What to Do When Your Yoga Teacher Training Taught Pseudoscience
Frustrated by pseudoscience in your yoga teacher training? It's possible to find a silver lining in the midst of this disillusionment – it really is! Here’s why it wasn’t a waste.
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If you're anything like the yogis I regularly hear from in my online community, you may have come to realize you were taught some outdated ideas about the human body and movement in your yoga teacher training (YTT).
Unfortunately, pseudoscience is widespread in the yoga world, and it's honestly almost to be expected that a great many YTTs include unsupported ideas and misinformation in their curriculum.
When we realize after the fact that our YTT taught us pseudoscience, it's understandable to feel frustrated and disillusioned. We paid so much money for this YTT, right? And we spent so much time earning that certificate – 200 hours, 500 hours, and maybe even more!
What a disappointment! Was that YTT a waste? Would we have been better off not having taken it? Do we deserve our money back? 😡
Today, I'd like to honor and acknowledge these very common frustrations.
I'd also like to propose that there might be a bright side you haven't considered yet to realizing that your YTT taught pseudoscience. :)
Here are four reasons why realizing your yoga teacher training was outdated can be an opportunity for growth, not just a source of frustration:
1. Recognizing Pseudoscience Means You’ve Grown as a Thinker
If you realize that your YTT taught pseudoscience, this is *great news* because it means you no longer believe this pseudoscience!
Think about it: you realize now, after the fact, that your YTT taught outdated information. But back then, when you were in your YTT, you believed this information.
This means that since that time, you've clearly learned more and questioned what you were previously taught, and this entire experience has made you a more open-minded, critical thinker. Congratulations on your evolution! 👏
2. You’ve Become More Discerning About Knowledge
This YTT has inspired you to become more discerning about what information you accept as true, as well as more intentional about the knowledge you believe yourself to possess.
Because of this evolution, you're now more likely to continually ask yourself questions such as...
"Why do I believe what I believe?"
"How do I know that ____ is true? What evidence supports it?"
"Do I believe ____ because someone I look up to told me so? Is it possible they got it wrong?"
These types of introspective questions will only arm you to be more thoughtful in your beliefs moving forward!
3. Your Yoga Teacher Training Offered More Than Just Anatomy Lessons
A YTT is about much more than just the information about the body and movement that it teaches.
As we all know, teaching yoga is a multi-faceted endeavor. Yes, ideally we'd like our YTT to prepare us with an evidence-based understanding of the human body and movement. There's no doubt about that.
But think of all of the other aspects of a YTT that are also valuable! A well-rounded YTT should also include content on
yoga history & philosophy
pranayama techniques
meditation techniqes
teaching language skills
asana modifications
adjustments
how to be inclusive as a yoga teacher
...and more!
Not to mention the invaluable experience of community, connection, and socialization with people who share a common interest with you.
When we first realize that our YTT taught pseudoscience, it can be tempting to wish that we'd never taken that YTT at all or to consider it to have been an entire waste of time.
But these feelings are often an overreaction. If we keep the bigger picture in mind and remember and appreciate the full array of positives our YTT did offer, our frustration and resentment may soften.
4. Learning Pseudoscience Prepares You for Real-World Conversations
Learning pseudoscience gives us the opportunity to better understand “the lay of the land” out there.
Exposure to other perspectives (even if they're outdated/wrong) helps to increase our breadth of understanding when it comes to the landscape of varying beliefs and approaches in our field.
This can actually be quite advantageous because as yoga teachers, we will always be engaging with other people in our line of work – be they our yoga students, our colleagues, yoga studio owners, or yoga teacher training students enrolled in our own YTTs!
Because misinformation about the body is so widespread, it's inevitable that many (many!) of the people we interact with will hold some of these outdated beliefs. If we're familiar with the belief systems that may have given rise to a particular individual's beliefs (especially because we previously held similar beliefs!), we'll be better equipped to relate to that individual and to interact with them in a productive, meaningful manner.
Education Doesn’t End With Your YTT
For all of these reasons and more, there is a bright side to realizing that our YTT taught pseudoscience!
It's also empowering and encouraging to remember that our education on the human body and movement does not need to stop with our YTT.
In fact, if we're truly interested in understanding anatomy, biomechanics, physiology, pain science, and more, we'd never have enough time to do that in the context of a YTT – no matter how evidence-based that YTT is!
These topics are simply too vast, rich, and nuanced to adequately cover in such a short time.
Not to mention the fact that science is continually evolving! So what we learn about a subject today may become outdated with insights from newer research in the near future.
Therefore, it can be helpful to consider our YTT a starting point or a jumping off point into what likely becomes a lifelong path of post-YTT learning and studying in the fields we're interested in.
Ready to Keep Learning?
Listen to the Yoga Meets Movement Science Podcast 🎧
Explore evidence-based perspectives on yoga, anatomy, and movement. This resource is truly educational, one of a kind, and free! Start with Episode 29 for an engaging discussion specifically on pseudoscience in yoga.Join My Continuing Education Membership
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