Yoga Teacher Training

YogaWorks Teacher Training Rotating Photo

I’m filled with joy and enthusiasm as I’m about to go to Strasbourg, France for the 4th year in a row to teach the second session of a Yogaworks teacher training. I’m excited to see my students who chose to follow the wonderful path of Yoga.
I’m fully aware of the huge honor and the important responsibility that come with teaching a training.
Honor yes, for it is a privilege to be able to teach future teachers, to share their joys, their questions, their doubts, their fears. To see them evolve and transform during these 200 hours.
It is also an important responsibility for it is my duty to transmit to them some quality knowledge, to give them a solid base from which they will have the freedom to grow, to refine and to deepen their practice. Hence, continuing my education by taking workshops, trainings and deepening my personal practice is a key point to be able to teach trainings and any classes.
I’ve been teaching teacher trainings for Yogaworks for 6 years. The first level of training is 200 hours. The next level is 300 hours of training for a total of 500 hours. The number of hours has been decided by Yoga Alliance, organization supervising internationally the schools of yoga allowed to train students.
I have sometimes witnessed, from French people, a skepticism regarding these trainings.
How is it possible to become a Yoga teacher in 4 weeks?
Being French and used to long years of training based on theory (I have a master in Social Law. You see, studying law gets you anywhere!), I also have felt in the past this skepticism and questioning. That being said, these disappeared quickly.
Aside the Iyengar teacher trainings which last several years, almost all other trainings offered in the world are given under the 200-hour format. One exception is in France where the “Ecole Française de Yoga” trainings are given in 4 years.
I simply came to the conclusion that there are two different methods and outlooks. In the Sates, for instance, all the trainings are rather short for society focus on the practical, pragmatic aspect and on the experience gathered along the years. It is also implied that the training is the very first step on a beginner teacher’s path and he/she has the obligation to continue his/her education by taking workshops, trainings and, of course, by practicing.
In France, the society values theory and the latter, over many years. This school of thought is deeply anchored in the French mentality. Hence, when an other method is proposed, the judgment and the questions arise.
All I can say is, after having myself being trained in the States ( I’ve been living in New York for 14 years), I’m extremely grateful for the quality and the professionalism of the trainings I received both for the 200H and 300H levels. Since, I never stopped practicing and I’m always continuing my education to refine my skills and knowledge, to better understand this fascinating path of Yoga physically, energetically and spiritually.
Let’s not forget that these trainings are meant to be taken by advanced and disciplined practitioner.
Now being a trainer, I’m lucky to witness incredible transformations. The trainings help some find their calling and a few took a leap of faith and are now making a living out of teaching or opened their own yoga studio, others gained the confidence they needed to start teaching, others wanted to deepen their own practice and don’t want to become a teacher and others took it as another life experience.
Whatever your journey and your desires are, the training will give you a solid foundation to practice safely and better understand who you are physically as well as mentally. And it will show you the way to eventually teach if it is your calling.