B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga teacher training

Mentor Pascal Poell, certified Level 3 Iyengar Yoga teacher
Mentor Irma Menssink, certified Level 3 Iyengar Yoga Teacher.

Mentorship

The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) Pune, India, asks to convert the Iyengar yoga teacher training courses into mentorship, and to personally guide students to become an Iyengar yoga teacher.

When mr. B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-2014) was still alive, he found, after an evaluation of the worldwide training and examination of Iyengar yoga teachers, that the system needed a renewal, and then he started to develop this.

After the death of B.K.S. Iyengar, boyh Geeta S. Iyengar and Prashant S. Iyengar became the Directors of the Institute. In March 2017, they announced the change of training and examination in a letter to all national associations worldwide. After much consultation, the new system was fully applied in July 2020, see Certification and Assessment Guidelines, July 2020, RIMYI. After Geeta’s death in 2018, many conversations were held with Abhijata Sridhar, granddaughter of B.K.S. Iyengar and Prashant. Gradually, a new image of mentorship and exams is emerging.

If one is convinced of the content of Iyengar yoga, and wants to devote oneself to it, then it requires ‘practice’ and from this training ‘with heart and soul’ the need can arise to pass it on, to transfer it to others, and then you are supposed to learn the ‘skills’ how to teach Iyengar yoga.

This is done under the intensive supervision of a mentor.

You practice your own yoga asanas, pranayama and yoga path of life and you learn how to transfer this, in practice and theory.

One of the conditions to ultimately take an exam, organized by the national Iyengar Yoga Association, is a recommendation from a mentor with at least Level 2 required. More information about taking an exam, see www.iyengaryoga.nl, training, exams, exam guide.

The mentoring of the Iyengar Yoga teachers training is described in this DOCUMENT .

For more than 15 years, this course offers the possibility to be trained to become an Iyengar Yoga teacher. And gives the ability for candidates to register for the exam, independently conducted by the designated institution within the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Association Netherlands. For more information, see Level 1.

There is also a continuing education for those who have passed the Level 1 exam, and thus have achieved the certificate with the Certification (hallmark) Mark. For more information about the Level 2 training, see Level 2.