Teacher trainee starter info

February 16th, 2006

Important information for prospective starters to Vajrasati teacher training, regarding attitude, cost, philosophy, qualifying and homework.

1. Sangha Vajrasati Yoga sees sangha as a cornerstone in its success, both during the training but perhaps even more importantly after Vajrasati teacher training (general certificate) has been presented. This is because the very nature of yoga is about appropriate creative responses to the here and now, both from a subjective and objective point of view. Good communication with people who understand is part of what supports that level of honesty. Not only that but our peers can inspire us. We can pass on to each other new methods or better ways of expressing certain points, as well as sharing new insights and ideas that will constantly be arising from a yoga school that aspires to constant reflectiveness and open mindedness, so that as the conditions that yoga takes place in or under morph and change, appropriate and helpful developments will arise in response.
2. Cost In the spirit of yoga, no suitable candidate should be refused an opportunity to teacher train on financial grounds. It is the deepest wish that undertaking the teacher training is possible for all who would wish to embark upon it and engage with the deep benefits of its community. So the cost of Vajrasati teacher training is made as reasonable as possible. Where there is a real financial difficulty, this should be discussed and an agreeable alternative be arranged until such a time as it becomes possible for that person to pay the suggested fee of £160 per term.

   Payment can be per week, per fortnight, per month or per term but it is the students’ responsibility to keep track of their own payment commitments and to communicate very clearly what their needs are if any alterations need to be discussed. This cost includes all paperwork admin, actual teaching, homework marking as well as other organisational matters regarding the course.

   The final assessment ‘ring of fire’ require an extra fee that currently stands at………….. for the three extra assessments and feedback, the setting and marking of the written test and also includes the cost of printing of your final certificates.

   There may in the future be an annual members subscription, which will cover general admin and be a necessary criteria of you maintaining your membership. This will also give you your events planner of which again an attendance to some will be a necessary requirement of continued membership.

3. Philosophy Vajrasati yoga does its utmost to extract the meaning from traditional yoga, Patanjali’s yoga sutras, the yamas, traditional meditation, mantra, pranayama and asana techniques, without being dogmatic or getting caught in the letter rather than the spirit. It does this through a combination of rigorous honesty and reflection. Does this work? How does this work? Is this beneficial? And we start from the premise that if there is a problem that it is often not the practice that is wrong but our understanding of it. In this way, we both refresh and revitalise the practice and develop and refine ourselves.
4. Qualifying To qualify for a Vajrasati yoga certificate, certain criteria must be met. These include being fully up to date with homework, having attended all end-of-term assessments, having passed the final three assessments and written exam and to be at a level of understanding that the trainer feels will allow for continued positive development as eluded to in the philosophy section above.
5. Homework As mentioned, all homework must be completed by the end of the teacher training. It has been noticed that this can be a very difficult task if homework is not kept up with, as it easily accumulates. Not only that, but part of the way the course works is that homework is fed back on as part of the weekly training session so that all students may benefit from the work of one another, further edifying the philosophy of Vajrasati yoga as a ‘pool’ of shared, discussed and mutually refined wisdom.

   For this to be most effective and least time consuming it is hoped that students starting at the same time hand in homework at the same time. This not only will mean that feedback sessions make more sense and be of greater use to those present, but also that the process will take less time, as certain points can be made and highlighted that may come up in more than one homework, as well as making the job of marking itself more manageable.

   To make this process all the more useful it is asked that trainees all involve themselves in a system of homework sharing by email where appropriate. All homework should be given in hard copy to Jim or other trainer and some of these may be kept as examples for future students although others will be returned.

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