The 10 Commandments of Finding the Right Yoga Teacher Training

1 ) Find a Spiritual Teacher

Avoid taking training from teachers that emphasize their teaching on the physical aspects of yoga only. It is important to have a teacher who can give you a full understanding of the spiritual (as opposed to religious) aspect of yoga. The teacher should not be a scholar who knows his/her information from reading books and taking workshops. The teacher’s teaching must arise from direct experience. Such a teacher will be able to deal with all of the spiritual concerns that the student may have with no hesitation.

2 ) Make Sure to Experience Direct Transmission

Do not settle for teacher training run by novice teachers who show the teachings of their master from a DVD. Do not settle for the said “master” to only occasionally appear in the course. Every student in the course needs to have direct contact and experience with the spiritual teacher, as the transmission of the knowledge and wisdom often happens on the energy level.

3 ) Bigger is Not Better

Often you see teacher training with 60 to 200 students in a course.

In an intense 200h course, as a result of the intense practice, students often go through physical, mental, emotional and spiritual crisis and may face multiple challenges. As a result of being in a large impersonal course, the student and their needs get lost in the crowd.

4 ) Avoid Religions, Cults and Worship

Avoid trainings with even a hint of worshipping the spiritual teacher. Yoga practice is a process to transform the novice to become a free master and not to become a sheep, following without knowing.

5 ) Practical Teaching

Make sure there is plenty of actual hands-on teaching experience for you during the course so you don’t end up with theoretical knowledge but are unprepared to actually teach. Knowing the asanas (yoga postures) inside and out won’t make you know how to teach them. Yoga teacher training is not a yoga boot camp of doing the asanas all day. You need to learn communication, the psychology of the mind, body language, how to correct by using hands-on techniques, and how to give mental and energetic support to your students in the future.

6 ) Yoga is Not Gymnastics

Remember that 90% of your students out there are beginners! Most of the people in the West are dealing with physical limitations and health conditions. Avoid vigorous acrobatic styles of yoga. Choose a style of yoga that can walk beginners safely into the practice. Otherwise you will join the endless number of yoga instructors who make the students feel (after their first class) that they are not flexible enough to practice yoga.

7 ) Restrictive Yoga Facilities

Avoid styles that constrict you and your students to a specific teaching facility environment (hot rooms or facilities with too many yoga gadgets). The essence of yoga practice is to be able to conduct it in any place and any time. Your students should be able to take the teaching you convey and practice on their own anywhere without dependency on a facility.

8 ) New-Age Yoga

Be careful of flakiness and new-age nonsense.

Knowledge of energy and the chakras is powerful, but there is much more to the yoga practice than just the chakras.

9 ) Connection With the Teacher After Course is Done

Make sure that the teacher will be available to you to answer questions after the course has ended and to guide you in your first steps of your teaching if needed. You should be able to find spiritual support from your teacher outside the course as your practice must continue after your certification.

10 ) The Power of Transformation

Let your heart, not only your mind and wallet, be involved in the search for the right teacher and teaching. Avoid being influenced by trends and burgeons. The teacher is the vehicle for the teaching that may resonate in you forever.

True teachers will expand your capacity to receive wisdom that arises from beyond your programmed mind.

Namaste,
shakti mhi

Dear shakti & Daniel,

Keiki and I will be moving back to Hong Kong at the end of April, and we would like to say thank you to you both, for all that you’ve taught and shared with us during our teacher trainings.

In the last few months, we have enjoyed teaching yoga here in Vancouver, loved it, and know that and we will continue our journey both as a teacher and as a student, after moving to Hong Kong.

We are deeply indebted to you both, our inspirational teachers, and look forward to attending your classes and workshops again in the nearest future.

Please continue sharing this wonderful knowledge and continue inspiring others like you have did for us.

Wishing you (and all Prana staff) our Best Wishes,

Ann & Keiki
April 2008

 The following is a question from a student regarding her responsibility to speak out to let another teacher know their teachings may not be safe. Below is shakti’s response in red.

Questions from student:

Hello there to all…

I am a pranayoga teacher and have just moved away from where I was teaching to go back to university. I went to a school funded yoga class last night where the teacher took his yoga class “from a book” (not critisizing… but well…), and I find myself in PAIN this morning. Now, I released myself over and over again into child pose because he took us from back bend to back bend… over and over… with no release. This young man is going to seriously injure someone. Do I say something out of responsibility to those who when in down dog were doing one-handed dog so that the other could massage their backs, or do I just sit back and let him learn the hard way?

Help! What would you do?

Joanne

shakti’s response:

Now the moment is gone. But next time simply tune into your manipura (navel) chakra without letting the mind interfere and you will know exactly what action to take or not. On the spiritual path there is never one recipe to all moments as each moment is unique to all the different elements that formed it.

In one moment you may say nothing

In a different moment you may act

And at another time you may place your shoe on your head and make a soundless sound.

It is only in the moment that we know

Love shakti

This is shakti’s response to a question from a student regarding shoulder stand. shakti’s response is in italics and bold below.

There is no one way to live life, to become realized or to teach shoulder stand. The more we rely on gadgets in life and in yoga, the more we limit our practice.

Question from student:

The class of May 2006 have all been corresponding together as a group and one of the subjects we have been discussing is shoulder stand. Many of us have been finding students are taught to put the blanket only under the shoulders and argue that this puts less pressure on their necks.

You can modify the pressure on the neck by simply moving the pelvis away from the head and lowering the legs towards 45 degree until it feels comfortable. I guess an Anusara course Janice went to taught it like this and explained that putting the blanket under the neck made it to flat not keeping the natural curve in the neck.

shakti’s response:

The asanas evolved around the natural skeletal structure. The neck curve hasn’t changed in the last million years. Can you imagine the ancient yogi wandering naked and living in a cave always holding a towel in his hand in case he had to do salamba sarvangasana (shoulder stand)?

I have been confused on the issue as have many of the other students from class.

Not that the blanket is the source for all of your confusion; it’s the mind’s need to have a black and white answer, to posses the ultimate and only truth about the subject.

Fortunately, neither I nor anyone in existence is holding the absolute answer for yes or no blanket under the neck or what is the aim of life. That’s what makes life such a lovely dance. Next time you are confused about how to teach an asana get on the floor, play with the options and make sense of it to yourself. And even then do not hold on it as the absolute principle as you never know what the next moment will bring. Learn as much as you feel you need but always keep your hands empty as the absolute way of doing things is unfolded in each moment. If you would like to live life authentically you will need to start knowing for yourself.

Yoga Teaching Question: Is my Student Too Deep?

When my student is in half twist she is able to go very far and is very flexible so her leg is pressed up really hard against her tummy. This allows her to get the most benefit opening up her external hip rotator and the stretch in the arm as she reaches for her ankle, however, she finds it hard to breathe deeply. (Same thing happens when she binds) As I watched her more intensely my instinct told me that she is fine and should stay doing what she is doing – if she were to release the leg she would not have the same physical benefit to the posture… so she just has to reserve the DEEP breathing for postures where her abdomen is not
be pressed against… but I am not SURE.

Response from shakti:

Here is the answer to your question:

- she is too deep!!!!
- do not compromise the breath for the posture.
- she should be finding a variation of half twist which allows her to breathe with ease.
- even if she is holding her ankle or knee or keeping arm bent.
- BREATHING IS THE FIRST PRIORITY!!!!!!

- even though she is so flexible, she may have no breath due to a lack of internal space.
- her inner space may be cluttered with emotional tension, physical tension, physical toxins, or mental toxins.

- the best way to release internal tension is to breathe deeply.
- bring more focus into her breath work while settling into an easier variation of half twist (or other asanas, if this is her common problem)

- physical flexibility shouldn’t be a priority at this point.

it may be blockages in either the 3rd or 4th chakras; encourage her deep belly breaths as priority in her practice.

- through the release with deep breathing she will begin to develop more inner space and find more freedom physically.

Prana Yoga College

www.pranayogacollege.com

A student of mine once told me that her husband has been a martial arts master for many years, but that none of his close friends know about it.

When his friends invited him to spend time with them on weekends, he had often chosen instead to go and practice. His excuse to them was simply that he was unavailable, and he had never mentioned what he was doing instead.
In days gone by, people who were serious about their spiritual path never discussed their practice with anyone but their teacher, and rarely with their loved ones.
In this so-called “new age” of ours, many people wear spirituality as a cool trendy outfit to be shown off. They use their practice as a business card to identify themselves. By contrast, a serious practice helps people discover that which they are not.
Often you can hear “spiritual” people exchanging notes about their practice over cups of coffee. You may hear them discuss the advanced asana (posture) they recently mastered (usually it comes with a demonstration in the middle of Starbucks), or which chakra (energy centre) they opened last week.
You can hear them talk about the degrees of heat they feel in their bum when they do mula bhanda (energy lock), or which of the many goddesses visited them yesterday morning in their meditation.
For most people, spirituality represents self-growth and self-evolvement. But, the higher self cannot go through the process of self-growth, because it is perfect and complete on it own. Discussing one’s practice in small talk feeds the need of the small “self” for constant acknowledgment and recognition.
True practice is like making love to your higher self. In the same way as you do not describe to others the intimacy you share with your beloved (at least I hope not!), it is not appropriate to discuss your practice with others either. In doing so, you disperse the energy of your practice. In other words, you weaken it. You feed your ego and cling to your lower self, the illusion of who you think you are.
Don’t talk your practice.
Practice your talk.

Prana Yoga College

www.pranayogacollege.com

Throughout my years of practicing yoga, when people found out about my practice, their first question usually was usually whether or not I could ‘put my foot around my neck’.
One can easily get the idea by looking at the yoga magazines, studio brochures and the endless yoga-themed commercials or through surfing the web; that the ultimate aim of yoga is in fact to bring your leg around your neck; it’s about getting the rubber body.

In the old days the most prominent feature of a yogi who immersed himself in the higher practice of yoga was his powerful eyes; looking through you, drawing your attention to existence which may be experienced beyond the form of the body.

Today you meet endless images of lovely yogis and yoginis from all ages, cultures and styles, with their legs rapped around their neck as their smiling eyes seem to say “I reached the Everest of yoga”. In many ways it is a process very similar to that of getting to the top of the Everest.

You go through long practice and training which starts with the ambitions of the ego. As you climb the mountain of Yoga towards the goal of achieving the most obscure body postures you face a high risk of injuring the knees and hips, getting sciatica, compressing the spine etc. and possibly ending with overly loose joints. There is always a risk of never achieving the goal (because of skeletal structure, scar tissue etc) which may lead to great disappointment and the feeling of being a failure.

The question is “When finally we fulfill the desire of the mind, and our foot is hanging around our neck….. then what?” Has the leg around the neck freed us from suffering? Is it helping us to master our mind? Are we acting without reacting? Is the wrapping of the leg around the neck engaging us with our higher self to become the ultimate observer who knows that we are not this body? Is the heel close enough to our brain to free us from the fear of death?

What are the reasons for the western yoga teachers identifying their abilities with the performance of the body? Is it because we have nothing wise to say from our authentic experience – so instead, we show off our physical form as we often do outside the yoga studio setting. Is it because we are so programmed to identify with our body as who we are that we apply it to our spiritual practice instead of applying the wisdom of the spiritual path to our life?

Or maybe after we started our yoga practice, our ego got so mesmerized by the body’s performance, that we forgot why we started the practice from the beginning.
The practice of the yoga asanas (postures) is for the purpose of maintaining our body so it is in a good health, and free of toxins and blockages so that prana energy can flow through and widen our perception towards life and existence. The body is a great vehicle for us to use through the spiritual journey.

When people buy a car to take them to different destinations, they take care of the car so it stays in good shape and is safe to travel in. Some people get obsessed with their car, blurring the definition between the object and themselves. Fully identified with the car’s look and performance, they start buying gadgets for it, investing time into it, while the car becomes a source of their pride, worries, attachments and suffering. The body is the vehicle for the self – do not confuse it with the self.

In closing, think about this: if an extremely flexible body is in fact the aim of the ancient yoga then we should all be worshipping the teenage contortionists in Cirque de Soleil.

Prana Yoga College

www.pranayogacollege.com

Anything in life can turn to be either light or darkness.

Many times people with cancer take vitamins and minerals as supplements to strengthen the healthy cells in the body so that they will be powerful, to fight the cancerous cells.

Sometimes the supplements empower the healthy cells and the cancer is defeated, but sometimes the supplements feed the cancer cells and strengthen them.

The same principle works for yoga practice.

Powerful prana (energy) can either decrease ignorance or increase it. It on depends on how we use and direct the energy.

The aim of Hatha yoga (the physical aspect of yoga) is to create a powerful, strong and flexible body which will be capable of containing powerful prana (energy). This powerful energy (also known as Kundalini shakti), pierces the deluded mind and unfolds enlightenment within the practitioner.

However, many times instead of eradicating ignorance, the powerful energy boosts the ego of the practitioner who becomes impressed by the results of their physical practice. The aim of the practice becomes simply manipulating the body into often impossible postures for entertainment purposes. A competitive nature emerges amongst the yogis.

Clinging to the performance of the body will make us attached to our small self, the self that manifests itself through the body and the ego.

Even the most fascinating body will turn back into dust. Clinging to its performance will simply remove us from the path of realization, increasing the attachment to the most temporary part of ourselves, the physical body: the muscles, joints and ligaments.

Prana Yoga College

www.pranayogacollege.com

I remember that when I first heard about “hot yoga” I was baffled. Having already been deeply immersed in the yoga practice for a number of years, I quizzed the practitioners of this new “yoga” trend about the reasons for the torturous conditions. The common reply was: “to imitate the heat in India, the birthplace of yoga”.
Like most people who received training in the traditional classic hatha yoga, I was warned by my teachers never to practice yoga in the heat and instead, to always do it in an environment comfortable for the body. They advised that if you happen to live in a hot climate, you should practice yoga either early morning or after sunset.
Observe cultures living in hot climates, including India, and you will find that not only do they not exercise in the midst of the heat, they actually do relatively nothing. They try not to move at all. In other words they practice the art of siesta. Why? When the environment gets hot it raises the temperature in the body. The primary concern, and survival instinct, of the body is to maintain a very consistent temperature within the vital organs at all times. This way the internal organs won’t get too cold or overheat. Clearly this is why, according to research in Neuroscience, the brain devotes most of its grey matter to the regulation of the body’s temperature; homeostasis.
It takes tremendous energy to lower the body temperature and keep it balanced. Exercising requires a great deal of energy from the body. Doing exercises in the heat puts the body, and all its systems and organs, under great stress. Would you ever do vigorous exercises when you have a fever? This is the sole reason why we prescribe rest during an illness; particularly one involving a higher than normal body temperature. You need to conserve energy so that the body can bring the system back to equilibrium as quickly as possible.
Most of the time people harm themselves not because they are stupid, but because they are ignorant. Often, in the modern trendy yoga reality, not only do you not get the right education, you often get the wrong information. When students trust teachers who deliver false information it can get messy and downright harmful.
Many people who are hot yoga survivors report that as a result of their yoga practice they suffered from nausea and vomiting during or after classes, headaches and lightheadedness, fatigue, exhaustion, as well as feeling edgy and restless. Upon being asked why they continued despite these symptoms they all gave the same answer, “we were told by the teacher that we are having a ‘healing crisis’”. So that we all understand, a healing crisis may last for 24 to 48 hours, not 6 to 12 months. When you experience such significant symptoms after exercising it means you are going against the clear messages of your body. You are abusing yourself, and you are definitely not tuning in.
It took me years of living both in the Eastern and Western cultures to understand how the western mind has twisted the reality paradigm to only feel “alive” when it is accompanied by struggle. The mantra of ‘no-pain-no-gain’ is so pervasive that we’ve started to manifest it throughout our lives. ‘Love is hard and then you die’. ‘Just grin and bear it’. ‘Relationships are hard work’. From our parents indoctrinations of the above concepts, to messages from our friends, coworkers, religious sermons and particularly the evening news, the concept of life being tough is inescapable. Is it any wonder why manifesting your dreams is hard and aging is such a scary thing? Is it any wonder why depression is the most prevalent of health problems in the western world and antidepressants may soon be replacing fluoride as a tap water additive?
The Eastern spiritual goal of Living with Ease is one of hardest concepts for Westerners to take, having been raised with so many hard life concepts.
Unlike modern trendy yoga which emphasizes creating beautiful bodies, the aim of classical yoga is to remove suffering from our existence and discover who we are beyond the physical aspects of our body.
Instead of changing the true aim and methodology of yoga practice to suit our unhealthy philosophies we should have the humility and curiosity to adapt ourselves to what has worked for thousands of years, freeing our minds and bodies and living (IN) with ease.
According to Sri Bhagavan Patanjali, the author of the classic “Eight limbs of Yoga”, considered the father of the principles of the yoga practice, asana literally means a “posture that brings steadiness and comfort”.
Do not confuse the practice of hatha yoga with a sport or a workout. If you do:
Yoga will pump your ego along with your body.
In your practice you will develop a sense of competition with others and with yourself.
You will become rigid and fanatic about the form of your practice.
You may injure your body and drain your prana – the life force within you.
You may become addicted to your practice as it will satisfy your senses like any other stimulant.
Your practice will become an external performance not an inner journey.
You will become fascinated by your physical abilities and identify even more as your body; sowing the seeds of discontentment and fear at the prospect of aging.
You will fall into the illusion that you are on the spiritual path.
In addition, doing hot “yoga” makes you dependent on high end facilities for your practice and takes away your freedom from practicing asanas anytime and anywhere.
Your indicators for the practice in the true spirit of yoga:
Practice in the presence of flowing fresh air to avoid inhaling the carbon dioxide (yours and that of others).
Dress modestly while practicing with others to calm the senses and experience the self which exists beyond your appearance.
Move slowly to still the restless mind. Maintain stillness within each asana creating a moment of meditation.
Avoid any pain. Pain is a signal from the central nervous system that harm is being done to your body.
Pain depletes the energy in the body. Comfort and stillness increase the energy. Immediately modify the asana if it creates pain.
If you hear yourself panting like a dog during your practice you are not in the meditative (awareness) state which is the ultimate aim of the practice. Your brainwaves correlate directly to the rate of your breathing. Your breathing should be steady and calm at all times.
Let your energy move you safely to where you should be in the asana in each given moment. Move beyond your ambitious mind.
There is nowhere to go and nothing to gain as you are already there.
Can you see it? Are you being it?
Namaste

Prana Yoga College

www.pranayogacollege.com