The world of yoga today is rapidly growing. Wellness and mindfulness have become priorities worldwide making the role of Yoga Alliance certification an important question for aspiring yoga teachers today.
Whether you are someone who wants to enhance your yoga practice or simply teach yoga professionally on a global level, understanding what a Yoga Alliance certification implies can not only help you in shaping your journey, but also allows you to understand the importance and long term goal goals of Yoga. In this guide, we shall be understanding the importance of this certification and how it benefits yoga teachers, and we shall also be de busting some common myths regarding this certification.
What Does a Yoga Alliance Certification Imply?
The Yoga Alliance is basically a non-profit organization based in the United States. It is one of the largest international yoga registries in the world. It establishes and maintains global standards for yoga education and maintains a registry of all certified yoga schools and teachers. When a person is certified by this alliance it means that they cover the educational standards in areas like-
- Yoga postures asanas
- Anatomy and Physiology
- Standard teaching methodology and practicum
- Yoga philosophy such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita
- Professional responsibilities and ethics of A Yoga teacher
Importance of This Certification
Offers global acceptability & credibility
This certification offers global acceptability and credibility to the yoga teacher. Whether you have undertaken your yoga teacher training courses from India or Bali or America, you are still eligible to share your yoga knowledge with any studio and any city in the world.
Basically this certification offers you international teaching credibility and it standardizes your training making you acceptable and recognizable across borders. Mostly it has been seen that Wellness retreats yoga studios and even Wellness resorts prefer teachers who hold RYT certifications.
Widens teaching opportunities
If you are someone who enjoys traveling, embracing new cultures or simply practicing yoga on exotic locations, gaining this certification will allow you the chance to teach abroad whether physically or through online models. It widens your teaching opportunities and opens professional doors to students worldwide.
Associates you with the global yoga teaching community
Once you are certified you become a part of the global network of yoga professionals. This associates you with global yoga teaching community and offers you the exposure to resources, advanced yoga education courses, global yoga events and a platform to enlist your profile. This not only enhances your career growth but also boosts your creativity.
Provides validity and authenticity to your training
There are many yoga schools and ashrams today which offer teacher training programs but the Yoga Alliance is like a quality assurance mark. This not only establishes that your training has followed the authentic yogic principles, but it also implies that you have followed a foundational and a comprehensive course. And it has led to a deep understanding of yoga beyond just the physical postures.
For instance a RYT (200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training), certified teacher recognized under this alliance implies that he has a foundational knowledge of the Yogic Asanas, methodology, yogic philosophy and other essential elements that will make him an able mentor in the yoga world.
How Does this Alliance Benefit Yoga Teachers
Widens career opportunities – Getting certified by this alliance widens your career opportunities as most of the yoga studios and Wellness retreats worldwide want to hire yoga teachers who are certified by the Yoga Alliance. So whether you are taking private or corporate classes or want to host retreats and workshops or build an online yoga brand on a global stage, having this certification will definitely widen your career opportunities.
Promotes awareness and discipline – Being certified in addition to enhancing your career growth also promotes self-awareness and discipline. As any training is not just about learning physical posters and fixing alignment but it’s rather a physical and emotional transformation. When you engage in understanding the yogic philosophy and implementing the yogic way of life in your day to day rituals, you not only indicate a professional qualification but also build discipline and inner growth.
Enhances confidence in teaching – Being certified by this alliance also boost your confidence in teaching. As when you learn the standardized way of performing certain yogic postures, you also understand the natural flow of energy in your body and the correct alignment that offers therapeutic benefits to the body and mind. With such a deep understanding about your practice, you naturally gain confidence in teaching.
Lets Debust Some Common Myths Regarding this Certification
1: You cannot be a teacher without it – This is one of the most common myths regarding the certification. Technically whether or not you are registered with this alliance you can still teach yoga. But there are many international yoga studios and retreats who prefer RYT certified yoga teachers as it offers credibility and guarantees professionalism.
2: It adds experience – No. Being certified by the Yoga Alliance does not add any experience to your portfolio. It just marks the beginning of your teaching journey and encourages ongoing training requirements. Whether or not you are certified by this organization, experience is gained only through practice consistency and dedication.
3: It’s only about western acceptance – Well, even though this organization is based in the USA, it does not mean that it is only for the Western acceptance. In India also the yoga schools follow the traditional yogic philosophy incorporated with the global standards set by this alliance. This is because it promotes standardization and professionalism and allows the yoga teacher to be able to teach yoga globally and not stay restricted to a particular geographical territory.
Conclusion
Gaining certification from the Yoga Alliance Board not only empowers your yoga journey but also enhances your passion for yoga and builds professional credibility and recognition worldwide. But it should be noted that only having this certification alone will not give you an edge. To be able to become a recognized and able yoga teacher one must take consistent and dedicated in their practice.
