Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Hi Yoga,

Getting back to being sure about which is the best yoga certification course to take; it does seem that Aura Wellness Center went through many changes, but they still produce courses that help students become teachers without all the politics. Unfortunately, there are politics in everything including this field. My feeling is that compassion is the overriding factor in a yoga instructor's success. Some teachers fake it and attack other instructors and styles. Some sincerely love other people, but get stung by the attackers and egotists. Others are realists, whig means they are more prepared for the highs and lows of politics. One point to mention: keep your compassion. If you don't get enough here, go to Paul Jerard's Facebook page. You'll receive your daily dosage of positive energy and you can pass it on to your students.

Compassion and the Yoga Instructor

On the heels of the State of California's decision that Yoga is not in, and of itself, an indoctrination or a religious activity, there will likely be a lot more opportunities for yoga instructors to provide hands-on training to students of all ages as they work their way through the California school system.

Balancing Goals and Compassion

Compassion, which is an energy of its own that can be in short supply when one is facing an overcrowded room of enthusiasts, is likely to continue to be an important component of whatever program it is that you are putting forth.

Yet, as you know, especially with large groups of people, there are sometimes milestones or types of progress that can be jeopardized when compassion becomes an everyday occurrence in too large of a way.

So here is one tip that may lead to understanding for finding a comfort zone or balance between compassion and goal attainment for different types of groups. Progress is relative for different people. Depending upon their goals, you may have seen the slightest movement in an individual's performance in your class or group. Compared to other people, it may seem glacial in its forward lean or movement. Yet to the person attempting to improve their yoga abilities, it may be a significant and noticeable change.

Compassion in this instance is recognizing the growth and channeling any frustration with the pace into motivating the person or group into building upon their experience and continuing to drive forward.

It may seem to be a waste of time to consistently miss benchmarks or goals that are easily attainable by most of the people in the group. On the other hand, setting goals is not enough as an instructor or yoga leader when compassion is involved. Motivation can be its own art or science for the instructor willing to invest the time in developing their own school of thought regarding how this can be accomplished with their clients.

One path that has proven to be useful to many instructors in Southern California is to steep oneself in Eastern management or motivation philosophy that traditionally meshes well with yoga by reading and understanding some of the greats that are either contemporaneous to those who developed the yoga style that you are teaching or that were students of yoga themselves.