Hi. My girlfriend is in India right now, and will be taking the Sivananda yoga teacher training course in October, the same one I did. She said that since she's been in India (about 8 weeks now) that she's seen all manner of teacher training available, but any number of different yogis, and, I am sure, a REAL variety of quality of instruction too.

From the syllabus, it does seem pretty specific, and if I can say so, a near copy of the Sivananda Course I took, although it's a little more relaxed and includes more things in it than ours did. Having said that, for me, the lineage is the most important thing, and on this the Sivananda course is quite solid, but who is to say about these people? I cannot really tell.

Still, it looks OK, and for the price (which is a little more Indian in flavor than the Sivananda course, which is consistent throughout the world, about $2100-$2300 US dollars) it seems like a good deal, especially in light of the length of the courses- 4-8 weeks.

As far as what makes a good teacher, I have a REALLY long list of things of what to do and what not to do, because I teach yoga teachers to teach. Having said this, I think most important is the prana of the person, and the reflection of real sadhana in their attitude and giving that little bit more than is necessary for individual students, depending on their needs. I do this, but it took long practice to get there.

It's pretty clear from everything I write that yoga is spiritual practice NOT exercise, so if a teacher views it as exercise, and teaches accordingly, this person isn't teaching "yoga" as I think of it. They are teaching exercise and calling it yoga. Also, music is a big NO NO in a class. One cannot hear a teacher talk if so.

I dislike GREATLY the common practice of downward dog as a rest position- mostly because whether or not it's a rest position depends on how lengthy your acromium process is. If it's short or hardly there, one can easily take off the tension from the muscles (given some flexibility) and get some rest. Even so, thinking of this as a rest position is hardly fair even if your bones are structured in a beneficial way. It's a halfway inverted posture (!), so teachers who teach in this manner (which is all too common) have my scorn from the get go. I am quite an experienced yogi who did yoga full time for 4 years in an ashram and I cannot hold downward dog for 5 minutes! I am sure I could work up to it, but why would I want to? So, for me what makes a teacher is not so much what they do, but also their subtlety of understanding about poses, how they work, physiology as connected to the esoteric anatomy, and my most important factor:
Letting me have my own experience.
Constant adjustments might allow a person to learn a lot, but yoga is about learning to do asanas so one can sit for long periods of time. It has no other purpose. While it has many other side effects, like fitness, flexibility, etc. one MUST allow the student to have their own experience and to allow them to be quiet for much of the class.

Om Shanti,
Regis Chapman
DurgaDas
www.silentmotion.org
Silent Motion Yoga

Scottie,

What do you find to be the status quo here? Think that's important to understand before I say what sets me apart from it, if indeed I am set apart at all. Otherwise I'd be assuming I knew what you meant without you explaining.

Katrina