How to become a Yoga instructor or a certified Yoga teacher

How to become a Yoga Teacher

Being a yoga instructor is a dream for many people these days as it promises a spiritual lifestyle and respect in the society. When you decide to you become a Yoga teacher you will face many questions like: how to become a yoga teacher, requirements to be a yoga instructor, how to train to become a good yoga teacher, if you have the qualities to be a good teacher or not, what will be your duties as a yoga instructor, can you earn enough to live just by teaching yoga? etc.

The information below will provide you some practical insight about being a yoga teacher.

Why should I want to become a Yoga instructor?

If you are a spiritual person but find it difficult to keep your balance due to busy and stressful lifestyle and you are looking for a change then yoga teaching as career may be something for you. A yoga teacher is a respected profession these days. As a yoga teacher you can work with people one to one. You can help them grow physically, mentally and spiritually. You can work with all age groups from children, teenagers, adults as well as senior citizens. Being a yoga instructor, you can have simple day schedule and desired working hours, but you can also have an adventurous lifestyle with a lot of traveling and teaching yoga in different countries.

Can I earn enough just by teaching Yoga?

How much you can earn by teaching yoga depends on how good you are as a yoga teacher, how fine are your business skills and how many hours you want to work per week. Generally teaching in your own studio gives you more income than being employed as a yoga instructor in a gym or a yoga studio. But even if you are employed the salary for a yoga teacher starts in Europe from Euros 30 per hour onwards (can be varied from country to country). If you have your own studio and suppose you have 2 classes a day with 10 students each class with average class fess of Euros 10, you can earn easily Euros 200 per day just by teaching for 2 hours. If you teach 5 days a week two classes a day, you can earn up to Euros 4000 a month just by working 10 hours a week !

What are the pre requisites to become a teacher of Yoga?

The common requirements to be a yoga instructor are that you must be interested in helping people. You should be in good physical and mental condition. You must be able to speak clearly. You must be interested in living a yogic lifestyle. e.g. if you are an alcoholic then no matter how good yoga teacher you are people will not prefer to come you as they would expect their yoga teacher to be a spiritual and responsible person.

Do I have the qualities to become a yoga instructor?

The most important qualities of a yoga teacher are:

• Patience: you must have patience as you will get students with different levels of learning abilities, understanding and motivation. You will also need to understand that not everyone is same physically and mentally.

• Attention: you must be able to give personal attention to all of your students.

• Responsible: you must be a responsible person and feel responsible for your students.

• Truthful : you must practice what you preach and be truthful.

• Calm: you should have a calm personality, just think of Jesus or Bhuddha.

The qualities and skills you will need to develop as a Yoga teacher:

• Communication: you must have clear and good communication skills. You should be able to guide

• Sensitive: You must be very sensitive towards the students and you should be able to feel how are they feeling during the class.

• Voice modulation: You should understand and use voice modulation during instructions.

• Role model: You should be a role model as a Yoga teacher or in other words students should aim to become like you as a yoga practitioner.

• Clear Instructions: You should know how to give very clear instructions during the yoga class. The instructions should be well understandable by beginners as well as advance students.

• Proper Understanding: You should have a proper understanding of Yoga and its philosophy which goes beyond just Yoga asanas.

• Proper corrections: You should know the proper and detailed corrections for all the yoga poses you teach. There are number of asana corrections as each body is different.

• Modifications: Sometimes you will need to modify the yoga asana according to the body and physical condition of the student.

Which style of Yoga I want to teach?

There are several yoga styles being taught these days e.g. Hatha yoga, kundalini yoga, vinyasa yoga, ashtanga yoga, Iyengar yoga, etc etc. You should try different styles and decide which style you like most. One thing to note here is that all these forms are actually variations of Classical Hatha Yoga. If you are serious about becoming a yoga teacher then it is wise to learn and understand Classical Hatha yoga first so you have proper knowledge of yogic principles and philosophy. Afterward you can also specialize in any particular style or kids yoga, pregnancy yoga etc.

How can I train to become a yoga teacher?

There are many Yoga teacher training courses available these days to learn the necessary skills to be a good yoga teacher. These courses do not transform you into a great yoga teacher but they are the best way to get the detailed information about Yoga asanas, Yoga philosophy, Four paths of yoga, Five principles of Yoga, Mantras, history of yoga, basic anatomy and physiology, asana teaching, correction and modification technique.

How much these courses will cost me?

The Yoga teacher training course fees vary a lot. There are ttc courses available from 400US$ to 8000US$. One should carefully compare what you pay and what you get for each course offered. Normally there is a direct relation between the two. There are also many cheap courses available which look attractive but actually the quality of teachers and course content may be very poor. At the same time an expensive course does not guarantee high course and teacher quality.

How to find or the choose the best yoga teacher training course?

To find the best yoga teacher training course is a tedious job. You should do proper research before deciding which teacher training course is best for you.

First you should decide if you wish to go to India to become a Yoga teacher or if you prefer to study in your local area. For some going to India to become a certified yoga instructor is a better option as Yoga comes from India and there you can have chance to learn the traditional Yoga by real Yogis and masters.

It is also possible to go to a Yoga ashram to become a yoga teacher. A Yoga ashram gives you a chance to immerse in yogic lifestyle anduinderstand the true philosophy and meaning of Yoga.

The main points to check while choosing a Yoga teacher training course:

• Teacher Training course curriculum

• Quality and experience of Yoga teachers

• International recognition of the course

• Post course teacher support

• Feedback and testimonials from past graduates

What are my responsibilities as a Yoga teacher?

The benefits of being a Yoga teacher also come with some serious responsibilities. As a Yoga teacher you are responsible for your students. It is crucial that they don't get injured during or after the class. You should also know your students very well, you should know their goals, their physical limitations, their strengths and their lifestyle so you can guide them well.

At the end being a Yoga teacher is all about spreading the knowledge, peace and love while living your life following the Yogic principles.

This article is submitted by Yogi Ram. If you have any more questions about how to become a yoga teacher you are welcome to contact him at  yogi22005@hotmail.com