If you have enrolled in a training course for yoga teachers, or are thinking of doing so, you may feel full of emotion and hidden anxiety. Teacher education can be an intense personal and professional journey. But if you're feeling well prepared, savoring it can also be a challenge. As you learn in yoga asanas, you have to find the balance between sthria and sukham.
Yoga teacher training (YTT) is a serious and very demanding course. However, as long as you do your best and show enthusiasm and desire to learn, there's no reason why you can't pass. Plus, as all yoga teachers will tell you, getting your certificate is just the beginning. So instead of rushing to get a job as a yoga instructor, you can keep practicing and learning until you feel ready to share your newfound wisdom.
First of all, you can expect a pretty intense and rigorous schedule, because nothing good comes without making an effort. Most of the workouts will be 9 to 12 hour days and will include several different classes, both on and off the mat. The classes will include the physical practices that will be taught to you, classes on how to teach, anatomy, philosophy, history of yoga, how to teach breathing, learning about chakras and bandhas, assistance, how to create classes, meditation and the business of yoga, also known as going out into the world later and being a yoga teacher. As I became more spiritual, I realized that the philosophy of yoga had deep roots and that what really interested me more was the philosophy and reasoning behind why people practice it than the health benefits of yoga (although that's an advantage).
The yoga lifestyle doesn't involve any harm, so the food served during most workouts will be vegan and vegetarian. If you were to ask ten yoga teachers how difficult it is to pass their yoga teacher training, they would probably all give you a different answer. Odyssey has organized a training course for yoga teachers that teaches you how to make poses more accessible to you and your future students, while strengthening and connecting ancient philosophical beliefs with the 21st century. As soon as I enrolled in YTT and started to tell the teachers at the studio where I was practicing or to friends who are yoga teachers, they all told me how incredible the experience I was going to live was going to be.
When I came up with the idea of becoming a yoga teacher, I wanted to do the training because I thought it was cool (unconvincing, I know). Yoga also consists of achieving samadi, the eighth branch of yoga that translates as enlightenment or happiness. It's very difficult to become a teacher because you have to learn everything about yoga and master all the poses in your yoga teacher training course. The course itself is what Erin describes as a heart-centered vinyasa yoga teacher training, so expect a lot of moving flows.
The people I spoke to had done their yoga teacher training all over the world, from Thailand to Switzerland, Canada and Bali. A close friend who is an experienced yoga teacher warned me to be careful when choosing a YTT course, as she told me that not all of them are created the same way. On the other hand, yoga training courses on a tropical island that are promoted as “part retreat, part TTC” have a reputation for being more relaxed. So here's how to create a yoga business plan so you can carve your own path as a successful yoga business owner.
Instead, I used the YTT not only as a way to deepen my practice but also to show myself that I could be very good at something physical despite my weight since I'm overweight and to show others that being a yoga teacher doesn't mean that you have to be very fit, small or very flexible to do it. Yoga teacher training can be an intense journey but it is worth it if you are passionate about learning more about this ancient practice. With dedication and hard work you can become an experienced instructor who can share their knowledge with others. To make sure your journey is successful it is important to choose an accredited program with experienced instructors who can guide you through every step of your journey.
