How to Become a Yoga Teacher?

Just in case you are an ardent admirer of yoga and you have been regularly practicing it for years, then you might have thought of pursuing a certification course to become a teacher. In case, you have not actually planned to do it, you can give it a try since a nice training program intensifies your practice and develops your knowledge on philosophy, sequencing, alignment and anatomy.

Various training programs are present which expect very little requirements from the prospective trainees. The key requirement will be your practice for some years. That is, you must be capable of standing on your head and need to take some classes with your favorite teacher for future training. Some of the students, who like yoga & are not satisfied with their jobs, can opt to become a teacher for yoga since it offers a solution to them regarding their situations in the job.

Things will definitely work out if you opt for it, but note that the yoga teachers will not get a good salary. Those few teachers who earn their bread only through teaching yoga work extremely hard though they do not get 401k, job security and proper health benefits. Some teachers conduct few classes in a week along with going to their day jobs. In the US, training programs to become a yoga teacher have to follow certain standards. Only then, the Yoga Alliance registers them, which is an organization that is recognized nationally.

Yoga Alliance indicates two levels of certificates: 500 Hour and 200 Hour, implying the program’s length. The Trainees have to first complete the program of 200 Hours that has been considered as the basic training by most of the yoga centers. Some of them, who wish to continue the program can undergo the training of 500 Hours. Once they complete the registered training program of the Yoga Alliance, the teachers can use the RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) acronym after their names.

Specialized yoga types like Iyengar, Bikram, Baptiste Power Yoga and Anusara requires the teachers to complete the program through self-guidance. If you intend to learn only Bikram Yoga, then you can definitely choose the training program. But, if you opt to practice hatha or vinyasa yoga, then you have many more choices. You can choose to start at the yoga center that is your favorite. There are many yoga centers that provide a training program, but go through the curriculum before you decide to join a yoga center.

Since the trainees are ready to pay plenty of money for their tuitions, the teacher training has become a business of making huge amount of money. So always be sure that the program that you are going to join is certified by the Yoga Alliance. This way, the certificate will possess some value once you complete the program, since you have spent a lot of time in studying teaching techniques, asanas, philosophy and anatomy. You also need to collect info from the yoga teacher who’s your favorite as to where he underwent training.

In case you are staying in an area which has no training programs, then you need to do an intensive program in an ashram or at a yoga institute. The website of the Yoga Alliance clearly states its certification standards and also helps in finding a registered Yoga School in your area.

The teacher-training program will cost you more than $3,000. Some programs will last for one month or more, but some are intensive, but you have to meet everyday in that duration. Some programs will last for a year or just 6 months, but they only meet in weekends or in the evenings. You have to be completely sure of respecting and liking the head teachers since you will have to spend a few hours with them.

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