How to Become a Yoga Teacher 

If you have gotten hooked on yoga and have been practicing regularly for some time, you may feel that you'd like to complete a teacher certification course. Even if you do not plan on teaching, a good training program will deepen your practice and increase your knowledge of anatomy, philosophy, sequencing, and alignment.  

Are You Ready to Become a Yoga Teacher? 

Many training programs have minimum requirements for prospective trainees. Typical requirements are that you have practiced for several years, can do a headstand in the middle of the room, and have taken some classes with the teacher you propose to train with. Some students who love yoga and are unfulfilled by their day jobs hope that becoming a yoga teacher will offer them a way out of their job situations. Although things sometimes work out this way, be hard at it in a profession where there are no health benefits, no high salary, no job security. On the other hand, lots of great teachers juggle a few classes a week while keeping their regular jobs.

You have to check your motivation to become a Yoga Teacher and with the right perspective, motivation and passion, it can be one of the most rewarding vocation on earth. It is how you want to make it out to be.

What is a Registered Yoga Teacher?

In the United States, teacher-training programs that meet certain standards are registered by the Yoga Alliance, a nationally recognized organization. There are two levels of Yoga Alliance certificates- 200 Hour and 500 Hour, referring to the length of the program. Trainees first complete a 200-Hour program, which most yoga studios require as the minimum training for their teachers. Some teachers then choose to continue their studies by undertaking a 500 - Hour training.

Upon completion of a Yoga Alliance registered teacher-training program, teachers may use the acronym RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) after their name.

Ysynergy offers 200 hour TTC programs that are recognised and graduates can apply for registration with Yoga Alliance upon completion of their program

How to Find a Teacher-Training Program

If you practice only Bikram Yoga, your choice of a training program will be clear-cut. However, you practice vinyasa or hatha yoga, you will have a lot more choices. The most obvious place to start looking is at your favorite yoga center. Many yoga studios offer teacher-training programs, but take a good look at the curriculum before you sign on. With trainees paying thousands of dollars in tuition, yoga teacher training has become a moneymaking operation. So make sure any program you consider is Yoga Alliance certified. This will guarantee that your certificate will be of value when you are finished, and also that you will spend a specified number of hours studying asanas, teaching technique, anatomy, and philosophy.

You should also talk to your favorite yoga teachers about where they received their training. If you live in an area with no teacher-training programs, consider doing an intensive program at a yoga institute or ashram elsewhere.

Other Considerations

Cost – Expect to pay upwards of US$3,000.
Schedule – Some programs are intensive, lasting only a month or two but meeting every day during that period. Other programs last six months or a year, but only meet in the evenings or on weekends.
Personality – Make sure you like and respect the head teachers; you will be spending a lot of time with them.

Ysynergy Eclectic and Elective 200 hour TTC certified by Yoga Alliance

Read about it and its unique offerings for you before you decide to become a certified Yoga Teacher and the continuing education that Ysynergy offers you.