A Checklist For Choosing The Right Yoga Teacher Training Course
Yoga teacher training courses are a significant investment in terms of time and money, and as the popularity of yoga grows, there are literally thousands of places you could hand over your hard earned cash, so choosing a course which is right for you AND ensuring this is the right step for you, is something which you really do want to spend a bit of time thinking about.
Below you’ll find a checklist which might just help you think things through more methodically, helping you make a decision which fits your own specific and individual needs.
Please note!! I’m assuming before you even start on this checklist, you love yoga and your answers to the following 2 questions are “Yes!”
- Do you have a regular practice of your own already? (Whether that’s at home, learning from books/online or a mix of classes and self-study).
- Are you committed to maintaining a regular practice of your own?
If not, honestly wait until you can answer “Yes” to those 2 questions before parting with thousands of dollars, pounds, euros or whatever your currency is!
If you did answer “Yes” – then take a look at this checklist below!
I’ve divided the checklist into two sections:
- What are YOU looking for? Getting clear on what your most important criteria are before you start looking can be really helpful! That means you can eliminate some choices immediately if they don’t fit what are, for you, important criteria.
- How does the service provider you’re considering match your needs?
What are the most important criteria for you from any course? Below are 20 great questions to ask yourself (and the course provider) to guide you to the right yoga teacher training course for you.
Tick the column which most accurately reflects how important this aspect is to you:
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Criteria |
Critical |
Very Important |
Important |
Not really important-can flex on this |
Definitely NOT! |
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1. Want an intensive course – get it all done in a few weeks rather than spread out. |
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2. Want something which will fit around my other commitments – runs over a period of months. |
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3. Must be in the UK. |
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4. Must be abroad. |
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5. Distance and travel time is important. |
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6. Have a strict budget. |
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7. The adventure and deepening of your own practice is most important to you. |
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| 8. You are serious about wanting to be able to teach professionally once you’re qualified.Not sure about this? Check out this article to help you decide! | |||||
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9. You want something which assesses your knowledge and teaching ability. Nervous or not, you welcome this opportunity. |
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10. You know very little about how to develop a career with your yoga skills so support with the business side is important to you. |
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11. You want to study a particular style of yoga, such as Ashtanga or Iyengar. |
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12. The school must be accredited with a recognised body such as Yoga Alliance or The British Wheel of Yoga. |
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13. The lineage, quality and experience of the teachers who will be teaching you is important. |
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14. There should be more than one teacher, so you get a broader exposure to differing styles. |
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15. You have a specific interest which needs to form a larger percentage and focus of the course: such as anatomy, meditation techniques, yoga philosophy or yoga therapy. |
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16. There is a good proportion of asana practice and teaching on the course. |
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17. The school has good reviews from previous students and are willing to allow you to approach past students in person to ask them for their perspective. |
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18. They can point to a number of their students who have become successful professional yoga teachers. |
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19. They have an alumni system – which offers continued support once you have qualified. |
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20. They teach smaller groups, so you get more individual attention. |
Done? Now make a list of the top criteria for you. Which of those above have you ticked as Critical and Very Important? List those down on a sheet of paper – and use them as a guide to help you choose your short list, then interview the school!
Good luck!
Actions you can take:
Join our Facebook Group and share whether this helped and what you decided to do! We’d love to hear about your experience.
