OM Yoga UK – June 2017

om yoga teacher training guide

H

ave you hit the wall yet? The wall of despondency

that every teacher hits when they realise the

standards of yoga teaching are completely

inconsistent. That moment you realise you are

categorised in the same bundle as inadequately

taught teachers.

As yoga has boomed, so has the realisation that it is a money-

spinner. This means that training courses are accepting high

numbers of students and in many cases the students may not be

fully screened for proficiency.

There is now a trend for doing teacher training courses to

‘deepen’ one’s practice. However, a teacher training course is by

definition to qualify you to ‘teach’ and this is where the emphasis

should be.

One organisation that has taken this on board is Yoga Alliance

Professionals, which has been working closely with yoga instructor

Matthew Sweeney to help create a new set of standards which it is

hoped will have a positive effect throughout the teacher training

industry.

The aim is to produce very high quality teachers by focusing on

teaching and their subsequent development. The new ‘Trainer Plus’

courses aim to raise the standards of yoga teaching generally.

Matthew Sweeney shares his views: “There is a muddying of the

waters between teacher training and general practice courses.

In a yoga teacher training (YTT) course, the emphasis should be

on learning how to teach not on how to improve one’s practice. A

YTT should be significantly different to a general practice course

teach

The new generation of Trainer Plus courses with an emphasis on actual teaching.

By Louise Wallace

Learning

or immersion; the latter is where students learn what to practice,

techniques on how to practice and some yoga philosophy as to

why you practice. Many teacher trainings should really only be

considered ‘practitioner intensives’ rather than qualifying someone

to teach asana or yoga.”

How is the criteria higher on these courses?

n The lead teacher to have been teaching a minimum of 8 years

n A strong pre-course assessment for students

n Students must strictly have a minimum two years consistent

self-practice (5-6 days per week)

n Course hours are minimum of 250

n A minimum of 20% dedicated to the students teaching

n A clear pass/fail assessment process and continuous

assessment

n Post course mentoring and/or further training for graduates

Trainer Plus courses ensure students know what they are looking

for when they choose a course. They realise that their personal yoga

practice needs to be up to speed. It goes without saying that safety

in teaching will come naturally following quality foundation training

and teaching development. We are excited to have launched these

new standards and look forward to working with training courses to

produce excellent yoga teachers.

Louise Wallace is marketing manager at Yoga Alliance Professionals

(yogaallianceprofessionals.org

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