So why does teacher training give you the wobbles? By Steve Heath

S

tarting yoga teaching training is

rather like starting yoga itself: you

can be full of apprehension. Think

back to that first time you set foot

in a studio. You probably convinced

yourself that you’d be the unbendiest

person in the room; even the thought of

Downward Dog made you cower down in

fear, tail between your legs. Looking back

you can’t imagine how you felt like that.

What you felt, though, was entirely natural.

So it is with teacher training: it’s a

You can balance

on one leg...

step into the unknown. But it’s one that’s

definitely worth taking. Remember that all

the teachers you love and respect were

once in exactly the same position. So why

should you be any different? As confident as

they seem now, they’d certainly have had a

bellyfull of butterflies.

That being said, you do need to feel ready

to take the step. The best qualification is

this: a love for yoga. You’ve got the bug and

you’re smitten. It doesn’t matter if anatomy’s

a whole new world to you, and that you don’t

know your tibialis from your teres minor –

that’s what you’re going on the course for, to

learn that stuff. It’s the same with philosophy:

no one starts a course already a past

master in the Sutras of Patanjali. That’ll all

be explained to you over time. Just relax.

A good way to allay any apprehension is

to have a look round at the different courses

which are available. No two courses are ever

the same, just as no two Downward Dogs

are ever the same. By casting your net a

little wider, you’re more likely to find the