How to Become a Yoga Instructor: A Simple Guide

January 24 2020 - Do you want to make a living out of sharing something you love and do every day? Yoga took the Western world by storm, and it's easy to see why. This ancient practice improves your whole life and reconnects your mind and body.

When people first fall in love with yoga, a common question pops up. They want to know how to become a yoga teacher. Practicing this wonderful lifestyle feels so good that it's natural you want to share it with everyone you meet.

Becoming a yoga teacher is well within your reach if you're passionate about helping others find yoga. The best part is, by training as a yoga teacher, you get to practice yoga every day!

Keep reading to discover how to become a yoga instructor and soon you'll be on your path to helping others fall in love with this life-changing practice.

Why Become a Yoga Teacher?

Many of us are driven to help others and want our work to reflect that desire. It can be hard to find a job that enables you to follow a passion while having genuine purpose and meaning in the wider world.

Yoga is a form of physical and mental exercise that has almost endless benefits for anyone who tries it. By becoming a yoga teacher, you'll be playing an important role in supporting and boosting the health of your students.

You will also be able to continue with your own practice as a yoga teacher, developing new classes and even group meditations. Studying different types of yoga over the years will allow you to branch out and create your own style of teaching and practice.

What's Involved in Being a Yoga Teacher?

No two yoga teachers are the same because yoga is a broad system and every teacher uses it slightly differently. That said, there are a few ways most yoga teachers tend to work.

Group classes

Many yoga teachers rent space in or are employed by a yoga studio or fitness center. They teach a number of group classes throughout each week, often sticking to a specific timetable so their students can have the same teacher.

These classes depend on you creating a different yoga practice each week, progressing the class, and trying new things.

One-to-Ones

There are plenty of reasons why a student might prefer to have a private yoga class, from illness to convenience. Yoga teachers can take on one-to-one clients and see them regularly to help them with their practice.

Online

YouTube and other platforms have made it easy to demonstrate your skills and attract yoga students online. As a yoga teacher, you'll be able to post up videos of routines and even create paid subscription systems.

Public Speaking

Whether you'll only do one-to-ones, online, or in groups, there's always an element of public speaking involved in being a yoga instructor. You might not like the thought of talking in front of a group of students but there's no need to worry.

During your yoga teacher training, you'll get to practice this will your fellow trainees and gain the confidence to get you started. Every yoga teacher feels a little nervous in front of a new class but it soon wears off. After all, yoga is a supportive practice.

Organization

Being a yoga teacher isn't just about doing downward dog on a mat in a room with twenty other people. You'll need to be organized if you want to turn it into a career.

Yoga teachers are usually self-employed and to attract students to your classes, you'll need to be flexible and dependable. You'll also need to plan your classes ahead of time, get cover if you go on vacation, and deal with payments and accounts.

How to Train as a Yoga Teacher

Yoga teaching isn't a regulated profession so there are no laws that govern your level of training. However, the better training you undertake, the happier you'll feel in front of students and the more you can support their practice.

There are many yoga training schools and teachers, with certification falling into common categories.

200-Hour Training

200-hour training is one of the most popular ways to begin your yoga career. Choosing where to get your yoga teacher certification depends on the time you have available and the location you want to go to.

Destinations like India and Bali are fantastic for 200-hour training courses but you can do them in thousands of places around the world. You can do this course over a month full-time or over a year part-time at weekends.

Once finished, you can begin working as a yoga teacher in studios or privately.

500-Hour Training

While yoga teachers often begin with a 200-hour training course, to excel as a teacher it's good practice to keep training. Many teachers go on to do a 500-hour course or even other 200-hour courses.

500-hour courses go into even more depth, have modules on different types of yoga and teach a wider variety of yoga-related subjects.

You don't have to choose between courses and worry you've picked the wrong one because yoga is a lifestyle and you can do as many courses over your career as you like.

Choosing a Reputable Yoga Teacher Training Course

While yoga teaching isn't regulated in law, studios and students will still want their teachers to meet certain standards. It's common for teachers to be part of yoga membership organizations who approve teachers via course accreditation.

Yoga Alliance is a good example of one of the reputable organizations and choosing a course approved by them is a good choice. You can look at a few local yoga studios to see which organizations their teachers belong to and find out which ones are popular.

How to Become a Yoga Instructor

When you want to know how to become a yoga instructor, you probably already love this ancient practice. Sharing your passion with others and helping students reconnect with themselves is a hugely rewarding career choice and can give you great satisfaction.

As yoga teacher training involves a lot of yoga practice, the training itself will help you progress personally. This means that even if you choose not to become a teacher after your course, you'll still have gained so much.

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