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.