People come to yoga for many reasons. Some to find balance physically, others to find a deeper spiritual connection. People find yoga through chronic health challenges and the Australian state governments recommend yoga for preventative health care. You may have come to yoga for one or more of these reasons, but when do you know it is time to become a yoga teacher?
The Timing is Now
As Patanjali says yoga begins now. The first thing you should have in place as you transition to a practitioner or student or yoga teacher is a commitment to your practice and dedication to self-awareness and growth. Do your yoga! You don’t have to wait until you have each Asana in perfect shape. Many famous yoga teachers will tell you that these types of difficult postures are more gymnastics than actual yoga. Yoga means to bring together in union. If you understand this concept, and you are curious enough to live this way. You are ready to share the journey with others and start a yoga teacher course.
You want Deeper Knowledge and Spiritual Practice
Many people in the Western world first come to yoga for physical exercise. As your practice develops and you notice changes in your behaviour and the way you think, not just your physical body. You will start to become more curious about the deeper spiritual practices of yoga. This includes its long history and specific philosophy. A philosophy that is one of the world’s most holistic practices to take constant care of the wellbeing of the mind, body, and soul. When this happens it is time to take a deeper dive and start your yoga teacher training.
Life is your Teacher
We all have challenges as we move through life. Although this is not a prerequisite to start teaching yoga. Life experience and a developed sense of compassion and non-judgement towards others will help you to guide and mentor others in yoga. It will also inform what sort of yoga teaching career you would like. TKV Desikachar son of the father of Western Yoga Krishnamacharya is known for saying that all you need to teach yoga is to “be nothing more than a friend, nothing less than a friend and have a good teacher yourself”
Becoming a yoga therapist or certified yoga teacher, you can take many pathways and different lengths of training.There is no regulation in Australia for a specific training method. Yoga Alliance Registration requires you to have a minimum of 250-300 hours. We recommend a longer study where possible. It gives you consistent mentorship for a longer period as you learn how to start teaching yoga, guide your students, teach yoga to beginners, and build a sustainable teaching practice. When you choose a Nationally Recognised training you are also assured that the materials you will be learning from, and the design of the training has been put through a rigorous process to meet industry standards for training. Learn more about Demi International and their Advanced Diploma of Holistic Classical Yoga Practice 52792WA.
