Everyone has heard about the incredible health benefits that regular yogis enjoy. But, when it’s done incorrectly, the resultant pain and even injury could cast a dark cloud over the entire belief.

For this reason, you must train under the leadership of a seasoned instructor like Christine Funk for example. The following is a quick guide to help you find the right instructor, one that’s not only properly trained but also highly knowledgeable and believes in the philosophy of yoga.

How Does The Instructor Make You Feel?

Do you spend time admiring the instructor’s poses but are having problems replicating the same? Is your instructor helpful in guiding you to correct your posture? Is the instructor focusing more on fixing your miss-alignments rather than offering individual feedback?

A great instructor understands that each body is different and unique, so the poses will vary. They are not judgmental or competitive in any way. Instead, they are patient and make you feel valued on your own journey.

How Long Have They Been a Yoga Instructor?

Some of the best yoga instructors began as students. An individual who has never practiced yoga before becoming an instructor is a dead giveaway of the studio’s substandard services. They are probably out to make money, nothing more. It is best to find an instructor who has experience practicing their own yoga journey to help you on your own yoga journey. 

Does The Instructor Still Practice Yoga?

Having an instructor like Christine Funk or Leigh Bosch who regularly practices yoga paints a picture of someone who’s in sync with the practice’s beliefs and who is constantly redefining their practice.

Is The Instructor a Registered Yoga Teacher

Has the instructor registered with the Yoga Alliance? Have they obtained an RYT 200 designation at least, as there are also 300 hour and 500 hour additions? This indicates that they’ve taken at least 200 hours of classroom training.

If the instructor has an E before the RYT, they have at least two years of experience teaching yoga. Check to ensure all this is current.

What Kind Of Yoga Teacher Training Programs Have They Taken?

This guarantees that the instructor has taken up classroom training, practiced the teachings and community service hours around his/her belt. Training programs generally cover the history of yoga, philosophy, and proper alignment techniques.

Do They Practice The Philosophies Behind The Teachings?

As an instructor, you need to walk-the-walk and talk-the-talk. You can’t preach water and drink wine. The traditional philosophy behind yoga is to assist people in becoming the best versions of themselves inside and out.

Yoga is a treasure trove of wisdom. It helps you develop positive thinking, love, compassion, respect for self and others. Is the instructor displaying these qualities?

To truly reflect the purpose of yoga, an instructor must commit to abide by the ethics that hold teachers accountable. This will help both the student and teacher accomplish their goals efficiently.

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Name: Anjali Mehta
Age: 19
Height: 5″3
Current city: Singapore
Occupation: Student

Have you always lived a fit and healthy lifestyle? When did you start to find yourself getting more into it?

I have not. I used to be underweight and refused to eat food when I was younger. In fact, I used to be so underweight that when I sat in the front seat of any car without a seat belt, the seat belt sign wouldn’t go off.

Although I used to be a gymnast in elementary school but that was not nearly enough to make me even look healthier. My parents tried very hard to get me involved in yoga, since they practiced it themselves and were well aware of the benefits it could bring somebody as physically unfit as me, but I could not bring myself to do it. I was too lazy and too stubborn.

Finally, when I was 14, my parents signed me up for a yoga teacher training. One day, my mother just dropped me off in a room filled with 40 and 50 year old men and woman. I was upset and did not want to, in any way whatsoever be a yoga instructor let alone practice yoga, but that day I met my Guru Ji, and everything sort of changed. He eloquently described the simple yet profound philosophy behind yoga something finally clicked in me.

Before you did the yoga training, how long had you been doing yoga for and how did you get into it?

Before I attended the yoga teacher training, I attended a few yoga classes in Bangalore mostly because I was good at yoga, since I was a gymnast. But honestly, I was not at all interested in yoga I was only interested in being flexible.

What made you decide to do your yoga training initially?

I was never interested in yoga, I did it purely because I was good at it. I did not appreciate yoga initially because I was uninsured in what I thought was a practice for middle aged woman and hippies. I was of course, very wrong.

When I met my Guru Ji, he explained the philosophy behind yoga and to me it seemed so simple and logical.

I was intrigued and the more time I spent listening to him and practicing it, actually practicing yoga not just for flexibility, it appealed to me more and more and I started seeing many positive side effects in my life, physically and mentally.

Tell us a bit about your yoga training journey?

I was trained by Vyasa Yoga in Singapore. I enjoyed it because it was very traditional and emphasized the philosophy behind yoga rather than just the physical asanas.

What tips would you give to someone wanting to get into yoga instructing?

A yoga teacher training program is not just for being able to teach yoga. A teacher training program is a great way to learn about the philosophy behind yoga and the world beyond asanas. A lot of times, yoga is seen as a very structured practice, which is absolutely is, but there are many ways to get creative so don’t be afraid to add your own flavor to your practice and to your classes.

How would you say your life has benefited from yoga? What differences can you see that yoga has made in your life?

It has changed the way I think and process a lot of things that go on in life.

For instance, things that would normally bring me down, like a bad grade, simply don’t even register in my head anymore. My whole mindset has changed. It has definitely made me a more stable and balanced person.

How important is focusing on ones breath during yoga?

It is important because the breath helps you remain in the present moment. Our minds are usually moving 100 miles an hour while our body has to remain in the present.

The breath is sort of a way to connect your present body to the un-present mind. We can effectively use our breath to bring our mind to the present.

Do you incorporate much meditation into your daily life? If so what sort of meditation do you do?

Meditation is a practice for living your life. We practice meditation so that we can train our minds to be less volatile so that when life throws you off balance, you can use the skills learnt in meditation to balance yourself and keep stable.

I practice simple mindfulness meditation which just involves pointed awareness to anything, your breath, your senses, anything.

Do you give yoga classes currently?

As of now I teach meditation at NYU and am a substitute yoga teacher for NYU’s yoga program.

What other forms of training do you enjoy?

I enjoy running outside when there’s good weather and I absolutely love hiking.

What are your future plans?

In the future, I want to get a PhD in Clinical Psychology and practice as a psychotherapist.

Take us through an average day of yours:

• I wake up around 8:00 and meditate for a while (I don’t like to keep time, I just keep going till I feel ready), shower, drink coffee, get ready for class.
• Around 9:10 I take the subway or bus to class.
• At 12:15 I finish class for the day, grab some lunch and take the subway to work.
• I work at the Psychiatric Institute in New York and mainly do data analysis for research studies.
• Around 5 I take the subway back to NYU and head to the gym.
• I teach a private yoga class around 6:30.
• After the class I head back home, cook dinner and do my homework.
• Around 11:45 I write in my diary, read a book, meditate, and then sleep.

Give us a brief description of your philosophy on your diet and what you eat:

I love food! I don’t like to make unhealthy foods healthy especially if I like them (like pizza or noodles) so I eat unhealthy foods only about once or twice a week.

Other than that, my diet is very simple, I’m vegetarian so I try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. I keep processed sugar and white bread to a minimum and I don’t drink alcohol or any soda. I don’t eat a lot especially because I live alone so my portions aren’t super large. I try to cook my own as much as possible but it can get hard sometimes.

Which 3 nutrition myths do you think most people fall prey to?

1. I think a lot of people believe that sugar is always bad for you, and it certainly is but fruits are good, natural sugar and we need that sugar!
2. You can absolutely be vegetarian and get enough protein.
3. Junk food is bad but it’s okay to treat yourself once in a while.

What are your top nutrition tips for staying in shape?

Find what works for you, your body and your lifestyle. Not everything works for everybody.

What does a typical training week look like for you?

I try to workout at least 5 times a week. I climb stairs or run and then do some bodyweight exercises.

What are your 3 favourite exercises?

1. Glute bridges on the wall. This is great for your entire leg. I like it because it’s a way to spruce up the boring glute bridge.
2. Wide Leg squats. Agreat hip opener and workout for your legs.
3. Stair Climbing. Amazing for cardio.

What about yoga do you love and who should be doing it?

I love that yoga is both a physical and mental exercise. I also love that yoga can be anything, for anybody. For somebody who wants to be physically fit, they may enjoy Vinyasa. For somebody who is looking for some calmness and relaxation, they may enjoy meditation. For somebody who is trying to lose weight, or even gain weight, yoga can surely help with that too.

So, anybody and everybody should try it and if it works for them, they should absolutely continue it. It brings something different for everybody.

How many yoga classes a week would someone need to go for in order to see steady progress?

Up to you, whatever you are physically comfortable doing. You can start slow and build up to it but it’s important to be comfortable and listen to your body.

If someone struggles with a certain pose due to lack of flexibility (say forward fold) what tips would you give to eventually get them into the pose and get them more flexible?

Flexibility is the most common excuse I hear and the least effective barrier against learning yoga. The point of yoga and asanas is to test your limit and then settle into it there.

Go as far as you can – and you are succeeding at the posture.

The point is to feel comfortable in an uncomfortable state so wherever that is, it’s fine. The more you practice, the more comfortable you’ll get and you will find new discomforts that you can overcome.

What are your most important tips to becoming more flexible?

• The warmer your body, the more flexible. So if you practice after a run or around 20 or 30 sun salutations, you can train yourself to become more flexible.
• It is also important to stay as long as you can in the postures.
• Lastly, many times, flexible people skip basic postures and go into advanced postures and try to practice advanced postures to become more flexible but that is less effective. For instance if you want to master the side split. It is less effective to practice the side split, even if you can do the half-moon pose or lizard pose. The more effective direction would be to practice lizard pose and get deeper and deeper into it and hold it for longer and longer. Eventually the side split will become better. So the lesson here is do not overlook the benefit and difficulty of basic postures.

How often do you think a person should stretch and for how long? How long should someone who is not so flexible dedicate to stretching each day?

This is a tough question to answer since everyone’s body is different. But the splits are an advanced posture so I would practice basic hip openers for at least 45 minutes and hold each posture for 5 to 9 minutes. Hip openers are best when the body is warm so try to, after a workout spend 45 to 60 minutes just stretching out your hips.

What sort of poses or exercises can one do to improve their back flexibility (to do a pose like wheel pose)?

Also a tough question because back flexibility is not simple at all and can vary extremely from individual to individual.

In such a pose, you are mainly using the lower back which is connected to your hamstrings so stretching both is important.

The standard way to go for this pose is to practice forward bending postures (both sitting and standing), hip openers (like butterfly pose) and practice lower back stretches like half wheel pose, upward facing dog and bow pose.

Often across social media you see people doing the splits where their hips are not square. When you do the splits your hips are perfectly square. Is it bad for you or incorrect to do them when the hips aren’t squared?

It is not incorrect, of course it is not perfect but certainly not incorrect. Getting your hips squared is hard so keep practicing and you’ll slowly get there. Having perfect alignment in yoga is not easy but it’s okay if you are not there yet.

It is of course important to be aware of the final, perfect posture but it’s perfectly fine to practice an alternative, easier version of the posture.

And What can people do to get their hips more square when doing the splits?

Practice pigeon pose with squared hips by twisting your upper body to face the side of your bend leg.

What are your essentials that are always in your gym bag?

Water! Good music and a towel.

Favorite female icon(s):

• Jacinda Arden
• Angela Merkel
• Katherine Hepburn
• Marie Curie, Maya Angelou

What is the most common question you get asked?

“Can I do yoga even though I am not flexible?”

YES! Flexibility is not a requirement of yoga. All you need is your body and your breath.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9K9k2Xna3C/

Favorite Quote:

“To the mind that is still, the universe surrenders.” ~ Lao Tzu

Where can people get hold of you?

• Instagram: Anj.yoga

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Yoga is a soul-based systematic and chronologic practice of structural exercises, relaxation, breath control, everyday diet and optimistic mentality and attitude done to maintain the soul-body-mind interrelationship in the body.

The origin of yoga is believed to be from India by the antique philosophers and is an ancient system of mental and physical practices. For generations, the yoga trait has been surpassed by the heirs to the descendants. The very first human written record was found in Yogasutra of Patanjali. Yoga is a developed and organised science.

Yoga is believed to decrease stress, relieve anxiety, reduce mental and physical inflammation, improve heart health, improve the quality of life, helps fight depression, reduce chronic pain, promote sleep quality, improve breathing, relieve migraines, encourage healthy eating habits and increase the strength of mind, body and soul.

Yoga as a career:

It is difficult to jump off the typecast careers like medical, engineering and opt for an unusual career as a yoga instructor. The time is changing and there is an unbelievable change in the employment market. Killing the myth of low pay scales, yoga instructors are paid handsome salaries ranging up to  $40,000 per year in the U.S.A. This career may give a golden opportunity to travel the whole world because of various training programs, health centres and studios in different countries of the world.

Also, meeting new people from all walks of life helps build good public interaction sessions every day and it helps in building a good and sensible personality. It not only makes a person financially secure but also helps in maintaining peace of mind.

Guide to become a certified yoga instructor:

 A Yoga instructor trains the student in yoga practice. They help in correcting the posture of the students to form the exact poses of yoga and the instructors guide their students, in the yogic philosophy as well as things which help the students generate complementary skills such as nutrition management and meditation.

Career requirements: 

The basic education required is the completion of the teachers training program and there exists an optional online registration form which is usually preferred by employers. The vital skills required for being a certified yoga instructor are healthy fitness, great communication and motivation skills. The additional requirements are a CPR certification.

Completions of professional specialized training or participation in a certificate program is necessary to teach yoga. These programs may last from a few or two weeks to two to three years. One has to choose the style of yoga they want to be educated with. For example, the Iyengar style of yoga requires a certificated training and experience of a year.

Steps to become a yoga instructor:

• Choosing a yoga course for certification: One needs focus on a particular form of yoga and choose between different styles, find one which is best suited.
• Cost: The programme costs vary and maybe one can choose the course more affordable and flexible.
• Location: One can look for a yoga institute that is closer to home and one can easily complete the course with convenience.
• Teacher: The one who teaches us matters the most, having a good teacher is of utmost importance.
• Offline or online: There are online courses available throughout the net. And the certification is also provided online and holds the same value as an offline certificate.

 Yoga teacher certificate requirements:

Yoga training is a course based on anatomy and physiology. One needs approval from the yoga alliance program to be a certified instructor and completion of 200 hours of yoga coursework is required to apply for a certificate. This 200 hours coursework includes contact hours and field job i.e., doing yoga poses.

A few courses have additional tasks such as classes being evaluated or mentoring the work. An advanced training program of 500 hours is also available that allows one to work with a specific group of population. There are other extra requirements to achieve the highest level of certification including complete years of teaching yoga and hard training with specifications. Also, just a 200-hour course is not enough, one needs to practice a lot to make his/her yoga poses and ideas clear. Having a mentor that can help improve skills before starting to teach is very important.

Application of certificate:

Once the course ends one can apply for certification. The certificate can be collected after a few weeks from the institute one has applied. Having insurance is also one of the major tasks one should do after the certification comes in the hand. It is necessary to ensure insurance for yoga studios or gyms as it is important to protect the business while working. And one should take classes continually to gain good experience and make the journey of their career progress forward.

Get registered:

After completing the course work, one can apply for the organizations’ RYT credentials, i.e. Registered Yoga Teacher. Registration is not compulsory, but most teachers prefer to get registered

Earn education credits:

Attend seminars and workshops to update your knowledge. Teachers who are registered with the yoga alliance are required to attend 75 hours of education every three years, including 30 hours of additional classes and teaching yoga for 45 hours.

After training:

Once the certificate course is completed, there are a few career options. Yoga instructors mainly target specific customers to deal with. They could include senior-aged, middle-aged, youth, children, women or pregnant women and a few instructors teach yoga as a therapeutic treatment to heal people with specific health like asthma, stress, depression, trauma, anxiety, hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, liver and kidney dysfunction, uterus issues, etc..

They can also find employment in different fitness centers, studios for yoga or can create self-employment by taking sessions in their own house or a rented place. The salary has grown with time like other occupations by 13 percent and the average salary is around $39,280.

Author bio

Vivek Roy is an enthusiastic Yoga blogger and Traveller from India. He has done yoga teacher training in India. He loves to travel and share the knowledge of yoga around the world. For more information about him visit his website Sattva Yoga Academy.

Photo credits:

• Annie Spratt
• Form
• JD Mason on Unsplash

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