How to Decide Whether to Do Yoga Teacher Training

Deciding to do a Yoga Teacher Training is a significant investment of both time and money. Some things to consider as you debate whether to train:

- Do you have the time? If not, your yoga might become a source of stress and your training won't be enjoyable

- Do you actually plan to teach? If so, training is a must. If you just want to deepen your practice, workshops or retreats might be a better option

- Are you ready to take your own practice to a new level? Most trainings are physically intensive. If you're sick or injured, it's probably not the best time to embark on this journey.

- Are you ready to deal with some of your own personal demons? Yoga trainings have a way of bringing you face-to-face with your own fears and insecurities, which is wonderful and illuminating if you're ready and have the time to process everything that comes up.

Yet ultimately, the decision to become a yoga teacher is a highly personal one and different for everyone.

I found yoga at a crisis point in my life. Or some might say - yoga found me. I was determined to find something to channel my energy into positive things; things that would uplift and empower me. Yoga was just that. The practice immediately resonated with me - it challenged my strength and flexibility and made me sweat a lot, but more than that, if left me feeling rejuvenated and balanced unlike any other workout. If those are the feelings you have after a yoga work out, yoga teacher training might be for you too.

Though I was initially drawn to the purely physical aspect of yoga, I realized that I had just scratched the surface of a much deeper, more profound, and utterly transformative practice. After having practiced yoga for only 3 months, I knew I wanted to become a yoga teacher. There was no way that I couldn't not explore this practice in more depth for myself, but also to be able to share it with others through teaching.

I did a training that was multi-faceted. You learn all of the standard asanas (poses), the alignment, and how to sequence them to create a well-rounded balanced class. You will also learn about the breath, how it can inform one's alignment, how it can indicate one's emotional and mental state, and how it can be used as a tool to take you from an experience of the physical body to an experience of the subtle body, and eventually to a meditative state with the feeling of oneness and union (Samadhi). Using the breath, you will learn various techniques (pranayama and kriya techniques) to achieve various states - from simple tranquility to Samadhi (bliss). In addition, you will learn many tantric meditation techniques - many of which involve visualization to help you feel the unified state of Samadhi. All of these techniques are grounded in science and what we know about relaxation and the brain, etc. In the advanced 300 hour teacher training, you also learn hands on adjustments. Being confident about adjusting your students enhances your teaching so much! Hands-on adjustments are also very useful to use when teaching private yoga lessons.

Overall, throughout the course of yoga teacher training, you are transformed. On some level a transformation does happen. For me, I realized that yoga is not about a workout or strength or flexibility. It is about being able to sit with myself in peace. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yoga Lover and Teacher! I did the Ishta ishtayoga.com/teacher_training Yoga Teacher Training in New York City, but there are training programs throughout America and abroad!