Qualifications
The competence, style and experience of Yoga Teachers varies widely, as it does for any vocation. Further, the range of Yoga
practices is vast. For these reasons, you need to apply a little discrimination when putting yourself into the hands of a Yoga Teacher.
Satisfy yourself of your prospective teacher’s competence and that their offerings are in line with what you want.
In the first instance, talk to your prospective teacher. Competent teachers will always welcome being quizzed about their approach and
about what the prospective student can expect in a class and be happy to advise you on the suitability of their approach and style for
someone of your age and state of health. They will also be happy to tell you about their own experience, training and affiliation,
an outline of which should be included in the listing on YogaPages.
If you are confident at this stage, go to a class, but remember that you are in charge of your own body and mind and shouldn’t do
anything you feel unhappy or uncertain about. If you feel great at the end of the class, your teacher knows something about Yoga.
If not, move on, try something else.
Here are some of the affiliations you might come across:
Yoga Alliance : If your teacher has the letters RYT
after his/her name, this means that they have registered with the Yoga
Alliance and that their training meets a reasonable standard. The Yoga
Alliance is a mainly US organisation but with some international reach.
There are quite a few RYTs in the UK .
The International Yoga Federation: This body also offers
teacher registration and uses the same standards as the Yoga Alliance.
The Independent Yoga Network (IYN): This body offers
teacher registration with the Yoga Register to those teachers who meet
its standards of training and experience. The standard is based entirely
on Yogic principles and demands a high level of understanding from teachers.
Teachers have the designation YRT. IYN is always happy to answer questions
from Yoga students.
The British Wheel of Yoga (BWY): This body trains its
own teachers as well as having a number of affiliated bodies. The training
is quite lengthy and thorough.
The Register of Exercise Professionals (REP): This body
registers all kinds of fitness trainers and is a wing of the fitness industry.
The registration standard is the same for a very wide range of fitness
regimes apart from a few details specific to each discipline. The REPS
standard does not deal with the spiritual aspects of Yoga.
There are some Yoga schools which are not affiliated to any of the above, yet
which train teachers of particular styles to a high standard, for example:
The Iyengar Yoga Association (UK) and the Sivananda organisation.
Some excellent Yoga Teachers have no formal qualifications and no organisational affiliation. They may have had a traditional
training with a guru or an apprenticeship with a teacher or a wealth of experience of a variety of styles of Yoga. Many of
the world’s most esteemed teachers fall into this category so don’t necessarily be put off by the absence of formal qualifications.
Be aware that depth of practice makes for a good teacher.
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