Sport Yoga Certification

Sport yoga is a style of yoga designed as cross-training for athletes involved in common sports such as football, baseball, soccer and tennis. Sport yoga approaches the practice of yoga from a physical standpoint, with little or no emphasis on meditation or spirituality. Sport yoga can help athletes increase flexibility, reduce the chance of sports-related injury and heal more quickly from injury. Certification programs to teach sport yoga are available from several sources.

  1. NESTA

    • The National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association offers a sport yoga certification program that uses CD-ROM, DVDs and audio CDs to train yoga teachers from home. After completing a multiple choice test, teachers earn the Certified Sport Yoga Instructor title. NESTA's sport yoga certification program covers topics such as the role of the instructor, breathing, body alignment, sequencing and sport-specific routines. Although there is no time limit for this home study program, the certification may be completed in only three weeks.

    Power Yoga for Sports

    • Power Yoga for Sports is the creation of yoga instructor Gwen Lawrence, who has taught sports yoga to many well-known sports teams and celebrities. Lawrence offers limited certification opportunities to train yoga teachers as "Power Yoga for Sports Licensed Coaches." In her training, she emphasizes sports-specific yoga routines and marketing, and offers ongoing business coaching, access to press materials and annual workshops to help newly certified sports yoga professionals.

    Yoga for Athletes

    • Yoga for Athletes, founded by Kimberly Fowler, offers sports yoga certification in California. The Yoga for Athletes teacher training program combines sport yoga and indoor cycling, and requires a 50-hour workshop and 50 hours of apprenticeship. This type of sports yoga strives to create a yoga practice that is safe and beneficial for athletes engaging in any type of sport. Curriculum for this yoga certification includes biomechanics, handling injuries, choosing music and marketing.

    Other Sources for Sport Yoga Certification

    • Yoga certification programs that do not focus on sport yoga may still include information about teaching yoga for sports. Check with individual yoga teacher training programs to learn their curriculum and intended audience. Certification programs in power yoga may be more likely to include relevant training for sport yoga. You can complete any 200-hour yoga certification and combine yoga knowledge with sports knowledge to teach sport yoga. Non-certification sport yoga workshops are also available for already certified yoga instructors (see Resources).

    Considerations

    • Training for yoga instructors is not legally regulated, but the industry standard is completion of at least 200 hours of yoga teacher training that covers anatomy, pedagogy, personal practice and yoga philosophy. Additional yoga training, such as completion of a Yoga Alliance approved 200-hour certification, may be required in order to teach sport yoga at a yoga studio. Health clubs and fitness centers may require sport yoga instructors to hold a group fitness certification from ACE, AFAA or a related organization.