Yipee! Got my BWY certificate!

Today I received my BWY teacher accreditation certificate in the post. That makes me eligible to teach anywhere in the UK and probably, anywhere in the world. The British Wheel of Yoga is the national governing body in the UK. My training with the Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation (KHYF) also allows me to be affiliated with the organisation for the next five years.

Whew so this is what it feels like to be finally "finished" with my training. There were no extravagant graduation ceremonies nor parties, instead my future will involve a lot of further trainings, workshops and retreats to be able to teach better and provide more support to my students.

Thinking of how I have been so excited and determined to receive my certificates in the last year, now it leads me to question myself - what's the hype with the certificates? I have been teaching for the last year without a certificate, yet this time with the certificate, I do not feel any different. Maybe I feel more confident because I am more knowledgeable. But having the certificate in my hand doesn't make me a better teacher. Of course it is very important to safeguard the students' health and well-being. Having a qualification will weed out all the other "teachers". However there are "qualified" teachers, who have been trained for only 4 weeks! How can students decipher which teachers have been well-trained? The only way is to ask questions, attend the classes and listen to your gut feel. If you feel you are in good hands, then you probably are.

Congratulations to KHYF batch of 2009!

Last Sunday was the official end of my teacher training course. Whew who would have thought that two and a half years could breeze by just like that? The group had a picnic at Hyde Park, we all brought a dish except for me - I brought the drinks. It was great to celebrate in such a simple and humble style. The weather was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold. Sol told me that it reminded her of our initial lunch get-togethers at Lyn's house in Stanmore, where we all brought lunches and shared with everyone. But when we had to move our training weekends to Columbia Hotel, people thought it was too much hassle to bring lots of food so we brought our own packed lunches.

We have gone through our ups and downs during the course of training, each going through his/her own transformation along the way. My colleagues came from all over the UK, most were from the south, others as far as Taiwan and Norway! I guess only 3-4 of us lived in London. I am very lucky to have been part of this group. Some were closer to me than others yet we all supported each other in some way. Imagine no one dropped out too. That is a major telltale sign that we were all meant to be doing what we were doing for the past years. It also goes to say that our trainer and my mentor, Marc, was a very good teacher. He gave us all the tools we needed to learn in a supported environment.

To all my colleagues, thank you for being part of my life and I wish you all the best in your new path. May we all be good examples on how to live simple and happy lives. Congratulations!