When I first started teaching Kundalini Yoga in the mid 1980’s there were not a lot of Yoga Teacher Training courses around. In the early 90’s the Kundalini Yoga organization 3HO grandfathered in those who had been teaching via a lengthy essay exam. Fast forward to 2021, in the Covid and semi post Covid period. Yoga has been popular online for years now, even before Covid 19. However, with the forced stay at home life for a year many more Yoga teacher Training Online courses have popped up. Since Yoga Alliance was formed in 2000, the mother organization to requirements for current Yoga Teacher Trainings, live training is offered in abundance. Studios offer them as extended learning over a 6 or 9 month period, often on weekends to accommodate people’s work schedules.
It seems there are two good reasons to take this initial step toward learning more about Yoga. The first is if someone thinks teaching yoga is something they want to do. The second reason for taking a yoga teacher training is to immerse oneself further into the philosophy and lifestyle of yoga. One of my friends who has been teaching full time for years says that his response to students who ask him about being a yoga teacher is “If you want to limit your social life, change the way you eat and treat your body, get up very early and sometimes work late, then consider being a yoga teacher”. Some students reply “ oh, that doesn’t sound like much fun”. When I first started to offer Yoga teacher Trainings at Sewall House it wasn’t something I was looking to do in particular. There were already many Yoga teacher trainings available globally. But one of my yoga retreat guests really wanted me to offer a Yoga Teacher Training that included Kundalini Yoga, as it had helped her with some mental issues, and she did other forms of yoga as well. I applied to Yoga Alliance via their curriculum requirements, not sure if a Hatha Yoga Teacher Training training with Kundalini Yoga would be acceptable, When they accepted my syllabus, the Sewall House Yoga teacher Training was born in 2009. Since then we have offered two small in size Yoga Teacher Trainings per season, sometimes adding an extra as we did this past winter. Does teaching yoga limit your social life? It doesn’t have to! A lot of great teachers I know are very friendly with their students, creating a loving community. Others do not fraternize with their students at all, keeping that professional distance that they see as a way to teach most effectively. Will you change your lifestyle if you teach yoga? Not necessarily either! I know really good yoga teachers who eat meat and drink alcohol, something that other yoga teachers choose not to do as part of their yoga lifestyle tenants.
Then the question is, in this time of ZOOM, is it better to learn online or in person? I think learning yoga in person is a pretty great way to do a Yoga Teacher Training but if it is information you are looking to learn, online can be a great way to learn the philosophy, anatomy and other things like that which are required my Yoga Alliance, Yoga Unify is new organization that will be offering more specific areas of Yoga teacher Training in the future, After all, 200 hours is simply a beginning of lifelong practice and study, whether you take a Yoga Teacher Training so that you can teach yoga ir because your simply want to immerse yourself more in this wonderful healing lifestyle tool called yoga.
Donna Amrita Davidge is the owner of Sewall House Yoga retreat and integrated Kundalini, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Nidra, Restorative and hatha yoga into her training there. THE NEXT training is SEPT 19- OCT 10 2021, limited to 5 students.