Recharge Your Teaching Technique With Trips To Workshops And Seminars

If you are a certified yoga instructor, you can keep your teaching fresh by attending workshops and seminars periodically. Workshops and seminars can last one day or several days, and they give the teacher the opportunity to be a student and receive instruction to refine their own technique. Every yoga instructor has his or her own techniques and phrases, and you can learn some new approaches to bring back to your students. And a workshop can be a chance to explore a different style of yoga. If you have only practiced Ashtanga yoga and have an Ashtanga yoga certification, try a prenatal yoga teacher workshop and decide whether you want an additional prenatal yoga certification.

Yogajournal.com maintains a current list of workshops, or ask fellow instructors where they have gone. You can find a workshop as close as the studio down the street or perhaps you would like an excuse to visit New York City or Hong Kong for an additional certification, and combine certification with vacation.

Don’t forget: When traveling out of town to attend a certification program, workshop, or seminar, you may want to bring your own mat as well as other favorite props. But write your name on your mat or props so they don’t get lost.

Multiple Certifications Expand Your Options.

If your time, money, and motivation permit, you can dive deeper into yoga instruction and become certified to teach several specific areas, such as prenatal yoga certification, Ashtanga yoga certification, or Bikram yoga certification. You’re only limited by your time and money, since each certification program comes with costs.

Even if you don’t ever teach a yoga class, participating in any yoga certification program can help deepen your awareness of your practice and help you refine your technique. And if you don’t want to teach yoga full-time, a certification lets you make yourself available as a substitute teacher, which studios and gyms always need.

The Business Side Of Yoga

If you are ambitious and want to open your own studio, it’s important to have some sense of how to run a business. Seek out workshops and seminars about starting a small business in general, since tips and principles for small businesses apply to yoga studios as well. If you’re not business-savvy, consider working with a partner who can help manage the funds while you manage the asanas.

If you want an additional source of income from your yoga certification that extends beyond a gym setting, consider approaching businesses that you know and offering to teach yoga classes during or after work to employees in exchange for a fee. Start with your own workplace, or ask your friends whether enough employees at their office would be interested in a post-work yoga class to make it worth your while.

Protect Yourself With Yoga Liability Insurance

Although we would like to believe that the world of yoga is universally peaceful, kind, and generous, it is important to protect yourself against lawsuits because accidents happen and people can and do injure themselves during yoga classes.

If you are a yoga instructor, consider some sort of liability insurance. One company that offers liability insurance to individual yoga instructors and to owners of yoga studios is Benefits Plus, available through yogajournal.com. You can find out more about yoga instructor insurance from your yoga certification program instructor.

Not All Yoga Certifications Are Created Equal

Many yoga instruction programs are low-key and are designed to accommodate the schedules of people with other jobs who want to become certified yoga instructors as something to do in addition to their other careers. These programs are taught over a few weeks and may cost a $100 or more.

By contrast, Bikram yoga certification is particular. To become a certified Bikram yoga instructor, you must complete a Bikram program, which is both time-consuming and expensive. Currently, an official Bikram yoga teacher training program approved by Bikram yoga founder Bikram Choudhury takes 9 weeks and costs six thousand dollars, and that doesn’t include your air fare to the course location in Hawaii.

Alternatively, you can find online yoga certification programs, but despite the testimonials, approach these programs with caution. There is something to be said for one-on-one interaction when you are learning yoga instruction techniques and not all gyms or studios may accept an online certification from someone seeking a position as a yoga instructor.

Teacher Certification

There is no current national certification program in the United States for yoga teachers.

You should always ask about a teacher´s qualifications before beginning instruction. Where was the teacher trained? What type of yoga does the teacher specialize in? If possible, ask to attend a class before signing up.

I personally enjoy trying different teachers. I find that every teacher has a unique approach and manner. This gives me a renewed outlook on my own practice.