This is not a film review. Although I thought the film by the same title was quite nice. This post is about my Yoga education. I was not very sure about teaching yoga when I had signed up for the training. I could not do most of the asanas in a picture perfect way. I am way better now, but far from perfection. Anyway, I was simply drawn to Yoga. After quite some time battling with injuries, I have decided to teach.
I like teaching Yoga. It gives me a completely different aspect or angle of yoga. Sometimes I refer to my notes as to how I can explain something in the most minimum of words. When I taught my first class, I was using a few sentences to which my student was not responding. I mean, I know this asana so well, but how do I convey it to the other person who is relying just on my words. I try to demonstrate and then all goes well. But that is incorrect, a few glitches of being a first time instructor. I have improved it since then and I also remembered one of my teachers say that the yoga instructor should be able to convey every single move just by dialog. When I practice on my own, I do not need to work on how I should convey this. Teaching classes add this layer to my practice which I enjoy. I also notice that trying to come up with a class structure keeps my home practice interesting. I refer back to my notes and there is so much out there which I sort of forget to practice in my self practice. Or a pranayama technique which I have not practiced in ages. All in all, teaching yoga improves my home practice.
I think this is why I want to teach, to constantly be in touch with yoga. At the same time, I do not want to teach yoga full time either. I might get bored of correcting a student’s trikonasana for the 100th time. I am not sure if it will get repetitive. And, I don’t want to have a yoga burn out. So, teaching a few classes per week suits me fine.
Yoga Tree, Teacher Traing San Francisco – 2,500 USD
Sivananda, Teacher Training, Kerala - 260 USD (Indian rate)
Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai – 1,200 USD
Accommodation in Chennai - 300 USD (Indian rate converted to USD)
Teaching Insurance Canada, for 1 year - 250 USD (CDN and USD not very different)
Total 4,510 USD
Okay, it is going to take me a long time to break even with the costs of teacher training. I wonder how new yoga teachers can pay their rent and the basics if teaching yoga is their full time job. Oh, may be that is why a lot of yoga teachers are waiting tables. Sad.
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