Australian Yoga Journal — January 2018

56

january 2018

yogajournal.com.au

your previous studies. Avoid signing

up for trainings because of FOMO!

That is, taking a training because your

friends are, and you feel like you’re

missing out. This can often happen

when popular international teachers

offering condensed courses visit your

area. It can be inspiring training

with visiting teachers, as everyone

has something of value to offer, but do

your research fi rst. Do you resonate

with their teachings, and with them

personally? Is this course going to

serve your long-term teaching goals?

Will there be future opportunities

to study with them (or their local

affi liates) if you desire? Are you able to

communicate directly with the teacher,

or with one of their representatives to

determine that the course is suitable

for you?

FACE TO FACE TRAINING

VS ONLINE

With the rise of the online course, you

can now study with many different

teachers without leaving your lounge

room. Online courses can be a great way

to sharpen up your knowledge and skills,

once you’ve already started teaching.

Face to face training offers a very

different learning environment to

online, as the relationship between

the trainee and trainer (student and

teacher) allows for feedback, support

and guidance. I’d suggest taking most

of your trainings face to face and have

online for ‘top-ups’ and in-between

inspiration.

AVOID EATING FROM THE

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

SMORGASBORD

I was given this sage advice from one

of my fi rst teachers, and it’s true. If you

have too much of a good thing, you

could get indigestion. Having too much

variety in trainings can sometimes leave

you feeling confused. It’s common for

yoga teachers from different styles and

traditions to have different approaches

and teaching methods, and they may

even contradict one another. It can be

helpful to stay on a path with a teacher

or style of yoga for awhile, give yourself

time to really dive into the teachings

and apply them, before skipping from

training to training or onto new styles

of yoga.

REVISIT YOGA PHILOSOPHY

OFTEN

Yoga philosophy is vast and unending,

and it can take years to unravel the

meaning presented in the yoga texts.

Don’t think for a moment that the

30 hours of yoga philosophy offered

in your 200-hour training is the full

picture. The juiciness of yoga

philosophy is often misunderstood

at fi rst introduction. I remember my

fi rst dance with the Bhagavad Gita –

it seemed lofty and unfathomable, and

I couldn’t see its relevance. Later, when

a teacher unpacked its true meaning,

I discovered how to dive deeper into

the concepts presented, making them

more applicable to my life.

BEWARE OF BEING THE TEACHER

TRAINING COURSE JUNKIE

How much is too much training?

Although taking teacher training

courses and workshops can fi ll your cup

and keep you inspired, it’s ok to have

periods of time where you’re not seeking

out the next course, and are integrating

and consolidating what you’ve learned.

Give yourself time to work with new

information so that it becomes part of

your embodied experience, and so that

you can share this knowledge with your

students. This can take weeks, months

or even years.

DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS OF

TEACHING

It’s not just the techniques and

philosophy of yoga that we need to

learn. Actually learning how to teach

is an art in itself, and many trainings

overlook this aspect. Mentoring,

guidance and feedback is needed to

develop your teaching and presentation

skills, so seek this out when looking

for courses, or do some one-on-one

mentoring with a teacher.

APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF

SELF-GUIDED LEARNING

Ultimately the best teacher is within.

That’s what we’re always telling our

students, right? Guide yourself on

your own journey of discovery – use

books, online resources, podcasts, etc.

Go back over your old teacher training

manuals, and look at how you can

keep infusing this wisdom into your

classes in a fresh, new way. Gather your

training buddies for regular catch-ups,

workshop some teaching ideas and

give each other feedback. And most

importantly, practice, practice, practice!

Your personal yoga practice will keep

you connected on the teaching path,

and help you discover insights and

inspiration that you can share with

your students. It is your most valuable

asset, your teacher, your guide and

your sanctuary.

Nicole Walsh is the

co-founder of InYoga

in Sydney’s Surry Hills.

She is passionate about

helping yoga teachers

to discover their

purpose and teach from

an empowered place.

InYoga offers an integrated teacher training

pathway from 200 to 500-hours and beyond.

http://www.inyoga.com.au