How to Choose a Yoga Teacher Certification Program

By Rachel Holmes

Teaching yoga is a great way to maintain your healthy body, and it also would be a great way to relieve stress by relaxing in certain body positions. Your dream may be to teach yogic methods, but you have to know how to choose a yoga teacher training course that matches your needs, and there are several to choose from. You may want to work with children, athletes, seniors, or you might want to be involved in teaching people who have ailments as a form of therapy.

Why do you want to teach?

The first step to choosing a the best yoga teacher training course for you, is to think about what you want to do or what you are good at doing. You may have always wanted to work with children and to teach them yoga at an early age may be one of your biggest passions. 

If you have been practicing all your life, you may want to share what you know to improve the lives of others. Additionally, some people train to become teachers, but never teach large classes. There are teachers who only work with small groups, family members or private clients.

Fitness or Hot Options

Some competitive minded practitioners choose a physically harder class so they can show off all their physical skills. Whether you think this is right or wrong, show offs exist and they gravitate toward physically challenging styles where they can rub elbows with other like minded teacher interns. There's always a boot camp style where you can practice asanas in an oven. Some people are attracted to a Yoga school with militaristic instructors who will surely yell at you, if you don't meet the physical standards of the training.

Level of Experience

If you have never taken a class, you definitely want to attend some local classes, read books, watch videos or observe how classes are organized. Additionally, you may want to start off with the basics, until you are better suited for concepts covered in teacher courses. Don't even think about joining any type of instructor training without previous experience as a yoga student.

Learning in a School

If you decide to become a certified yoga instructor, go to workshops and see if you can pump information out of the current yoga instructors. Let them know what you have an interest in doing and see if they can give you some advice to put towards your future. At those workshops you will meet a lot of people in the field and you may have the opportunity to be an intern at a yoga school while completing your course. Be aware that your training will not be cheap.

Expenses

Money may also be an issue that you are worried about. You can also choose an online or distance learning course that is much less expensive than studying in-person. Remember that one course is only the beginning, regardless of the style or method of learning. Teaching any subject is continuing education for life.

Having the ultimate time, money, and energy, is what is setting most of us apart from choosing the ultimate course. There are dream vacation training intensives that cost over fifteen thousand US dollars, when you're finished. Size them all up and all it takes is a little bit of knowledge about each type of yoga training that is available and meeting the right people that will give you advice on what is to come of your future. 

Conclusion

It is very important to choose the right course for you. No two people are alike and all of us have different aspirations. You could spend all kinds of money, but will you put what you learn to good use? Will teacher training provide you with life skills, income or both? Strangely, the instructors who teach private lessons seem to make the most money, which leads you to think a small boutique size operation might be wiser than a room full of bodies. 

On the other hand, there are certified yoga teachers who use the skills they learn to live a better quality life, be a better person or cope with everyday stress and that's all they wanted from their training. Therefore, the sky is the limit for the types of training or the purpose behind an intern's aspirations.

© Copyright Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division

Do you want to become a yoga teacher? See our selection of online yoga instructor training intensive courses.