Mr GhostThe Truth About 300hr Yoga Teacher Training – They’re Essential!
200hr courses are foundational and they act as an introduction to the basic principles of yoga. And while they are of course “teacher” training courses, they are generally open to anyone interested and therefore entry-level.
To be completely honest, it is impossible to become a good yoga teacher in 200 hours. Thousands of hours of personal practice and experience along with additional hours of training from sufficient teachers is necessary. To quote Patanjali, “Practice becomes firmly grounded when it has been cultivated without interruption and with devotion over a long period of time (Yoga Sutra 1.14).” If our own practice doesn’t even become established until it has been nurtured for a very long time, how can we expect to become reputable teachers in a month? At the very least, we owe it ourselves, our community, and our students to complete the full amount of training hours through Yoga Alliance and become a 500 RYT.
Not sure what this means? Let’s examine the 5 w’s of a 300 hr YTTC to get the full picture.
Learn More Visit Website: 40 hour hybrid Yoga Course
What Is Yoga Alliance?
Yoga Alliance is the largest nonprofit trade and professional organization representing yoga teachers around the world. To a certain extent, they act as the current governing body for yoga teachers as many studios in the US and Europe require their staff to be Registered Yoga Teachers with them.
As yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual holistic discipline it, by nature, isn’t easy to teach so it makes sense that the yoga community would want at least some monitoring of its instruction.
So today, you can become a Registered Yoga Teacher by completing at least 200 hours of Teacher Training through a Registered Yoga School (such as Alpha Yoga School). From there, you then have the option to go on to complete a 300 hour yoga training and become a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (200 hours + 300 hours = 500 hours).
More information on Yoga Alliance here.
What is a 300hr Yoga Teacher Training?
According to Yoga Alliance, a 300hr Yoga Teacher Training is:
“…Designed to build upon and deepen the trainee’s understanding of the fundamental concepts of the practice and teaching of yoga that are generally taught at the RYS 200-hour level. An RYS 300 hr Advanced Teacher Training prepares its trainees to teach principles and techniques of yoga that are more advanced, more detailed, and/or subtler. Therefore, this advanced training enables them to teach with greater skill than could reasonably be expected of an RYT 200.”
A registered 300hr Yoga Teacher Training will cover a set number of hours from the 5 core educational categories
- Techniques, Training, and Practice
- Teaching Methodology
- Anatomy & Physiology
- Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle, & Ethics
- Practicum and generally have a more specific area of focus (such as Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, etc.).
That being said, many would argue that only requiring 200 hours (and even 500-hours) of training is negligent and not doing yoga justice. It is for this reason that many major lineages of yoga such as Ashtanga Vinyasa and Iyengar hold their own, much higher, standards for teacher authorization. They do not adhere to Yoga Alliance as even 500 hours of training will not begin to cover the depth of knowledge yoga encompasses.
If the foundational and major lineages of yoga don’t even think 500 hours’ worth of training is enough, we should at least do this much if we are not following their stricter systems of authorization.
Who’s Eligible To Take A 300hr Yoga Teacher Training Course?
Ok, so who’s eligible to take a 300 hour YTTC? If you’ve completed a 200-hour YTTC, you’re eligible to enroll in a 300 hour YTTC! If you haven’t taken your 200 hour teacher training yet, check out our previous post "How To Choose A 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training" for tips on how to get started.
