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How to Choose a Yoga Teacher Training Program

Published on July 18, 2019

For many of us, discovering yoga was a lot like falling in love—the surrender, the glow, the longing for more. If you’ve arrived at that point where you yearn for a deeper commitment—you want to become a teacher or to explore beyond the boundaries of 90-minute classes—you may be thinking about attending a yoga teacher training (YTT) program. There are many things to consider before choosing the best teacher training for your specific needs and yogic goals.

What are the yoga training standards?

How do you choose when there are currently more than a thousand training programs registered with Yoga Alliance? To clarify, Yoga Alliance (YA) is a national organization that supports yoga teachers and establishes education standards. Though you can become a “certified yoga teacher” in as little as a weekend, such programs do not meet YA’s standards, now considered a benchmark by many studios hiring new teachers. YA standards include a minimum of 200 hours covering asana technique, anatomy, yogic philosophy, and other subjects. While many teachers disagree with how the YA creates and sets these standards, it is still best to make sure any YTT you are considering can meet their guidelines.

What to ask a YTT program

“Is your program registered by Yoga Alliance?” This is the most common question prospective students ask, according to Sydney Pinkerton, who often fields questions about teacher training in her role as manager of 7 Centers Yoga Arts, Sedona, AZ. Because yoga training is a serious commitment in terms of time and money, there are many questions to consider. Does tuition include books, materials, and required workshops? Is the program residential or do students need to arrange housing? Are meals included? How much will travel expenses add to the final cost? Does the school’s lineage require personal or financial commitments after graduation?

Though core requirements and costs may make training programs appear similar, each has its own a distinct flavor. “It’s like comparing apples and oranges,” according to Pinkerton. To decide which program is the best fit for you, she suggests beginning by identifying your needs and goals. Do you want to teach? Where? Is teaching in a particular style of yoga (Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kripalu, Anusara, Jivamukti, Bikram, etc.) important to you, or would you prefer a program that offers a broad foundation? Do you want to complete training in a single, intensive month of study or spread it out over several months?

The most likely disappointment, according to Pinkerton, happens when a YTT doesn’t meet the student’s expectations. To learn more about what to expect from a program, she recommends asking the school for a list of recent graduates so that you can talk to them about their experiences. It’s a good way to find out what a typical training day or week is like and how you can prepare yourself mentally and physically. It’s also a good way to find out more about the program’s teachers, adding to what you learn from the bios and resumes posted on the school’s web site.

Pinkerton believes that one of the most important—but often unasked—questions concerns a program’s contact with students. While YA standards require a certain number of contact hours during trainings, the quality of “teacher time” is harder to measure. Does the program offer the level of mentoring you need? Will your teachers continue to offer support after you graduate and take on the role of teacher yourself?

Here are several other questions to consider asking a YTT before enrolling:
• What are the required readings?
• Are there any at-home assignments?
• What are the daily training hours, and what are the days off?
• Are there any expected additional expenses?
• What is the YTT’s graduation rate?
• Is there any contact or support post-training?
• Do you provide any assistance in landing teaching jobs?

Searching for the right YTT for you

To begin your search for the yoga teacher training program that best fits your needs, check out the training location database and top-ranked programs at FindYoga. If you are on a budget their site also has a section to receive bids from competing schools!

Three other ways to search for a YTT:
• Visit the yoga studios in your area that offer YTT programs.
• Google search your preferred location plus “YTT program”
• Ask your favorite yoga teachers where they were trained and if they have recommendations for a YTT.

Because no matter which program you choose, one of your biggest realizations during teacher training will be the moment when it dawns on you: This is merely the beginning. Like life itself, the vastness of yoga demands continuing evolution. And even as a teacher, you will always be a student.

Are you ready to enroll in a YTT course? Take our yoga teacher training quiz to find out!

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Kathleen Bryant Avatar
About the author
A former teacher and forever student, Kathleen Bryant swapped her running shoes for a yoga blanket in 1992, when she joined her first Hatha Yoga class in the back room of a local crystal shop. After earning a 500-hour teaching certificate from the International Yoga College, she taught anatomy, asana, and other subjects at 7 Centers School of Yoga Arts in Sedona, AZ. Kathleen is especially interested in the therapeutic aspects of yoga and continues to learn from Rama Jyoti Vernon, an amazing yogini who inspires her students to integrate yoga philosophy and mythology with contemporary life. An award-winning author, she has also published a children’s story, a cookbook, and books that focus on Southwest culture, travel, and natural history.
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