Teacher Training Tips

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Any time you have a question, do not hesitate to contact us. The only bad question is the one that doesnt get asked.

Directly Email Paul at: paul@yoga-teacher-training.org Telephone: 508-222-0092 Best times to reach him: Weekdays - during the early afternoon.

Cueing Skills
Cueing skills are developed by copying your past Yoga instructors, videos, and repeating the directions you have read in your texts. Once you have finalized your lesson plan, try it out on a friend. Practicing your cueing technique will develop your skills.

If you want to critique yourself objectively, run a tape recorder and teach a mock lesson. When you play it back, you will see how your voice carries throughout the room. You can also follow along with the tape, to see if your directions are easy to understand. This type of an exercise will fine-tune your ability to teach a Yoga class, as you learn to overcome any weak points you find.

Safety Issues
Some, but not all, of the different safety issues are covered in your first two books. For example: contraindications are mentioned in the first book, in preparation for your written exam. There is also a continuing education text in your third module (if you are on the Multi-Payment Option Plan) that touches on these points. The continuing education text is also included in The Original Yoga Teacher Training Camp-in-a-Box. If you want a resource that goes completely in-depth on Yoga safety, there is a book called:

B.K.S. Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health

This is an extremely valuable book. The first time I picked it up and started to read it, I had to have it. It has lesson plans for many special conditions and goes into more detail about props than any other Yoga resource on the market. This is the reason why we carry this book for purchase. ISBN 0-7894-7165-5

 Some basic guidelines for safely teaching Yoga classes: There are many conditions, but the three most common are limited range of motion, high blood pressure, and pregnancy.

With limited range of motion, you encourage students to use props. Over time, and with regular practice, your students range of motion will increase.

With high blood pressure, you should discourage inversions and possibly twists, if the condition is severe. With pregnancy, you discourage twists, prone poses, and inversions. However, Yoga practice for pregnancy is different for each trimester and is more complicated, to say the least. That is why we carry a separate Pre- and Postnatal Yoga teacher course for certified instructors.

If you want to scratch the surface on this subject, Yoga Zone has a pregnancy video that is informative and helpful. Shiva Rea also has informative videos on Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga.

About alignment: Always work with other Yoga teachers, even after becoming a certified Yoga teacher. It helps you learn new things, creates valuable contacts, and keeps you sharp. Find the best Yoga teachers in your area to learn from, work with, and possibly, work for.

If you are far away from a Yoga instructor, mirrors are the next best thing, because they help you see your asana alignment; but sometimes, Yoga without a knowledgeable assist, is like cutting your own hair.

With the aid of mirrors, you could develop your knowledge of alignment. If you have a Yoga friend, who has knowledge of posture alignment, you can both make progress together.

There is also a good resource about alignment on VHS / NTC (North American) format.

Yoga Alignment & Form with John Friend In this video, 26 postures are covered, giving you much more than basic information on alignment.

Practical Exam Details

Your Practical exam should contain: A well designed lesson plan, with warm-ups, sun salutations, asanas (Yoga postures), pranayama, and meditation. You can substitute a stage-by-stage relaxation sequence for the meditation segment of your Yoga class.

Suggested Sequence of Asana Series: Sun salutations, standing, seated, cat or table, prone, and supine. There are many other options, but this gives you a basic guideline.

Inversions are fine, but remember that they are not wise in the case of certain medical conditions. In extreme cases of high blood pressure, or an aneurysm, inverted asanas can be life threatening.

You should mention modifications for Yoga postures and contraindications. Be especially aware to give warnings for high blood pressure or pregnancy. If you have students with special conditions, in the audience, you should mention any modifications and contraindications that apply. You do not have to point out that student.

If a student has difficulty holding a pose, feel free to make an assist. However, make sure you demonstrate an asana long enough for your visual Yoga students.

You should convey a feeling of compassion for your students. Do not look or stare at your notes. We strongly suggest that you get used to teaching Yoga classes without notes. You may use them through your Yoga teacher training process, but they look unprofessional when you teach a Yoga class.

Lastly, select good background music that will motivate or calm your students, depending upon the task.

About Re-Certification
All the reputable Yoga organizations, that handle licensing for Yoga instructors, believe in continuing education courses and the re-certification process. It is very easy to become stale and "rest on your laurels," after graduation. As a certified Yoga teacher, you should stay current and be sharp. This means, attending workshops, taking continuing education workshops, reading trade publications, and attending Yoga teacher seminars.

Medical, Physical Therapy, and Sports Medicine knowledge is moving at a rapid pace. All of these fields pertain to you as a Yoga teacher, if you want to prevent student injuries. If you do not continually "stay on top" of what is going on, you will set yourself up for negligence. In these times, that can be financially costly to you and leave you feeling guilty about it.

Our re-certification policy is as follows:

First Certification - Two Years Second Certification - Three Years Third Certification and Beyond - Five Years

You can take one of our continuing education courses for Yoga teachers. However, you can take courses from a variety of local Yoga workshops, seminars, and Yoga teacher training online courses.

We will continue to develop new Yoga courses for continuing education; downloadable courses are in our future plans.

General Safety Guidelines for Yoga

Wear comfortable clothing, in which you can move freely; its best to practice barefoot. Ideally, practice on an empty stomach: try not to eat 2-3 hours before practice. Practice in a well-ventilated room - that is neither too hot nor too cold. Always do a few warm-up movements, combined with deep breathing, before doing the Hatha Yoga poses. If time is short, remember that it is better to do a few postures slowly--and deeply--than to do many of them hastily. Never strain or struggle to get into a pose. Move into and out of the postures gently, smoothly, and with awareness. Do not push through tightness; it's much more effective--and much safer--to relax it away with awareness and with the breath, thus facilitating a deeper opening. Use common sense: Honor contraindications suggested for the poses and breathing exercises, even if you "feel up to it." ("Contraindication" comes from "contra," which means against, and "indication." It refers to a condition, usually physical, that indicates one should not do a particular asana or pranayama). Never compete: Don't expose yourself to injury, by competing with others, or with yourself. Pride of body, or of superior flexibility, has no place in Yoga. Progress in Yoga is not absolute, but directional--it's a matter of taking your own next steps. To the best of your ability, breathe diaphragmatically while holding an asana, unless the asana calls for a different, specific type of breathing. In all poses, avoid swayback (over-arching the lower back) by tucking the tailbone, when necessary, to lengthen the lower spine. In some cases, contracting the lower abdomen seems a more natural movement and will accomplish much of the same thing. Remember that your neck is part of your spine. Keep it in line with the rest of the spine, to avoid compressing the cervical vertebrae or discs. Avoid twisting your knees; they're hinge joints, made to fold with little or no rotation. Avoid tensing the shoulders; keep the back of the neck extended, and the shoulder blades released, down the back.

Cautions for Asanas

Standing poses: Do not hyperextend the knees (i.e., don't push back on the kneecaps, "locking" the knee). If you have this tendency, either pull the kneecaps up, by engaging the quadriceps muscles, or keep the knees slightly bent. Standing poses with knee bent: When one leg is supporting most of your weight, never allow the knee to go beyond the ankle. Keep it over the ankle (lower leg vertical), or for extra protection, slightly behind the ankle (i.e., don't come down so far into the pose). Forward bends: Keep the spine long, and fold at the hip joints. It's okay to let a healthy spine round slightly, but only through relaxation and with complete awareness, a long spine, and no discomfort. Avoid entering or exiting the pose with a rounded spine and straight knees, as this can compress the inter-vertebral discs and pinch the spinal nerves. For the greatest degree of safety, keep the knees slightly bent throughout the pose. Backward bends: Protect the lower back (lumbar spine) by tucking the pelvis (i.e., lengthening the tailbone downward), releasing the shoulder blades away from the ears, and lifting through the sternum/heart area. Let the curvature in the neck match (or be less than, if your neck needs support) the curvature in the rest of the spine. Sideways bends: Keep the underside of your rib cage open, so as not to close off your breathing, or overstretch the lateral flexor muscles of the spine. Twisting poses: Keep the spine lengthened, as you exhale into your twist. If the spine begins to round, back off a little from the twist. This helps prevent compression of the spinal discs and nerves, and keeps the life force flowing freely. Inverted poses: Never put undue weight or stress on the neck, and do not remove the natural curvature of the cervical spine. If your arms and shoulders are not strong enough to bear the weight of the body, then it's best to practice simpler variations of the inverted poses, until you are able to do the classical versions. Sitting poses: When entering the cross-legged positions, be sure that all rotation occurs in the hip joint, not in the knee. The lotus pose, or even the half lotus pose, is not for beginners, unless their hips are already very flexible. Copyright 2010 Paul Jerard / Aura Publications