National Yoga Certification

Yoga is a practice that marries physical, mental and spiritual elements to promote overall well-being. It involves a host of techniques and philosophies, and requires a trained teacher to guide students in its study. Individuals obtain a national yoga certification either to teach yoga or to expand their own practice. A national yoga certification enhances a teacher's credibility and helps open the door to new employment opportunities.

  1. Purpose

    • A certification improves a teacher's standing in the yoga community. It symbolizes a mastery of yoga principles and techniques. Most studios and gyms offering yoga classes hire yoga teachers with a national certification from a highly regarded program that honors the history and tradition of the yoga practice.

    About Yoga Alliance

    • Although several national and international organizations offer yoga teacher certifications, Yoga Alliance is the premier nationally recognized yoga organization in the United States. It's the only organization that advocates for quality instruction of yoga teachers as a practice as well as its historical significance and benefits. It approves yoga teaching courses offered at yoga studios across the country that include components aligned with its teaching values and principles. Participants who complete a Yoga Alliance approved program receive a national certification and recognition as a registered yoga teacher.

    What a Certification Entails

    • The yoga teacher certification program teaches participants how to become yoga teachers and what to teach their students. Information on how to operate a yoga studio and what's required to manage a successful yoga business is also a part of the program. Yoga teacher certification courses typically include teacher techniques training and practice; teaching methodology; anatomy and physiology; yoga philosophy, lifestyle and ethics for yoga teachers; and seminar and observation.

    Yoga Teacher Certification Programs: Basic and Advanced

    • The Yoga Alliance recognizes two teacher training certification levels--basic and advanced. Basic yoga teacher training consists of 200 hours of course instruction. It's open to all levels of students and doesn't require prior teaching experience. Upon course completion, Yoga Alliance designates individuals as a Registered Yoga Teacher, or RYT, 200 level. Advanced yoga teacher training includes 500 hours of course instruction. It requires participants complete a basic, 200 level course or an equivalent. In addition, teachers must have 100 hours of teaching experience. The 500 level course covers the same teaching skills and methodology as the basic course, but spends more time on each component, so students come away with a greater understanding of their practice. The Yoga Alliances recognizes individuals completing the advanced course as a RYT 500 level.

    Yoga Teacher Training Programs

    • A list of registered yoga schools is available on the Yoga Alliance website. The list helps individuals locate yoga teacher training programs registered with Yoga Alliance. Yoga Alliance also provides a guide for selecting a yoga teacher training program that best meets an individual's needs. Yoga Alliance is in the process of developing a database of schools offering scholarships for their teacher training programs. As of July 2010, the database is not yet launched. For now, individuals still need to contact schools directly for this information. According to information posted on the Yoga Alliance website, the organization plans to post conference information for teachers to deepen their practice in the coming months. The information is currently available in the "Yoga Journal" or the "Yoga+ Joyful Living" magazines and on their websites.