Friday, August 17, 2012

Yoga Certification- A prerequisite for Yoga Trainers

Who would have thought, Yoga, a simple, ancient Indian approach to holistic life would make everyone else in the world stand up on his or her heads, twist their torso, stretch limbs and breathe easy without any side effects? Today Yoga is a universal holistic approach for the mind, body and soul continues to fascinate humanity. However, how many of us are ready to accept that it works only if performed in its original state? Obviously one needs to have the proper methods of training oneself towards it. Thousands of years ago it was done perfectly. However, some of its techniques were twisted down the years. A few practitioners are aware of the correct methods and have Yoga schools for teachers. This now comes with proper Yoga Certification. It is necessary; as there are cases where doing wrong asana (exercises) have landed people in hospitals! Therefore, if you are a teacher aspirant you could train and get proper Yoga

Certification in the select places

Since Yoga has become so popular today, there are many short-term courses, workshops for learning yoga. Some choose programs, which they can use in combination with doing other exercise forms. For such people Yoga Instructor Certification is a good idea. Yoga is more effective when combined with other exercise. For such teachers courses can be taken any where in the world. In India, too such workshops are open and provide yoga instructor certification. Most of these courses are done in camps where everyone gets to meet and stay together and workout together. This is a good way of learning as one can learn 24 x 7.
Benefits of Yoga Certification:
Yoga certification enables one to teach the right method of doing asana, working out diet, and specific exercises for specific ailments. The government of India also recognizes some of the Yoga institutes where one can learn under experts are trained and obtain official qualification to spread the knowledge. As Yoga is getting popular in rest of the world, a proper teacher can get students who can benefit.
Only that person can teach who is aware of training the mind, body and soul in alignment before imparting it to others. There are four types of yoga- karma, bhakti, jnana and raji. Besides these, there are others, which focus on personal development.
By doing a specific yoga teacher certification one can specialize in a particular technique.
The advantages of doing a proper course (for at least 2 years) include an all rounded training program, theory, practical, learning medicines, combining with other exercises, meditation etc. Further than these are advanced courses which include Ayurveda, leaning from sutras, pranayam, cleansing techniques also. Learning process also includes a research project. Today learned teachers are paid good salaries too.

How to Find a Yoga Certification Program:

If you practice only Bikram Yoga, your choice of a training program will be clear-cut. However, you practice vinyasa or hatha yoga, you will have a lot more choices. The most obvious place to start looking is at your favorite yoga center. Many yoga studios offer teacher-training programs, but take a good look at the curriculum before you sign on. With trainees paying thousands of dollars in tuition, yoga teacher training has become a moneymaking operation. So make sure any program you consider is Yoga Alliance certified. This will guarantee that your certificate will be of value when you are finished, and also that you will spend a specified number of hours studying asana, teaching technique, anatomy, and philosophy.

You should also talk to your favorite yoga teachers about where they received their training. If you live in an area with no teacher-training programs, consider doing an intensive program at a yoga institute or ashram elsewhere. The Yoga Alliance website spells out their standards for certification and can help you identify Registered Yoga Schools in your area.

Summary:

If you have gotten hooked on yoga and have been practicing regularly for a few years, you may feel that you'd like to complete a teacher certification course. Even if you do not plan on teaching, a good training program will deepen your practice and increase your knowledge of anatomy, philosophy, sequencing, and alignment.