HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT YOGA TEACHER TRAINING (YTTC) FOR YOU

There are hundreds of yoga teacher trainings to choose from.

The photographs can look similar. The curriculums often sound similar too: asana, anatomy, philosophy, pranayama, sequencing and teaching methodology.

But two courses covering the same subjects can be completely different experiences.

Before choosing one, we think there are a few things that matter much more than the list of topics.

HOW WILL YOU ACTUALLY LEARN?

Start with the method.

Not only the style of yoga, but how the course is taught.

Will you mostly listen to lectures?

Will you practice what you are discussing?

Will you work with other people's bodies?

Will someone watch how you practice and help you understand what you are doing?

Will you be given rules and corrections to remember, or will you be asked to observe, question and understand why something works?

At Yoga Mandir Goa, trainees first investigate instructions in their own bodies. They also practise within Akshey's regular classes, where they see how the same pose may need to be approached differently by different people.

We have written more about this in Learning to Teach Yoga Through Practice.

The curriculum tells you what is being covered.

The method tells you how much of it may actually stay with you.

DO YOU WANT TO LEARN FROM THIS TEACHER?

This may be the most important question.

You are going to spend many hours listening to this person, practising with them and being corrected by them.

Their way of seeing yoga will inevitably shape the course.

So take their class before you enrol.

We recommend prospective trainees to practice with Akshey first, either in person in Palolem or online.

Not because everybody should like his way of working.

Quite the opposite.

You should find out beforehand if you don't.

A teacher may be excellent and still not be the right teacher for you. A method may be thoughtful and still not be the way you want to practice.

It is better to know that before committing several weeks to a training.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL THE TEACHER ACTUALLY SEE?

Group size changes the kind of learning that is possible.

A large course can be lively, social and exciting. For some students, that is part of the appeal.

But if you want a teacher to become familiar with how you practice, notice your habits and give you individual feedback, there is a limit to how many people one person can closely observe.

Our teacher trainings are kept to a maximum of ten students for that reason.

The question is not whether a small training is universally better.

It is whether the size of the training supports the way the school says it teaches.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE AT THE END?

A yoga teacher training can give you information, practice, experience and a foundation from which to continue.

It cannot finish your education as a yoga teacher.

Akshey is very clear about this.

Twenty-three days with one teacher is the beginning of something, not the end of it.

Practice. Teach if you want to teach. Continue studying. Learn from other teachers. Encounter approaches that are different from the one you learned here. See what survives your own experience and what changes.

The aim is not to leave Yoga Mandir Goa thinking you now have an answer for every student and every pose.

It is to leave better able to observe, question and continue learning.

That is what we think a teacher training can realistically begin.

For current dates, course structure and application information, see our Yoga Teacher Training in Goa.