As yoga's incredible health and healing properties become more widely known, the demand for qualified yoga instructors keeps on rising. Many yoga enthusiasts who were trapped in unsatisfying careers took the first step toward personal fulfillment by enrolling in a Power Yoga instructor certification program.
Power Yoga, currently the most popular form in the United States, is a practice that combines the strength and flexibility training of traditional Ashtanga Yoga with a series of moves designed to heighten the intensity of the overall workout. In Ashtanga, practitioners complete a specific set of poses, transitioning from one movement to the next without stopping. This series is repeated until the set has been mastered, and only then does one move on to the next level of difficulty. Ashtanga is an especially challenging form of yoga. Few students progress beyond the second or third sets, and only the most dedicated yogis go on to complete all six.
In the 1990's, yoga teachers Beryl Bender Birch and Bryan Kest, in New York and Los Angeles respectively, developed from Ashtanga a fitness-based technique that would make yoga more accessible to beginners. It was given the name "Power Yoga" in an attempt to appeal to American audiences, and its popularity soared. Power Yoga is ideal for newcomers to the practice who may be unfamiliar with yoga's more complex poses, but are still seeking a challenging workout that will improve their balance and core strength. In Ashtanga, the focus is as much on introspection as on balance. Power Yoga utilizes that same meditative philosophy, but puts a stronger emphasis on energy, movement, and cardio. It incorporates more poses that are performed in a standing position to increase the heart rate, and is particularly useful for students who are trying to lose weight as they build strength. Through Power Yoga, students become more in tune with their bodies, discovering their limits and abilities as they strive for the healthiest physiques possible, whatever that looks like for each person.
While Ashtanga provides no variation in its strict series of poses, Power Yoga draws poses from a variety of styles and at times adjusts them for maximum fitness. Its content might change on a class-to-class basis. Because there is no exact standard for what constitutes "Power Yoga," instructors have the creative leeway to construct their own individualized classes according to personal preferences or the skill level of their students.
For many prospective instructors, the search for a certification program begins at the local yoga studio, many of which host training classes. Unfortunately, the surge in yoga's popularity came with an accompanying surge in teacher training scams. A school should be registered with the Yoga Alliance, which sets the national standards for yoga trainers. Trainees must complete a 200-hour course, which covers anatomy, sequencing and yoga philosophy, as well as the fundamentals of teaching, in order to meet the minimum requirements. This can take anywhere from a couple months up to a full year, depending on how intensive the program. From there, trainees may choose to extend their training to 500 hours for a more in-depth course of study.
Whether they made a complete career change or simply wanted to teach part time, countless instructors have found leading Power Yoga classes to be a physically challenging but deeply rewarding pursuit.
Faye Martins, is a Yoga teacher and a graduate of the Yoga teacher training program at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. To receive Free Yoga videos, Podcasts, e-Books, reports, and articles about Yoga, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/
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