This is the 4th of a series of interviews with graduates from the Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher training program offered through Body Therapies Yoga Training.

What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must do?

Homework!!! No seriously… Learn… But more importantly practice. And be enthusiastic about it. In the IYT training there is a lot of information to cover but it’s all important. The more you put in the more you get out. K. Pattabhi Jois says “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory.”

And do your breathing exercises…they help!!
What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must avoid?

Your ego and a closed mind… As a beginner student and teacher trainee I went in with the mentality that Yoga is supposed to be something specific or done in a certain way. The more you learn about this entity known as Yoga, the more you learn that Yoga and everything surrounding it is constantly changing. Our lives are changing… Our philosophies are changing… Yoga done with an open mind will help you to flow and adapt with that change.

Is being a yoga teacher just trendy or is it here to stay?

I would say for some it is a trend but for some it’s a way of life. For me, I give my energy to Yoga and Yoga gives it’s energy back. In the end I believe that those who begin to teach Yoga from a pure intention will be in it for the long journey. But once you start, I can’t fathom how you could ever stop.

Can a yoga teacher still be successful if they are in a crowded niche?

Yes !!! For sure… Every Yoga practitioner has their own little piece of themselves that they bring to their teaching… People connect with this. No matter how you teach, or what style you teach, you will find students that are attracted to your style and personality of teaching. And the more you can expand your teachings the wider spectrum of students you will attract.

What has the yoga teacher training done for you?

What hasn’t teacher training done for me??? It’s funny because in the beginning of IYT Teacher Training I was all about the Asanas. And I was so stuck in the physical body. I came in with the expectation that we were going to learn how to teach Asana and maybe get into the philosophy a little bit. In some instances I became slightly disappointed in the curriculum because I felt we weren’t focusing on the poses enough. Boy was I wrong!!! One of the most important things that Teacher Training did for me was help me put my ego and expectations aside.

I learned about Yoga and not just Asana. It turned me into a more well rounded and holistic teacher. It taught me that I don’t just do Yoga when I step on my mat and do crow pose or headstand… It taught me that I can “be” my Yoga every minute of every day. IYT gave me the foundation to be a true Yogi and not just someone that teaches poses. Most importantly I learned that maybe I don’t need to try so hard… especially in Standing Half Moon. Thank you Heather for everything… and I do mean everything.

Steve Ferrell RYT, PTS
Teaches Group and Private Yoga/ Personal Trainer/ Boot Camps
(905)297-7318
steveferrell23@gmail.com
www.ifreeyoga.blogspot.com

If you are interested in becoming a yoga teacher, check for information on www.yogatogo.com and send us an email at heather@yogatogo.com or give us a call at 905-628-6463.

What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must do?
Expect the Unexpected!
Share your experience with your loved ones – this will help shape and strengthen your support network. The more aware they are, the easier it will be for them to listen and be there for you.

What is one thing that every yoga teacher trainee must avoid?
Forgetting that boundaries and finish lines do not exist when one is learning. Wholehearted dedication to self study and personal practice will harvest the best reward.

We cannot hold a torch to light another’s path without brightening our own.–Ben Sweetland

Is being a yoga teacher just trendy or is it here to stay?
For some, it is a trend and one cannot judge the path that those are travelling. With luck those individuals will meet a teacher who will share the traditions and origins of yoga that have withstood time. As the stability and history of yoga is understood it is then obvious what amazing gifts a teacher can give to the world around them and within.

Can a yoga teacher still be successful if they are in a crowded niche?
If the teacher remains true to themselves, then yes, they will be successful. Every individual has unique gifts to offer and likewise there are special people waiting to receive them.

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.--Albert Einstein

What has the yoga teacher training done for you?
The training has opened my heart and inner courage to pursue my dreams for a full and healthy life. It has allowed me to become more comfortable in my own skin.

Laura Young, Burlington, Ontario   LOGANL@dal.ca

I would like to believe when I die that I have given myself away like a tree that sows seed every spring and never counts the loss, because it is not loss, it is adding to future life. It is the tree’s way of being. Strongly rooted perhaps, but spilling out its treasure on the wind.–May Sarton

Laura Young graduated in 2008 through Body Therapies Yoga Training, Hamilton, Ontario. www.yogatogo.com

Joseph LePage founder of Integrative Yoga Therapy.

Joseph grew up in suburban California and left to search for something more real. He first visited India in 1974. He was 20 years old and a student of anthropology in Kenya, East Africa. He dropped out of school for a year and set off to discover the world with a backpack and a few dollars. He began by hitch-hiking the length of Africa from Kenya to South Africa. After 8 months he sailed third-class from Kenya to Bombay, and on a “music club” evening on the deck of the ship he met a spiritual teacher from India. Joseph says that it was in India that he began to understand human suffering.

His next trip to India was in 1984 as a photojournalist. It was this journey that allowed him to see another India, as he had the opportunity to step into the lives of the rich and famous of the country. He walked in Indira Gandhi’s funeral procession. As he boarded a plane back home, he writes “Mother India has worked her magic of transformation again.” The journalist was left behind and something new was being created.

The following year he left journalism to begin his healing journey. One day he hiked into the Himalayas to see a hermetic Tibetan monk. In answer to Joseph’s question, “How can I overcome fear?” the monk answered with another question, “If you love other people and treat them with kindness and compassion, what would you ever have to be afraid of?“

During this trip Joseph volunteered as an English teacher for the Tibetan refugee community, and had the opportunity to have a one-hour private audience with the Dalai Lama. He was deeply impressed with the Dali Lama’s simplicity and humor, and also the depth and presence of clarity. The Dalai Lama took Joseph’s hand between his two hands with “simplicity and love like that of two small boys perfectly content in the moment that surrounds them.” Joseph continues, As we walked slowly and in silence, I felt a light and a prayer rising within my heard: “I offer my life for the benefit of others“. For the first time in his life, he realized that fear had been left behind.

As a yoga teacher in the Kripalu tradition and a body-worker whose special focus was energy healing, Joseph founded Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) in 1993. The IYT program developed out of Joseph’s studies of traditional healing arts in over one hundred countries, together with his master’s degree work in experiential education. Joseph has trained over 3000 yoga teachers and yoga therapists around the world, and is recognized as a creative and innovative teacher. He lives in South Brazil with his wife Lilian, also a yoga teacher, where they own and operate Enchanted Mountain Yoga Center.