Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Hi E - With any program of this type, self-motivation is certainly a key. From your post, it is evident that you certainly have the motivation to complete the program and the training program at Aura is EXCELLENT! When possible, I would also suggest taking Yoga classes from other instructors and in different styles. That way, you get to experience a broad spectrum of Yoga practices and you get to see the techniques and approaches of other Yoga teachers. This can be very useful and enriching in developing your own approach towards Yoga teaching.

Namaste,

-Don

Hate to seem like a band wagon fan, but this is a great course. I have had a few laughs while on this forum too. With this program, the site, the old articles, the newsletters, forums, ebooks, technical support, and the blogs we all manage to keep current and train at our own pace.

Namaste E.,

Many things come into play such as: finances, obligations, and distance. There are solid reasons for each choice, but this is only my viewpoint. If you have a yoga teacher training center close to your home, no family obligations, and / or a very understanding employer, you are all set to become a registered yoga teacher. I had 16 years of yoga practice without a diploma and Paul's course was the best choice for me. Originally, the nearest yoga teacher training center was a 6 1/2 hour - one way ride from my home - and I have kids, night school, a husband, and house work. The Yoga Alliance 200 contact hour requirement presents a hardship for many of us. It is unrealistic for most of us who have families, jobs, tight finances, and cannot spend 13 hours driving every weekend for 6 months. Right now houses are foreclosing, cars are being repossessed, and the option to live on the street is only two or three paychecks away for the average American family. This is the Bush Economy!

Sorry, but the Yoga Alliance is not the the International policeman of Yoga. This is a copy cat of BWY, but that's another story. The RYT does look good on your resume, so if you have the disposable income to meet their 200 contact hour requirements, you should seek out a center which has an E-RYT on the staff. Aura does have the option to train to become a yoga instructor in Attleboro, but you may be closer to another location. Some teachers become a CYT first, gain experience teaching yoga classes, and become an RYT later. Either way, I sincerely wish you the best of luck.

Shanti,

Tomako

Either way you look at it - certification for liability - comes first. Many yoga instructors have no intention of joining any organization with aspirations to control yoga. How can Yoga Alliance or BWY control bhakti, mantra, karma, jnana yoga or any other form of yoga? Are we hatha yoga instructors foolish enough to be herded like goats? You must be a free thinker to teach yoga to others. What is the hidden agenda of organization who wishes to control yoga? The agenda is to control you.

Namaskar Jopis,

Abour billions of dollars for Yoga: I guess if you added all the money spent on props, classes, retreats, and such it could add up. No single Yoga teacher is rolling around in money. For the record, the only US millionaire in Yoga might be Bikram. He ds have a mansion and a fleet of Rolls Royces. Anyone who is doing well here is giving their surplus to charity or sponsoring a charity. In the States, Yoga teachers do give back.

About the CYT - RYT: Well, it ds come down to obligations, finances, travel, and hardships. Women do have a lot of responsibility and most of the Yoga teachers are women in the States. To impose strict contact hour policies for the RYT is alienating the average woman who has children at home.

It encourages the influx of a Yoga teacher, who usually dsn't have the experience, but who has no obligations.

Namaste,

Amongst the RYT registration, I think the E-RYT designations can be useful as they do indicate a level of direct, documentable teaching experience. One gains a tremendous amount of knowledge from the experience of teaching different classes and directly working with people having a wide range in experience and ability. Being able to show this with a designation can be useful to indicate that a particular teacher is highly experienced. Obviously one needs a level of training to get to a position to be able to teach classes in the first place.

Namaste,

-Don

Pranam,

Credentials, which are enough to gain liability insurance, will give you a start. This level 1 correspondence course by Aura for Yoga instructors is the best of all the correspondence courses. The information about anatomy, subtle body, asan, pranayam, meditation, chakra, bandha, shatkarmas, mudras, sanskrit and much more, is a complete course. for those who want to teach Yoga as an exercise there are over 170 asan in the first book of 3 Yoga teacher texts. Learning useful information is to you advantage and the Aura courses are also good for continuing education.

Namaste,

If you buy dirt cheap, you get dirt cheap. If you're going to buy an online yoga teacher certification course, you might as well get the best one on the market. Yoga teacher training by self-study is so affordable, it's foolish to cut corners.