"Certified Yoga Teacher: Illumination or Illusion?" by PatBurke

"Certified Yoga Teacher: Illumination or Illusion?" by Pat
Burke : "Values Clarification
Our market-based culture routinely ascribes
authority beyond one's level of expertise. A football player offers advice
about tires, an athlete with no background in nutrition makes food
recommendations, and an actress who has never studied yoga produces an
instructional video. Someone who taught high impact aerobics and kick
boxing last month is presumed to possess sufficient expertise to teach
yoga. The American inclination to pre-suppose mastery of Eastern spiritual
traditions without ever practicing, or humbling oneself before the
teachings is a reflection of our culture's trend toward instant
credentials and immediate gratification. On a subtle level, it reflects a
bias of cultural superiority. Clearly, 16 hours is sufficient time for an
American to study before calling oneself a yoga teacher. As
the West embraces the contemplative spiritual traditions of the East, we
stand as critical links in the chain. Yoga, derived from the root word
'yoke,' means to join or connect. Like many Eastern traditions,
it is an integrating science because it encompasses the body, mind and
spirit. When the practices are separated and compartmentalized, by
definition, union is lost. Through the yamas and niyamas,
yoga teaches truth and non-violence. Applied to the postures, this means
that a person practices the pose in full integrity, to the degree that is
appropriate for his/her body, without attachment. The poses should be
performed at a level that is comfortable and steady. Applied to life, this
means that a yoga practitioner is truthful. The fitness industry and the healthcare industry are two prime players in an
economic system which was built on manifest destiny and an attitude of
entitlement, not spirituality. Yoga and other Eastern traditions stand on
the precipice of being swallowed up in this' grand canyon of materialism
as they are incorporated into the American way of life. We have the
opportunity to study practices that were once privileged, and have endured
for 6,000 years. Will we minimize the spiritual teachings of the East or
will we revere them and give them safe passage? History will record how we
enter the millennium together.

Pat
Burke is the director of Earthsong
Yoga Center, 186 Main St #14 Marlboro, MA� 01752 and the founder of
the Massachusetts/New England Yoga Alliance. The Alliance provides free
information and referral to all traditions of yoga. For more information
please call 508-480-8884 or email at pat@earthsongyoga.com�
or visit her website at www.earthsongyoga.com."