Posts Tagged ‘Yoga training course’

How to Pass Your Yoga Teacher Training Exams

Friday, July 30th, 2010

By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

The following is a brief compilation of tips that will help anyone taking Yoga certification exams. Generally speaking, Yoga teacher courses are composed of three basic parts. These parts may be your written exams, essays, and practical exams. There may be one, or more, of these parts involved during the examination process.

Written Exams: Usually, written exams are based upon foundational Yogic knowledge. The points, that the examiners may be drawing you to, are valuable for anyone, who will be teaching Yoga classes. In other words, this is knowledge that you should have been mastered, before you began teaching a class.

Written Exams may be based upon one, or more, books which are part of the curriculum. When referencing books, it is always best to reference the book, author, and page number of the information you are presenting. In this way, you support your answer with concrete evidence.

At the same time, there is nothing wrong with having a personal opinion that agrees, or disagrees, with the author’s point. In this way, you also show evidence that you are able to think for yourself. The exception to this is if the examiner requires you to give an answer that is based only upon the author’s opinion.

Essays: One of the biggest mistakes to make on an essay is to cut-and-paste writings by various authors, and then try passing it off as your own work. If you quote an author, you should also give credit to that author by stating the author’s name, the book or website, and include the page number or URL.

When using any quotes by authors to support your essay, you would want to provide a page of references – whether a separate “References” page or Footnotes at the bottom of each page where the quote is included within the text of the page. Also related to this: Limit the number of supporting quotes, to about 20 percent, of your work. The examiner is looking for your thoughts, not a complete compilation of another author’s thoughts.

Practical Exams: This is usually considered the hardest part of the testing. However, preparation is going to help you pass this hurdle. Interns, who spend time teaching mock classes, recording their classes on video, and practicing teaching techniques, will pass much easier than someone who puts little thought into how to conduct a class.

Teaching a Yoga class is composed of cueing skills, observation skills, showing modifications, and assisting when needed. You never want to turn your back on your students and “do your own Yoga practice.” It is a wonderful thing when one can perform a technique, but a teacher is being tested for his or her ability to lead a class.

One last point about the Practical Exam – if you find yourself facing away from your students, it is probably a good time to get off your mat and walk around the room. It always seems to be that, when you turn your back to your students, there is a mental disconnect between you and your students.

© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Teaching Yoga – Stage by Stage Relaxation

Friday, February 19th, 2010

By Sanjeev Patel

According to many experienced Yoga teachers, meditation is the ultimate end of a Yoga class. That may be, but how does a Yoga teacher show beginner students how to calm their minds? The answer is: Teach your students to relax before breath observance or awareness meditation session. Here is how I learned to practice this form of relaxation, while training at Aura Wellness Center.

Stage by state relaxation is a sequence which begins by lying on your back in Shivasana, or Corpse pose. The breath is observed for a few minutes, with no aim of controlling it. This is followed by two deep inhalations and exhalations, letting the abdomen swell out on the inhalations and drawing it in towards the backbone on the exhalations. After two breaths, let the abdominal wall relax completely. Now observe the breathing until it becomes quiet and smooth, then let your attention move over the body in the following sequence, looking for tension in each part and releasing any tension so the muscles rest with all their weight.

Careful attention should be noted as to the feeling of tension, and the feeling of relaxation. The sequence is: left foot, left calf, left thigh, front and rear; right foot, right calf, right thigh, front and rear; pelvis; abdomen; lower back; chest; upper back; left hand; left forearm; left upper arm, front and rear; left shoulder; right hand; right forearm, right upper arm, front and rear, right shoulder; throat; neck; jaw; lips; tongue; eyes; brow; scalp. Remember to relax fingers and toes so they feel limp, when relaxing the hands and feet. After going over the entire body, return to observing the breath for several minutes.

Now begin the sequence again, from feet to head, and continue for fifteen to thirty minutes. The entire body should be relaxed, and free of tension, and the mind should be peaceful.

This is what I learned while studying with Paulji. I also learned many more forms of relaxation and even more forms of meditation, while training at Aura. The modern mindset has become much like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD or AD/HD), which is a common neurobehavioral developmental disorder of the 21st century.

Knowing this, every Yoga teacher training course should break down the meditation process for teaching beginners with mind calming building blocks. This enables teachers to take the average person from relaxation and transcend into higher forms of meditation as each stage of training the mind is mastered. It’s one thing for interns to understand how to clam their minds. It’s quite another matter to take people off the street and enable them to train their minds.

© Copyright 2010 – Sanjeev Patel / Aura Publications

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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How to Become a Creative Yoga Teacher

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

There comes a day when each of us “takes up the torch” from the preceding generation. For some of us, this event may happen in our family life, at work, with the passing of one’s Guru, or after a Yoga teacher training course has concluded. We learn valuable lessons from the generation ahead of us. Then, we initially tend to copy the ways of our teachers, before we become creative Yoga teachers.

Build a Yogic Foundation

It is good to have a solid foundation of knowledge before we become innovators. On the other hand, some restless souls cannot wait to “reinvent the wheel.” Creativity is a wonderful thing, but who wants to spend years creating something that was created hundreds of years ago? For this reason, each Yoga teacher should spend time researching the classic texts.

Let the Gurus of the past be your guides, through their writings and your independent research. Let the written works, and videos of today’s most innovative Yoga teachers, be your path toward becoming the best you can be. There is no need to travel the teaching path alone or to recreate what has already been created.

Remember the saying: “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” Why should any of us spend time creating a solution to something that has been solved years ago? This is why education, research, and building a foundation of Yogic knowledge, is so important for all Yoga instructors. Yet, there are many written works by Yoga teachers from the past and present. In fact, the book shelves contain more literature than a lifetime of reading could consume.

Social Networks for Yoga Teachers

At this time, there is no need to teach Yoga without peer support, unless you choose to. There was a time when teachers visited their Guru, and it was a great journey. It may have required a pilgrimage, mountain climbing skills, or traveling by ship half way around the world. At his point in time, we have teacher networks, air travel, and Internet Yoga teacher communities.

If you live on a secluded island, but have Internet access, you can trade ideas with Yoga instructors from any part of the world. When answers cannot be found within, it is time to look outside for fresh ideas. At the same time, it should be noted that not every new idea may be applicable to your classes or students. Each Yoga school is unique, and the same can be said for the students within a given school.

It is always best to test new methods and see which methods are a good fit for the greater body of students. When absorbing and testing new methods in your Yoga classes, it never hurts to network with related fields. Chiropractors, physicians, nurses, holistic healers, physical therapists, and personal trainers have practical knowledge in regard to safety and methods from within their professions.

© Copyright 2010 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”

FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste, Paul

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