Article
paru au Bindu n° 9
recueilli et rédigé par Ma Sita Savitri
That which is planned is tradition.
That which is unplanned is imagination.
That which is both is spirit.
(old Sufi saying)
The yoga teacher education is a creative process, a dynamic training, a period of learning and, above all, a way of living. This is a process which is outwardly directed towards society, profound in the meditations and the methods we use, as well as in the way we live in our different schools and communities (ashrams).
Our yoga teacher training is not just about meeting occasionally during the week and on certain weekends. It is a full-time education. It attracts people who are serious about yoga, who sincerely seek a meaningful way of living and working - and who will help others too.
Around the education, we have created living conditions which make it possible to realise priorities normally unattainable in society - to incorporate and increase the joy of being, and struggling less towards becoming.
The aim of the education and the training is personal growth and spiritual insight, based on a solid knowledge of yoga and meditation. It is a training which stands in contrast to the media society, where people's minds are filled with information, but where personal experience is lacking. This has a disastrous effect and results in fear, numbness and passivity. Unfortunately many forms of education suffer from this shortcoming. Even some yoga teacher training courses are only about cramming theoretical and mythological knowledge, with very little personal or individual practice, which limits the experience of the effects of yoga and meditation.
It takes a minimum of four years to become an independent yoga teacher at our school and at least two more years if one also wishes to teach meditation.
The education is an exciting and rich chapter in one's life, not something to be undertaken just to receive a diploma. Those who have fulfilled the teacher training receive a diploma according to the length and nature of the education: 1) yoga; 2) yoga and meditation, and finally; 3) yogacharya (a spiritual preceptor and master of yoga). The diploma contains both general and personal information as well as listing what the teacher is qualified to teach.
The yoga teacher training begins with the residential 3-month sadhana course at Haa International retreat Center. Like most courses at this center, it is taught in English. There are no entrance requirements for this retreat, other than the desire to participate and learn what the course offers. (Contact the school for a free course brochure with details or download the brochure from our website.)
This retreat alone is more comprehensive and profound than many of the yoga teacher training courses conducted around the world. Nevertheless, the objective of the 3-month sadhana course is not to educate teachers, nor does it give one the qualification to teach. It is foremost a process for your own development and insight. Regardless of what you will be doing after the 3-month course, it is a learning period which provides a unique basis for your sadhana (your personal practice of yoga and meditation) for years to come. Most people who participate in this retreat do not set out to join the yoga teacher education.
On
the yoga teachers seminar at Haa, in addition to the the classes
in the yoga room, teachers are involved in working on practical tasks together.
Here a drain ring is being manoeuvred into place with the children looking
on in the background.
At the end of the 3-month sadhana course, a talk takes place between the teacher and the student who has decided to join the education. If both parties are satisfied with this interview, then the student commits him/herself to be part of the education and the teacher commits himself to accept and teach the student according to the conditions outlined in this paper.
The education will then take place in one of the city schools and/or at Haa International retreat Center.
Can
the pose be improved a little more? Correcting the Shoulderstand during
a 14-day course at Haa.
The year is divided into three teaching seasons, all of which consist of roughly four months each.
In the summer, the schools in the cities are open most of the time, but the teachers and aspirants also spend time travelling, teaching at holiday resorts and at Haa International retreat Center, as well as carrying out individual tasks. At Haa, they either take part in a retreat or help in running the retreats.
The rest of the year (September - December and January - April), the yoga teacher classes provide theoretical as well as practical insights into yoga.
It
is not enough to be a good yoga teacher. One also has to acquire practical
skills, eg. putting a brochure together at the light table in the school's
layout room in Haa.
The various topics of the training are grouped together to form modules. One major module and other minor ones are dealt with between September and April. All modules are covered in 4 years.
Other subjects that are covered in the same four years in conjunction with the main subjects are:
a) Fundamental concepts of yoga;
b) Tantra, attitude and practices;
c) Original or classical texts;
d) Songs and dances from different parts of the world, with emphasis on
Kirtan (singing of Mantra);
e) Scientific research on yoga and meditation (research done within
the school as well as studies of reports from elsewhere);
f) Basic anatomy and physiology;
g) Yoga for pregnant women;
and more...
Meditation: most teachings on meditation take place in the yoga teacher seminars and the retreats at Haa International retreat Center (see below), in Satsang with Swami Janakananda, in Antar Mauna courses ('Inner Silence', see also Swami Janaknanda's book 'Yoga, Tantra and Meditation in Daily Life') at the larger schools, eg. in Copenhagen and Stockholm, as well as in individual guidance and practice.
The list below includes names of most of the subjects, methods, disciplines or groups of such, that the aspirant will become acquainted with during the education, both in practice and in theory.
Abstract Meditation
Ajapa Japa
Antar Mauna (Inner Silence),
Asana
Awareness
Bandha
Bhakti Yoga
Brahmacharya
Breath Awareness
Chakra
Chakra Arohan/Awarohan
Chaya Upasana
Chidakasha Dharana
Chit-Agni Kriya
Communication
Confrontation
De-automatisation
Dharana and Dhyana; sthula, jyotir, sukshma; swarupa
Dreams
Fundamental concepts of yoga
Hatha Yoga Shat Karmas (Cleansing Processes)
Japa Yoga
Jnana Yoga
Karma Yoga
Kirtan
Kriya Yoga
Kumbhaka
Kundalini Yoga
Laya Yoga
Maithuna, the tantric sexual ritual (in theory)
Mantra
Mauna
Medical research on yoga & meditation:
- reports of external researchers,
- research in which we participate
Mirror Meditation
Mudra
Mysticism
Nadi
Nada Yoga
Non-Meditation
OM chanting
Prana
Prana Vidya
Pranayama
Pratyahara
Public speaking
Raja Yoga
Relaxation
Sadhana
Samadhi
Sankalpa
Satsang
Scriptures of yoga and tantra
Shamanism compared to yoga and tantra
Spontaneous Meditation
Sufi-dancing
Swara Yoga
Tantra
Tratak; Antar, Bahir, Tattwa
Vairagya
Vishuddhi Shuddhi
Visualisation
Viveka
Yantra
Yoga in different (ancient) cultures
Yoga Nidra and, in comparison to Yoga Nidra, subjects such as:
- clinical hypnosis;
- Autogenic Training;
- Progressive Relaxation;
Yoga therapy
The aspirant takes part in three yoga teacher classes every week. Each class is approximately two hours duration. The subjects are:
1. The pedagogy and practice of yoga. Here the teacher-aspirant teaches the other yoga teachers and receives constructive feedback. He or she is taught the structure of the different yoga programs and learns how to teach different levels of students, the content of each class, as well as learning how to progress from week to week and from season to season.
2. The past week... Through questions and reports from the teaching of the ordinary classes in the school, the aspirant continuously receives the necessary guidance as the education progresses (see also below, the first year).
3. Each of the above-mentioned four modules is presented through:
a. Source material in the form of texts.
b. Scientific reports.
c. Practical classes in the methods pertaining to the subjects of the current module.
d. Individual practice and experience of the methods listed in relation to the module.
Every week one also attends the group meditations and participates as a student or an assistant teacher in the yoga and/or meditation classes for the general public taught by the more experienced teachers of the school.
Every season, Swami Janakananda gives satsang in the different ashrams - and teaches Antar Mauna (Inner Silence) courses in which the aspirant participates.
An indispensable part of the education and training is Karma Yoga. It involves working together and communicating with the other yoga teachers in running the yoga school. This includes all tasks, such as writing, learning to use and work with computers, making lay-outs and distributing brochures, creating our magazine Bindu, keeping the gift shop, communicating with pupils, administration, planning courses, food preparation, cleaning, bookkeeping, caring for and training our horses, farming and gardening, forestry work, construction, looking after the students' children during classes on the residential courses, counselling and, of course, teaching.
"Karma Yoga trains your awareness and boosts your energy. It is easy to intellectually know what to do and how to handle a situation or a task, but what happens in practice? Are you able to break with old habits and limiting influences? You will know this through committing yourself to Karma Yoga.
The attitude of Karma Yoga is essential for a yoga teacher. You do what is necessary and you learn not to be self-concerned. There should be no ulterior motives for teaching yoga. I expect the pupils to say good-bye when they leave, but I do not expect them to thank me. This does not mean that there is a lack of communication...
The ashram forms a good foundation for imparting Karma Yoga in practice." (Mira, leader of the school in Stockholm)
"In the Yoga teacher education, we work practically with abilities essential for good leadership: Overview by handling various kinds of tasks, intuition through personal practice, training in communication and a conscious relationship to responsibility. The training is not laid down in advance, but evolves as a personal course according to capacities and skills - in the same way as the dynamics of a sound organisation.
Actually, I experience that the education touches upon an essence behind it all, which goes deeper than theory of leadership and communication analysis. It is the spontaneous ability to be present and act in a given situation without having a motive. Paradoxically this attitude does not connect with a society built on competition - a leader for no reason at all..." (Uri)
The
school continuously collaborates with doctors and researchers in scientific
research on yoga and meditation. Here a teacher is being measured at the University
Clinic in Cologne. EEG, breath, blood pressure, and other data, are gathered
in a computer for analysis and evaluation.
A fundamental part of the education is the annual program of four yoga teacher seminars at Haa International retreat Center: two weeks in May, two weeks in August/September, a weekend in October and two and a half weeks in December.
These seminars are guided by Swami Janakananda together with experienced yoga teachers from the different branches of the school.
Since we have students in the group not only from the Scandinavian countries but from other countries as well, the common language is English.
Apart from the general practices of yoga, meditation and satsangs, each seminar has a main topic or theme, around which classes and discussions take place.
The seminars are quite intensive and serve to strengthen the meditation and insights of the individual teachers - the seminars also function as a 'cleansing process' at the end of each season. They allow the teachers to more thoroughly let go of the influences and tensions collected during the busy work of teaching in the various schools - to again and again recharge, center oneself and reaffirm the perspectives of the work we are doing. Therefore only a few hours each day are dedicated to strictly 'theoretical' classes.
During these seminars, there is a focus on the individual's practice of yoga and meditation. Each day starts with Kriya Yoga practice in the meditation hall (which is also the case for daily life in the schools), and followed up by one or two yoga classes during the day. In the evening apart from talks and discussions, there are group meditations and sometimes kirtan (music and dance).
The teachers and teacher-aspirants from all the ashrams meet and exchange experiences. Furthermore, the education is co-ordinated here for each season between the school's different branches. We also work together with various practical tasks, eg. the production of our magazine Bindu, as well as keeping the Haa Retreat Center well maintained .
People come and go. And some of the independent teachers who have finished their formal education keep returning to the yoga teacher seminars in Haa. However, the size of the actual yoga teacher group has remained stable for the last 15 years, around 30 - 35 people. With this size the intensity is kept and everyone knows each other. Swami Janakananda, as the teacher, is able to communicate with and give every aspirant a personal, thorough and deep-going training.
From time to time, medical doctors and other researchers from the fields of psychology have been invited as guest teachers on the yoga teacher education, mostly at our yoga teacher seminars. Courses have been conducted with Roop Verma in the type of Nada Yoga taught to and practised by Indian musicians. Other courses held include: the Tantric Yantra given by the Indian tantric painter Sohan Qadri; Sufi dancing (see picture); African drumming and dancing. We have also had an intensive course in time management, conflict resolution, and communication with Robyn Taylor, a highly qualified trainer from Australia. We have had a speech pedagogue and a neuro-psychologist with whom we have also conducted research.
Ajit
Mookerjee, who has written many books on Tantric art, and Jabrane Sebnat, a
Moroccan Sufi master, are just two of the guest teachers who have met with
the yoga teacher group at Haa over the years.
The first year is preceded by participation in the 3-month course in Haa, from January to April. After the course, the aspirant remains living in Haa, providing back-up for the summer courses. When the summer is over, he or she moves to one of the other ashrams in the cities, eg. Stockholm, Copenhagen, Århus, Hannover or continues to live at Haa International Retreat Center. (Often part of the training is to move to another ashram after living a year or two in one place - and perhaps later, to a third one.) There the aspirants take part in the daily work and attend the yoga teacher classes.
Sadhana: One's own independent yoga and meditation practice is part of the daily routine of every year, for the duration of the education.
Teaching practice: The aspirants start to teach one or two beginner classes during this year under the guidance of an experienced teacher.
In the second year, the individual practice of the aspirants is continued, deepened and stabilised further. The yoga teacher classes are continued. The aspirants begin to teach more classes and assume responsibilities in the various Karma Yoga tasks. During the summer, they help at Haa and take part in one of the 14-day courses there.
During the third year the activities are similar. Now the aspirant has gained experience and assumes more responsibility in the running of the school, in administration and planning, with the education and in teaching and guiding others.
The fourth year is like the third year. The aspirants now start to prepare for teaching meditation. After the fourth year, they have more and more opportunities to teach meditation.
Naturally the education varies according to individual needs and wishes, motivation and abilities. A yoga teacher education alone, however, is no guarantee, it is up to the individual - or as said by Swami Satyananda: "yoga does not liberate you, that you do yourself".
Yoga
show with Swami Janakananda and yoga teachers in the Olympia Hall, London,
1979. The picture below on the left is from the same show, while the picture
on the right is from a teaching situation at the same event.
From time to time, starting with the International Convention in Monghyr in 1973, groups of teachers travel and participate in international yoga conventions, some under the auspices of The International Yoga Fellowship Movement. In 1977, the School itself arranged such a convention: Yoga, Meditation ´77 under the patronage of Swami Satyananda. A group of teachers visited Swami Satyananda in Deoghar in 1994, another group participated in a convention held in Bogota in 1995 and Sydney Australia in 1996, to name a few.
Groups of teachers and aspirants have also participated in several festivals such as Body, Mind and Spirit in London, New York, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm and other cities.
We, the majority of the yoga teachers, do not call ourselves sannyasins (initiates) and only a few of us have received a swami initiation over the years. Some of the participants have received new names. This is based on a personal resolution and is not required in order to be part of the ashram or education. However, the life we lead is as intense as, and is consistent with that of, a sannyasin - a joyful balance between the inner life supported by meditation, and the life in society as active and creative teachers. Titles and the external show of rituals do not seem to matter much to the Nordic people; what really matters is a meaningful lifestyle and the way we explore our potential (sadhana).
Many of us have had valuable training and communication with Swami Janakananda for more than the traditional twelve years. We are now seen as teachers and preceptors rather than students, running the various schools in co-operation with each other. Others have, after many years in the school, created independent schools or are teaching on their own.
Single individuals, as well as families with children, live in the schools.
There are also people living and participating in the ashram who do not want to become yoga teachers but who wish to devote a period of their lives to sadhana, where they can work with yoga and meditation in the best possible environment.
Many of the teachers' initial motive for joining the school was, in fact, to live in a place where sadhana was part of daily life. Little by little, however, they began to see the usefulness and value in teaching yoga to others.
Haa International Retreat Center can provide details of the fees for the education.
The fees have been kept low as one lives an integrated life in the ashram. With higher costs, one would probably have employment obligations elsewhere, without time to spare and it would be impossible to receive a comprehensive training and education.
Personal growth cannot be measured in terms of money or time. Time and motivation, however, make it possible to obtain substantial and consistent guidance according to a tradition that is alive and timeless.
Paramhamsa Satyananda at the congress Meditation, Yoga'77 in Stockholm.
The education actually has three objectives, that:
And last but not least:
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