A common fear for people who want to become a professional yoga teacher is that they don’t have enough experience in Yoga or that they don’t have the required practice level to be a role model to the students. Let me break that myth down by the following strong affirmation that it is not required to be a superstar in your own yoga practice before you can become a yoga teacher. I have met many yoga teachers, some who hardly had any experience with yoga before they decided to follow a yoga teacher training in India. However I have seen those people teach excellent yoga classes. What matters in a yoga teacher is not how they practice themselves. Whether or not you can stand in headstand for 10 minutes has absolutely no meaning if you can’t give proper instructions, corrections and modifications to your students. And that is what matters to a student: to feel safe in the teacher’s class, to feel cared for and to be properly guided in their practice.
If you are a beginning yoga student, inspired by yoga and you want to learn more about it, then following a yoga training can help you to speed up the process. There are many intensive yoga trainings in India which will offer you the proper foundation and knowledge of yoga. Some people even follow a yoga teacher training without having any intention of becoming a yoga teacher. It is important to decide for yourself what you want to gain from the course: becoming a teacher, improving your practice, learning more about yoga,… There are many possible motivations for following a teacher training and it is important to have a firm mindset of what you want to gain from the course before registering. Only then you will be able to follow the course that suits your needs and you will have maximum benefit from it.
In India there are many yoga teacher trainings which take place in a Yoga Ashram. A yoga ashram is a place which offers only the basic necessities. You will have no extra luxuries but you will be able to focus completely on your studies. Following a yoga course in an ashram has an extra benefit because it allows you to experience the true yogic lifestyle based on simplicity and modesty.
There are 2 types of yoga teacher training courses: 200 hour and 300 hour teacher trainings. A 200 hour yoga training is the basis which can be followed by beginning students. A 300 hour course can only be followed by people who already have a 200 hour teacher certificate and requires more experience both in teaching and in personal practice. It is advisable to check with the school if they accept beginning students but if you are willing to learn and you are excited to discover more about yoga, then don’t be discouraged by your level of practice. Take the opportunity and enjoy the learning process. You will be amazed with how much you can learn and change in a short amount of time – if you choose a right training of course!
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