Yoga Teacher Training Certifications – What You Must Know About Them

Today’s blog post is a guest post on Yoga Teacher Training Certifications and was written by Katherine Austin. Katherine Austin is a professional yoga teacher trainer having 10 years of experience in Yoga. She is a certified yoga teacher trainer. She practised in Hatha Yoga, Yin Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Surya Namaskar. Katherine has been working with Chinmay Yoga School for over 6 years now. She is one of the favourite teachers of the students. Katherine loves to travel, reading books; spend quality time with new people.

Introduction to Yoga Teacher Training Certifications

If you are a yoga enthusiast, you may have heard about various yoga training courses. In fact, for yoga aspirants, the yoga teacher’s training is the ultimate goal which allows them to explore yoga in detail as well as gain the certifications which authenticate their training so that they can spread the goodness of yoga among others. If you are also someone who is looking for making a career in the field of yoga, the yoga teacher training certification is all the more important for you. The training alone doesn’t make you eligible for practising the profession. You must take your training from Yoga Alliance Accredited Schools only if your aim is to get a certification. Let’s explore some commonly asked questions by yoga aspirants about the yoga teacher training and certification.

What Yoga Teacher Training certification do you need to have?

It depends on the kind of yoga training you are pursuing. You can get various certifications such as:

– RYT 200

– RYT 500

– E-RYT 200

– E-RYT 500

– RCYT

– RPYT

● Is it mandatory to have a yoga alliance certification for becoming a yoga tutor? If you wish to make a career in the field of yoga, the certification is a must. It’s same as having a degree certificate from your college which enables you to fetch a job. The competition is increasing with each passing day and having yoga alliance certifications improves your chances of standing apart from others. It is a standard certification that is recognized by all yoga centres and schools so your probability of bagging a job increases. The certification is a way of building credibility and it reflects your passion and knowledge about yoga.

● How is the 200-hour certification different from the 300-hour certificate? The certification needs you to progress step by step. In order to get the 300-hour certification, you must first successfully complete the 200-hour training and certification. This will take almost 6 months to a year. The yoga tutors who are already teaching for a year or so can go ahead with the 300-hour certification for improving their skills and yoga practice.

● Are the various 200-hour certifications different from one another? It is to be known that almost all the 200-hour certifications are almost the same with the only difference being the style of yoga being taught under each program.

● How is a part-time certification program different from the intensive training certification? Both programs offer essentially the same certification. The only difference is the training schedule which you can either complete within a month or take classes only on weekends. The certifications are almost the same; you must choose a program that benefits you’re the most.

● Are you ready for teaching yoga after the 200-hour certification? The 200-hour certification certainly makes your eligible for teaching but it’s up to you to decide when you want to start teaching. For some the intention of the training is to make a career in yoga while for others it is just an experience for enriching their knowledge and yoga skills. If you fall into the former category, you can start teaching yoga after the certification.

● What all does the 200-hour training course consists of? – Anatomy and Physiology – Chakras – Postural Adjustment – Pranayama – Multiple Styles of Yoga – Assisting – Yoga Philosophy – Sequencing – The Yoga Sutras – Asana Alignment and Modifications

● What does the 300-hour certification training consist of? Just like the 200-hour course, the 300-hour training sessions are custom-made as per the yoga school. Both the courses cover the same topic but the latter covers them in-depth. – Advanced Asanas – Advanced Meditation – Advanced Pranayama – Psychology of Yoga – Ethics of Teaching Yoga – Mudra – Business of Yoga Teaching – Bandhas – Therapeutic Applications of Yoga – Kriya – Advanced Studies of the History and Philosophy of Yoga

Can you teach after the 300-hour certification course?

There are yoga tutors who have been practising for almost a year or more but still don’t have the 300-hour certifications. You can teach even without the certificate as long as you have the required skills. You need the 300-hour certifications only if you wish to teach yoga full time.

● How to find a Yoga Alliance Certified school? All the yoga schools these days’ have their websites where you can find if they are yoga alliance certified school or not. You can also verify the same from the Yoga Alliance website.

● Is it mandatory to get your 200-hour and 300-hour certification from the same school? There is no such compulsion or rule. You can choose different schools for both the certification courses.

● What is the cost of becoming a registered and certified yoga tutor? Usually, the yoga teacher training programs begin from 1500 dollars and range up to 5000 dollars or even higher. There is a standard 50 dollar fee for registering with yoga alliance. Also, for maintaining the certification status you must pay 65 dollars annually. However not all schools work for money, there are still schools like Chinmay Yoga who conduct the 200-Hour YTTC for 799 USD and 300-Hour YTTC in India with much better facilities to make sure everyone can easily afford it and gain knowledge of yoga.

Chinmay Yoga also conducts many free yoga classes for everyone.

Other certifications offered by Yoga Alliance?

E-RYT 200 hour – It is meant for yoga tutors who have finished the 200-hour training and taught for almost 1000 hours or 2 years after completing the certification. They become eligible to lead training that can certify others to become a yoga tutor.

E-RYT 500 hour – The program is meant for teachers who have finished 200-hour and 300-hour training along with teaching experience of 2000 hours. They should be teaching yoga for 4 years after completing their 200-hour training. They become eligible for conducting 200-hour and 300-hour teachers’ training and can certify others to become a yoga teacher.

Specialty Certifications – These certifications don’t hold much significance and you can pursue them only for fetching a job.

Children’s Yoga Teacher – For the children’s yoga teacher certification, you need to complete the 200-hour teacher training program as well as have 30 hours of teaching experience.

Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher – You need to complete the 200-hour teaching program along with 85-hour module in a school which can certify a registered prenatal yoga teacher. You should also have at least 30 hours of teaching experience for becoming a registered prenatal yoga tutor.

CONCLUSION

If you are also someone who is looking for making a career in the field of yoga, the yoga certification is all the more important for you. The training alone doesn’t make you eligible for practicing the profession. You must take your training from Yoga Alliance Accredited Schools only if your aim is to get a certification.

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