Yoga teacher training

'''Yoga teacher training''' is the training of teachers of yoga as exercise, consisting mainly of the practice of yoga asanas, leading to certification. Such training is accredited by the Yoga Alliance in America, by the British Wheel of Yoga in the United Kingdom, and by the European Union of Yoga across Europe. The Yoga Alliance sets standards for 200-hour and 500-hour Recognized Yoga Teacher levels, which are accepted in America and other countries.

== Standards ==

[[File:Yoga Therapy teacher training course.jpg|thumb|Yoga teacher training in India. The student is in Virabhadrasana I.]]

=== In America ===

In America, the Yoga Alliance sets the 200-hour and 500-hour Recognized Yoga Teacher levels (RYT-200 and RYT-500). Training courses (200 hours initially for the RYT-200, then 300 hours to reach RYT-500<ref name="YI"/>) to qualify at these levels are provided by many independent yoga schools, teaching varied styles of yoga, both in America and other countries, including Britain.<ref name="Yoga London">{{cite web |title=Yoga Alliance 200-Hour Teacher Training |url=https://yogalondon.net/teacher_training/teacher_training.aspx |publisher=Yoga London |access-date=8 May 2019 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508104037/https://yogalondon.net/teacher_training/teacher_training.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Yoga International notes that established yoga studios often require their teachers to pass the studios' own training courses.<ref name="YI">{{cite web |last=Scott |first=Rachel |title=How to Choose a Teacher Training |url=https://yogainternational.com/article/view/how-to-choose-a-teacher-training |publisher=Yoga International |access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref>

=== In the United Kingdom ===

The British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) in the United Kingdom offers Level 4 qualifications (Certificate in Yoga Teaching, Diploma in Teaching Yoga), stated to be equivalent to an HNC or the first year of a university degree. Training is provided by BWY itself; accreditation is by a separate organisation, BWYQ which split from BWY in 2009.<ref name="Witts">{{cite web |last=Witts |first=Mat |title=Reportage: The British Wheel of Yoga |url=https://docs.yuj.it/reading-imaginaries/bwy-reportage |publisher=yuj.it |access-date=6 February 2017 |date=2014}}</ref> The BWY is recognised by Sport England as the governing body of yoga in Britain (and in Northern Ireland, the Yoga Fellowship of Northern Ireland), though without power to enforce decisions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sporting Activities and Governing Bodies Recognised by the Sports Councils |url=https://www.sportengland.org/media/10266/uk-recognised-ngbs-and-sport-list-april-2016.pdf |publisher=Sport England |access-date=12 July 2019 |date=April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190712211539/https://www.sportengland.org/media/10266/uk-recognised-ngbs-and-sport-list-april-2016.pdf |archive-date=12 July 2019}}</ref> Qualifications are in turn regulated by the regulator of qualification standards Ofqual.<ref name="BWY">{{cite web |title=Become a yoga teacher |url=https://www.bwy.org.uk/becoming-a-yoga-teacher/ |publisher=British Wheel of Yoga |access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> By 2015, nine schools were accredited to teach to BWY standards; other schools were free to offer their own courses, often shorter and cheaper than the BWY's, as long as they did not claim to be to approved by the BWY.<ref name="Lisinski 2015">{{cite news |last=Lisinski |first=Anna |title=The truth behind becoming a yoga teacher |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/wellbeing/11691964/The-truth-behind-becoming-a-yoga-teacher.html |access-date=8 May 2019 |work=The Telegraph |date=22 June 2015}}</ref>

=== In Europe ===

{{anchor|European Union of Yoga}} Across Europe, standards are set by the European Union of Yoga (EUY), which has some 24 member associations in at least 15 countries including Austria, Belgium, Britain, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland. The EUY standards require a minimum of 500 hours of class instruction over a period of four years, assessed by an oral examination, a written examination, and a practical teaching demonstration.<ref name="EUY 2013">{{cite web |title=40 Years European Union of Yoga |url=https://www.europeanyoga.org/downloads/EUY%2040th%20Anniversary%20Brochure.pdf |publisher=European Union of Yoga |access-date=25 March 2022 |date=2013 |archive-date=24 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424201301/https://www.europeanyoga.org/downloads/EUY%2040th%20Anniversary%20Brochure.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Member organisations such as Germany's Yoga Teachers' Union, the {{ill|Berufsverband der Yogalehrenden in Deutschland|lt=BDY|de}}, organise their own training in compliance with EUY standards.<ref name="Mullins 2019">{{cite web |last=Mullins |first=Daya |title=Yoga and Yoga Therapy in Germany Today |url=https://www.wegdermitte.de/data/pdf/yoga_germany_yrec04.pdf |website=Weg Der Mitte |access-date=4 September 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

==Syllabuses==

{| class="wikitable" |+ Syllabus elements<ref name="YA Syllabus"/> |- ! Hatha yoga !! Other activities !! Yoga context !! Practical skills |- | <poem>Asana Pranayama Bandhas Subtle body</poem> | <poem>Meditation Other styles e.g. Restorative Yoga Yoga Nidra  </poem> | <poem>Yoga history Yoga philosophy Yoga psychology Anatomy and physiology</poem> | <poem>Teaching methods Running a yoga business    </poem> |}

The syllabuses taught to trainee teachers vary with the school but include the components of hatha yoga, namely asanas, pranayama, and bandhas, and sometimes details of the subtle body with chakras, nadis and koshas; meditation; anatomy and physiology; psychology and philosophy of yoga; teaching methods; and the practicalities of running a yoga business. Some attention may be given to specific techniques such as Restorative Yoga and yoga nidra. Syllabuses are more tightly constrained if they are for registration with the Yoga Alliance or the British Wheel of Yoga.<ref name="YA Syllabus">{{cite web |title=One Yoga London 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training: Syllabus for Registration with Yoga Alliance UK |url=http://www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org/uploads/member_files/679-20170404124014-file.pdf |access-date=8 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508112247/http://www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org/uploads/member_files/679-20170404124014-file.pdf |archive-date=8 May 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Courses==

Yoga teacher training, as of 2017, could cost between $2,000 and $5,000.<ref name="Delaney 2017">{{cite news |last1=Delaney |first1=Brigid |title=The yoga industry is booming – but does it make you a better person? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/17/yoga-better-person-lifestyle-exercise |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2017}}</ref> It can take up to 3 years to obtain a teaching certificate.<ref name="Lisinski 2015"/> Common certificates are 200 or 500 hours "Registered Yoga Teacher" (abbreviated RYT 200 and RYT 500).<ref name="Gilani 2022"/> The description "Senior Yoga Teacher" is available to Yoga Alliance teachers with 8 years of experience and 4,000 hours of training and teaching during that period.<ref>{{cite web |title=How do I apply as a Senior Yoga Teacher? |url=https://www.theyogapros.com/knowledge/how-do-i-apply-as-a-senior-yoga-teacher#:~:text=The%20Yoga%20Alliance%20Senior%20Yoga%20Teacher%20(SYT),of%20hours%20you%20have%20taught%20or%20trained |publisher=The Yoga Pros |date=11 April 2024}}</ref> Iyengar Yoga teachers are required to have attended its classes for three years before starting training; they are then required to undergo at least three years of mentoring by an approved mentor, which is "the route to teaching".<ref>{{cite web |title=Teacher Training |url=https://iyengaryoga.org.uk/iy-uk/teacher-training/ |publisher=Iyengar Yoga (UK) |access-date=26 April 2026}}</ref>

Shorter courses are offered in India, especially in the yoga hubs of Rishikesh and Mysore, and many Westerners travel to India hoping to learn "authentic"<ref name="Maddox2014">{{cite journal |last=Maddox |first=Callie Batts |title=Studying at the source: Ashtanga yoga tourism and the search for authenticity in Mysore, India |journal=Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change |volume=13 |issue=4 |year=2014 |pages=330–343 |issn=1476-6825 |doi=10.1080/14766825.2014.972410|s2cid=143449133 }}</ref> yoga in ashrams there.<ref name="Maddox2014"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Ward |first=Mariellen |title=How to 'do' a yoga ashram in India |url=https://travelwireasia.com/2012/03/how-to-do-a-yoga-ashram-in-india/ |date=15 March 2012 |access-date=5 December 2019 |archive-date=4 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191204092851/https://travelwireasia.com/2012/03/how-to-do-a-yoga-ashram-in-india/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some of those courses take as little as 30 days to complete, while others are wholly online, and the training they offer is not necessarily sufficient to enable trainees to teach competently; they are in addition often not accredited, and therefore not accepted by many employers.<ref name="Gilani 2022">{{cite book |last=Gilani |first=Nadia |title=Yoga Manifesto: how yoga helped me and why it needs to save itself |publisher=Bluebird |date=2022 |isbn=978-1-5290-6510-7 |oclc=1284981202 |pages=226–227}}</ref>

== References ==

== External links ==

* [https://www.yogaalliance.org/ Yoga Alliance] * [https://www.bwy.org.uk/ British Wheel of Yoga] * [https://www.yoga.de/ BDY (Berufsverband der Yogalehrenden in Deutschland e.V.)] {{in lang|de}} * [https://www.europeanyoga.org/euyws/ European Union of Yoga]