Yoga Teacher Training at Karuna Yoga
I am very excited; I have signed up for the seven-week 200-hour yoga teacher training at Karuna Yoga in Los Feliz (in Los Angeles). I found out about it from a client of mine who raved about it. So I went over to Karuna Yoga, tried a class with founder and teacher Kelly Wood, and I really liked her. I also spoke to other students there who had taken her teacher training and they said it was fantastic.
It’s also affordable: $1,500 for the early bird pricing (compared to $3,000 or more for trainings with some of the more famous teachers).
I had taken some training with Shiva Rea with the intention of finishing her 200-hour program, but unfortunately the scheduling did not work for me. From what I had originally read on Shiva’s website, the training was offered in modules that could be taken over a two-year period. I just assumed that I might be able to take some of the modules in the two-week intensives she provided. Well, it turns out that you have to take the entire two-week intensive, and you don’t get any credit whatsoever for modules you’ve already taken if you do that. (Meaning, you have to pay twice - Exhale’s policy.) The modules I needed weren’t being offered here separately from what I saw of the new schedule.
I kept emailing Shiva’s training manager to try to get an idea of how I could do my training without doing the intensive, which was just not going to work for me for a variety of reasons. Not only did I not hear back after a few sporadic emails, but I still don’t have my certificate for my May 2007 Trance Dance training, and I have been emailing and asking for it for six months at least.
After that frustration, I decided I would rather take a training with a less famous teacher who was personally available to answer my questions. I have been able to communicate with Kelly at Karuna in email and on the phone and she is quite accessible.
Additionally, Shiva Rea is very athletic and acrobatic in her approach; I wanted to pursue a yoga path that was more healing in nature. Karuna Yoga’s teacher training combines hatha and kundalini yoga so you get the best of both worlds and learn the energetic kriyas that can remove old blocks and issues.
I have enjoyed the two weekend trainings I have done with Shiva, and I may take more at some point. So I’m not down on Shiva so much as I am just not getting what I need from her 200-hour program, and that’s mostly due to how it is managed. I am also interested in Saul David Raye’s training, and there are a lot more weekend intensives I can take later from famous teachers like them. For now, however, I can get a full 200-hours without paying through the nose all at once, and get the personalized attention and in-depth study that will really help my yoga practice. (Instead of 50+ students, it will be more like 10.) It will also be something I can share with my healing clients.
Karuna Yoga probably has more space in their training program starting in March if you are interested; check the website for details.