Posts Tagged ‘training’

With so many people trying yoga today, it can be a difficult task finding the right yoga teacher.  Everyday, people take yoga classes at the gym or through local community centers.  For the most part, it’s an inexpensive and somewhat safe way to try yoga.  But if you have medical conditions of any kind from blood pressure, arthritis, back pain, shoulder issues. carpal tunnel, or rehab-ing from surgery,  it’s not only important, but vital to work with a Yoga Teacher who has been professionally trained, and has considerable experience with alignment principles.  These two credentials are challenging to find.  And here’s why……

There are no legal regulations on the teaching of yoga.  You could literally take a yoga class with a person who has no professional training, no education, and worst of all, no experience with teaching individuals who have physical conditions.  That’s like seeing a doctor with no training…

Our bodies are our tool to experience life.  If it’s in pain, life can be disenchanting and challenging at best.  Yoga can relieve the pain in our bodies, even help heal the body, along with proper nutrition.  But your yoga teacher needs specific wisdom to help you do just that.  So what to look out for…

First, if it’s cheap or free, there is usually a reason.  And that is the red first flag.  No talented and well trained yoga teacher can work for free.  Yoga teachers who are continuously updating their talent and studying with Master Teachers pay dearly for their training.   Teachers at the Yoga Studio are professionally trained, and are required yearly to complete advance training that exceeds the minimum requirement of the Yoga Alliance.

Second, be very careful taking the yoga classes at the gym or community center.  I talk with people about yoga frequently.  What upsets me most is hearing that someone took a yoga class with 20-30 people in it, and they hurt themselves seriously, and they don’t want to do yoga ever again.  That is always an indication that the Teacher had little to no knowledge or wisdom of the science, and the class was too large for the students to get proper attention.  Remember, there are a lot of doctors in the world, few with exceptional talent.  Yoga is the same.

Third, if you already train heavily or if you are a runner.  Please, please, please check your teachers out.  If you are tight already, your yoga teacher can help you stretch properly.  It’s not, lunge or spread your legs, touch your toes and bounce.  In fact, that’s exactly the wrong way to stretch.  Nothing screams hamstring,  or groin tear louder.  And sadly, I heard a story about an athelete that had that experience in their gym yoga class.  And had to stop running forever…

What do you do then?  Referral is always a good start.  Then check out your teachers credentials.  A good yoga teacher is always willing to dicuss their training.  And literally brag about their own teachers.  Because a good yoga teacher is always a good student. You can also go online to the Yoga Alliance.  They keep a relatively accurate database of professionally trained yoga teachers with miminum standards and requirements.  The teachers at the Yoga Studio, not only have the minimum requirements, but are required to exceed these standards.

Lisa Tokarz, ERYT200, and founding director at the Yoga Studio of Shelby, located in Macomb County has received this credential by having a minimum of 200 hours of training, and teaching a minimum of 1,000 hours within 2 years of training.  Over the past 10 years of teaching, Lisa has over 500 hours of professional training,  she has taught roughly 500 hours in the last year alone.  She has worked with students recovering from breast cancer, back surgery, shoulder surgery, severe and chronic arthritis.  She specializes in knees and hips as she is an extreme athelete herself, and in her 20′s broke both knees skiing mogels, and suffered from complications of improper healing which lead to chronic and severe hip and low back pain.  All of these issues with time, have been overcome by studying with many of the foremost yoga teachers from around the world. 

Bottom line, don’t be afraid of yoga, be afraid of improperly trained yoga teacher’s.   Do your homework, interview a few yoga teacher’s, make an appointment to visist a yoga studio.  Don’t take yoga classes that are cheap, and watch out for free classes, (they are usually taught by teachers with little or no experience).  At the  Yoga Studio, we have a free class on the schedule, however, Anna is one of our most talented and skilled teacher’s in the industry.  We picked her because we understand how important it is to have a positive nurturing experience as a new student of yoga.