As you can see I very rarely wrote anything long enough on here to warrant a blog post, but I recently opened a yoga can of worms when I posted a questions to my followers on Instagram of what people thought the minimum requirement should be for someone to take a 200hr yoga teacher training.
I posted this all on my stories but I felt it warranted a permanent spot on my website so here you go.
I may update, add, or even do a part two , but for now here it is;
Thank you for your responses.
This took me longer than expected. Once I started I realised I had quite alot to say on the subject. I'll be posting this whole thing on my website tomorrow and will link it in my bio.
As you saw, the majority said 3yrs but with answers ranging from 1-5 yrs. All be it with good suggestions of signed attendance from senior teachers of classes, and continued education.... More on this later...
A few of you proposed that it was more down to the dedication of the practioneer rather than the time. Are they committed to their practice? Do they have body awareness etc etc...
Essentially, this came about because I was told a girl came and took her first ever yoga class with me the other week.. Awesome! I was also told she'd just done her 200hr. Wait.. What? So how could my class be her first? Turns out she did a course having never set foot in a yoga class previously. But that's crazy I hear you say.... As she now technically has a teaching qualification. Yes, and yet over my 12 years of teaching I've heard stories like this often and yet it still surprises me.
Hence, why I was genuinely curious to see what other people thought. Especially non teachers.
I also want to make it clear that I am not personally attacking anyone's practice, life or teaching.
I do however think it's a highly relevant topic to explore particularly as yoga becomes more widespread so more courses = more teachers.
I also don't have a stringent solution but I feel conversation encourages change and understanding and all the good stuff.
I also think there's only so much I'm going to be able to write here and that there are of course, many layers and differences between teachers, courses, and studios / schools etc
I do think courses that allow you to teach others or qualify you in some way to pass knowledge down should have a minimum practice requirement. Does someone have to be able to handstand? No. As we all know, this isn't about asana proficiency, and even less so about advanced asana proficiency. It's is about people having a level of understanding of their own bodies. It's going through trials and tribulations. Going through periods of their changing bodies, feelings of demotivation, even injury.
Why is this all important? Because when you teach you'll have a wide range of bodies in class. Some less able. Some more. Do you need to have all the answers to every question? Absolutely not, as someone pointed out we all have to start somewhere and I totally agree. We are, after all, all beginners at the start. But the longer you've spent understanding yourself and putting the hours in so to speak (and not just with asana), the more awareness, I believe, you have, when you come across those with difficulty, blocks and emotional responses.
This leads me to what I feel is perhaps the more important discussion to have and what I think has been lost to some degree in this yoga boom, and that is the mentoring aspect. Ironically yoga is about union and yet how confidently can we stand and say we have a community around us? We live very solo lives anyway. Arguably even more as an independent teacher. Years ago you stayed with a guru. Assisted them and were guided by them. Dispeller of darkness etc... So there was a shadowing aspect, that brought illumination, a soundboard and constant encouragement and by extension a naturally continued education.
What I struggle with is that nowadays courses set prerequisites and then ignore them for what seems to be a thirst for cash. They then offer no mentorship after. So we are in a situation that if you have enough money you can essentially pay for a cert. There's no accountability and you can now legally be hired to teach different bodies having never stepped on a mat pre training and not be required to there after.
(I'm also aware this happens in other disciplines not just yoga)
Do I think bodies like Yoga Alliance are the answer? No. I myself have never been part of Yoga Alliance and seeing as it's many of their courses that I hear these stories from I'm even less inclined. What exactly are you paying for? Are there guidelines and conditions to be accredited or do you simply pay to be a member?
My teacher in Mysore has his certificates only valid for 3 years to ensure people come back for continued education (not that they have to re do the course). Money making scheme or a good way to keep people accountable and up to date with his teachings etc? For him it's a way to make sure people continue to be students before they are teachers. He also encourages them to come back and sit in on his trainings for free and assist him.
Another question to perhaps explore is what's the rush? What is it that makes you want to teach so soon after having discovered the practice yourself? Is some joy of exploring yourself and the teaching not then to some degree shadowed by the need to teach and by extension earn money?
As I said there is too much for me to unpack here alone. In my opinion as a practioneer since 2001 and a teacher since 2008 I still feel like I know so little. Do I have passion? Of course. Do I love my job? Yes. Am I less experienced than my teachers? Yes. That's just a fact. No matter how much heart someone has they are only every where they are in terms of time on the path.
Part of all this is why I have said no countless times when asked to teach a 200hr. Despite the financial appeal I simply can not go against my beliefs. To take on such a responsibility. To train other to pass this down in my mind takes years and years not merely of self practice but of absorbing knowledge from those further along the path.
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