How Can I Get Certified To Teach Yoga?

You have practiced yoga consistently and enjoy sharing your knowledge with others. Perhaps it is time to become a certified yoga instructor and turn your passion into a career. Yoga is a $5.7 billion per year industry, according to the book "Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques," by Mark Stephens and Mariel Hemingway. As yoga continues to grow, so do opportunities for yoga enthusiasts to enter the field as instructors.

Getting Started

Certification is not required to become a yoga instructor. In fact, less than 25 percent of the some 70,000 yoga teachers in the United States have completed a training program, according to "Teaching Yoga." Still, certification offers the opportunity to academically study the various types of yoga, explore its principles and gain practical experience in a variety of educational settings. You can work with students with medical conditions and learn under the tutelage of more experienced yoga professionals.

Finding a Program

The Yoga Alliance established training standards for yoga certification to which many -- though not all -- training programs adhere. More than 1,400 training programs exist worldwide, according to "Teaching Yoga," ranging from online education to rigorous programs that take two years to complete. Schools that are registered to The Yoga Alliance are guaranteed to provide its standards; still, schools that are not registered with the Alliance teach to the same standards.

When choosing a program, find out if it is registered with the Yoga Alliance. If not, ask why and if the program maintains its own set of standards. Take into consideration the length of time it takes to complete the program and fees. Find out if you will be able to work with pregnant class members, children and people with medical conditions. Ask how much hands-on experience you will gain during the training process. As with other types of education, what you get out of yoga certification depends what you put into it. A school that offers certification without any actual work might not prepare you for a career.

Training

The Alliance's standards require at least 200 training hours. Out of the 200 hours, 100 of those hours must be in technique training and practice, which includes asanas, pranayamas, kriyas, chanting, mantra, meditation and other traditional yoga techniques. The hours should be a mix of learning how to teach and actually practicing the technique yourself.

Twenty-five hours are dedicated to teaching methodology, which includes demonstrating poses, assisting and correcting students and education on qualities of a teacher and the student's process of learning. Of these 25 hours, five can be dedicated to the business aspects of teaching yoga. Next, 20 hours are dedicated to learning about anatomy and physiology, and how it applies to the study of yoga. Thirty hours goes to the study of yoga's philosophies and ethics, while another 10 hours is a practicum for teaching yoga and receiving feedback. The final 15 hours is reserved for electives that vary by school. ??Unlike other group exercise classes, yoga instructors typically do not need group exercise certification to become and stay employed. Instead, a potential yoga instructor should have specialized training in a particular type of yoga.

Continuing Education

Every three years, a certified yoga teacher must complete continuing education courses to maintain her registration. This is another standard set by The Yoga Alliance. Continuing Education includes teaching 45 hours of yoga and doing 30 training hours. The training hours can be either in the classroom or out of the classroom, but must be at least 10 contact hours and no more than 20 non-contact hours. A contact hour takes place in a classroom in the presence of a qualified yoga instructor. A non-contact hour includes reading a book about yoga, watching a video, taking an online course, publishing articles in the media, producing a yoga video or creating paper materials to distribute to students. One non-contact hour requires doing five hours of actual work.