What is a Yoga Teachers Training course (YTT)?
A yoga teachers training course is a program designed to give you the knowledge, skills and confidence for your self-practice and teach others.
In the last 5000 years of history, learning yoga has evolved multiple times. It began with living in the guru or teacher's place of residence or what we call ashram. Here you learned yoga with a small group of students and got personal attention from the teacher or guru and his or her fellow teachers. This was largely an inward journey that the seeker took with guidance from the Guru. It was an inward journey to gather skills and training to live to your highest potential and discover your purpose with the guidance of a Guru.
In the last century, this learning was more through structured short courses in large groups in Indian ashrams. In the last century, as yoga gained popularity, people from across the world came and stayed in Indian ashrams or yoga schools to hone their own practice and understand the art of teaching yoga. They spent a month or more in the school and kept revisiting to deepen their understanding. The courses were much more structured.
This generated many great yoga teachers who went on and started offering courses in their countries. The courses became more professional and accessible to people. However, at times especially in the west, the practice became largely physical and the holistic nature of yoga became secondary. Business models started driving the structure and content of the courses.
Also, modern-day yoga education has become more physical (mostly asana-based) driven by large and regular marketing campaigns, many times enticing students with exotic locations, delicious food, yoga accessories and great body and career. So, the yoga journey had been turned mostly outwardly and towards enjoyment and pleasure. So Yoga started becoming more outward focussed where the physical body and enjoyment and pleasure became the focus.
But now, the Online Yoga Teacher Training Courses are slowly changing that and making it possible again to return back to an inwardly focused yoga practice.
How is an online yoga teachers training course changing the way we are learning and experiencing yoga?
When you do an Online yoga teachers training you are in your home and alone. Making it possible to turn within and connect better to the practice experiences, reflect on the philosophical principles and their relevance in life. In spite of some of the differences of the online courses against the in-person course, for a true seeker, the online YTT is indeed a paradigm shift in how Yoga education is being imparted.
What are the benefits of the Online Yoga Teacher Training Course?
1. When you do yoga certification online, you can learn it from the comfort of your home. But other than the convenience of learning from home, you can build healthy habits in the environment where you live. Often when you visit a Yoga centre you change, however when you come back to your environment you revert back to your old habits. Learning from home gives to the opportunity of changing your home environment. A guru once told us that it's not ashrams of places of worship that is the holiest place in this world, it's the place where you practice as that's the place where you are the purest.
2. You do not need to travel to get access to the best teachers. The new methods of communication enable you to be close to and learn from anyone anywhere. The exchange of energy via a live video is the same as when you are sitting and interacting with a person. The only thing is that you need to get personal attention.
3. We are all different and our learning methods and pace are different. In an online program even if the course finishes in a few weeks or months, you still can have access to all the teaching materials and can interact via chat or email to clear any doubts or share your yoga journey experiences.
4. Though the cost of training is the same, but you save on expenses like hotel, travel, and food. So it is definitely more cost-effective.
5. You can always have access to all course content for multiple reviews after the course is done. You can also establish lifelong relations and communication with your teachers.
6. Yoga is an internalising practice and the best way to practice yoga is by yourself. So you get ample amount of time to practice by yourself without any distractions.
7. There is better control and more stability of place of practice, you can practice in the same place even when you change teachers. Since you have to practice for years by yourself at home, it's best to do a course at home as well.
8. In online yoga certification, you get access to multiple mediums of instruction like videos, ppt, audio files, whiteboard, making it easier for students to learn from various formats also equipping teachers to deliver a better class. Easy to get in guest faculty, experts in the field for an enhanced learning experience.
9. While doing the online YTT course, you can continue to attend to all other responsibilities of life as before. If Yoga has to become a habit it has to fit in with everything else you are doing in your daily life.
10. There is reduced inhibition on the part of the student in sharing personal challenges or asking questions.
11. The process of assessing students is much easier in the online space. Hence a detailed assessment is possible that will benefit the students in getting the best out of the course.
Disadvantages of online YTT
1. There might be situations when you face internet issues, sound and visual disturbances.
2. You need to take breaks from screen time for the safety of the eyes. You can also practice eye exercises which will help you to maintain healthy eyesight and refrain from your eyes getting strained.
3. Though physical corrections of an asana are not possible online, self-learning is enhanced. There is a popular Sanskrit shloka that says 25% of learning happens through a teacher, 25% through your fellow students, 25% is self-learning and 25% of learning will only happen with time. There are schools of yoga in India which advocate that you should never touch a student while teaching as that hampers their self-learning and observation ability.
4. You miss out the physical aspect of meeting new people.
The journey of the Online Yoga Teachers Training Course (YTT) is an experience of a lifetime. The YTT will not only teach you useful yoga skills like body alignment and awareness and how to avoid yoga-related injury but a way to apply yoga principles and knowledge to everyday life situations.
Online YTT programs are proving to be at par in many aspects and better in many other from the in-person YTT. Online education, in general, has evolved over the last 5 years and many reputed universities and school education across the globe have wholeheartedly accepted the online medium. Also now will be able to get accreditation and registration from popular yoga standards organizations like Yoga alliance for the online YTT programs, ensuring you are fully equipped to teach Yoga professionally.
If you are looking for the best online yoga teacher training that is designed to target an all-round development of the person and living an immensely enriching life, then get in touch with us and start your journey today.
