Checklist YTTC – how to choose the right school for you
So you decided to do a yoga teacher training (YTT). Congratulations on that decision! Whatever reason, you got the noble calling of learning more about Yoga. However, your initial enthusiasm gets blocked fairly quickly, as you realise there is an abundance of yoga schools out there to choose from. How on earth are you supposed to decide which one will be a good fit? I felt exactly the same when I was planning on doing my first training. Therefore I am happy to share my checklist with you, what I was looking for in a school, which ultimately lead me to choose Shiva Rishi Yoga.
Before we jump into it, it is important to realise that a YTT is NOT a retreat! If you think you go some nice sunny place close to the beach, do some yoga and relax, you should consider to first do a Yoga retreat of 1-2 weeks before deciding for a YTT. That is because it happens that students suddenly become overwhelmed, because they underestimated the intensity of the training.
The following list gives you an overview on what I came across my own research and will hopefully help you to identify what fits you in your own very personal yoga journey. It s important to choose not ust any accredited school that seems fine (unless you have a good feeling with it), but to find a school that fits your needs, so you can get the most out of your intense training. The indicators in the following list are described in more detail below.
- Purpose
- Yoga style
- Schedule
- Location
- Teachings and Teachers
- Group/Class size
- Cost
- Yoga Alliance certified
- Reviews
What?
Purpose
First and Foremost you should ask yourself:
- Why do I want to do a teacher training? and
- What will I do after my YTT?
Answering these questions is the first step to attract the right yoga school for you. The more you know about your purpose, the easier it will become for you to choose a school that offers what you want to learn. Especially if not all indicators can be fulfilled, as long as you know your purpose of doing the training you will have a highly valuable experience that brings you one step closer to your intention of doing a certification course.
A lot of people do not want to teach, but want to learn more about yoga and their own bodies, lose weight, prevent injurie, or become more flexible. This also is a noble purpose, so you can grow personally, spiritually, and you invest in yourself.
If you aim at teaching afterwards, ask yourself: why? Even though after any certification training you are oficially qualified to teach others Yoga, it takes much more to become a good teacher. Especially a 200h Training equips you with the basics that you need to lead a beginners class. However, it will also just tap into the infinite abundance of what Yoga is. Give yoursef time to gain experience to grow into your role as a yoga teacher. With the decision of doing a YTT you did the first step in a life-long journey that entails continuous study that goes beyond the practice of asanas.
Maybe you are not sure yet if you really want to teach, that is also perfectly fine! Even if you are not sure yet about what you will do with the knowledge after, you gave it a thought. Consciously knowing that you do not know will guide you along the way to find out eventually.
Yoga style
Some students already know the style of yoga that fits them best. Do you want something more powerful? Something more traditional? What yoga do you practice usually at home? What styles did you try out that you liked, which ones did not resonate with you? Be aware that in a training you will be doing Yoga twice a day for 1-2h each time, 6 days/week. This means that if you are not used to practice every day, an ashtanga training might be too intense for you. Rather go for a traditional Hatha or other less intense style. Some trainings also offer multistyle yoga. If you are not sure yet what style fits you best or you just want a short introduction in different styles, this might be for you. However, if you already have a regular practice and you know which style you like, it is best to deepen your practice in that style with the YTT and rather try out different styles with a normal drop-in class.
When?
Schedule
First you should decide for the kind of training you want to do. There are short 50-100h trainings, the basic 200h training and the advanced 300h training, as well as a holistic 500h Training. I would recommend to start with the 200h training and then build your knowledge from there. Here you can also choose what kind of training do you want to do. Can you take time off for an entire month or more? Then I would recommend you travel to a country of your choice and do the intensive 200h 4-week program. This will become an experience you will never forget. However, if you really want to become a teacher but you have to work or have other obligations that do not allow for you to focus a whole month on yourself, then you can choose to do a training that is streteched across 1/2 year – 2 years where you will have classes once a week. Whatever kind of training you choose, the possibilites are endless and you will find a form that fits your personal needs best.
For me it was important that the schedule fits my personal needs and biorythm as much as possible. Therefore I was looking for a school that prefereably does not start at 4:30 in the morning. However, most schools start early in the morning, since you are supposed to salute the sun with yoga in the morning. Nevertheless, most schools offer an example of the schedule on their website so you can get an idea of the classes, lenghts, breaks, etc.
Where?
Location
You can do a YTT anywhere in the world. Still, India, as the birthplace of Yoga is calling you? Then go! You feel like you should go to India, but you rather want to do a training in the swiss mountains? Go to Switzerland! This is also part of Yoga to get to know yourself better and give your body and mind what they need so you can grow spiritually. Anything you do should serve yourself or others. Therefore, do not go to a country you do not want to go to, just to be able to say “I’ve been there”. Do what feels right for you. You do not know what feels right? Then it doesn’t matter! Check your indicators and pick which school fits best with all other indicators, then the country is decided by itself. You have to stay in your country because you have business, parental or other obligations? Great! Then this indicator is already decided for you.
In case you choose to go for another country, I advise you to check the weather. Will you be able to exercise during 35°C twice a day? No? Rather choose another month to come to that particular school or another country right away. However, if you want to get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, you could ignore this indicator altogether, see what happens and adapt along the way.
Next to the country, there are different types of accommodations you can choose. You can go to an Ashram to do the training or to private schools that offer private or shared rooms. This depends on the kind of experience you want to have. In an ashram you will get into touch with a lot more people, you will have a strict schedule and routine as well as some kind of volunteer work. This can be a great spiritual experience and help you to focus on the training fully. However, if the life in an ashram is not quite your thing or you are not sure if you would like it, choose a private school with private rooms or share it with a friend you take with you.
I recommend to start with a private room and bathroom. A YTT will bring up so much hidden feelings and parts of yourself – you will appreciate alone time and a place that is quiet and where you can close the door behind you and just be alone for a little while before the next class starts again.
With Whom?
Teachings and Teachers
Next to the timings, for me it was important to learn about subjects I am personally interested in. Of course, the most important aspects of a YTT is without doubt the alignments and asana classes, as well as anatomy and Yoga theory. Different schools offer different subjects, whereas some only got introduced and others were taught with more emphasis. At Shiva Rishi you have extensive classes on Anatomy, alignment, pranayama and philosophy. Introductory classes include Ayurveda and meditation. However, other schools have different teachings or put the focus on other aspects. Think about what aspects you want to learn or deepen your knowledge in and choose the school that offers teachings of your personal interests.
Another important aspect to choose a high quality school is the teachers. Make sure to choose a school that hires at least 3 different teachers. The more the better, since you can always learn more from teachers who are specialised in their field. Shiva hired 5 more teachers beside himself, so that the students have the opportunity to learn from experts in their field. Even though he is a great asana and alignment teacher, practices pranayama himself and is highly knowledgeable in yoga philosophy, he himself focused his teachings on asanas and their proper alignment. For Pranayama, Philosophy, Anatomy, Meditation and Ayurveda he hired other teachers with years of experience and university degrees. This was so valuable, especially because you can have discussions with experts in the field. Furthermore, if one teacher or his/her teachings do not resonate with you, you will have so many other teachers that do.
Group/Class size
While in Yoga classes it is no problem to accommodate 15 and more students, a YTT is focused on learning and should be smaller for you to get the most out of it. During my research I came across the rule of thumb to NOT choose a Yoga school that accepts more than 15 students. However, from personal experience I would go as for as to stay the smaller the groups the better.
We were 9 people and it was such an amazing experience. I would recommend choosing a program that allows not more than 10 participants. From personal experience a group bigger than 10 creates unstable group dynamics and will lessen the intensity of your possibility to bond with others and ask personal questions to the teachers. Hence, the benefits of smaller group sizes include:
- more attention from teachers
- more opportunities to ask personal questions
- enhanced learning focused on the individual
- easier and more intense group bonding
- less groups within groups
Reviews
Of course it is important to get in touch with students who have done the training and can tell you more about their personal experiences. However, do not be blinded by a couple of bad reviews. A YTT is an intense and highly subjective experience. What is important to check are the most recent reviews and reviews from different platforms, such as Google, Tripadvisor, and Yoga Alliance. Alternatively, you could go to the instagram or facebook page of the school(s) you are interested in and randomly ask a couple of their followers if they did a training there and how they liked it. Then you get in touch with someone who has been there personally and you could even ask some more questions you might have. Do not be afraid of reaching out, especially online. The ones that do not have time will simply not answer you, but usually people are always willing to answer a couple of questions, especially our fellow yogis.
How much?
Cost
For most of us this is a very important indicator. Even though you can consider this training an investment in yourself that can lead to high rates of return, not everyone can afford it.
Set yourself a budget and keep in mind to keep a 20% buffer to that budget in case any unforeseen expenses arise (e.g. travel, additional excursions once you are there, mat, waterbottle, yoga outfit, books, etc). With the abundance of Yoga Trainings you can definitely find a training that is budget-friendly and offers high quality and trustworthy teachings.
If you choose for a 4-week program, you should calculate to spent around 3000€-5000€. This includes the flight, Yoga-school, accomodation, food and excursions. If you pay any more than this, you can be sure the school is only after profit maximization, which will probably also be reflected in their social media appearance as well as their class sizes adn teachings (think about Aparigraha after Patanjali).
Is the Yoga School Yoga Alliance certified?
This is only important to you if you want to teach afterwards and become a registered Yoga-teacher. Furthermore, a Yoga-Alliance certification guarantees you a certain standard after a specific framework of a common agreement of yoga teachers on what the benchmark should be. However, the Yoga-alliance as single certification body in the yoga scene gets increasingly critics on their quality of certification framework in relation to their pricing.
Conclusion
These were the indicators that were most important for me and ultimately lead me to find the most beautiful, school, group, and place for me personally. I hope they will help you to find your perfect match as well.
Still impossible to decide, because several schools tick several boxes? Choose the school that ticks most of your boxes or weigh your indicators and create priorities within your list. Which indicators are most important to you?How do they relate to the other indicators? Maybe the teachings are more important to you than the country – or the other way around. In any way, you could even switch schools in case you do not like it, so don’t stress yourself out too much about it. Ultimately, trust your feeling. What does your intuition tell you when you think about a specific school?
Have a blessed day and enjoy your yogic journey!
