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Yoga has been around for thousands of years, but has experienced exponential growth in the last 10 years. It is now taught in most gyms, fitness community centers, and traditional yoga studios across the United States.
In the yoga community, there is an ongoing debate among instructors about which environment is best suited to present a safe and effective program. Last month, I read an article in The New York Times about instructors in yoga studios who view those who teach yoga elsewhere as less qualified. From my experience, the quality of instruction depends on what you value in your yoga practice, not where you teach.
I’ve been teaching and studying yoga for over 30 years, and half of that time I owned and operated a successful full-service yoga studio in the beach cities of Southern California, which included a teacher-training program for those making the bridge from yoga enthusiast to yoga teacher. Working with hundreds of yoga teachers and consulting with new studio owners and fitness-facility managers, I have discovered a reliable formula for providing a safe and effective yoga program that consists of three basic considerations: