Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, YACEP Below are three variations, but there are many more that you might find useful for teaching Yoga classes or for practicing at home. If you want to become a Yoga teacher, it is wise to be familiar with them because they serve as a bridge for students who have difficulty with meditation.
Unless one learns to do yoga very well, unless there is a high level of commitment to improving how one does yoga, it is very difficult to be certified as a teacher. Teacher training is demanding because teacher training schools want to turn out teachers who represent the best that yoga has to offer the general public. In other words, slackers won’t cut it. Those who cannot do asanas properly, provide solid advice and instruction, and represent the ideals of yoga in a coherent way are not likely to be considered qualified to teach yoga.
If you have the time and they seem relaxed, you may offer to give them a 10-minute quickie introductory sample class, which includes one or two postures and a breathing technique. During this process, explain the benefits of what you are showing them. It is much easier to digest information by doing than by telling.
When teaching classes, almost every yoga instructor agrees that focusing on the breath is the easiest way to help students focus. Depending on the age of the yoga student, teaching children to be aware of their breath can be just as effective as teaching the practice to adults.
At first, breathing this deeply and thoughtfully probably won’t come naturally. You’re sure to spend most of your day breathing shallowly. To start incorporating yogic breathing into your daily life, try setting an alarm on your smartphone. Whenever it goes off, set aside a minute or two to practice pranayama. You can do this anywhere you happen to be. Even if you’re at the gym engaging in intense cardio, you can force yourself to be mindful of the way you’re breathing. If you’re just sitting at a desk or otherwise being sedentary, it’s especially easy – and beneficial – to engage in this type of breathing.
Another new emerging concept is the teacher owned co-op studio. The tricky aspect of this is finding enough teachers with the same types of goals that work well together. One way to work out expenses is to figure out space cost per hour, and work out a plan around that.
All in all, yoga is a tool for helping those many people in our society who might struggle with keeping with their well intentioned New Years’ Resolutions – or those made and attempted at any time of the year. Yoga instructors can be powerful facilitators in those processes through knowledgeable instruction appropriately tailored to each individual student’s needs and abilities.
The benefits of yoga are undeniable, but even somebody who knows that yoga is worthwhile and has determined to make it a regular part of their life may sometimes find obstacles in their path. In this busy world, it isn’t always possible to make it to the studio for a regularly scheduled session. Work, family, vacations or other concerns may get in the way.
Unless you are a psychiatrist or psychologist, you should not be in the position of a consultant. Some new students may arrive due to referrals from professional counselors, but what do you do if one of your established students is suddenly in a state of depression? The logical course of action is to advise anyone who is suffering from depression to seek counseling from a professional first. Yoga is a wonderful adjunct therapy for emotional and mental health, but our field as Yoga teachers is not counseling.
Yoga posturing is a practice of the body’s core and limbs which work alongside the breath. In a Vinyasa style class, as students move from one position to the next, the yoga instructor will note whether to breathe in or out, for example: “breathe in, upward-facing dog, breathe out, downward-facing dog,” and so on. Breathing in this way with each position allows the body to flow easier and gentler through the positions. This method is especially valuable for beginners who may feel that some of the movements are difficult to master at first. Adding the breath makes each position flow into the next and provides a fluidity that could not be achieved otherwise.