How to Find a Yoga Teacher
by Susan Pennington and John Schumacher

This August we finally won Best Yoga Studio of Baltimore, from Baltimore Magazine. This is noteworthy because in winning, we were cited for most rigorously trained teachers. Our teachers have chosen to continuously study Yoga and give their best to their students. But it also brings up a question: Do you know what training your yoga teacher has had? Or if you do know, do you know what it means? After all, you are entrusting your body and health to this person.

It just so happens that my teacher, John Schumacher, Senior Iyengar teacher and director of Unity Woods Yoga Studio in Bethesda, just wrote on this subject. He agreed that I could borrow from his article.

"First of all, there are no national, regional or local standards. Any one who wants to can hang out their yoga teacher shingle. Many prospective teachers look around to find what kind of training is available and then pick one that suits them in terms of geographical convenience, amount of time required, cost, style of yoga, qualifications of the programs teachers and more. " It is the program that sets the standard for their training, not the law.

"Here are a few things I think are worth considering in judging both the quality of a teacher and their training program: What qualifications does someone have to have to get into the program? For many teacher trainings, NO PREVIOUS YOGA EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED! This is preposterous because, good teaching isn't based primarily on knowledge. It is knowing how and what to teach that comes from the experience gained in the teacher's own practice. This is very different from memorizing a few details about a pose and then reciting them to a class. "

"Duration of the teacher training program is also important. Some are as little as a weekend, many are a month. This is just not long enough to acquire the knowledge and experience it takes. Six months would be a bare minimum and even that isn't really enough."

"Who is teaching the teacher training program? If the teachers running the program are not knowledgeable and deeply experienced there is no chance they can produce knowledgeable and skillful teachers. So you need to ask, what do the letters after a teachers name mean? Lots of teachers have the RYT200 or RYT500. RYT is from the Yoga Alliance organization that means Registered Yoga Teacher. it does NOT mean they are certified. Yoga Alliance is not a certifying body. It just registers teachers and does not monitor their training. "

"Large organizations and longstanding traditions tend to have more extensive and organized training/certification processes. Anusara, White Lotus and Yoga Works are 3 that have relatively comprehensive training programs. But size and longevity are no guarantee. The Sivanada training program, one of the oldest around, is a 1 month course."

"The Iyengar certification is through the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS). To be certified at the Introductory level ( the most basic of 5 progressive degrees), an applicant must have had a minimum of 3 years of study with certified Iyengar Yoga teachers while maintaining a continuous regular practice.

After this, the applicant must complete a 2 or 3 year teacher training program, 150 hours of apprenticeship or a combination of the two. He also needs recommendations from 2 certified teachers, pass an assessment which includes a written exam on anatomy, philosophy and teaching, pass a 2 hour demonstration of basic yoga asanas and pranayamas and finally teach a 40 minute class. The candidate is graded on pass or fail. If the candidate passes they then study with a mentor for at least another year and take a 2cd assessment with more difficult asanas and a more challenging written exam. Only after passing all this can certification be awarded. So, it takes a bare minimum of 5 years to become a certified Iyengar teacher."

"Of course, credentials are no guarantee of the quality of a teacher. But they do give an idea of the depth of training and competence a teacher has."

Having said all that I also want to point out that in Baltimore there are several Yoga teachers I have the utmost respect for. They have studied for 10 years, 15 years and more without joining a training program. This is what experience looks like. And there is nothing as valuable.

I urge you to pay attention and ask when needed.

Namaste, Suzy