Contemplating yoga teacher training

AwesomeSquirrel

I’ve been doing yoga on and off since 2012-ish. For the first couple of years I had a consistent (6 days a week) mysore style ahstanga practice. I’ve rekindled it a couple of times since and have also done bouts of YouTube yoga (mainly yoga with adriene), gone to aerial yoga classes and some gym based vinyasa classes.

The other day I realised I feel a strong urge to attend teacher training. Not necessarily to teach but to delve deeper into my own practice (somewhat active since oct last year) and as a personal development type thing.

Anyone else who has attend teacher training with this objective?

I have a few options in mind with a target start date this fall or early next year. First step is to join one of those studios for a trial month in March and see how I like it, and of course see if the urge stays with me in the coming months. Early bird sign up for the fall program is open until 31 May.

AnnPT77

Not yoga, but personal interest/development was a main reason I went to education-focused rowing coaching conferences/workshops and did two levels of US Rowing coaching education (all you're allowed if not a working professional coach). It was fun, useful, informative, and I met lots of interesting like-minded people, besides. I do help out with our club's learn-to-row programs these days, under the real coaches, but have never even come close to coaching professionally myself.

kshama2001

AwesomeSquirrel wrote: »

I’ve been doing yoga on and off since 2012-ish. For the first couple of years I had a consistent (6 days a week) mysore style ahstanga practice. I’ve rekindled it a couple of times since and have also done bouts of YouTube yoga (mainly yoga with adriene), gone to aerial yoga classes and some gym based vinyasa classes.

The other day I realised I feel a strong urge to attend teacher training. Not necessarily to teach but to delve deeper into my own practice (somewhat active since oct last year) and as a personal development type thing.

Anyone else who has attend teacher training with this objective?

I have a few options in mind with a target start date this fall or early next year. First step is to join one of those studios for a trial month in March and see how I like it, and of course see if the urge stays with me in the coming months. Early bird sign up for the fall program is open until 31 May.

Yes, "to delve deeper into my own practice and as a personal development type thing" was exactly why I did yoga teacher training at Kripalu in 2002.

I did teach for a while, but didn't really enjoy it - I don't like being the focus of attention, and that is hard to escape when you are a teacher! But I still hear some of my YTT teacher's voices when I do my own practice.

Kripalu had a really really good YTT program. I've watched in horror as other places tried to cobble together a program. Do make sure you're getting into a good one

kshama2001

Paging @springlering62 for her thoughts...

springlering62

My studio has an excellent, thorough teacher training program, and it’s usually full each year when it’s offered.

It’s expensive. But most of the people who take it at ours, do it to get a better understanding of the “roots” of yoga, or deepen their own practices. Very few end up teaching.

Our studio has “audition” classes for many weeks afterwards for those who want to try. Some are great and growing real potential as instructors and I make a point to support their classes. Others sadly make me cringe.

If you’re doing it to make money, nope. The only person I know surviving on yoga lives such a minimalist life the rest of us probably couldn’t comprehend, but he’s living it on his own terms and teaches the way he wants to teach.

If you’re doing it for personal reasons, heck yeah. Personal growth is one of the tenets of yoga, right?

I get what I need out of it already, and have no desire to do training, since I get to glom on to the excellently trained.

My daughter has her 500 hour YTT, and is a superlative, knowledgeable instructor, and had quite a following. She taught herself harmonium, Kirtan style chanting, and spent time in an ashram. She reads every yoga or spiritually related book she can get ahold of.

She no longer teaches. Most the studios near her in CA shut down following the pandemic, and those that remain tend towards uber-trendy, flavor of the month classes. And now she’s got an almost-toddler to boot.

I admire teachers who learn all they can for their own satisfaction and are then willing and generous enough to share it with us less spiritual but very willing folks.

As @kshama2001 says, check your potential program carefully. There’s a lot who are in (and have been in it) it to churn out pricey YTT certificates, especially since the “industry “, like the studios near me in Atlanta that managed to remain open, are still in precarious post-pandemic survival mode.

I’m also going to add a rather rude caveat. Make sure you know the studio. IMHO, yoga can also attract a lot of sycophants who are willing to splash money out to be in the “in” group or be “noticed” because they’re so emotionally or, perhaps more generously, spiritually attached to their instructor.

kshama2001

springlering62 wrote: »

My studio has an excellent, thorough teacher training program, and it’s usually full each year when it’s offered.

It’s expensive. But most of the people who take it at ours, do it to get a better understanding of the “roots” of yoga, or deepen their own practices. Very few end up teaching.

Our studio has “audition” classes for many weeks afterwards for those who want to try. Some are great and growing real potential as instructors and I make a point to support their classes. Others sadly make me cringe.

If you’re doing it to make money, nope. The only person I know surviving on yoga lives such a minimalist life the rest of us probably couldn’t comprehend, but he’s living it on his own terms and teaches the way he wants to teach.

If you’re doing it for personal reasons, heck yeah. Personal growth is one of the tenets of yoga, right?

I get what I need out of it already, and have no desire to do training, since I get to glom on to the excellently trained.

My daughter has her 500 hour YTT, and is a superlative, knowledgeable instructor, and had quite a following. She taught herself harmonium, Kirtan style chanting, and spent time in an ashram. She reads every yoga or spiritually related book she can get ahold of.

She no longer teaches. Most the studios near her in CA shut down following the pandemic, and those that remain tend towards uber-trendy, flavor of the month classes. And now she’s got an almost-toddler to boot.

I admire teachers who learn all they can for their own satisfaction and are then willing and generous enough to share it with us less spiritual but very willing folks.

As @kshama2001 says, check your potential program carefully. There’s a lot who are in (and have been in it) it to churn out pricey YTT certificates, especially since the “industry “, like the studios near me in Atlanta that managed to remain open, are still in precarious post-pandemic survival mode.

I’m also going to add a rather rude caveat. Make sure you know the studio. IMHO, yoga can also attract a lot of sycophants who are willing to splash money out to be in the “in” group or be “noticed” because they’re so emotionally or, perhaps more generously, spiritually attached to their instructor.

Sounds like the OP is not interested in teaching yoga as a way to earn a living, but in case others reading are, I will share my experience. When I became certified, I was living on an ashram in upstate New York. As a live-in volunteer, I had no rent or utilities and my meals were free, plus I had kitchen privileges, so could help myself to the contents of the pantry/frig/freezer. Basically my only expenses were personal items and my car, which I also used as a for-pay shuttle to the NY and NJ airports, so the car was taken care of as well. Between teaching at three local gyms and the ashram, I was able to earn a living.

However, when I moved to Florida, had rent, and was not able to get enough gigs within a reasonable driving distance, I was no longer able to earn a living. I got a full time office job within two months of the move. I still taught a class or two for the next few years, but stopped within 7 years of getting certified.

However, as my intent for YTT was to deepen my yoga practice, I have no regrets.

AwesomeSquirrel

Thank you for the thoughtful responses! I’m definitely wary of finding a good studio that aligns with my own approach to yoga and crucially somewhere that successfully teaches for diverse body shapes and make those students feel welcome.

I’m open to the idea of a side gig in the future teaching yoga (a was a swim teacher when I was younger) but I’m pretty sure if would be a hobby and passion and not something that generated an income much beyond paying for a new pair yoga leggings every now and again 😃