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Ashtanga Yoga Shala Teacher Training

by Ashtanga Yoga Shala
Date
7 Feb 2011 → 7 Feb 2013
Duration
2 years
Venue
Ashtanga Yoga Shala
Paddington,
Brisbane
QLD 4064
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Yoga Styles

Ashtanga, Ashtanga Certified, General, Hatha, Meditation, Therapeutic

Description

Brisbane’s Ashtanga Yoga Shala offers daily yoga classes and teacher training in the traditional method of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri Pattabhi Jois.
Iain Clark was personally Certified in India to teach and represent Ashtanga Yoga by the late Sri Pattabhi Jois of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. Iain is one of only five ‘Certified’ Teachers in Australia and amongst a small number worldwide. He has been involved in yoga for over twenty-five years and has been a Certified ashtanga yoga teacher for more than fifteen years.
Certification is the ‘recognition’ of an individual as a yoga teacher by Sri Pattabhi Jois (traditionally the highest and only recognition he gave).
Recognition as an ‘Authorised’ ashtanga teacher within the Ashtanga Yoga System is a more contemporary phenomenon. Authorisation came about in recent years as Western students sought some recognition from Sri Pattabhi Jois for the study they had done with him. He created this new level of recognition in order to allow selected students to provide evidence of a yoga teaching qualification to the yoga teachers associations and insurance companies that were beginning to request such information.
‘Authorisation’ is seen a step on the path to ‘Certification’ which takes many years of committed study. As such ‘Authorised’ teachers have some specific restrictions placed upon them when they receive this authorisation. They are only allowed to teach the first series (yoga chikitsa) practices to their students. Other restrictions also include that they not be involved in any yoga teacher training programs or operate as traveling yoga teachers around the world. They are also required to make ongoing trips to India to further their education as they work towards Certification. Failure to follow or work within these guidelines has meant that a number of individuals have fallen away and lost the recognition of Authorisation provided by Pattabhi Jois.Those individuals who have lost their Authorisation still have acquired skills but have not completed full training within this system and are no longer seen as being in training. For an up to date list of Authorised teachers please visit http://www.kpjayi.org/teacher_list.html
In the time honoured teacher/student tradition of India, ‘Certified’ individuals are seen as ‘teachers in there own right’ and they take on the responsibilities associated with that role. Included in the role of teacher, is the place and responsibility of said teacher to train one or two individuals. Pattabhi Jois recognised that Certified teachers would in time take on the role of training a small number of teachers themselves. He was always encouraging of those in this position. Certified teachers have never had any restrictions placed upon them, other than be true to the teachings of yoga and continue with their studies. To view the five Certified teachers residing in Australia and their locations please visit http://www.kpjayi.org/teacher_list.html
The AYRI under the leadership of Pattabhi Jois' grandson Sharath continues to operate in India. It offers classes and the opportunity for students to work towards recognition as Authorised or Certified Teachers. Whilst at this time the AYRI does not offer reciprocal recognition to those who have done teacher training outside of India with a Certified teacher, there is the hope that this may change in time. It is worth noting that the many of those who are now Authorised have trained under Certified teachers. For those who seek to train as ashtanga yoga teachers, studying with a Certified teacher will allow you to obtain all of the necessary skills and knowledge as well as be recognised by yoga associations around the world.
Please be aware that whilst we have asked the YTAA (now Yoga Australia) to assess our Teacher Training Course to see whether it meets their guidelines for course content, the YTAA does not have any authority to certify, authorise or accredit any individuals as “Ashtanga Yoga” Teachers.
The stated role of the YTAA is only to assess whether individuals who submit a yoga training course have met an appropriate level of “course content”.
As such whilst the the YTAA may have “Approved” a yoga teacher training course as having fulfilled their requirements for course content, it does not mean that the actual individuals teaching the course are actually Qualified to teach that style of yoga. It is still the prospective trainees role to investigate their teachers stated qualifications.
Of the current Ashtanga Teacher Training Courses you will come across on the YTAA website we are the only Ashtanga Yoga School that is Recognised and Certified by the AYRI in India. We are also the only Certified Ashtanga School in Australia that has submitted our course for YTAA assessment, as we wish to support the needs for high standards for yoga teachers.
This also means that whilst a course may have YTAA approved content, a yoga teacher offering this course is not required to be assessed themselves as actually having undergone appropriate training in that style of yoga and may in fact have no recognised qualification to do so.
Unfortunately a number of individuals who have no legitimate Ashtanga Yoga qualifications are now listing themselves as qualified Ashtanga Yoga Teachers on the YTAA website. Further some of these individuals are now also offering quasi Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training courses via the YTAA website. The ethics, honesty and quality of these so called yoga practitioners/teachers should be considered. As a student you need to ask yourself what you can hope to learn about yoga from such dishonest deceitful people.
In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition Certification and Authorisation are specific words indicating levels of attainment reached in India under Sri Pattabhi Jois. They should not be confused with the same terms often used by other teachers today to describe their having a qualification as a yoga teacher.

Contact

Ashtanga Yoga Shala
Phone
(07) 3420 1010
Website
www.ashtangayogashala.com.au
Address
10 Moreton St,
Brisbane
QLD 4064
Membership #
9001
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