Thoughts on Being the Primary Teacher at a Teacher Training

  Some thoughts on being the primary teacher at a 200 hour level of teacher training.
Taking a look at the basic requirement as established by the Yoga Alliance on being the primary teacher at a yoga teacher training - having taught for a minimum of 2 years with at least 1000 classes taught.
  And that is not to say that the individual would have to develop up a curriculum that puts into context all the necessary areas of study that are outlined by YA;
1. Techniques Training/Practice 100 hours,
2. Teaching Methodology 25 hours,
3. Anatomy and Physiology 20 hours,
4. Yoga Philosophy/Lifestyle and Ethics for Yoga Teachers 30 hours,
5. Practicum 10 hours,
6. Electives 15 hours (this points back to further defining the 5 areas of study listed above).

  Or if you prefer to look at the standards for curriculum with the International Yoga Federation then you would see the breakdown for curriculum as follows;
1. Techniques 130 hours
2. Teaching Methodology 20 hours
3. Anatomy and Physiology 10 hours
4. Practical Teaching 40 hours
*A cursory examination of the IYF site did not reveal to me if they have specific requirements as to the length of time a person is to be a qualified teacher at a 200 hour level and how many classes taught in their yoga career to be considered as a competent teacher at a 200 hour level)

There are numerous other areas around the internet that could be looked into and dissected but it seams to point towards the base competency of a primary teacher having had 2 years teaching experience with roughly 1000 classes taught.
Not all people are going to desire tackling the development of a curriculum, which is astoundingly fun and engaging.

In developing my curriculum because of passing the base standards and at the blessing of my main teacher, whom I have trained with in 3 teacher training's.

This brings me to that concept of how to navigate through the world of teachers of teachers of Yoga.
It is my belief that all-though it is wonderful to have the much more experienced Yogi/Yogini (for the sake of this article I will define the much more experienced Yogi/Yogini as someone who has taught for over 10 years, with well over 1000 hours of teaching experience) should have a greater emphasis at teaching the more in-depth programs; 300 hour bridges, 500 hour, advanced workshops, etc. Not to say that they should not teach 200 hour training but some of us that are on the path of Yoga looking for a more immersive experience could really benefit from some mentoring from these more trained Yogi/Yogini's.

Some of us that will teach at teacher training's will not have nearly the time committed as others and some of us will have a dramatic amount more before embarking on the path of teaching teachers.

Some people will appose the above criteria and think there should be a dramatically different standard and some will fully support those standards.

Part of me believes that this becomes a much more viable career to move into on a full time basis if those of us with the base criteria to have the chance to teach the base 200 hour level without havnig the perspective imposed on us that we are trying to fast track or fast food industry the world of yoga.

At the base as I move into teaching teachers I want to see that by the end of me training up individual people that they can problem solve the world of yoga, to take others safely through a sequence of asana over numerous time frames (20, 30, 60, 75min+), have a basic understanding of the major areas that comprise yoga and were to look at deepening their understanding when they embark in learning on that portion of the wholesomeness of Yoga.