Yoga in Mumbai
I have lived in Mumbai for just over three years now and in that time the opportunity to practice Yoga Asana in a group setting has grown enormously. Initially the only opportunity, I could find, to practice Yoga was in small group settings, either through my daughter's school, the American School of Bombay, or in the home, bringing a teacher in on a regular basis. the Yahoo group, Bombay Expats, was a great source of information for recommending Yoga Teachers. As a practitioner of twenty years of Yoga Asana Practice, a Yoga Teacher recommended by a new comer to Yoga, I found through trial and error, did not work for me.
I know we are always in learning situations, but I did not want to pay top rupee to learn from someone I should be teaching. I guess that is what led me and my ego to Yoga Teacher Training! Like many expat 'wives' (be they male or female) we look to 'take' something away from India. Please do not tear me apart limb from limb just yet. I know we should 'give' to 'get' ... I do.
So...like many of my contemporaries, I chose to 'get' Yoga. The Santa Cruz Yoga Institute runs Yoga Teacher Training programs year round and has a fairly robust reputation and promotes itself as the oldest Yoga School in Mumbai. It is not however able to accredit itself with some of the many internationally recognised alliance services, which when you are likely to return to your home country or another place that cares more about insurance and liability then it is not the place for you. Many of my friends have been very happy there but they are the same people that then 'go on' to find another YTT (Yoga Teacher Training ) program to translate and transfer their knowledge to a more 'western' context.
Some of the Western Worlds best (for want of a better short descriptor) Yoga Teachers come to India, regularly. For Pilgrimage, the Annual Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, or to explore the lineage of their chosen 'style', such as in Mysore (Ashtanga) or Pune (Iyengar). Many of these teachers, in time, bring their students too, and offer YTT's in Goa, Rishikesh or other idealised venues throughout India, Nepal or other essentially spiritual places...just qualifying here, that Goa is less spiritual in the sense of historical significance and more a small state with a lot of coast line, a strong tourism emphasis and some direct flights from Russia! Goa does have some lovely places to practice with several teachers having set up retreat centres and Shalas holding regular classes and workshops.
Cost can also be a factor. I mentioned cost here as these teachers can come at an inflated price. Yoga in India is cheap. Seriously there is none of this 20AUD for a class, or 15 Euro for a drop in. Anything more than a 600INR casual class rate at a studio or 1250INR for a private class and you are paying top end hopefully for a top teacher. I know a couple of teachers who charge at a western rate and there are people happy to pay that, but quality is available for less here....in Yoga.
The YTT's offered by our Western Teachers on their month or two in India trips can cost up to 300,000INR, however I have found other programs at a third off that price for equal experience and energy from the teacher.
We are now so lucky in Mumbai as we draw more and more teachers into town as they journey through India and they are captured by one of the many newer Yoga Studios to run deep workshops. Just this week there is one of the very most Senior Ashtanga teachers holding a series of workshops, last weekend another teacher ran a fab workshop on alignment, 16 hours of the most wonderful tuition for teachers and practitioners alike. I have come to expect this now, but three years ago that was rare. Now I design my weekends based on what workshops I can choose from!
So what teacher training did I choose? It comes to you doesn't it? Seek and you will find. So Prasad Rangnekar (www.yogaprasad.in) is my teacher and his students from around the world have all benefitted from being a part of his organic network. We are mostly expats, and he has held teacher training's in Thailand, Lithuania, Hong Kong and India. Many, many workshops in Germany, Austria, Israel, France and The Netherlands. Right now I am supporting a teacher training he is holding here in Mumbai and soon I will be travelling to Rishikesh and Guptkashi to complete another three hundred hours, making me a 500YTT. Most of Prasad's teaching takes us on a journey of self discovery through the kosha's. Of course he covers the required Asana but our teaching abilities will come from our journey to self. My centre will radiate my truth and if I can clear the path I will be able to take my time studying YTT back to the West and incorporate it into my own business path, supporting people 'beyond leadership' (www.beyongleadership.org).
Yoga is a path that enables transformation.
I know we are always in learning situations, but I did not want to pay top rupee to learn from someone I should be teaching. I guess that is what led me and my ego to Yoga Teacher Training! Like many expat 'wives' (be they male or female) we look to 'take' something away from India. Please do not tear me apart limb from limb just yet. I know we should 'give' to 'get' ... I do.
So...like many of my contemporaries, I chose to 'get' Yoga. The Santa Cruz Yoga Institute runs Yoga Teacher Training programs year round and has a fairly robust reputation and promotes itself as the oldest Yoga School in Mumbai. It is not however able to accredit itself with some of the many internationally recognised alliance services, which when you are likely to return to your home country or another place that cares more about insurance and liability then it is not the place for you. Many of my friends have been very happy there but they are the same people that then 'go on' to find another YTT (Yoga Teacher Training ) program to translate and transfer their knowledge to a more 'western' context.
Some of the Western Worlds best (for want of a better short descriptor) Yoga Teachers come to India, regularly. For Pilgrimage, the Annual Yoga Festival in Rishikesh, or to explore the lineage of their chosen 'style', such as in Mysore (Ashtanga) or Pune (Iyengar). Many of these teachers, in time, bring their students too, and offer YTT's in Goa, Rishikesh or other idealised venues throughout India, Nepal or other essentially spiritual places...just qualifying here, that Goa is less spiritual in the sense of historical significance and more a small state with a lot of coast line, a strong tourism emphasis and some direct flights from Russia! Goa does have some lovely places to practice with several teachers having set up retreat centres and Shalas holding regular classes and workshops.
Cost can also be a factor. I mentioned cost here as these teachers can come at an inflated price. Yoga in India is cheap. Seriously there is none of this 20AUD for a class, or 15 Euro for a drop in. Anything more than a 600INR casual class rate at a studio or 1250INR for a private class and you are paying top end hopefully for a top teacher. I know a couple of teachers who charge at a western rate and there are people happy to pay that, but quality is available for less here....in Yoga.
The YTT's offered by our Western Teachers on their month or two in India trips can cost up to 300,000INR, however I have found other programs at a third off that price for equal experience and energy from the teacher.
We are now so lucky in Mumbai as we draw more and more teachers into town as they journey through India and they are captured by one of the many newer Yoga Studios to run deep workshops. Just this week there is one of the very most Senior Ashtanga teachers holding a series of workshops, last weekend another teacher ran a fab workshop on alignment, 16 hours of the most wonderful tuition for teachers and practitioners alike. I have come to expect this now, but three years ago that was rare. Now I design my weekends based on what workshops I can choose from!
So what teacher training did I choose? It comes to you doesn't it? Seek and you will find. So Prasad Rangnekar (www.yogaprasad.in) is my teacher and his students from around the world have all benefitted from being a part of his organic network. We are mostly expats, and he has held teacher training's in Thailand, Lithuania, Hong Kong and India. Many, many workshops in Germany, Austria, Israel, France and The Netherlands. Right now I am supporting a teacher training he is holding here in Mumbai and soon I will be travelling to Rishikesh and Guptkashi to complete another three hundred hours, making me a 500YTT. Most of Prasad's teaching takes us on a journey of self discovery through the kosha's. Of course he covers the required Asana but our teaching abilities will come from our journey to self. My centre will radiate my truth and if I can clear the path I will be able to take my time studying YTT back to the West and incorporate it into my own business path, supporting people 'beyond leadership' (www.beyongleadership.org).
Yoga is a path that enables transformation.
