If you are looking for a teacher make sure that he/she is fully insured. Ask where he got his qualification from. What type of course they done, how many hours the course was. Anything less than 200 hours is not good enough!!

There are western teachers with fancy Indian names… don’t fall for that!! Lots of western teachers change their name to Indian names... it means nothing. It does not make them a better teacher. Generally a teacher from a reputable tradition like Sivananda, Iyengar Institude, the British Wheel of Yoga are save bet!

There are too many yoga organizations involved in training teachers to list them all here. The best known in the British Isles are: Viniyoga Britain; the British Wheel of Yoga; the Irish Yoga Association and the European Union of Yoga.
Viniyoga Britain teachers have to attend a two years foundation course, before enrolling for a four year teacher training course.
The British Wheel of Yoga and the European Union of Yoga are "umbrella groups" who approve teacher training courses that meet their standards. Generally, these standards are a minimum requirement of three years training and a requirement that one should have practiced yoga for some time before enrolling in a teacher training course.
The Irish Yoga Association is now affiliated to the European Union of Yoga and runs a three year teacher training course which meets their standards.
The Yoga Alliance, an American association of yoga teachers established in 1998, maintains a Yoga Teachers' Registry, originally for teachers in the US, but some European teachers are now registering as well. The Yoga Alliance also registers yoga schools whose teacher training programs (200 hours and 500 hours training courses) meet their standards.

To summarize, these are the points to consider:

• Is the teacher insured fully?
• Is he/she from a reputable organization (Iyengar, Sivananda, the British Wheel of Yoga etc)?
• If he/she is Ashtanga teacher, is he/she trained by a Certified Teacher or by an authorized teacher?
• How long has he/she been teaching?
• How many hours training has he/she had? Any thing less than 200 hours is not good enough!
• Ask around... a recommendation is the best bet!
• Don’t book a block course... go to one or two classes and see yourself whether you like the style, type and teacher!

Editor’s note: If you have any opinion about this article please write to us

yogalive@aol.com

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