Level 1
I spent last weekend up in Warsaw, Indiana at a yoga teacher training seminar. It was a great experience, not diminished even by the loud parties in the hotel room next to mine…both nights. I went there not even sure I’d want to teach professionally, and came back thinking that the 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher program had a lot of appeal.
The quality of the training was excellent; the organization with which I was studying is very conscientious about safety, and makes a point of keeping up with exercise physiology research. It’s a highly reputable program, and although my technical writer’s eye cringed at the formatting in teacher training manual in places, the content was very good. I was also very happy with the master classes. We were in a room that was neither especially well-ventilated nor quite large enough for twenty-two people, and by the end of the Saturday class, everyone was exhausted and dripping. (A couple of degrees warmer, we joked, and we could’ve done Bikram yoga.) I was very happy that even with my gym attendance having been sketchy at best the past couple of months, and my shoulder acting up, I was able to keep up. The class didn’t kick my butt…but it did kick my triceps and quadruceps hard enough for me to still feel it today. We spent a good part of one day examining the Level-1 poses in detail, analyzing proper alignment and technique, and discussing good verbal and visual cues for students. The school also emphasizes using inclusive language and positive feedback techniques, so that was a substantial part of the training as well. The last half-day or so was spent on practice teaching in small groups, and I found it very interesting to see how people put their series together.
However, it was the people who really made the weekend such a wonderful experience. The instructor was wonderfully confident, accessible, and competent, without being the least bit intimidating. The two women who were our hosts at the Kosciusko Community YMCA could not possibly have been more nicer. There were twenty-one students, most of whom were either professional trainers and group fitness instructors (some of whom had no experience with yoga) or were already teaching yoga, but wanted actual credentials. (I think it speaks to the demand that there are places that will take uncertified yoga teachers in the first place. Of course, some of that had to do with the fact that the facilites in small towns are happy to find anyone willing to teach yoga, period, but even in larger places like Fort Wayne and Indy, there appears to be plenty of work available.) I’m now convinced that as a group, yoga teachers are some of the kindest, most supportive, most helpful people out there. There was an incredible feeling of cooperation the entire weekend, and I’d happily drive to Warsaw for more training any time if I knew any of the other women from this session were going to be there.
When I got back, I even found myself talking to Ed about teaching yoga at the dojo where he studies, and brainstorming other places where I could teach. First things first, though. I need to get some liability insurance so that I can do my practice teaching.
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September 27th, 2005 at 8:46 pm
[...] And that brings me to a couple of additional happy coincidences. The training was hosted by NIFS, and the very person I’ve been trying to contact about my student teaching was the local coordinator for the seminar. I couldn’t ask for a better circumstance to meet her in person for the first time. I’m finally starting to believe that I’m going to get my volunteer hours in before the end of the year. Furthermore, there was talk of getting more trainings scheduled here in town, which would be ever so convenient. The response was sufficiently enthusiastic that I’m keeping a close eye on the training schedule. And as if that weren’t enough, one of my yoga teachers AND two of the lovely women from my Level 1 class were at the seminar. [...]
June 13th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
[...] But first things first. Originally, when I found out that re-training was required for Levels 1-3, I was skeptical. However, having done the first one, I can see the benefit. My first training was a transforming experience, but at the same time, there was so much material that I felt mentally and physically overwhelmed by the end of it. Being able to go back and pick up what I missed the first time around is a major benefit. I had huge amounts of sympathy for the first-time students, especially the ones who were coming into the class as group fitness instructors without a yoga background. [...]