Got Yoga? 4 Reasons to Take Yoga Teacher Training

If you know you want to teach yoga, investing in the initial 200-hour teacher training may seem like a no-brainer. The investment in your future outweighs the financial aspect of teacher training. But what are some other reasons people look to teacher training, and are they worth the roughly $3,500 investment?

Below are four of the main reasons people find themselves in yoga teacher training.

1. Become a yoga teacher.

Technically, nothing says you have to be certified to be a yoga teacher. With the volume of people out there teaching, that can be a little scary. More studios are now looking for teachers who have completed a 200-hour training and registered with Yoga Alliance (YA). To register with YA, you must complete one of the approved training programs, provide proof of certification, and then complete registration on their site. You will also have to purchase insurance once you begin instructing. If you know your end goal is to teach, it’s best to start with a YA-registered, 200-hour program.

2. Find your yoga family.

If you go to any yoga studio more than a few times, you will start to see the same faces and get to know the people around you. In most studios, you will eventually (if not right away) find a regular group of classmates to chat with before and after class.

The more you go to class, the more you will find a unique set of like-minded people who understand why you are there. Teacher training takes this to the next level. Some of my classmates were in love with the studio where we practice, and some were new to the area. But we all got the same thing out of training: a sense of belonging, a group of people who were going through the same process. Through the training, we created some pretty strong bonds.

3. Deepen your personal practice.

Not only did I deepen my practice, I also made my practice a safer one. I am one of those people who wants to be in the pretzel poses, and I will always try the deeper variation. Through training, I learned much of what I was doing to my body was downright unsafe. The knowledge I have now will allow me to practice for years to come; whereas before, I was headed straight for an injury.

I also learned more about the history, the philosophy, and the different ways of taking on yoga. The experience as a whole was worth every penny, even if I never recoup the money through teaching.

4. Devote some real time to yourself and wellbeing.

Sometimes you just need a break from whatever that has been consuming you in your life. Maybe you are going through a major life change, dealing with a divorce, a death, retirement, marriage—whatever it is, sometimes we need a new perspective. Immersing yourself in teacher training is a great way to find that new perspective. You may discover things about yourself that you didn’t even know were there.

No matter why you are considering yoga teacher training, realize that there is no one reason or right answer for signing up. Training doesn’t just offer people one path. In fact, it takes people coming from many different roads, who will continue to go in many different directions, and puts them all on the same path for a moment in time—a time for learning, growing, bonding, and change.