Questions for Yoga Instructors

[Soosan]

I live in a rural community with a large number of retirees but a growing number of younger professionals. We have a brand new YMCA that offers a yoga class geared toward this older population. The instructor is safety-concious to a fault, which means she won't let more advanced participants go beyond a certain level in many of the poses for fear the less advanced will go beyond their limitations if they see others doing the more advanced postures. I take the class once in a while and always regret the waste of my precious exercise time. She even admonishes people for doing something as basic as upward dog rather than just lifting your chest a few inches from the floor. It's very frustrating. At this point, she's the only instructor around.

A friend of mine and I often get together to do some more challenging yoga DVD's or CD's and sometimes others join us as well. She's a physical therapist and has been doing yoga for quite a while, attending classes and workshops when traveling and practicing at home with or without DVD's/CD's. Although I've been practicing for about five years, my only experience is with the above instructor (great when I was just starting) and my DVD's/CD's. I'm pretty fit from doing Cathe workouts all these years and I'm naturally flexible.

To the point of this post: This friend and I have been thinking about starting some more advanced classes at a local church but are not quite sure how to begin. Do we have to be certified? If so, to what degree and where would be a good place to get the certification? What about liability if somebody gets hurt? What might be a fair price to charge?

I would appreciate any insight anyone might have. If you don't know the answers and can refer me to a source, that would be great too!

TIA!

 

[endorphin_junkie]

Hi Susan: I've been wondering when you might take your practise to the next logical step.... The lines are pretty grey on certifications but I wouldn't even consider doing this until you have established what the variables are for liability. Do you need it independantly or is it covered under the facilities policies. There are so many ways of getting yoga certifications, you can probably do it on line. I did mine through the gym where I was teaching and am now teaching independantly at a women's centre. You can get certifications through specific discipline (Sivananda, Iyengar, Kripalu....) or through fitness professional organizations. Canfitpro is the Canadian equivalent of ACE and offers a variety of yoga certifications.

I felt very frustrated for you when you were describing your instructor. She has failed to embrace the essence of yoga which is awareness, acknowledgement and being fully present in your experience. She is depriving her students of fully experiencing the magic of finding your personal edge to any pose and seeing where it will take you through your breath and your innate somatic wisdom. My first yoga instructor said it best 'flexible people just have farther to go'. After 8 years of practise and 3 teaching it is a great joy for me to have people tell me that they have gone places with yoga that they never dreamed that they could. Sad that your instructor is depriving students of the chance. JMHO.

Susan, you should go for it, do it right and get a certification. Your love for yoga shines through in your posts and it's all about following your bliss, right!?!;-) With 5 years of practising, all of the knowledge you've gained from Cathe, the boards and your own research, certification will be a breeze for you. From there you teach the class that you would love to take.

Take Care
Laurie

 

[Soosan]

Thanks, Laurie. I was hoping you'd answer!

If we were to teach in churches, we would need independent liability, which is something I know nothing about. What are you doing w/regard to liability? Can you tell me how to even begin the process?

How long did it take you to get certified (e.g., a month of courses? a weekend?) and how long and in what context (classes, at home, etc) did you practice beforehand?

I like your notion about teaching the class I would love to take. That's great advice!

 

[endorphin_junkie]

My insurance provider for liability in my massage therapy practise also offers yoga teachers liability insurance. All I can suggest is inquiring through your home/car insurance company. Perhaps they can steer you in the right direction. Sorry I can't be more help.

The link below is my dream certification (maybe when my Girls are older). Four intense weeks in the hills of Quebec at about $3 000.
http://www.sivananda.org/ttc/index.html
I was in school for massage therapy when I got my certification so I went a much cheaper route. My training was subsidised through the gym I was at and took place over 2 weekends then I shadow taught for 3 months and finally submitted a video taped class for certification. Before teacher training I had practised many disciplines of hatha yoga in gyms, churches, homes and had a lot of fun as a backgroud yogini in a local yoga cable show. I have attended sivanada weekend retreats which never fail to advance my practise. Sivananda was my first exposure to yoga and after 8 years it still influences me the most. I love the advanced pranayama and flow of it. I find kripalu and Esther Meyer's yoga uninspiring but love astanga, Iyengar is too rigid and disciplined for my personality. I've really noticed in the past few years that more and more teachers are melding principles from these and many other branches to bring their own unique brand of yoga to the community. It sounds like your community is ready for a change, how cool would that be if you were the ones to bring it to them?!

Please keep me posted on how this seed of an idea grows. I'm excited for you

Take Care
Laurie

 

[Soosan]

Thanks so much for the info and encouragement, Laurie. At this point we're just at an information-gathering stage to see if we'd like to pursue it. There's definitely a need in the community. I'll keep you posted.

Funny you should post that link. My friend was talking about a month-long certification in the Bahamas...