How do I know if I’m ready for a yoga teacher training?

People often ask me, “how long should I be practicing yoga before I do a yoga teacher training?,” and after training more than 600 students to be yoga teachers, I feel this answer needs to be shouted from the rooftops. And no, it’s not “once you can hold crow for 2 minutes” or “once you’ve been practicing for 5 years.”

 

I’ve been the lead teacher for YTTs in Bali for the past 3 years. Some of the schools I’ve taught for accepted students no matter what their experience level/background was. And what I’ve found is that your readiness to become a yoga teacher has less to do with how LONG you’ve been practicing or what advanced asana you can do, and much more to do with your depth of understanding and openness to the philosophy of yoga. If your eyes just glazed over, PLEASE hear me out:

 

WHO ISN’T READY FOR A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

 

I’ve had many students enter YTT saying that they have 5+ years of experience practicing yoga–but when that experience is one yoga class a week at the gym with a teacher who never gets deeper than “yoga=stretching,” they’re usually not ready for a YTT, even if they can do the “almighty” handstand. These students end up entering the yoga teacher training and are absolutely shocked and befuddled when we start talking about the other 7 limbs—or about how Patanjali’s definition of asana was JUST basic seated meditation postures. God(s) forbid we start talking about the gods, and how Garuda doesn’t actually mean eagle, but is in fact the name of a Hindu deity (below).

 

These are the people who have the hardest time at YTT, because there’s a big cognitive dissonance between what they believed yoga to be, and what yoga actually is according to its long, sacred history. And this isn’t just a “Bali” thing or an “India” thing—the U.S. Yoga Alliance requires a big chunk of time at teacher trainings to be dedicated to philosophy, so even the most factory-like western yoga schools are required to teach you this stuff to some degree. It’s simply and undeniably what makes yoga, Yoga.

 

 

(Side note: you can have amazing yoga teachers at the gym. It’s not about the venue, it’s about the teachings. And if you just like stretching but have no interest in philosophy, you can always look into contortion schools rather than yoga schools–you’ll get a lot deeper in your backbend, but not as deep into the quiet lake of your mind).

 

WHO IS READY FOR A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

 

On the other hand, I’ve had students who have been practicing for a year or less, but EMBODY the philosophy and the depth of the practice—who are deeply interested in the subtle energies and recognize the power of asana as a tool for meditation. Though less experienced, these people “get it” and end up making great teachers in the long run.

 

I’ve often met students like this and recommended teacher trainings to them, seeing that they’re ready, and far too often, their response is something like “well, I’m not really flexible enough for a YTT yet” or “well, I can’t hold crow yet.”

 

 

WHO SHOULD BE DOING A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

Listen everyone. If every yoga teacher out there is the Instagram-perfect gymnast we’re so used to seeing, it scares away the very students who could benefit from the practice the most. People are too afraid to enter a yoga studio because they expect their teacher to be twisting into a pretzel at the front of the room, and they don’t want to leave feeling badly about themselves.

 

The world needs inflexible teachers, we need fat teachers, we need elderly teachers, we need differently-abled teachers, we need it all, because we are it all. Your ability to do extreme yoga poses has zero bearing on whether or not you can share the practice of yoga in an inspirational and beneficial way with students of all ability levels.

 

Do you have a body? Then you have a “yoga body.”
Does that body enjoy asana no matter what “level” or “progression” you reach that day? Then you’re “good” at yoga.
Do you practice yoga every day (even if it’s not just asana, but sitting and meditating?) Then you are a “yogi.”

 

If the philosophy of yoga (especially the yamas and niyamas) also resonate deeply with your core values, and you have a profound passion for connecting closely with others through the love of that philosophy and practice, you should strongly consider becoming a yoga teacher.

 

 

Now that I have my own school, my application questions are things like “how often do you meditate” rather than “can you hold a one-minute sirsasana?” because this is going to tell me worlds more about someone’s ability to share yoga from their heart.

 

My advice if you’re not sure if you’re ready for a yoga teacher training is to do the following:

 

1. Read Desikachar’s “Heart of Yoga” in its entirety, which includes the Yoga Sutras. See if the philosophy resonates
2. Ask yourself what your intention is for wanting to do a yoga teacher training (is it to deepen your own practice? Is it because you love connecting with others and want to share your passion? These are both good reasons. “Because I want to get more flexible/shredded/look better in yoga pants” is not)
3. Get on your mat every single day (even/especially if it’s just to close your eyes and be in silence)

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Do you feel ready for a yoga teacher training?

 

If you read this and thought “you perfectly described me”–check out a Yogatrotter Academy YTT in Bali.
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