I am a 10 year A.C.E. PT. I have been teaching yoga for about 8 years (not YA certified). I will be getting my 200 hr cert. this spring. My question is this; I have been networking with local yoga teachers quite a bit recently as I feel it is a great way to learn. I am finding that a LOT of them are very weak in the areas of human anatomy and human movement. I was speaking with one of them about seperating or combining movement in saggital, transverse and frontal planes and she was baffled. Am I wrong in thinking that is very basic knowlege of human movement? Another had no idea where the popliteal space was and which muscles attached/originated in that area. Even teaching Pranayama is much easier when you can explain a bit about diaphramatic function from a clinical perspective. All I can say is that I use my knowlege of anatomy a great deal in my classes and cannot imagine how I would teach without it. I worry that it is just too easy to get a RYT for those that think it is a “cool job”.
I agree that many people pursue certification without a full understanding of the human body, but many also pursue it without a full understanding of the important theories and philosophies that are the foundation of Yoga. Most people don’t raise a fuss about it, but I think a thorough understanding of it is crucial to being a good student before you even try to become a teacher. I digress, though… Back to the body.
Though I know that greater medical awareness (not just anatomy and physiology, but the etiology and pathology of physical and mental disease) is an asset that should be sought, I don’t feel that advanced medical training is necessary in order to be a teacher who truly sees and listens to their student, and who is capable of giving practices which are appropriately designed within the capacity and limitations of the physical body.
I’ve taken university courses in anatomy and physiology, and studied it in my 500hr YTT with a 40-year veteran doctor and yoga therapist of 10 years, (I know it doesn’t make me even remotely an expert at all, don’t worry) but I have no idea what you are describing when you reference, “separating or combining movement in saggital, transverse and front planes”. I [I]think[/I] I can imagine what you are describing, but my medical terminology of movement science just doesn’t extend far enough to visualize it on words alone. And I think that any yoga therapist should have more than advanced knowledge of the knee joint, but most yoga teachers do not need to know or remember what the word ‘popliteal’ means, or have the insertion and origin points of the local muscles memorized in order to take it seriously and prescribe movements which are safe for their students.
[B]What they SHOULD know, without a doubt, [U]is what they do NOT know[/U], and when something is outside of their realm of teaching capability.[/B]
[B]They should know, [U](and want to know)[/U], [/B]about common diseases and injuries that their students may have, when to refer to physicians, and how to communicate with experts in the medical field to find out what is appropriate for proceeding with issues. They should understand the nature and cause of pain or soreness and how to proceed when it occurs, and how to ask the right questions and communicate effectively to their students so that pain is ultimately minimized rather than increased. I have often seen teachers step into risky practices, dismissing valid concerns from students in regards to their physical limitations or health issues, but that isn’t a lack of medical training, it’s behavioral. Crisis line volunteers may not know how to handle every situation, but they are (usually) well-trained in warning signs and when it is necessary to give the phone over to someone else… And we all know of medical doctors who treat symptoms rather than causes, push drugs instead of advice, or don’t ask for adequate health history.
I’m barely experienced in teaching yoga compared to many of the people on this forum, but even when teaching clients in the healthcare IT field, taking the time to answer questions (or find answers for them) and make sure that they understand the subject is more important to me than acting right or making money… In this, I’m only dealing with their career, but in yoga, we’re dealing with people’s physical, spiritual and mental health. Any yoga training course of 200 or 500 hours cannot be adequate to cover all of these realms effectively, but it can humbly approach these areas with the most important knowledge and and prioritize the lesson that a piece of paper doesn’t make you an expert, a good decision-maker, or a good teacher.
Hm…
I kind of went on a long winding rant here, woops.
To summarize, I agree with you, and disagree with you at the same time, but with ALL respects. 
Mtnyoga,
You’ve broached several points and I’ll try to respond to each.
Yes there are some poorly trained yoga teachers. We are in a field where there is no uniformity to training, no true certification, and a loosely constructed alliance. Additionally a person can wear the title “yoga teacher” in as few as 22 hours.
That having been said, there is, to my way of living, a difference between anatomy and applied anatomy. When I, as a teacher, extend myself beyond what is necessary for application I am catering to the thinking force (over the feeling force). And when the pursuit is only of the rational mind it is then merely an aggrandizement of the Ego, a way to be correct, right, superior. This is the very seed of conflict.
So there is certainly a deep need for a teacher of yoga to be well trained, to master the language they are using, to reach students who learn in different ways, to hold the energy of the room, to live what they teach and teach what they live, to never do anything to cause a student to “shrink”, AND to understand the alignments and actions to keep the student safe. An understanding of applied anatomy as it relates to asana and pranayama is incredibly helpful but perhaps not a requisite if you can feel it in your own being and find a way to convey it to others.
One’s background contributes to one’s foreground. But there isn’t one particular background preferred over the others, much the same way law schools seek candidates with varied backgrounds.
gordon
Mtnyoga,
out of a personal experience I would say, that you are right. At my TTC, anatomy class was rather short and not going into details. That’s why I decided to do some home studying on anatomy to deepen my knowledge. However, I think besides anatomy there are so many other important fields that should be part of the knowledge of a teacher. Yoga philosophy, as Suryadaya mentioned, psychology, other medical fields like the endocrine system, certain diseases,…
Teaching yoga means life-long learning and does not stop after gaining your certificate.
[QUOTE=Vegan♥Love;68057]Mtnyoga,
out of a personal experience I would say, that you are right. At my TTC, anatomy class was rather short and not going into details. That’s why I decided to do some home studying on anatomy to deepen my knowledge. However, I think besides anatomy there are so many other important fields that should be part of the knowledge of a teacher. Yoga philosophy, as Suryadaya mentioned, psychology, other medical fields like the endocrine system, certain diseases,…
Teaching yoga means life-long learning and does not stop after gaining your certificate.[/QUOTE]
Thank you all and I agree with all. My concern came when a local teacher informed me that one of her students had a “stuck spine” and did I have any recommendations. Of course my first was to have said student see his physician. Then as far as yoga is concerned to deterimine if the lack of mobility(stuck spine) seems to occur more often or more seriously in the frontal or saggital plane. She was baffled. I was concerned for the student. I then recommended that she avoid compound movements such as revolved triangle in order to better determine where the lack of mobility lies.
Now, I realize that this is just one teacher, but I have had similar conversations with others. I would never expect any teacher to memorize attachments, origins etc. but I would expect that had at least heard the term “politeal space” before.
I realize that I have to explore my thinking and make sure that this is not an ego based thought. I am always the first to admit that I am average at very best as a yoga practitioner/teacher and also have a lot to learn. I guess my real question/concern (which has been addressed here) is to what extent a teacher should be versed in anatomy and movement in order to teach safely and with benefit to each individual student and not just teach rote memorized asana routines with everyone.
Once again, thank you all for your insight.
I personally believe that each background coming to yoga has it’s own set of pluses and minuses. Those coming from a dance background have a heightened sense of body awareness but so much flexibility that they can hardly relate to stiff students. Those coming from scientific backgrounds often over-think Yoga, conceptualize it only in the “rational plane” (one not covered in an anatomical training) and dismiss the larger picture unless and until a double blind controlled study says “so”.
As for the case study you present, I find curiosity to be a far better tool to use in such interactions. “Stuck”? What do you mean by stuck? Immobile? Where? When? Why? How do you know? What have you seen? What have you tried?
When I traveled abroad I remember Aadil’s advice to me about language. Keep it simple. Stop and go. Here and there. Forward and backward. There’s no reason to force a neophyte to interpolate anatomical planes when the sender can simply say “forward and sideways”. Of course if you were explicitly trying to find out if the person had anaotmy training or you presumed it, those are “other” stories.
So to me there’s no reason for a 200-hour trained yoga teacher with a background in kindergarten teaching to say popliteal fossa when they can just as easily say “back of the knee”. I have had anatomy training but then again I’ve chosen 2,000 hours of training, completed a 2-year yoga college, and selected a teacher who was first exposed to Iyengar’s teaching prenatally. But I have not specifically heard the term “popliteal space” in ten years of study and practice. Take that as you will.
I very rarely advocate a western medical approach to a student UNLESS that is their method of choice. I support whatever they select. Instead I suggest a consultation with the “healthcare provider of their choice” and that leaves the door open for chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy, et al. I find the tools and paradigm of western medicine to be slightly archaic, filled with graft and greed, and dare I say it, aggrandizing the egos of their respective practitioners. So as a tool I use it only when absolutely necessary. After all, I’m a yoga teacher. Any neighbor can recommend for you to “see a doctor”. But if that is your belief then that is your belief and it would be disingenuous to say anything contrary to your belief.
I am far more concerned when yoga teachers prescribe things to do and things to avoid without proper intake. Such intake involves contact hours. Of course this is an Internet forum and we don’t have that luxury. That means we must be far more careful than when we have the student in front of us. What is said and what is heard are often two different things and there is performance slippage - a decrease in the efficacy of the doing in the absence of sound instruction.
Yoga teachers that do not have therapeutic training can be honest with students that have therapeutic issues and avoid “treating” them based on guesses. Again, as I see it.
I have the same struggle when speaking w/ my older sister who is an M.D. Actually a Vanderbilt med school honors grad, so a very good doc. By her own admission, she has had a grand total of something like 2 credits of nutrition training, which is normal for MD`s I guess. I find that to be almost mortifying!
I basically get, and agree with what eveyone has put forth in this thread, but you have to admit that it is a little scary to have a “teacher” use the term “stuck spine” and NOT know how to address it as to which poses are safe and which are not. A “stuck spine” could be many, many issues and to continue to work with that student, I feel, would be wrong until the teacher is more knowlegable about what, exactly is going on with the students back health and learning how to deal with it. The worst thing ever is for a student to become injured during instruction. It is simply a detriment to our craft.
admit that it is a little scary to have a “teacher” use the term “stuck spine” and NOT know how to address it as to which poses are safe and which are not
Absolutely. And that was your teaching moment. We’re all still students (or should be) and this was the reason I suggested curiosity. It’s a win-win. You get additional infomation from which you formulate a sound reply, and hopefully the other person (eventually) “gets” that stuck spine isn’t a particularly profound choice for this communication.
Certainly there are some things in the teaching of yoga which are “styles” or “difference” but there are also a few things which are inherently incorrect - though again I tend not to use wrong/right to define those things as they are phrases of division not unification. One must pick and choose very wisely. Some times the message needs to be sent while other times it is not our teaching moment. Context, context, context.
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Our 200 hour yoga teacher training in India is a life-changing experience that gives you an in-depth knowledge of Classical Hatha Yoga. This comprehensive course is ideal for you if you wish to bring depth in your yoga practice and learn how to teach others in a structured and professional manner.
This 200 hour residential training is much more than a yoga teacher training. It is a unique opportunity for self-discovery and personal development.
Because you stay in an ashram for 26 days, you get the chance to experience the real yogic lifestyle. At the end of this unique experience you will feel reborn and self-confident .