When you google “Yoga Teacher Training” there are many schools and so many pages consuming hours and hours of your time and finally, there is always a chance that you end up with confusion, instead of clarity.
It is always a hard task to find the right Yoga Teacher Training Course when you plan to deepen your knowledge of Yoga and would like to share it professionally.
I am not telling you to choose Samyak Yoga and telling you that we are the best! There are some factors that you should keep in mind before you get into filtering the school that suits your expectations.
Here’s a Yogi’s guide to choosing Yoga Teacher Training
1. Content of the Yoga Teacher Training School
If you look carefully at the way the school portrays the syllabus of Yoga Teacher Training, you will get to know whether the school has a structure of the training or not.
You should ideally have the fundamentals of Yoga in the curriculum.
They can be put below:
a. Asana Practice b. Alignment workshops c. The Art of Hands-on Adjustments d. Sequencing & Creating Class modules e. Yoga Philosophy f. Yoga Anatomy g. Pranayama Practice & Teaching h. Meditation (Practice & Teaching)
2. You can’t learn everything. If the school claims so, that’s just marketing
Often we encountered some students asking us whether we teach Yoga for Kids, Yoga for Pregnancy, Yoga Therapy & Ayurveda, Tantra, and many other aspects of Yoga which we decline.
It is possible to add all these in the manual and make a session on every topic. However, you will not learn something seriously. You will only feel that you are learning something!!
Yoga for Kids, for example, requires its own time to learn, and it is better if you approach someone who has specialized in teaching it, not any Yoga Teacher.
If you find a school that teaches almost everything, it definitely is marketing it well and it is just marketing only.
3. Read Reviews and chat with former students of the school
Read Reviews of the school to know the experience of other students.
You can read the reviews on Yoga Alliance, Google, Facebook, Trip Advisor etc.
If required, chat/speak to former students and discuss the structure of the training, how professional were it and their first-hand experience of training etc.
4. Prioritize the content, not the exotic location
Teaching Yoga is a gift and you will love to be a Yoga Teacher with proper knowledge gained. Beaches can be lovely to stay. However, do not prioritize the location over the teacher training content.
You may end up staying at one of the best places with no Yoga-Teaching knowledge gained.
5. Blend of Tradition and Professional training
It is always hard to find this balance. Some schools may be traditional (mostly in India!).
They follow the traditional aspects of Yoga and teach the essence without making it a fitness regime.
However, you may not find it professional training. You may not find a structure, co-relation between the sessions of the first week and that of the second week, a lot of kirtans and some un-planned sessions!!
The western Yoga schools, most often are professional schools, with pre-defined sessions, structured week-by-week plans etc. They may not have the traditional roots or the essence of Yoga. It may look more like fitness training.
A blend of traditional wisdom presented with a professional approach would be ideal. And that’s why it is difficult.
Hope you will find the best Yoga Teacher Training that gives more than what you expect and helps you find the hidden teacher within.