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Yoga Instructor Course

Are you aspiring to be a yoga teacher? They say – the best way to learn is to teach. This holds true for many things in life, including yoga. If you want to be a certified yoga instructor, you need to attend a yoga instructor course.

Choosing a Yoga Teacher Training Course

Because yoga started as an ancient form of discipline and has branched to several forms, it can be quite confusing when deciding which certification course to attend.

As far as yoga is concerned, one of the most prominent and internationally recognized organisations for certification is from the Yoga Alliance in the United States. This organization certifies maintains a registry of all the yoga teacher training programs that meet a certain standard (200-Hour and 500-Hour standards).

Therefore, if you want to venture in teaching yoga full time, attend a course from a Yoga Alliance accredited school, so you can register yourself as a RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) with Yoga Alliance – something that many yoga centers and studios look out for.

The Yoga Alliance website allows you to do a search for their certified teachers and schools in Singapore.

Becoming a Good Yoga Instructor – Skills to Learn

A good yoga instructor goes beyond doing the asanas correctly. Some of the tasks, attributes, and requirements of a good yoga teacher include being:

  • Able to plan and designing yoga lessons
  • Competent in the educational techniques to teach yoga
  • Competent in the practical aspects of teaching yoga
  • Able to guide, correct, encourage and care for students
  • Ethical in your teaching practices

Elements of a Typical Yoga Instructor Certification Course

Because teaching yoga encompasses so many aspects and skills, a good yoga teacher training course will also need to be comprehensive enough to make sure that graduates are competent enough to care for their students.

A typical yoga instructor certification course will include these three different elements:

  • Theory sessions – where the concepts of yoga are covered, like
    • Yoga philosophies, yoga lifestyle and ethics
    • Human physical anatomy and physiology
    • Yoga teaching techniques and principles of instruction, demonstration and assisting
  • Practice sessions – practice teaching of the various yoga techniques, like
    • Asanas (Postures)
    • Pranayamas (breathing)
    • Kriyas (cleansing)
    • Chanting
    • Mantras
    • Meditation
  • Field sessions – which include
    • Leading a session and getting feedback
    • Observing a session and giving feedback
    • Assisting students while someone else is teaching