Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training
Ashtanga Yoga is a living lineage of yoga, with the current lineage holder being Sharath Jois, grandson of the modern master of Ashtanga Yoga - Sri K Pattabhi Jois. Jois dedicated his life to refining and teaching the Ashtanga Yoga method. Jois was a student of Sri T Krishnamacharya, who was also the teacher of BKS Iyengar (Iyengar Yoga) and TKV Desikachar (his son). Sri T Krishnamacharya gave each of his students different aspects of his knowledge and each went on to refine this knowledge into very different systems of yoga. The Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga method was entrusted to Pattabhi Jois, whose name is synonymous with this powerful, flowing practice.
The Yoga Space offers Ashtanga Yoga classes with Authorised Ashtanga Yoga teachers Jean Byrne and Rob Schutze, who were given their Authorisation by Pattabhi Jois himself and are part of this living lineage.
To become an Authorised or Certified Ashtanga Yoga teacher it is essential that you undertake regular study at the K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India. Ashtanga Yoga teacher training is unlike teacher training in the west. There is not a set course curriculum or learning outcomes and you can not just apply to be accepted into a course. Ashtanga Yoga training is based on the age old model of parampara - transmission. In the parampara model a teacher passes their knowledge directly and undiluted to each student.
Over the past decade the number of Ashtanga Yoga teacher training courses outside of Mysore, India have radically increased. None of these courses are recognised by the the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute. The ONLY way to become an Authorised or Certified teacher is through going to the source many times. Many people waste a great deal of their time and money pursuing the goal of becoming an Ashtanga Yoga teacher by undertaking Ashtanga Yoga teacher training outside of Mysore, India.
If you wish to become an Ashtanga Yoga teacher the steps towards Authorisation are as follows:
- 1) Spend a couple of years attending a 5 or 6 day a week Ashtanga Mysore program with an Authorised Ashtanga Yoga teacher (currently the only such program in Perth with Authorised teachers is at The Yoga Space).
- 2) As soon as you are able, go to the source (Mysore India). Go not to learn how to teach, or to become a teacher, but to pay your respects to the living lineage of Ashtanga Yoga.
- 3) Continue to visit Mysore regularly and develop a relationship with Sharath Jois, whom Guruji passed the Ashtanga Yoga lineage to when he died. He will become your teacher.
- 4) Continue to study in India every year, and when it is appropriate, and after many years, you may be offered Authorisation to teach.
Unlike training courses in the West Ashtanga Yoga teacher training is not something you can pay for and then "get". Of course money is involved in terms of tuition, but pure and direct transmission is the only way to gain Authorisation. And if you do not have humility, love and dedication for the practice and study in Mysore, you will not become Authorised. Indeed to maintain Authorisation teachers must return every 18 months to Mysore for further study.
It is deeply saddening that soon after the death of Sri K Pattabhi Jois in 2009, Ashtanga Yoga teacher training courses, which were directly against Pattabhi Jois' wishes, are proliferating. They do a great disservice to the lineage of Ashtanga Yoga and mislead many students (and then their students also!). Rather than leading the students into the light, these courses can create more confusion.
It is our intention at the Yogaspace to continue this lineage and preserve the teaching of Pattabhi Jois with humility, dedication and love. We invite anyone with a sincere interest in teaching Ashtanga Yoga to honour the lineage, the practice and themselves, by travelling to the source in Mysore, India.
For further info on the KPJ Ashtanga Yoga Institute and to find the definitive list of Authorised teachers see www.kpjayi.org (note: before 2008 the official list of Authorised teachers was published on www.ashtanga.com. Before his death in 2009, Pattabhi Jois took over publishing this list and ashtanga.com's teachers page now lists various Authorised and unauthorised Ashtanga teachers).