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Personal Practice
The decision to teach changes your commitment to yoga. Teaching
requires a deeper understanding of the practice and greater
responsibility and clarity. You need to make a greater commitment
to your own practice, not only for yourself, but also as a means
of clearing yourself to be present for and attentive to your students.
When you are teaching, your primary resource is your personal practice.
It serves as an inner resource and as the laboratory where you can
experiment and discover.
Some people do a set routine in their daily practice, others do a
free-form practice, and others are somewhere in between. During the
period you are in this program you will be asked to work on specific
breathing practices and asanas. At the same time there will be days
you will want to follow your usual routine or work on other poses.
You are free to do all of these things. We do want you to pay special
attention and spend time doing the postures we focus on in each packet.
We ask you to:
Practice at least 5 days a week for a minimum of four hours
a week – more if possible.
Do the practice that serves you and maintains your joy in
practicing yoga at least half the time. This practice
may be free form or it may be a set routine, whatever
you wish. Practice the asanas that you are studying
in the packets separately.
Include at least 15 minutes of breathing in each practice.
If you have an already established meditation practice that
you do separately, do 10 minutes of breathing as part of
each practice.
Keep a diary or log of your daily practice, e.g. Jan. 15
– 4 sun salutations, Erich Schiffmann's flowing sequence,
headstand, shoulderstand, alternate nostril breathing, savasana,
and 15-minute meditation.
Learning Packets
There are six learning packets altogether. The first three
are to be completed for the Basic Yoga Teacher Program. All
six are to be completed for the Professional Yoga Teacher Program.
You may move through the reading and writing at your own pace.
Some people may be exempt from certain parts of the packets based
on previous training and experience. There is no “grading” in this
program, but we will provide feedback in the form of written comments
and we will use your responses and observations to structure the classroom teaching.
Each completed packet equals six hours of credit. Each packet will give you:
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2 hours - Yoga Techniques
1 hour - Teaching Methodology
1 hour - Anatomy and Physiology
2 hours - Philosophy, Ethics and Yogic Lifestyle
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These hours are independent study, non-teacher-contact hours.
Internship/Practicum
For the Basic Yoga Teacher Program, you need to take one class a week
as a student and either intern in or teach another. For those
who have not taught at all, the internship phase may last as long as
a year. By the beginning of the second year, everyone should be
teaching at least one class. If you are already teaching several
classes, you may want to discuss waiving the taking of a class.
The internship is an opportunity for you to learn by observing and
then assisting in the classes of accomplished teachers. If it is
practical for you, we recommend that you intern at the TreeHouse
for three or more eight-week terms and work with at least two senior
teachers. Those who live in other areas need to find accomplished,
certified teachers and make arrangements with them. Ideally, your
first internship would be in a brand-new beginner’s class, but that
may not be possible. You need to discuss your internship choices
with the director and get approval for your internship before you begin.
Those in the Professional Yoga Teacher Program are to do a 50-hour
practicum. The practicum is a "learning-by-doing" experience, not
"business as usual". It means teaching a class for a population you've
never taught before -- an underserved population such as unwed mothers,
12-steppers, or a special population such as children, senior citizens,
cancer patients, MS patients, et cetera -- or creating a new class or
program that is different from anything you have done in the past.
In preparation for your practicum you will want to study the particular
group you intend to work with, either independently or through a
specialized training course such as Yoga for Cardiac Patients, Yoga
for the Special Child, prenatal yoga, et cetera. Ideally, your
practicum will involve at least 25 hours of training, study, observation,
planning and evaluation and 25 hours of teaching plus a presentation for
the training group. You may want to make your video part of your
practicum.
Video
Submitting a video of you teaching a class is the final piece
of your certification program. Upon successful review of this
video by the FIFIYS faculty, you will receive your FIFIYS
teacher certification. People who move straight through to
the Professional certification make only one video. Those who
complete the Basic certification and then move on to the Professional
certification will make a video for each certification.
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