Madonna swears by it and spends several hours a day on it. Gwyneth Paltrow and Meg Ryan are using it to stay fit. As stress levels increase, it's the obvious career of the future. Make yoga training a career option. "In fact, in the US the yoga instructor is the second most highly paid professional after the dentist." This is how the Mumbai-based Shiv Kumar Mishra, yoga trainer, therapist and founder of Shiv Holistic Yoga, (an association of 20 yoga teachers and experts which conducts yoga classes), describes the future of a professional involved in this ancient Indian science which has become sought after all over the world. Indeed a career as a yoga trainer/therapist is emerging as a new generation vocation where one can combine love for the subject with a means to support oneself.
What do you need to be a yoga trainer? "One should preferably be at least a graduate before equipping oneself to be a yoga trainer or therapist since this will give a better insight and appreciation of the subject," says Mishra. "However, after that, yoga is a field where you will be ever-learning, ever-growing through your life."
India has a number of excellent institutions, which impart courses in yoga education and a few of them are world renowned. Kaivalyadham at Lonavala, 90 kms from Mumbai is one of them. Its diploma in yoga education is recognised by the National Council for Teachers Education. The GS College of Yoga (a constituent of Kaivalyadham) also offers numerous training courses, among them is a certificate course in yogic culture of six weeks' duration, starting in the first week of May every year and a diploma course in yoga education, which starts from August 16 every year and lasts for nine months. Among other widely respected institutes where one can train as a yoga instructor or therapist are the Bihar School of Yoga, Munger which has branches across the country and the Iyengar Institute Pune, which is particularly well-known in the US.
Yoga and yoga education are fast gaining in popularity. University Grants Commission has announced a Rs 20 lakh endowment to any university which establishes yoga faculty.
How much can you make as a Yoga instructor? "Once you have qualified yourself, the potential to make not just a living but a life out of yoga is rich," says Mishra who closed his law practice in 1994 to immerse himself in the field. "You can take up a job in a yoga institute or become a private instructor who gives lessons to individuals at home. You can also look at starting your own business. The earning potential will vary from city to city but with proper training and with experience you can be earning Rs. 20,000-Rs. 30,000 amount with lots of time to spare. Of course, if you can establish yourself in the US or Europe, the earning potential would be endless." Clearly a career to bring you peace of mind in more ways than one.
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