American of Yoga teachers
In recent times the yoga industry has experienced a boom and many new yoga teachers have been attracted by the potential of working as an affiliate for the Alliance, which has been formed by the National Yoga Alliance. The Alliance was created to “promote and expand the yoga movement worldwide”. Its mission is “to instruct yoga instructors in ethical and standards-based postures and practices for healing, rejuvenation and stress reduction”. Its website claims that the Alliance is “dedicated to providing accredited yoga teacher’s training, facilitating access to postural information and facilitating the development of future yoga teachers”.
I attended a meeting of the North American Alliance of Yoga teachers in Seattle two weeks ago and was impressed by the commitment, the group has to providing quality online yoga teacher training. I also had some questions for the speakers and was happy to find answers that will be useful to others thinking about training. The majority of the information I got was very good material and will provide guidance to aspiring yoga teachers. However, I would like to go into more detail now before proceeding and comment on some of the areas that were confusing or lacking in the information I got.
The first question I asked the speaker was whether there would be provision for independent yoga teacher training. She answered: “The Alliance does encourage our affiliates to participate in training at our offices or through distance education.” I was very impressed by her commitment to providing me with clear and practical information. I am not certain if independent training would be beneficial for me. The nature of yoga teaching is very individualised and the methods and techniques are not easily reproducible in a classroom setting. But it would give me the opportunity to learn more about yoga without having to worry about the time commitment that I would have to maintain and this could perhaps be of value to me in my own practice.
Online Yoga Teacher Training – American of Yoga teachers
The second area that was the subject of much confusion for me was the integration of online yoga teacher training with traditional yoga classes. There was some mention of blended learning in the training sections but I was unable to understand how this would benefit me or any of my students. Would blended learning mean that we would be taught yoga in the form of poses plus instruction in meditation and spiritual exercise? Again, I was very impressed by the speakers’ commitment to providing clear and practical information and she did provide some very practical and easy to follow online yoga teacher training sections.
The final area I want to look at from the information I have received is online yoga teacher training is compatible with physical fitness programs and health clubs. The speaker made it very clear that incorporating online yoga teacher training would be beneficial for all levels of students and teachers. She went onto say that the new training modules are designed to be flexible, convenient and engaging for whatever the level of training and experience of the teacher. The current module and future modules will also take into account any interests or needs of the yoga students. For example, the module will consider whether a particular topic or level of yoga will suit those working out from a cardio perspective or those suffering from illnesses or injuries. This flexibility will provide a huge benefit to students who may not be able to take part in an intense physical fitness program as they may need some form of support to stay healthy and fit.
It is clear that the value of online yoga teacher training is increasing each day. With so much information and available resources, the ability to receive information that is relevant, clear and concise has never been easier. These values are already being adopted by most yoga organisations but now they must ensure that these online programmes are as beneficial to their members as they are to the yoga community as whole. Any good organisation will take these values seriously and work hard to provide a high standard of yoga teacher training to its members.
