Considerations in choosing a Yoga Teacher Training - A Reflection by the Autistic Yogi

  Are you thinking of becoming a yoga teacher? or maybe you're already a yoga teacher but feel like learning more or want to know how your training stacks up to other teacher trainings?
  Here are some considerations in looking at a teacher training and its quality:

1. How many hours in total do you have in classroom contact time? Meaning how often are you actually with the instructors and is it actually pertinent towards becoming a qualified instructor of yoga. How much time is spent on instructional tasks? 
2. How many days do these classroom contact hours span? This will mean your either meeting for a few hours or for over 12 hours daily. Lengthening time on teaching teachers in a training on any given day does not automatically translate to more time spent learning. There is a growing body of research that shows the longer you take instruction in a given day the more likely you are to make an error in learning or to have a degradation in quality of instruction
3. How many students will you be practicing with? The more students the less personal attention each trainee will acquire. It's easy to disappear in a larger group. Being in an appropriate class size forces us to add in more input and to be seen by our certifying instructors more. Some people may not desire to be seen but this is yoga teacher training, you are being trained to stand in front of people and instruct them through movement so getting this ability is mandatory.
4. What is the experience of the teacher? How many classes have they taught? Can they teach more than one style of yoga? Do they know how to adjust different body types? Do they have much anatomy and physiology knowledge and have they bridged that knowledge to yoga? How many years of practice have they had? Do they cookie cut yoga (make the bodies fit the pose rather than adjusting the pose to fit the body)? How efficient is the instruction?
5. What is the major emphasis in the training? and does this emphasis align with what you are seeking to learn more about? Is the training inclined more towards the spiritual aspects of yoga? or more towards the anatomy and physiology? how in-depth do they break down the different portions? If they give you a syllabus that is basic and you want to know more about any section how well do they answer your questions?
6. How many previous graduates are there? is there positive and negative feedback? Is the feedback personal perspective or something that is encompassing? Are you able to talk to more than one or two of these individuals and ask some of the questions listed in this post?
7. Is the training known for creating better practitioners than teachers or better teachers than practitioners? one of the considerations one must make in teacher trainings is are they going to deepen their personal understanding and practice of yoga, or are they there to become a legitimate teacher of yoga that is insurable in the industry? There are many people going into teacher training who never teach public classes after, and some of them even claim they joined the training only to understand yoga better. Some trainings are going to be better geared towards making a good practitioner but do not necessarily equip people with a good teaching ability. 
8. Do you personally require them to have some form of recognition from a regulating body like Yoga Alliance or the International Federation of Yoga or one of the many other regulating bodies of yoga? Do you even know what it means to have recognition from one of these regulating bodies? What does the training state about these regulating bodies? Do you know how insurance works?

Currently, I am unaware of any study that has been done specific to learning how to teach things like yoga or movement and how much content in the training over a specific amount of time effects teacher retention of knowledge.
How could a randomized control trial of yoga teacher trainings be done to assess the effects on time in training per meeting day?
How can a teachers' effectiveness be assessed? What types of effectiveness are there?
How is a teachers' effectiveness affected by the time spent on teaching?


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What search terms can be used to examine the effect of time segments on learning?
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certification

block scheduling
class instruction time
instructional time
schedule
time on task
time allotments
Time Factors

academic achievement
Learning
performance
Skill
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Cookie Cutter Teacher Training
McDonalds Yoga Teacher Training
Cram Your Through Yoga Teacher Training
Celebrity Teacher Training

The Autistic Yogi Reflects on Spending Money

TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS TO HELP MONEY MANAGEMENT

Track all your purchases for a week and see where you are spending your money and what things can you start to remove from your spending habits like coffee, magazines, candies or other goodies, eating out, accessories for self or home. Start resisting impulse purchases.

Pay bills first thing each pay day - all expenses that are mandatory should be priority #1 - make at least your minimum payment on any debts and pay your full rent and utilities pronto to avoid charges.

Use software or web services to help manage your budget. mint.com
You may need to use webpage blocking software if you use online shopping sites to much. Block these pages if you find yourself unable to resist shopping and spending on them, its truly not important to have the cheapest deal.

Get your needs met - Sleep, Relaxation, fitness, fun - utilize the areas and the things you already have. Learn body weight exercises and some basic meditation tools to allow you to relax better and shut off a busy mind to help sleep, start choosing more water over coffee or sodas. Make sure your diet has an increase of vegetables.

Make a goal and set about achieving it - Whether this is a financial goal or personal make it something measurable and within the scope of yoru ability to do, dream and start setting your resources towards achieving those dreams.  Draw it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zESeeaFDVSw

Volunteer someplace that is meaningful to you or contrasts your beliefs. If you have a heart for the underprivileged donate sometime at a food bank or shelter. Are you religous and attend a religious group, give your time for the events they involve themselves in. Are you active, maybe your local gym or yoga studio has a karma position that allows you to donate time to get free classes.

Examine yourself and your life and see why you make the purchases you do. Be real and take this seriously. Stuff will not make you a better person and it wont make you live more comfortably, it is usually masking a deeper issue. Find healthier ways to achieve satisfaction.

Learn what other people use as methods to curb their spending habits and to live comfortably and authentically. Read at least one article per month that brings your attention to money habits and how to spend or save. Visit blogs and inquire to people you admire and trust that seam to have good habits.

WHEN SHOPPING

Give yourself a spending budget each month or each week and put that cash in your wallet so you know exactly what you are able to spend. Seeing it decrease and knowing how much more time you have in the month can instigate you to spend more prudently.

Having something physical wrapped around your debit and credit cards that remind you to question the purchase - whether its in your best interest to be purchasing or not.
http://205.153.117.210/walletbuddy2.pdf

When looking at larger purchases sit on it for a day or up to a month and truly consider whether it is something that you must get, don't do purchases, especially large ones on an impulse!

Use a shopping list. Do not go shopping without first having sat down and made a shopping list. Stick to the list. Don't impulse purchase things. Its valid if its something that you legitimately forgot (hygiene materials, dish soap, garbage bags, etc, KEEP IT REAL!)

Don't shop for fun - Be real with your budget, don't buy things for yourself or others when its out of your means, be prudent, stay out of locations that compel you to purchase, stay off sites that compel you to purchase as well. Let your presence be the gift you give rather than things. Change your life to the positive.

If using your credit line for purchases consider your reality, are you living in a place that is larger than what you actually need, do you have to much stuff that is never used? Start enjoying what you have and downsize where ever possible.

Don't carry your credit cards with you. Keep them at home in a safe place. Only use them in an emergency or if your purchase is truly justified and not on impulse.

I wrote this after reading this article
http://www.mysimplerlife.com/20-tips-to-keep-from-spending-money