| Becoming a certified Yoga teacher has never | | | | principles of assisting, adjusting, modifications, and |
| been easy. Due to the quality of online courses, | | | | alignment, he or she, should seek out a teacher |
| and the evolution of distance education | | | | as a mentor. Just because we have the internet |
| technology, the common hurdles of distance, | | | | is not a reason to abandon the traditional teacher |
| travel, time, and expense have been removed | | | | student relationship. |
| from the process. Below is the dialogue of a | | | | Q: How do students, taking correspondence |
| recent interview about Yoga distance education | | | | courses, only, compare in testing results to |
| and contact hours. | | | | residential students? |
| Q: Do you think that the teacher's abilities and | | | | A: There seems to be very little difference. We |
| training have an effect on outcome? | | | | have guest teachers, who graduated from our |
| A: Over the long term, the process of becoming | | | | correspondence course, and their teaching |
| a great Yoga teacher is a life-long journey. The | | | | performances are equal to our graduates who |
| teacher with the desire to keep learning will | | | | attended our on-site Yoga teacher training |
| become the best he or she can be. This factor | | | | courses. |
| cannot be measured in the initial 200-hour training, | | | | Q: Do you use internet, teleconference, or |
| whether it is by correspondence or at an on-site | | | | computer technology for any of your courses? |
| training. | | | | A: Yes, but most of our conferencing is private, |
| Q: Do you believe there are some topics that | | | | one-to-one, question and answer sessions. When |
| cannot be taught using distance education | | | | an intern is having difficulty grasping a concept, |
| technology? | | | | we communicate over the phone or by Email. |
| A: No, each topic, although some are complicated, | | | | Q: Under what conditions can distance education |
| can be taught using distance education technology. | | | | be considered contact? |
| Probably, the most complex subject to learn, in a | | | | A: At this time, it is up to the world's Yoga |
| Hatha Yoga training, is when and how to assist. | | | | registries to sort this out. When Yoga interns are |
| Yet, there are two very strong texts which | | | | being monitored by video technology, the teacher |
| cover the principles of assisting, and can be found | | | | trainer can easily see strengths and weaknesses. |
| in any book store. One of them has a DVD | | | | The video feedback process is very important. |
| enclosed within the text. At the same time, new | | | | Video Technology is definitely a form of contact. |
| DVDs and books are being created on a daily | | | | Just like anything else, mistakes we learn from |
| basis. | | | | teach us lessons we will never forget. |
| If a student still had difficulty understanding the | | | | |