Teaching Yoga: Exploring The Teacher-Student Relationship Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Drawing on decades of experience in training yoga teachers, Donna Farhi offers the first book to set professional standards for yoga teachers. Teaching Yoga explores with depth and compassion a variety of topics both practical and philosophical, including how to create healthy boundaries; the student-teacher relationship (including whether a sexual relationship is acceptable); how to create physical and emotional safety for the student; what is a reasonable class size; how much a class should cost; and how to conduct the business of teaching while upholding the integrity of yoga as a philosophy, a science, and an art. A bonus CD features the author speaking about yoga ethics at a 2002 conference.
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Rodmell Press; Pap/Com edition (October 10, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1930485174
ISBN-13: 978-1930485174
Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.4 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #12,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #6 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Religious Studies > Ethics #40 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Yoga #3720 in Books > Reference
When I went through my own teacher training program, the subject of ethics were only briefly touched on. Although I consider myself an ethical person, I found that once I started teaching for real, there were times where I felt unsure of how to deal with my students or other various situations. How do I deal with a studio that is unethical? What do I do if a student acts in a manner that is inappropriate? How much should I charge? How do I handle a complaint from a student in a respectful manner? How do I set a healthy boundary?"Teaching Yoga" by Donna Farhi attempts to answer these types of questions - and more. Farhi's book is thoughtful and well written. It is sprinkled throughout with verses from the Yoga Sutras as well as thought provoking "ethical inquires" that challenge the reader to explore their own feelings and ethics with various situations that other teachers have faced. Farhi covers every situation that you could think of: appropriate dress, foul language, when to send a student to another teacher, refunds, traning programs and more. I found myself recognizing situations that I have encountered and nodding in agreement with her solutions.With the abundance of new yoga teachers and aspiring teachers hitting the market, there are bound to be many with questions and issues. Although the Yoga Alliance (an organization that has "standards" for teachers and schools) claims to "support the diversity and integrity of yoga", I have found this to be untrue. There are many teacher training programs and teachers that do not practice the yamas and the niyamas - and the Yoga Alliance does nothing at all to enforce these so called "codes of conduct". In my own experience, I have been disappointed and confused by some of the people that are out there as role models in the yoga community when they are far from ethical. It is up to us as individual teachers to explore our own hearts, to truly live our yoga and guide our students in a way that is kind, compassionate, honest and positive. This book certainly has been more helpful to me than any other resource.
I LOVED Donna Farhi's book "Yoga Mind, Body and Spirit" (which should be required reading for all yoga professionals) and was hoping for another book just like it -- only this time focusing on how to be a better yoga instructor. Unfortunately, I was really disappointed in this book. Since this book is called "Teaching Yoga", I thought that it would be about TEACHING YOGA, not 150 pages on ethics. Perhaps a better and more truthful title would have been "The Ethics of Teaching Yoga." If you are looking for a book on yoga and ethics, then this is the book for you. However, if you are looking for a book on the process or the act of teaching yoga or ways of improving yourself as a yoga instructor, this is absolutely not the right book for you.
I have been unable to put this book down after two years teaching there is a lot that Donna talks about in this book which I have faced without the guidance and professionalism that I found in this book. It is exceptionally helpful and has helped me really think about the nature of teaching Yoga and how this impacts on the students and the world around me.
I am in my sixties, married, a retired professor and aspiring yoga instructor. This book is gender biased, portraying an inaccurate and unfair vision of heterosexual yoga instructors. Donna Farhi describes the yoga community as a sick and sad cauldron of sexual abuse where male instructors "infantilize" female students and abuse them without love or mercy. The book denigrates both sexes; male instructors are evil predators "usually married" and women are, not evil, just stupid and weak, offering themselves up in droves to evil manipulating low-down dirty fast talking yoga instructors. The author seems oddly fixated on the touching of genitalia, mentioning it at least three times, and also seems oddly focused on the wearing of "inappropriate", "tight" male attire. She uses the book to blatantly "out" an accused transgressor by telling us on pg 21 the exact words the man uses to describe himself in his advertising. Unethical?. Mean? Yes, and possibly slanderous. Farhi even suggest that yoga teachers who engage in romantic relationships with students, no matter how willing or adult, be imprisoned. I believe this author has deep personal issues that have sullied her attitude toward the world of yoga and the good human beings who practice it. This book is primarily an enunciation of the authors personal code of ethics and has little or nothing to do with "Teaching Yoga".
Very disappointing required read for yoga teacher training. Donna preaches a lot and uses plenty of examples of people behaving badly, but at the same time assumes that the other people have no personal responsibility for what takes place around them.
I had to read this for my yoga teacher training and can't believe I was required to spend money on this! Circular points were made in the book, and it didn't need to be a thick book. Her examples seem to show a lack of good judgment on her part. The cd of her talk is low audio quality as well. This could have been a pamphlet entitled, "teach what you know, don't be prideful, and don't get romantically involved with your students." Boom, saved you some $$$!!!
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