YTT: How to Become a Yoga Teacher

Becoming a Yoga Teacher is a fun dream for many, but the steps to get there can sometimes feel confusing! Let’s break it down:
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Once you decide you want to become a yoga teacher, it’s time to find your training / yoga school. Get to know the studio(s) you might want to teach at and talk to the teachers there. Every studio has a different style or training preference. When you find teachers you love to learn from the most, they can help guide you to great trainings or what to consider. Especially when embarking on a new journey, sometimes it’s best to be familiar with the space, practice, and faces. (: 

A Registered Yoga School is a studio who has RYS status with Yoga Alliance. YA is an international registry of yoga teachers and studios that provide continuing education and uphold certain standards, ethics, and philosophies around the teaching of yoga.

Everyone starts at a base-level 200-hr training, but from there they can soar to 300-hr training and even 500-hr training! Once base-level training is completed, you have the option to add on to your training to develop more skills on the mat or in the studio. There are many different kinds of certifications one can choose and more often than not, the spark is found on the mat once you find the right teacher!

Traditionally, after completing your 200-HR teaching certificate, yogis have the option of continuing their education to receive a 300-HR. This certificate is designed to look deeper at the postures, philosophy, and world of yoga since the foundational level has been achieved. Like a Masters program after an Undergraduate degree, 300-HR training certificates have plenty of different specialties.

We are thrilled to be hosting Inner Peace Yoga Therapy School at our studio in May 2024. In this Yoga Therapy Teacher Training, Erin will be the facilitating teacher in coordination with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy School, where students will have the opportunity to receive their Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) 300-HR certificate. Teachers may choose to go on and complete their full 800-HR IAYT training from this accredited program.

​(See the blog post under this one for more information on Inner Peace Yoga Therapy School and their 300-hr training!)

​[chart from The Yogatique on Yoga Alliance]
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Your baseline yoga teaching certificate is broken down into 200-hrs of learning, teaching, and doing. All these (seen in the graphic above) is the current YA standard. All these have to be hit in order for you to be a certified instructor through Yoga Alliance! In every level, there is a foundation of respect, honor, and safety. 
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• Technique, Training, & Practice (75 hours)

Here, we discuss the foundations for the Asana (posture), Pranayama (breathing technique) and Subtle Body Meditation. Many types of yoga are centered around the breath: it being the basis of life, the posture, and the practice. 
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• Anatomy & Physiology (30 hours)

Here – quite literally – we learn the ins and outs of every muscle in our bodies… or at least retain the main muscle groups! “Biomechanics”, as listed above, is the awareness of our bodies: how they move, what goes where, as well as their limitations and strengths. It’s okay if you don’t have any previous education or training in this subject. The 200-hr certificate is open to all learners of every capacity. 
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• Yoga Humanities (30 hours)

Here we have a deep-dive into the history, philosophy, and ethics of yoga. It’s not just a physical practice! Especially in our Western world, our yoga does not exactly reflect that of the Eastern culture – the birthplace of yoga. Here you will understand yoga’s beginnings and perhaps create a better understanding of why you’ve been so attached to yoga than just the practice. 
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• Professional Essentials (50 hours)

Here you will learn your teaching methodology (there are many), professional development (your yoga career if you so choose it), and practicum (you finally get to teach!). This is going to be where you jump out of the student perspective and into the teaching perspective. You will learn how to navigate challenges you might encounter in the studio or while you’re teaching. An example from my own practicum: “What do you do when a student starts crying in the middle of practice?” Very essential stuff! 
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• Elective Hours (15 hours)

This can just be filled by your 200-hr having some sort of speciality like Yoga Therapy, Biomechanics, or even Hatha! 

I had a yoga instructor who was certified in Trauma-Informed Yoga and the 100-hr certificate reframed her language used on the mat! The core of Trauma-Informed Yoga is so that you do not weaponize the body, but instead, feel safe and supported within the space. In fact, our very own Stephanie Alston is a certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor! She got it in addition to her RYT-200hr and I and many other students feel the difference her class makes – especially if you’re looking for that in a yoga instructor. (: 
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After you complete the necessary amount of hours it takes to be able to teach at a studio (your 200-hr), then you are certified to teach! It is always up to you whether you’re ready or want to, I know plenty of students who took and completed their 200-hr yoga teacher training but only wanted it to supplement their own practice. (: At the end of the day, yoga is meant to be of service to you and how you can be of service to others: on and off the mat. If your cup isn’t full, don’t pour from it! 
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If you’d like to teach, yay! Know that teaching is a big jump from practicing and it’s okay to feel scared! When I first taught, I stumbled over my words and forgot the left side in some postures! The fear is okay, completely normal, and honestly – good. If you’re nervous, that means you care about it deeply. And that care will only grow and carry you through each stage of teaching! One of the best tips I can provide is to teach as much as you can. The more you’re in the studio talking, connecting, and leading, the easier it will come. 

Every teacher has a different story as to how they began teaching as well as their career after their first hiring. Up until a few years ago, it could be hard to be a yoga teacher. Many studios only had you work a class or two a week on their schedule, and if you were a brand new graduate from your 200-hr certificate? You would be lucky to find a sub opportunity! After your certificate, you would have to earn hours to teach. For a lot of my friends, that meant donation-based yoga in the park or bugging their favorite studio enough until they finally gave them the opportunity to substitute a class. From there, they would have to substitute a few more times and then maybe be considered if there was a new teacher opening. 

The yoga teacher market post-COVID was a doozy. With two years of total shut down for studios, gyms, and other yoga-found spaces, many yoga teachers had to find another job or different career path. I was a fresh graduate of my yoga teacher training at the 200-hr level in 2021. So by complete happenstance, I was able to be hired right away due to a needed job market. Since it was also a new studio as well, I was able to build my way up to teach up to around 10 classes per week. Once you have the experience teaching, it becomes dramatically easier to move around and operate within the yoga job market. 

And if you mix up your lefts and rights, the more the merrier. (;

Post written by Stephanie Alston ERYT200 and Annie Schwab RYT200.