student-practicing-yoga-poses-in-a-yoga-teacher-trainingHow To Survive and Thrive Yoga Teacher Training

Many people who consider doing yoga teacher training (ytt), wonder how they can survive and even thrive in a ytt. In this blog, we will talk about not only how to get through but  how to being successful in a yoga teacher training program.

Yoga Teacher Training: The Environment

The idea of in-person yoga training causes lots of anxiety and panic in most people. This is because most people entering such an environment have used yoga to help them soothe their internal worries. 

So the thought of being in an enclosed space – with up to 20 other students – for entire days, for several weeks, can be really stressful.

But doing yoga teacher training like this is an essential component to learning to become a yoga teacher. Its a forced intimacy helps teacher to develop more compassion (which a all yoga teachers need). Most student eventual thrive in such an environment, while for other students this can cause more trauma. 

Those who can break past their anxieties will thrive as  yoga teachers and in their own personal lives.

yoga teacher trainingYoga Teacher Training: Being Ready Physically

I can’t say this enough, if you’re out of shape and simply want to do a yoga teacher training to be a yoga teacher; it might just be better to do an online teacher training program which negates having to be physically fit. 

Being physically ready allows you to do advanced poses. A ytt will physically challenge anyone, if its a reputable and accredited yoga teacher training program (like Yoga Alliance). In a nutshell, most programs require doing a minimum of two yoga classes a day, one in the morning, and one in the evening.

Which can be between 2 to 4 hours of yoga daily. If you’re not physically in shape, you won’t be able to keep up.

students in a yoga teacherYoga Teacher Training: The Right Program

Too many students register for the most affordable or shortest ytt they can find. Be it online or in person.  This is so they have a piece of paper that they believe makes them qualified to be a yoga teacher. 

You need to pick a challenging ytt program, that you can integrate into your current life and that you can do it without having to cause an imbalance with the rest of your life.  So the shortest and cheapest ytt is not always the best. 

In the end

Surviving and even thriving in a yoga teacher training is not difficult. It’s about picking the right program, being physically and mentally prepared. And being prepared for an intense and somewhat intimate experience with a bunch of 20 strangers who will become friends, if not family.