Why I Decided to Train to Teach Yoga (Online)

Last year, I decided that I wanted to train to teach yoga. I looked at my options, finding many in-person training programmes, ones abroad, and ones online. Because I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to be a teacher or not, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time or money on training. I wanted it to be something I could try without investing too much. And so, I bought an online training programme, and I’m so glad that I did.

Last summer, my nan became sick. Suddenly, my plans to train to teach yoga went out the window. Thankfully, I didn’t book onto an in-person course, otherwise, I would have lost a lot of money. Instead, as frustrating and upsetting as it was at the time, I was able to push back my training. Fast forward to now, and I have a 200-hour yoga teacher certification. I have also bought the next stage of training, the 300-hour yoga teacher training (YTT). When I’ve completed that one this summer (hopefully), I will be the full 500-hour YTT certified.

But what made me want to train to teach? What was the point of doing it online? Was it worth it? What do I plan to do next? I’ll answer all your questions here.

Why I decided to do YTT

For many years, I have felt like a failure. Or more specifically, I have felt like I lacked any true expertise. If someone wanted technological advice, my brother was the expert. Any travel or life advice, my sister was the expert. Arts and crafts, my mother. Sports or geography, my husband. On and on. I have knowledge in literature and film, but not enough to feel confidence, and be sought out for my expertise. Then one day I just thought, am I going to keep pouting or am I going to change this perspective? I chose the latter.

I decided I wanted to become an expert in yoga as a whole. Not to the point where I know everything (because that’s not really possible), but to the point where I felt confident. Where I could lead a class with ease, share philosophy, use the Sanskrit terms, and just embody more of what yoga truly means (aside from following random yoga videos on YouTube).

Thoughts on YTT onlinePositives:Ease of access – I can easily turn on my computer and open up Udemy to open my course and carry on from where I left offTake your time – I can go at my own pace with no one rushing me or watching me; I can pause and rewind as many times as neededVery informative – I found the videos and ebooks very thorough and in-depth, covering a wide range of philosophy, anatomy, alignments, roots/origins, meditations, pranayama, and so on, without being inaccessible or denseLifetime access – I can return to the course materials whenever I want as a refresh, so my money wasn’t for a one-time only programme where I had to cram all of my learning into a certain timeframeCheaper – most in-person YTT programmes cost hundreds of pounds, and if you do it abroad, they can even reach the thousandsZoom class option – the training I did offers monthly Zoom classes/check-ins for yogis to ask questions, practice teaching, or be taught etc.Wasn’t Westernised – some critique for some YTT programmes is that they can be Westernised by Western teachers, taking away from the true origins and authentic focus of yoga, whereas my teachers were from India

NegativesNo one is there to correct you – it being mostly pre-recorded videos meant no one is there to tell me if I have pronounced something wrong, understood a concept incorrectly, or if my alignment is offSafety – speaking of alignment, practising alone at home can mean injury if you think you are doing a pose correctly but you’re not (this hasn’t happened to me, thankfully, but it is a consideration)Limited, perhaps? – I don’t personally know how the online course I did compares to in-person training programmes, so maybe the content is limited, or more in-depth, I can’t say for sureLonely – some people may enjoy and thrive when learning around others, so online training wouldn’t work for them

Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives for me. I think I chose the right path for my life and circumstances at the time. If I wish to do an in-person training later in life, I can always do so knowing that I have a strong foundation. I encourage anyone considering Yoga Teacher Training, but isn’t sure and doesn’t have a lot of money, to try online YTT.

I highly recommend Bodsphere 200-hour yoga teaching training on Udemy, Parts 1 and 2.

Next steps for my yoga teaching journey

I plan to try my hand at teaching yoga online. I will upload yoga classes and meditations/pranayama sessions on YouTube for people to follow. These will likely be short and sweet to begin with. I want to allow myself the space to grow as a teacher and a yogi. This means trying many different methods to find what works best for me.

My niche is going to be: “Yoga for Writers”. The reason for this is that I love both yoga and writing (duh). I want to marry them together. I want to bring this to others, so they can see how they form a symbiotic relationship. Duality. Beauty in synchronicity. I want my fellow creative writer to aid their writing practice with a solid yoga practice and philosophy supporting them.

I might change my mind. I might not like it. I might get busy with other things. Either way, I want to try. Either way, I will get my 300-hour training completed.

All in all, the reason I chose to train to teach yoga is that I want to be my own yoga teacher. I may never teach classes properly, but I want to trust and know yoga for myself. I want to embody this philosophy and lifestyle, which I feel aligns with the person I want to be. I want to share what I learn with the people I love.

Sincerely,

S. xx