yoga teacher training frustrations

I started yoga teacher training a few months ago, something that I had been planning on doing for a while now. I have a background in science, so I knew some of the more spiritual aspects would probably not resonate with me, but I have had a regular yoga practice for a long time and the classes I have always enjoyed most talked about yogic philosophy in a way that could be applicable regardless of any faith or spiritual orientation, so I thought I could always look at it from a philosophy point of view, and was quite curious to learn more about that aspect of yoga as well. I also really wanted to do a training with a solid foundation in anatomy as I find it really interesting and also really wanted to learn more about yoga as a physical practice.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was to be “taught” pseudoscience and claims that are purportedly scientific but that I know for a fact are downright wrong – some of it basic school level science knowledge that is being misapplied, and in a few cases even potentially dangerous health claims. I do think most of it is benign misunderstanding, and given that we are very much being encouraged to be authentic and follow our inner truth, I have tried to point out some of these misunderstandings because it wouldn’t sit right with me to possess a deeper understanding of a topic and not share it so others can benefit and learn too. I know that some people consider science “just another way of explaining things that isn’t necessarily the right one”, and although I disagree with that, this isn’t a battle I want to fight; what others believe is none of my business. All I aim to do is to provide some insight, and others can themselves decide what they want to think based on it. The other students seem to appreciate my input, but the teacher’s response tends to mostly fall into denial – explanations why what I am saying makes things “too complicated” or irrelevant for the purposes of teaching yoga. As I said, she doesn’t need to agree with me, but given that we’re encouraged to be open to learning new things, I have been baffled by this dismissive attitude and can’t help but think that this teacher is not practicing what she preaches.
As I said, I picked this course because it was supposed to have a solid grounding in anatomy, but given that I know for a fact that some of the claims aren’t right, I find myself wondering if any of what we are being taught about how to teach yoga safely makes any sense. I have heard from many other yoga teachers that the first 200h training is just the tip of the iceberg and I have also already decided that I will do further training elsewhere, but I am now halfway through the course and wondering how to find acceptance in my disappointment that this training isn’t quite what I expected, that I find the teacher rather uninspiring and struggle to take her seriously, and how to find some joy in the training despite the things I dislike. I am still learning a lot, I really like the other students, but I don’t know how to not let me being annoyed by the teacher and the unscientific content taint the experience for me.
Any thoughts and insights would be appreciated, thank you very much!

 

 

Answer:

 

There’s nothing wrong with having expectations – except that sometimes when reality collides with what we expect an experience to be like, it can be upsetting and frustrating to digest. I wonder if you’d be willing to examine your expectations and where they’re colliding with the reality of the situation in fine detail, and make some changes wherever you see there’s room for change to make the last half of the course as potent and enjoyable as possible? What expectations do you want to keep? What do you want to edit and revise? What do you want to get rid of? What new ones do you want to invite it or create?

Notice what comes up when you either consider doing this or doing this to begin with.