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Most yoga studios you come across will hold a yoga teacher training. It can become a daunting task to figure out which one is right for you and choosing the right one can open many doors for your yoga teaching career path or even for your self discovery journey. There is no formula for choosing the right program however there are some things to consider that can help make the process easier.
1. WHY DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING?
Figuring out your actual intention in why you are taking a yoga teacher training is a good place to start. If you are taking a YTT to become a yoga teacher, you will want to make sure they can offer you a module and information about the business of yoga and creating your image as a teacher. This can help you navigate the yoga world once you are done the course. Understanding how to create your image as a yoga teacher is also extremely vital; learning about the traits and skills needed to be an inspirational teacher and creating a strong culture. If you are taking a yoga teacher training in order to deepen your personal practice, you may want a YTT that offers extra modules covering yogic philosophies and how to bring it into your daily life, the chakras, journey of the self, and even extra reading material.
2. STANDARD OR INTENSIVE?
In an intensive yoga teacher training, you will complete the program anywhere between 4-10 weeks. If this is possible for you job wise or family wise, then intensive may the way to go. This will give you the opportunity to fully immerse yourself into the program, attending classes on a daily basis. This offers a huge advantage because the most effective way to deepen your practice is taking a very dedicated and uninterrupted approach.
3. WHAT STYLES OF YOGA DOES THE PROGRAM COVER?
Hatha yoga is the foundational style of yoga and is the most common style you will find in almost every yoga teacher training. Some programs only offer one particular style while others offer more. Finding a YTT that covers a minimum of two yoga styles will give you a decently strong base that can be implemented into any teaching style. The more styles covered the better! However, if a yoga teacher training is covering a lot of styles, you may want to chat with them to see how much time is spent on each one. If they just lightly touch on each style, then you won’t get that strong base of knowledge that you are searching for. Typically, you will find out that they specialize in a few styles and lightly cover the rest. For example, our Stasis Yoga Teacher Training specializes in Hatha and Yin Yoga but also covers Vinyasa and Restorative. We specify that we will be using these four styles to teach you how to create other types of sequences that can be used in hot yoga, therapeutic or power focused classes giving you a very strong base to go off of.
4. ANY ANATOMY MODULES?
Most yoga teacher trainings will cover some form of anatomy. Anatomy is important because it allows you to truly understand the mechanics of the body. Most YTT will cover a form of gross anatomy or human anatomy. This knowledge can be great to have if you are given the opportunity to take a deep dive into thoroughly studying the human anatomy but this is rarely provided in a yoga teacher training. It also can be very complicated and difficult to understand for most students. They are more key to the practice of medicine and other areas of health. The type of anatomy that you would want to look out for is functional anatomy. Functional anatomy is the study of the functional significance of the structure of the musculoskeletal system, covering the mechanical properties and functional characteristics of our bodies. Functional anatomy helps us understand how our muscles work when we move (in a nutshell). As you can see, this is why it is a very fitting type of anatomy for yoga teachers to learn and is also easy enough to apply it in class. In the Stasis Yoga Teacher Training functional anatomy module, we also cover common injuries and illnesses in order to help you provide safer classes for your students. This is quite vital for yoga teachers to have an understanding of.
5. EVALUATE THE CURRICULUM FOR A BALANCE OF SUBJECTS
Yoga Teacher Trainings will require a number of hours dedicated to asana (postures), anatomy, history and philosophy. However, you want to take a look through the curriculum and its modules to see what else the YTT provides. Try to find a yoga teacher training that provides a balanced variety of other topics such as myofascial release, the chakras and sequencing. This will allow you to become a well-rounded, knowledgeable yoga teacher (or have a well-rounded spiritual journey).
6. WILL YOU GET ACTIVE TRAINING HOURS?
This would seem like a no brainer, however sometimes you may come across a yoga teacher training that offers little to no active training hours. With Stasis, there is required number of active training hours that need to be completed in order to receive the certificate. There will also be opportunities provided to shadow the head yoga teacher to gain practice teaching poses, using hands on adjustments with students and working on opening/closing class meditations. It is important to gain as much teaching experience as you can before being put out into the world as a certified yoga teacher.
7. CLASS SIZE
Very simple: the smaller the class size, the more individual attention you will receive during the yoga teacher training. If the website doesn’t state the class size, you can always call and ask what their typical YTT class size is.
8. TAKE THE YOGA TEACHERS’ CLASSES
You want to be confident and certain with the teacher in which you will be spending all this time with and learning from. Taking the yoga teachers’ classes will give you the time to get to know and become comfortable with that teacher.
IN CONCLUSION
A yoga teacher training can be such an incredible experience. You need to be able to judge this for yourself in order to be comfortable with your choice of YTT however, following these tips will help make the process of finding the right yoga teacher training less overwhelming. It will be well worth the investment in yourself and your journey. Are you ready to take a YTT? Click here to help you decide!
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