Yahweh Yoga Blog: Five Factors to Consider If You Want to Become a Christian Yoga Teacher

Yahweh Yoga Blog: Five Factors to Consider If You Want to Become a Christian Yoga Teacher

Christian yoga is growing and thriving in churches, studios and community centers across North America. For those of us who follow Christ, integrating the Bible, prayer and Christian music with our yoga practice makes for more than merely a physical workout. On our yoga mats, we can reflect and meditate on Scripture, worship and praise our Creator and exercise our bodies.

Some of us who discover the joy of Christian yoga want to share it with others by becoming Christian yoga teachers. To pursue our dream, we have two options: we can study in a traditional yoga school and adapt our teaching style; or study in an exclusively Christian yoga teacher training program.

Just open the pages of Yoga Journal, and you’ll find myriad options for traditional yoga schools. You may have to do a little more research to find a Christian yoga school. The internet is a good place to start. Once you identify your options, here are a few factors to consider when weighing which program best suits you:

1.)Cost

Make sure you understand what you’re paying for when you invest your time and resources in a Christian yoga school program. What’s included in the program’s total cost–Meals? Accommodations? Travel? Textbooks?

2.)Credentials

Make sure that your Christian yoga school of choice bears the marks of a respected, established and credible institution. Is the school registered with Yoga Alliance? How many teachers have they trained? Do they comply with their state’s regulatory and educational institution requirements?

3) Curriculum

Make sure you know what will you study and how you will train. Does the curriculum include Biblical instruction? Teaching methodology? Basic anatomy? Yoga postures? Yoga history? How much of your training will be hands-on? How much will be from textbooks or online materials?

4) Certification

Once you graduate, what certification(s) will you receive? Will you receive designation as a Yoga Alliance-certified Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT)? What certification will designate you specifically as a Christian instructor? Will most employers accept the certification you’ll receive?

5) Calling

Spend some quiet time alone with God. Search your heart and His Word. Ask Him to direct your steps and help you find the place that will best equip you for your work and ministry.

Teaching Christian yoga is much more than just a job. It’s both a privilege and responsibility. Take time to pray and think through each step of the process.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” (Psalm 32:8) That’s a promise to claim for any big life decision, including the one to become a Christian yoga teacher.

Links:
www.yahwehyoga.com
www.newdayyoga.com
www.yogaalliance.com

Yahweh Yoga Blog: CCYT and RYT: Excellence for the Christian Yoga Teacher

CCYT and RYT: Excellence for the Christian Yoga Teacher

I was hooked. Within months of taking my first yoga class, I began to consider teaching. I wanted to understand more about yoga and to share it with others.

Great instruction at local studios further fueled my desire to teach. I developed a powerful vision: to incorporate my faith in Jesus with my yoga practice. My research on Christian yoga teacher training led me to several sources. My yoga school choice purely was a “God thing.” With one phone call, I loved Yahweh Yoga’s approach. I found there a mutual passion for Jesus and yoga. My excitement mounted as I took the first steps toward becoming a Christian yoga teacher.

When I began my online studies, I saw the value of the double certification I was pursuing, as both a Certified Christian Yoga Teacher (CCYT) and a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). Potential employers asked about my yoga school and certification. Most, but not all, of them indicated they would require RYT certification to hire me.

Now that I’ve graduated, I fully appreciate the value of my dual certification. I’ve started my own yoga business, intentionally incorporating the word “Christian” into my business name, because I want to teach Yahweh Yoga-style Christian yoga. My passion is to share wellness with other believers through Christian yoga. My CCYT certification identifies my instruction as uniquely Christian.

In some ways, my RYT certification from Yoga Alliance is icing on the cake; but not really. I now understand that it’s the gold standard of excellence within the yoga industry at large. If I choose, I’m qualified to teach in just about any studio as an RYT. And, to tell you the truth, I think my RYT earns respect and credibility within and outside of the yoga community.

My training has equipped me to deliver safe, quality instruction for all of my students. Because believe me, 250 hours of teacher training is not for the faint of heart. Meeting the RYT standards took commitment, hard work and some personal sacrifice.

Was it worth it? Unequivocally. As a Christian yoga teacher, I live in the best of both worlds with dual certification. It was worth the time, effort and investment to achieve both the CCYT and RYT designations. They reinforce the excellence and intensity of my professional and spiritual preparation for the role to which Jesus has called me. I’m equipped and qualified to carry out this exciting new role as a Christian yoga teacher.

I serve a God who does all things with excellence. So, as I represent Him in my life and in my Christian yoga instruction, I’m happy that the caliber of my training and credentials give me opportunity to share Him with my students. That, after all, is what it’s all about.

Christian Yoga Thrives in Italy: Meet Jo-Dee Collins

Yahweh Yoga Graduate Jo-Dee Collins teaches Christian Yoga in Penne, Italy

We asked Jo-Dee, owner of Abruzzo Yoga to share her views on teaching Christian Yoga. Here is what she had to say:

Why did you decide to become a Christian Yoga teacher?
I started leading some friends in yoga classes and they wanted to pay me and I was uncomfortable accepting money without being certified. When I started looking into schools, I wanted to find something that fit my religious views and the Lord led me to Yahweh Yoga.

What benefits do you receive by practicing Christian Yoga?
Mostly, I have learned to be quiet and listen to Him instead of listing my prayers and desires. I wait on Him to guide me. What I have found is I receive a lot more when I remain quiet.

Has Christian Yoga helped your health? If so, how?
I am learning more and more about my body and how it reacts to different things. I have cut out caffeine and have started to eliminate dairy and meat from my diet, and I see how much better I feel and how much more energy I have.

How has Christian Yoga helped your personality “off the mat?”
I love teaching my students about the things yoga can teach us and how we can use those things outside the studio..My favorite is “Find the peace within the struggle.”

How has Christian Yoga helped you help others?
I have learned that even though my love for yoga is strong and I wish to share the benefits with as many people as possible, Christian Yoga has taught me my passion: to provide a safe, nurturing environment where people let down their guard, feel cared for, and ultimately engage in a deeper relationship with their creator. This takes a lot of time with some people.

I have many students who are non believers and they only want to come for my strictly hatha classes. But even in those classes, I have asked the Holy Spirit to be present, to protect my students and fill the studio with love. I then try to prepare my students hearts and minds to receive the truth their hearts and souls have to say to them. Sometimes it is humbling to them and sometimes it is overwhelming with love. But whatever it may be, I want them to feel it through Christ.

What made you choose to travel so far to study at Yahweh Yoga?
It really wasn’t my choice. I believe the Lord provided. We have friends who live only minutes from the studio (via bike) and the idea that I could spend a month living with them and commuting without a car, was just plain and simple - a miracle provided by God.

What impact do you make on others when you teach Christian Yoga?
Only the Lord knows that. I just am happy when my students feel happy.

What does teaching Christian yoga mean to you? I feel like I have found my purpose.

What is most important to you about your students?
Providing them with a safe haven, where the outside world doesn’t exists and they feel loved, protected and free to explore their hearts, minds, souls and bodies.

What was your favorite part of your training and stay at Yahweh Yoga?
I don’t think there was any one thing I could say was my favorite part, it was all wonderful. But what I treasure the most are the relationships that have developed through that course. They are not only life long, they are eternal.

Honestly, I just love each and everyday to have the opportunity to do what I love and hopefully bring others closer to Christ. What more is there to life than that?

***

If you feel called to learn more about the Yahweh Yoga Christian Yoga RYT program, please see our FAQ.

Ashley Getz: Bringing Together Christian Yoga and Dance Therapy

Meet Christian Yoga Instructor and future Dance Therapist Ashley Getz

Many people become Christian Yoga teachers for personal fulfillment. Others become certified in order to teach yoga classes in a local studio. But for Registered Yoga Teacher Ashley Getz, Christian Yoga is providing a way to outreach to those from all different walks of life.

Ashley teaches Christian Yoga while she studies Dance Therapy as a second-year graduate student at the celebrated Pratt Institute in New York City. She has used her studies to work in a variety of settings; a methadone clinic (substance abuse), homeless shelters, and mental health.

Getting Her Start

Ashley first discovered Christian Yoga while she was earning her undergraduate degree in Modern Dance from Arizona State University.

After taking a studio class at Yahweh Yoga, Ashley knew it was an answer to her prayers and believed God had led her to Christian Yoga. She felt that it aligned perfectly with what God was calling her into as a dance therapist. “I love to dance and I love the Lord,” she says. “With Christian Yoga, I felt like I could use my body to glorify God.”

Ashley quickly moved from taking studio classes to enrolling in the Yahweh Yoga Christian Yoga Teacher Training program, where she graduated in 2007 with her RYT designation. The following summer, she went home to Michigan where she taught classes all summer to family and friends. Five women from her home town including her mother and two sisters, loved Christian yoga so much that they recently also got certified through Yahweh Yoga.

Looking Forward

When she graduates in 2010, Ashley wants to pursuer her career as a Dance Therapist as well as teaching Christian Yoga. “I would first like to stay working in a clinical setting,” Ashley says. “Eventually I would like to start my own practice where I can combine Dance Therapy with Christian Yoga.”

Dance Therapy is well-known as a psychotherapeutic use of movement that effects changes emotionally, cognitively, physically, and socially in individuals. So what can Christian Yoga add to a patient’s treatment regime?

“Yoga and dance by themselves are extremely therapeutic,” explains Ashley. “But without the Lord there is no hope. I believe Christian Yoga can provide individuals true healing, which can only come from Jesus Christ.”

A letter from DeAnna on transformation through Christian Yoga

Treasured Students and Friends,

So many of you have been asking me how at 65+ years of age (and having healed myself naturally of breast cancer) I am able to have the health and stamina that allows me to run a company and kick the booty of 21 year olds in my yoga classes. My reply is always “through personal emotional, spiritual and physical transformation”.

Lately, in our teacher training program I am seeing more and more students who want a “personal transformation” to transition once and for all into a healthy lifestyle just as much as they want to become Christian yoga teachers.

Our graduates tell us everyday their experience in our teacher training program greatly exceeded their expectations. It is our blessing to hear students comment that they never expected such inner-personal growth emotionally, spiritually and physically.  We find ourselves having more and more students who want the personal transformation of immersing themselves in the knowledge and practice of the Christian yoga lifestyle.

If you’ve been looking for a personal transformation this opportunity awaits you. We still have a few spaces left in our November RYT program and you are welcome to take the course for your own personal growth. Of course, you never know where these new credentials will take you. People worldwide call us everyday for teachers in their area and we simply can’t meet the demand.

Perhaps your heart has been pulling at you to take our course. Perhaps now is the time. If so, please contact us and register for your personal transformational experience. Financing terms are available. Please see our teacher training FAQ for more information.

In His Service,
DeAnna

If you want an introduction to our nutrition program come this Saturday to our Eating and Healthy Living workshop, meet some of the students in our current teacher training program and check it out for yourself.

RosaLee Rundvall: Wanting to help Christians get healthy

One month ago, RosaLee Rundvall graduated from the Yahweh Yoga Online Teacher Training Program. We caught up with RosaLee and asked her to share her thoughts on Christian Yoga, health, and her plans for the future.

Why did you decide to get your CCYT designation?

I had started with another yoga program but I was very uncomfortable with some of the contents of the course so I withdrew from it. Soon after that Yahweh Yoga offered their on line training and I jumped at the opportunity. It was wonderful to be able to learn yoga with other like minded Christian women. I want to be able to help other Christians become healthier people and having the CCYT opens up more opportunities to bring yoga to Christians who may have never tried yoga before.

As a new Christian Yoga teacher, what are your plans starting out?

I don’t have it all sorted out yet but I hope to teach in churches or community centers and maybe someday open my own studio.

What was your favorite part of the Yahweh Yoga teacher training experience?

My favorite part of the training was being with a tribe of women who share the same values and beliefs and to grow with them in our training. They are all such wonderful women and I treasure the friendships and love that I experienced from all of them.

What benefits do you receive by practicing Christian Yoga?

Christian Yoga gives me health, strength, balance, peace and a time in my day to spend time with God and worship him. It always makes my day better when I practice Christian Yoga.

What has practicing Christian Yoga meant to your relationship with God?

Christian Yoga has helped me to draw closer to God in my daily life. It gives me time to just focus on God and praise and thank Him for giving me a healthy body and the ability to do yoga.

Has Christian Yoga helped your health? If so, how?

Christian Yoga has helped me become stronger, healthier, and brings balance to my life. It helps not only physically but spiritually, mentally and emotionally as well.
How has Christian Yoga helped your personality “off the mat?”
I think it has given me more peace and calmness for my everyday living. I feel more at ease with trusting that God will take me where he wants me to go.

How has Christian Yoga helped you help others?

I am able to help others become healthier people and to give them support and encouragement as they move forward with their yoga practice. I enjoyed my training very much and I get excited to share what I learned with others.

And finally, what would you say to someone who is thinking about pursuing their Christian Yoga teacher training education?

I would let them know that Yahweh Yoga was a great experience for me and that the knowledge, support and encouragement from the instructors was so amazing. I would tell them that it’s hard work but so worth going through it. It’s a wonderful way to stay healthy and get closer to God. I am so thankful that God directed my path to Yahweh Yoga.

Lynn Singer: Turning Grief into Healing

When Laura Lynn Singer—Lynn to her friends and students—says that Christian Yoga has given her an opportunity to find peace, you can be assured that she does not make this claim lightly.

Struggle and Pain

As a single parent from a broken marriage, Lynn struggled to raise her six children in rural Alaska.  She walked through a time of betrayal and anguish with the discovery that one of her children had been the victim of abuse. After this, Lynn was diagnosed with cancer which she battled with chemotherapy and radiation.

But none of these trials compared to what was to follow. Lynn experienced every parent’s worst nightmare when she lost her son, Jordan, in a horrific automobile accident.

“I was in a very dark, very lonely valley for a long time,” Lynn says. “Although I had given my life to Jesus as a teenager, this experience made it difficult for me to quiet my mind and listen to the Lord. I was angry and felt that God had betrayed my trust in Him. How could He allow this to happen? Why?”

God Had Not Abandoned Her

Lynn found yoga after a Christian grief counselor suggested that a visit to Yahweh Yoga might help her work through her pain. This experience, Lynn believes, was God’s way of reaching her.

One day, after counseling, Lynn decided to visit the Yahweh Yoga studio. “There was a class in session,” Lynn says. “Afterward, I just burst into tears and said: ‘I just lost my son.’ DeAnna, Courtney, Janet, and Jenni were all there and they just hugged me and prayed with me. This was the beginning of my return to life.”

Yoga classes became Lynn’s refuge and a place where she could still the gnawing pain and seek God’s peace. “Faith began to rise in my heart,” Lynn says. “It took practice for me to quiet my mind, but Christian Yoga helped me do so.”

Hearing God’s Call

After taking classes for a while, Lynn once again felt God’s call to take her life in a new direction.

“I was exhausted,” says Lynn. “In addition to my grief, I was working 12- to 15-hour days as an RN on a Med-Surg floor. One night Deanna asked me, ‘Have you ever thought of teaching yoga?’ Actually, I had thought about it, but had just dismissed the idea.”

Lynn knew what to do with this question: She prayed about it. “As a prayed, I knew that God was calling me to give back to others and to be available to for Him to use especially for those who have and are experiencing grief related to the loss of a loved one,” she says. Lynn graduated from Yahweh Yoga’s teacher training program in 2008, and now teaches Rest, Relax, and Restore classes at the Yahweh Yoga studio in Chandler, Arizona.

Helping Heal Others

To help others navigate through grief, Lynn offers her students a one-hour respite from the cares of this life. She explains: “He alone is the healer of the heart, the mind, and the body. At Yahweh Yoga we facilitate each person’s very personal journey into His presence.  This is done through providing an environment of praise, worship, fellowship, and fun along with our Yoga Practice.”

Of course, Lynn has experienced physical benefits from her yoga practice, too. She has increased flexibility and strength. “I am 54 years old and was recently was able to scale three different routes up a 45-foot rock wall which I never could have done before beginning yoga,” she says. “It does feel great to be strong.”

Lynn uses her newfound strength to help others navigate through sorrow. “It is my joy to be a part of providing a sanctuary of hope and peace for those who are distressed, or experiencing despair and depression related to grief,” she says. “I can truly say that God is faithful, He is my refuge, and He is good.”

If you would like to take a class with Lynn, please click here.