(As of 2013, when originally written) There are a number of good yoga teacher trainings in the area (and elsewhere) taught by good teachers who are just visiting the area in order to teach the training, and then they go live somewhere else. (This is not so true in 2019 as I’m updating this blog.) A student can get a decent beginning of a training in this way, but the tradition of yoga is really about developing and having a “long-term” relationship with one’s teacher, at least for the duration of the course. For this reason, Go Deep is unique in the area and elsewhere, as far as I know, in that personal time with the teacher is built in (1/2 hour per month, in addition to the intensive small group time during the rest of the training) and is a requirement for completion. This course also takes place over 8 months, so there is plenty of time to integrate what you learn into your life in the world, rather than just getting overloaded and overwhelmed and not knowing what to do with what you were taught. That integration of what you are learning into your life comes with regular practice and consistency and hopefully regular contact with your teacher, who has (hopefully) experienced some degree of integration of the teachings into his or her own life.
Also when we do a lot of yoga, or introspection in any way, stuff comes up! (or it’s not working!), so being able to talk with the teacher, and take weekly (or more), classes with him or her, can be an important ground from which to grow from. Many students have found the monthly meetings with me to be one of the most important and helpful parts of the training. If the course happens quickly, say in 3 weeks, integration of the teachings into daily life is difficult (that’s from personal experience), and you can at best get a good bit of information about asana and teaching, but not so much about the LIVING of the Yoga. If the course happens over some months but the teacher is not physically present, some of the ground, the stability, necessary for optimal growth is lost.