
truly prepare one to teach. The only way one can be a better teacher is by
studying more, practicing more and teaching more.
Only a small percentage of teachers have the RYT
designation. While this in itself does not mean that a teacher is worthless, it
means that the teacher has consciously chosen not to belong to the Yoga
Alliance and maintain their certification. In order for a teacher to maintain
their certification with the YA, they have to fulfill a certain amount of
continuing education hours every year, pay their dues and voluntarily agree to
abide by the ethical codes and principles upheld by this professional
organization.
Thus, if someone is an RYT, this tells you that the Yoga
Alliance is verifying the training this teacher has. RYT is a trademark and no teacher should use
it unless they are a part of the professional organization. Others can say
“received 200 hours of training” or something of the sort, but there is no way
to really verify that.
On the flip side, an RYT designation does not automatically
mean that a teacher is any better than someone else without it. It is very easy
to acquire a 200 hour training and many yoga studios offer 200 hour trainings
as a means to increase their income. In the world of yoga schools we have
schools who’s certifications mean more than other schools. Just like UCLA,
CalPoly, Harvard, Stanford etc, rank differently, yoga training programs do to.
That’s because the faculty teaching the teachers matters. Some schools have
better faculty than others.
Experience and training amounts to a lot, but do remember
that some people are natural teachers. Just because someone recently graduated
from a program it does not automatically follow that this person is
incompetent. Some people go through trainings after decades of serious
practices and study. They usually make good teachers. Yes, unfortunately, most
who chose to go for their 200 hour certification have very little practice or
study prior to taking the training.
If you want to find
out who is an RYT go to: http://www.yogaalliance.org
and under Directory, Find a Registered Yoga Teachers and check out the most
current information. You can search by
zip code and pull up everyone in the area, but don’t be surprised if you only
find one or two people in your town even though there are more than a dozen
teachers.
Ultimately, the
proof is in the pudding. It’s better to test drive a few yoga teachers and see
where you feel at home. Use your critical thinking skills. Don’t be afraid to
“interview” your teachers to find out if they are consistent, knowledgeable and
really care about you.
Good luck and happy
yoga.
Valentina Petrova
(E-RYT500) is the owner of HMC Yoga & Wellness SPA in Morro Bay, since
2002. She’s an experienced yoga teacher, Reiki Master, Life & Spiritual
Advisor. For group classes, workshop and individual session, visit the web at www.HolisticMovementCenter.com
or call (805)909-1401.
