Becoming a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher requires years of practice, dedicated study, and a rigorous examination of skills. For teachers, the Certification Mark demonstrates a commitment to maintaining the purity, excellence and high standards of Iyengar Yoga.
Certified Iyengar Yoga instructors teach the method set forth by B. K. S. Iyengar without mixing in other styles or disciplines. They maintain a regular personal practice, continue their training with senior teachers or by traveling to the Iyengar institute in India, and holding to ethical guidelines.
Every Certified Iyengar Teacher has passed at least two rigorous, standardized assessments. Some have passed many more.
Becoming an Iyengar Yoga teacher begins with long term, thorough and dedicated practice. One is a student of Iyengar Yoga for many years before becoming a teacher. Only after three years’ study, and after developing a relationship with a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher who agrees to become a mentoring teacher, may the candidate begin the application process. Then comes two years’ teaching, exclusively in the Iyengar Method — all before the actual testing begins. In the assessment process itself, candidates are carefully observed and evaluated as they demonstrate asanas and pranayamas and as they teach a class of students.
Certified Iyengar Yoga instructors are held to an unusually rigorous standard. Only after years of training and evaluation do they become certified. Certification requires much more than completing a Teacher Training program. It requires an assessment process that begins with being a member of INAUS, having an established relationship with an appropriate certified mentor or recommending teacher, recommendations, a completed and approved application, and finally an assessment with national assessors. For more information on certification click here.
