Yoga Teacher Training in India: A Palliative to Our Stressed Society
Yoga teacher training in India did not exist in our country a thousand years ago. Nevertheless, this science or practice subsisted as part of tantric civilization in ancient times.
We have proof of existence of yoga during primeval times.
At Harrapa and Mohenjodaro, archeological excavations have discovered idols of deities resembling Lord Shiva performing asanas in various postures. With this unearthing, we can assume that some section of people in those days had access to yogic sciences.
At the same time, we can also presuppose teaching of yoga was not imparted to students as we know it today.
We do know, however, that all forms of instruction in ancient India followed guru-shishya paramapara or a culture that denoted a tradition of succession of teachers and disciples.
The present is a far cry from ancient times.
Today, due to paucity of time, mentoring as was done during the Vedic period cannot be performed. Yet, for a person to obtain a true yoga teacher training certification, he or she must imbibe at least some of the values of our ancient teachers.
Typically, we can list those values as follows:
• Establishment of a true guru-shishya or teacher-disciple relationship • The teacher’s formal recognition of this relationship-based student aptitude, behavior and progress in learning • Shishya or the student having genuine reverence to the guru as a person and with respect to his or her teachings
Unfortunately, many of us engrossed in this fast paced life with cars, cell phones and computers as our primary tools do not understand the crux of yoga.
We believe yoga is a set of exercises having magical power to cure many of our ills. We presume that what we need to improve our well-being is a slot of time in a day to perform some set of exercises.
Sadly, nothing is farther from this conviction.
The truth is yoga is the science of right living. Yoga works on all aspects of a person’s being – spiritual, intuitive, mental and emotional. As such, it has to be incorporated in all facets of our behavior and lifestyles throughout the day.
What is the true meaning of yoga?
Yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word yuj, meaning to join. So, the right meaning of yoga is to unify. In practical aspects, yoga is a tool to balance and harmonize body, mind and emotions.
On a spiritual level, yoga means uniting individual consciousness with spiritual consciousness.
While yoga’s central goal is to follow a spiritual path, yogic exercises do provide direct and tangible benefits, regardless of a person’s sex, age, physical well-being or vocation.
True yoga teacher training in India must, therefore, blend yogic postures teaching with concurrent guidance on the path to mental and spiritual harmony.
Students desirous of learning yoga must shun embryonic schools that are highly commercialized and do not have a set of genuine teachers.
They must select yoga institutes that have a record of genuine accomplishments.
The famed yoga guru Swami Satyananda Saraswati had rightly said, “Yoga is the most invaluable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow.”
Yoga teacher training, India will do the greatest service to the society, if present and future yoga teachers imbibe and propagate this saying of Swami Satyananda.
About the Author
Rishikesh Yog Shala, run by Yogi Sudhir, conducts Yoga Teachers Training Courses. This institute for yoga teacher training, India is considered the best in Rishikesh with years of learning and research experiences. Students obtain yoga teacher training certification after successfully completing a traditional 200 hours course.
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