a weekend only over a period of months? I have been looking into teacher training for a while, and wanted opinions on this. Thanks
Hey Dabbado,
Is the month long intensive the Sivananda TTC? Go! Or something similar? Swami Atma’s program with the Advaita organization in Texas is also top notch and similar. I believe he teaches the same program in Munich? Maybe it’s Austria?
After having been trained initially in this program and continuing to train “religiously” everyday for a period of years after that, it’s impossible for me to understand how one would gain genuine yoga experience without this type of immersion. It’s just the physical facts. It has to be everyday, all day to get the fire started. Not like…great lesson tonight…see ya next week? What is that? Otherwise, you learn teaching techniques mentally without the body-wisdom. You teach from your head.
just my two cents,
siva
My practice would not be what it was without the 1 month intensive I did. Waking up at 4:30 and passing out at 9pm for a month straight, days filled with immense joy and immense challenge - every day was a day full of learning, growing, overcoming obstacles, and learning to surrender.
The immersion course didn’t just show me how my practice could be better, how to teach others, or merely a glimpse of how my life could be if I practiced this way–I really saw who I was, who I was becoming as a practitioner, and now I am able to see who I am in the real world in juxtapose it. I am able to analyze what I am doing in comparison to what I am really capable of, and it is [B]invaluable[/B].
I don’t think a month is enough to make a person a teacher (I think that all will come to that place through their own, through their training, at their own time, and with their proper guidance). I will be continuing my training through other courses and for the rest of my life.
I also don’t think that everyone should take an immersion course because really, we don’t all become teachers for the same reason, or to teach the same things. Some only want to teach a weekend class and can be excellent at it, and some of us want to retire teaching at gurukulams in South India… we’ll all put into our training what we want to get out of it in the end… but its worth it if you want to learn to be a better person. There was no experience in my life that showed me what I was truly capable of as much as that one month did.
i too like immersions, but i think there is value in stretching a teacher training over several months so that you have time to absorb the teachings, apply them into your regular life, and practice teach as you go.
We do what we can do. Like all things Yoga there isn’t one right answer. Some can take a month off, others cannot. Some approach immersions with too much fervor and wind up exhausted, overwhelmed, and unable to keep up.
The month long training can be the optimum of the two choices you offer, presuming your approach is balanced and the approach of those training you is also balanced. It would be my preference, when possible, but I’d not jump to a conclusion that it is universally “better” for every person or the “only way”.
I did the months of weekend training, and I am glad I did. It has forced me to motivate myself to practice everyday. And I have also had a week to go over everything I learned that weekend and really mull it over in my head and read the books.
I have heard that some people who do intensives finish and are unable to apply what they’ve learned to their regular life, I think this would’ve totally been me. However, I am really interested in trying an intensive though. I just don’t think it is the right time in my life. As my husband travels a lot for work and I cannot depend on him to be able to take care of our fur babies. I also think human babies will be too far down the road in the future. Maybe once he retires and all our kids grow up.
Hello
I am practicing yoga for last 10 years and I wanted to do a good teacher training course for very long. I wanted to go to India for the TTC as I wanted to have the knowledge directly from the roots. After long research on internet and talking to many schools in India I did my TTC at Ananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram, North India.
It is beautiful ashram and a perfect place for those interested in Yoga and spirituality. The atmosphere is very peaceful, the teachers were very inspiring and caring. the people were very traditional and dedicated to yoga and vedic principles. I learnt alot about teaching, correcting, alignments apart from the right principles
They only accept 15 students in a course, the course was an eye opener, good value for money,I saw many differences in Yoga in Europe and Yoga in India, If you are serious about Yoga The I would highly recommend it, you can check them at anandayogashram.org
Namaste!