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:: July/August 2006 Volume 5/Number 5
OP ED: Opinion
Yoga Rock Stars Earned Their StripesBy Lou Volpano
I read the L.A. Times recent article – “Yoga’s Rock Stars” (August 21, 2006) about Maty Ezraty, Brian Kest, Shiva Rea, Ana Forrest and Duncan Wong. The significance of this ‘rock star status” (maybe it’s a new certification title?) leads me to think about the new crop of teachers being spawned by innumerable teacher trainings.I’ve left half of the yoga classes I’ve attended in the past six months because of the newbies with ‘certification’ that think having a yoga-union card entitles them to step on the psyche of everybody in the room by being demanding or, on the contrary, just sitting silent and implying everyone should have mental telepathy. Don’t they know that a lot of the students in their classes have been practicing since the new teachers were in junior high?
The point is – teacher training is out of control and spawning too many teachers that the employment system can’t handle and soon they’ll be undercutting each other for a piece of that $ 7 bucks a student – that no one gets – that the L.A. Times erroneously printed – that will promote cut-throat competition.
That’s why every studio now sells teacher training certification to: a) help pay rent, and b) promote the esteem of a selection of their best – by letting them teach teachers, who then go into the system unprepared as teachers. It’s like getting an online masters degree, quicker and easier, but with no real mastering of the topic.
Ten years ago I was a part of Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller and Lisa Walford’s “guinea-pig brigade” at Yoga Works’ teacher training. At that time only about 10% of those taking teacher training were passed for certification.
Maty’s comments in the L.A. Times article are right on the mark: “I had great teachers that couldn’t fill a class because they wouldn’t play the game. They didn’t know how to dress, or talk.” Sad to say, for those of use who drive to class and find the teacher incompetent, with this market of new teachers, Maty’s right.
What the new teachers are not honing in on is the untapped demand for yoga from people who really need it – with asthma, acid reflux, anxiety and high blood pressure. The L.A. Times article promotes the newbies’ attraction to getting a Paltrow or Judd in their class, and earning $ 7 a student.
The people who really need yoga, and the ones who’ll fill studios, don’t come because they aren’t comfortable with the teachers. I know this because I have talked to a dozen teachers who auditioned for our TV series that told me that half of their first-time students never come back. That’s a travesty! And can only be blamed on the teacher(s). Sorry teachers, but that’s reality. There is no other business where you can come face-to-face with a customer in such an intimate way. So if you lose them, it’s your fault, not the room, the time, the price, etc.
So let’s salute Shiva, Brian, and Maty – they did it! They earned their rock star stripes. The new crop of teachers and those less motivated to market themselves should be a little more humble about their beginnings. Instead of trying to snare Madonna or whining about not getting seven bucks a student, just get the class right, and they will come.
Lou Volpano is the founder of Great Yoga Teachers and can be reached at lou@greatyogateachers.com. www.greatyogateachers.com / www.howtobeginyoga.com
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