Australian Yoga Journal — January 2018

36

january 2018

yogajournal.com.au

EXPERTS

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I’ve been practicing yoga for 5 years now and I am considering doing a

yoga teacher training. In considering courses, I’ve noticed that a lot of

teacher training courses can be completed in a surprisingly short amount

of time. I’m concerned about not having the knowledge and experience to

teach once I’ve completed my first training. Do you think that a 200-hour

teacher training is enough to be out there in the world teaching students?

Simon Borg Olivier

Simonis a Co-Director of Yoga

Synergy, one of Australia’s oldest

and most respected yoga schools.

Simon has been teaching since 1982,

is a registered physiotherapist, a research scientist

and a university lecturer. He has completed a

Bachelor of Science in human biology, a research

based Master of Science in molecular biology and

a Bachelor of Applied Science in Physiotherapy.

Simon loves hanging out with his kids, going to

festivals and dance parties and swimming in his pool.

Based on my experience as a

physiotherapist for 20 years and yoga

teacher for 35 years, I believe that a 200-hour

teacher training alone will not give someone

enough knowledge or experience to

safely teach people how to work with the

postures, movements, breath-control and

mental-control of physical yoga. In many

ways, a yoga teacher has to take the role of

a doctor, a physiotherapist, a psychologist

and possibly an elite athlete all at the same

time. All of these professions need years or

decades to master and cannot be learnt in

200 hours.

It takes a lifelong dedication to really learn

yoga for yourself, but teaching physical yoga

to normal adults – many of whom have

physical, physiological and/or mental issues

• is a big responsibility and requires serious
  discipline and training. When I began

A

A

We asked two of Australia’s most highly respected and

experienced yogis if 200 hours is enough, and the verdict is in!

Ask the EXPERTS

teaching, I felt unprepared even though I had

already practiced for fifteen years with

excellent teachers. Then after teaching for

ten years I embarked upon a full-time 4-year

physiotherapy degree. That was 25 years

ago and I am still learning more every day.

Nevertheless, if a 200-hour yoga teacher

training course is run by suitably qualified

instructors, it can be a good step in the

right direction. The most important things

to look for in a teacher training course of

any length are:

(i) the trainers have had extensive training

in both yoga as well as in applied anatomy

and physiology,

(ii) they regularly practice what they preach,

and

(iii) they have put this knowledge to use

in their lives over an extended period.

A good training course has to take into

account the main differences between the

natural body and the normal (but unnatural)

modern body. Most modern yoga teachers

and practitioners do not realise that the

majority of modern adults cannot even

attempt the main postures of traditional

yoga, which were designed to be practiced

by the ‘traditional’ or ‘natural’ body’, that

has been brought up sitting on the floor

cross-legged, squatting on the toilet, and

often carrying large weights on their heads.

Such bodies are naturally flexible and

strong and can easily do the physical aspect

of yoga without even feeling any stretch or

tension.

Conversely, most modern adults spend

between 5-15 hours each day on chairs,

which usually leads to stiffness in parts of

their hips, shoulders and spine and instability

in parts of their knees, shoulders, lower back

and neck. This predisposes up to 90% of

modern adults to potentially get lower-back

pain or neck pain if they inappropriately

over-stretch or over-tense, which is often

what happens to normal adults when they

attempt many classical yoga postures.

A good teacher training course has to give

significant experience and understanding of

the techniques of physical yoga and how

they can be used to balance the needs of the

physical body (anatomy), the energetic body

(physiology), and the mental body

(psychology). It is not enough to teach about

how to create strength and flexibility. A good

yoga practice also needs to be stress-free,

while improving circulation and increasing

energy rather than depleting it, and calming

the nervous system rather than

overstimulating it. It must also foster a

mental state where people desire practice

because it feels good, not because of a

mentality of ‘no pain, no gain’ or the

thought that it will make them improve in

some way after they finish their practice. It is

therefore essential that the training imparts

sufficient knowledge and experience so that

the students will be able to adapt and

modify physical yoga techniques for the

needs of normal (mostly unnatural) people.

An effective training course must also

encourage the trainees to establish a regular

personal practice, which not only teaches

them how to practice yoga and helps to

inspire others to practice, but also how to

teach themselves, which is the prerequisite

of being able to teach others.

Mark Breadner

Mark Breadner is Australia’s

longest serving Yoga Teacher

Trainer, with over 20 years of

educational experience. Mark has

personally trained over 1000 teachers, sharing

knowledge and direct experience of the technical

and spiritual aspects of yoga. At the top of his

field, Mark is recognised as a teacher of teachers

and the real deal, using his grounded, down-to-

earth approach to bring this ancient knowledge to

the everyday.

When looking into doing a yoga teacher

training we have to understand that yoga

is a total inner-science—the original yogis

dedicated their whole lives to looking

inwards, so they could understand how to

live the most conscious life possible.

Through deep, direct experience they

mapped out a system of radical self- PHOTO: ALVAREZ/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM