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Knocking On Heaven's Door
A Guide to Yoga Teacher Training Choices
 
Madonna looked elegantly cool in the film, 'The Next Best Thing', when she played Abbie, an adept Yoga teacher, who leads an Ashtanga Yoga class in her own studio. Isn't it ideal if you can turn your hobby or interest into a sexy career and a lifestyle choice? Sure, but what's involved in such a choice? Swami Tantramurti Saraswati of the Independent Yoga Network outlines some of the options.
 
F or some, like the renowned Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, the romantically-inspired vision of eternal beings meditating in their Himalayan caves was all he needed to hop on a train with a school friend for the most wonderful of boyhood adventures. His initial attempts to follow his beckoning dream were short-lived when his naturally concerned parents gathered him home. And although we might well ascribe Yogananda's overwhelming yearning to follow the masters to pre-programming from a previous life of good karma, what do you do if you feel drawn to explore the path less travelled - to become a Yoga Teacher?
 
In India's historical past, those individuals who marched to the beat of a different drum, the misfits that eschewed a family life or the pursuit of a purely material lifestyle, looked to those on the outer margins of society for training and connection with their higher selves, with the gatekeepers of such knowledge - the ascetic Yogis. Still regarded by many Indians as rascally charlatans and crazy people or fawned over and worshipped as divine beings, the gurus ('bringers of light') have codified and kept alive one of the world's most vibrant and enlightened spiritual systems. Although deeply embedded in Hinduism's religious culture Yoga is nonetheless a scientific system for the development of body, mind and spirit that has successfully translated to modern Western cultures and flourishes in ever more varied forms.
 
Traditionally, to be accepted by one of the irascible gurus or holy men (and, for the most part, they were men) you'd have to track them down to their remote jungle or mountain fastness simply to beg an audience. And just because this search was important to you, the aspirant, doesn't mean it would necessarily elicit a favourable response. If the potential student could weather insult and ridicule and resist orders to remove their worthless carcass from the cave entrance, hut door or ashram gates, then there's a chance their psychology was tough enough, and their desire true enough, to survive months or even years of sweeping and toilet cleaning duties before they got anywhere near their first Yoga class. If you find that thought unpalatable and appalling it might indicate the scale of your motivation and determination.
 
In this culture, at this time, you are unlikely to have to undergo menial cleaning duties for a self-centred, demanding and dependent monster - although anyone who has been a parent will be familiar with the requirement! Does India, the home of Yoga, still have spiritual giants and Yoga teachers worth their salt and does the sincere requirement upon the aspirant still hold true? Indeed. Some of the benefits of travelling abroad to study are similar to those of joining VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas). Your horizons are broadened by immersion in a very different culture from your own, away from the influence and support of parents and friends. Your perspectives, assumptions and prejudices will likely be challenged by a strong requirement for commitment, obedience and perseverance. How you deal with this is a mark of character. There's no doubt the best of these teacher trainings are authentically from the Yoga tradition and are often taught by dedicated individuals, nowadays including female trainers. Other benefits include worthy certification and a range of publications that support the method you have chosen. The downside is the challenge to Western sensibilities (psychological restraints and requirements), health issues and cost in terms of time, money and, sometimes, sanity! The best preparation, apart from the obvious Internet research, is to attend classes or a seminar of the style of Yoga you plan to study. If you have concerns about your physical capabilities or any outstanding medical condition, get advice from your GP.
 
It's important to note here just what constitutes 'Yoga'. Its prime purpose is spiritual evolution leading to union with the sublime (Samadhi). Certain approaches are almost entirely meditation and self-knowledge based and might even find legitimate expression through martial arts or natural health therapies. However, what most people call Yoga is, in fact, a stretch and relax regime taken from, and variously called, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Patanjali or Ashtanga Yoga and numerous other inventive 'brand' names.
 
If you elect for training in the UK you have a range of options. Once again, it's important you sample a range of classes, sometimes with more than one teacher, to find the approach that suits you. There are centres and retreats everywhere offering the style of well-known Indian teachers such as B.K.S Iyengar (Iyengar Yoga), Paramahansa Satyananda (Satyananda Yoga) and Pattabhi Jois (Ashtunga Yoga). Books and manuals of their methodologies are often taught by senior Western students with great experience and commitment, with accessible materials. Then there are the home-grown teachers, often celebrated and much-published authors, who have created unique approaches such as Godfri Devereux (Windfire Yoga) and Rosalind Widdowson (Hi-Ki Yoga). Dedicated Yoga Elders and School Heads with a wealth of experience, work from Yoga Centres, ashrams, retreats and, often, their homes. They are the real backbone of Yoga Teacher Training. Some are regular writers on the subject, are much-respected guests at regional seminars, are the host teachers on Yoga holidays and retreats and often maintain a busy schedule of public and private classes.
 
The Wheel of Yoga was originally formed by such teachers and, despite the ludicrous claim to be the 'governing body of Yoga' and a questionable sell-out to the Fitness Industry, acts as an umbrella organisation for teacher training, offering a 500 hour Diploma course that takes between two to four years to complete. The quality and style of trainers varies enormously so you'll have to research the type of Yoga emphasis you're looking for. A fairly rigid curriculum with a number of required essays is the particular downside, particularly if you're not academically strong. Then there's the Fitness Industry that has recently weighed in with its corporate attempt to regulate Yoga through The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPS). It's conceived Yoga Teaching as a National Occupational Standard (level 3) Fitness Instructor. Since it neither recognises nor grades the spiritual side of Yoga it sanctions no more than Indian-flavoured exercise and is seeking to make it compulsory for anyone who wants to work in a Fitness environment. Arrant nonsense from corporate bully boys, but a nasty threat that encouraged Yogis, themselves, to gather together to organise their own affairs.
 
The Independent Yoga Network and Yoga Register were founded a year ago and now represent a growing list of quality teacher training schools and organisations with agreed 200, 500 and 1000 hour standards. The IYN allows a broad range of styles and approaches to Yoga and is the natural home to characteristically, independently-minded Yogis. Whether you are looking for distant learning with the BSY Group and Kevala Centre or favour progressive and intensive-based programmes from the likes of The Devon School of Yoga, Heart Yoga in the Midlands or the vision of Sama Fabian's Aurolab Yoga Project in London, you can be sure of really good quality training that will challenge and change you!
 
So, as you metaphorically, or actually, raise your hand to knock on the door of your chosen training provider just be aware that it's potentially a moment of great transformation. Yoga makes this promise. If you seek to help others change and improve their physical bodies, their emotional and mental health and find a creative and worthwhile direction in life, you can be sure Yoga will accomplish these things for you, as well. True Yoga teaching is a vocation and an honourable endeavour. Your life will be rich with purpose and friendship, your heart tender with boundless compassion, your mind bright, creative and contented and your general constitution one of good health. If this idea thrills, rather than frightens, you - then you might just have what it takes to be a Yoga teacher!
 
Swami Tantramurti Saraswati is a committed advocate for the Independent Yoga Network and a Yoga Teacher and Trainer of Hi-Ki Yoga: 01299-861222. www.independentyoganetwork.org and www.theyogaregister.org
 
 
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