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Old 07-01-11, 06:08 AM  
kat999
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ohio
Online yoga teacher training?

I've been very, very tempted to seek yoga teacher training and either move to teaching yoga full time or at least teach one or two classes a week PT. The thing is, when I'm in a really tough class as a student, I have very conflicting feelings. I also have a tendency to be impulsive and start and stop big endeavors only to quit before finishing. OTOH, I have been consistently practicing yoga since 1998, so my enthusiasm and love for it is not going anywhere.

Because of my mixed feelings, I am considering an online CYT program to bridge the gap between my life as a student only and an eventual investment in a full 200-hour Yoga Alliance certified school. There is a local RYT-granting institution, but indeed it's a multi-thousand dollar commitment. The online CYT program is less than a thousand and might be a better way to gauge my commitment.

Is this a bad idea? Anybody try out an online cert? And did that by itself give you any employability while you finished getting your RYT?
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Old 07-01-11, 08:04 AM  
eam531
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kat999 View Post
I've been very, very tempted to seek yoga teacher training and either move to teaching yoga full time or at least teach one or two classes a week PT. The thing is, when I'm in a really tough class as a student, I have very conflicting feelings. I also have a tendency to be impulsive and start and stop big endeavors only to quit before finishing. OTOH, I have been consistently practicing yoga since 1998, so my enthusiasm and love for it is not going anywhere.

Because of my mixed feelings, I am considering an online CYT program to bridge the gap between my life as a student only and an eventual investment in a full 200-hour Yoga Alliance certified school. There is a local RYT-granting institution, but indeed it's a multi-thousand dollar commitment. The online CYT program is less than a thousand and might be a better way to gauge my commitment.

Is this a bad idea? Anybody try out an online cert? And did that by itself give you any employability while you finished getting your RYT?
Who will evaluate your teaching and offer you suggestions for improvement? How will you get practice at teaching? Will you be learning anything about anatomy, yoga philosophy, etc.? Will you be putting together a curriculum? Who will answer your questions?

I took a YA-accredited teacher training program. It lasted 9 months, and yes, it cost several thousand dollars. We were always doing teacher/student practice in groups--one of us would teach a posture, the others would be the students and we'd switch around and then we'd evaluate each other. We also led classes that were open to the public (who only paid 5 bucks per class). Part of our final exam was teaching a class and we were evaluated on this. We had guest instructors too and our teachers were available all the time for our questions and concerns.

I just don't see how an online course can give you the kind of feedback, instruction, and practice at teaching that you get from a live teacher training course.

Sounds to me like you'd be better off saving up for the 200 hour course ... and even with a 200 hour YA cert, it is really, really tough to make a living as a full-time yoga teacher. Almost no one I know who teaches does it full time. I don't want to rain on your parade--yoga teacher training was one of the very best things I ever did in my life, and I really hope that you investigate it--but it's good to go into it with your eyes open.

HTH.
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Old 07-01-11, 08:20 AM  
kat999
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ohio
Thanks for the feedback. This is exactly the kind of information I was looking for. The online certification does require that you demonstrate teaching that you video record and send to the center certifying you, and you also have the option to do the hands-on modules in person at the center (which is near Boston, I believe). There are anatomy and physiology modules as well, but you make excellent points about the constant hands-on practicing and observation learned through the 200-hour courses.

I'm also going to talk to my own yoga teacher and some other folks with different types of credentials and get multiple opinions, but I think you make some excellent points about what I would be missing out on. I think I would feel a little adrift studying alone. If I want to get an idea before signing up for a full in-person course, maybe I just need to do some reading and research rather than an online course.
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Old 07-01-11, 09:12 AM  
mazzgrl
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Anaheim, California (Disneyland)
I got my RYT-200 through yogaworks. Yes, it was expensive, a few thousand, but I think with something like yoga hands on for teacher training is a must and you get the opportunity to practice teach and be evaluated by others. While it is more expensive you should be able to make the money back plus some when you teach.
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