Yoga Teacher Training in Knoxville

Yoga is becoming more popular in Knoxville, TN. The need for yoga teachers who have completed a yoga teacher training (YTT) or yoga teacher certification (YTC) program is also increasing. (Yoga Teacher Training and Yoga Teacher Certification programs are synonymous, the title of the program depends on the preference of the yoga school.)

To fill the need, there are now several yoga teacher training and certification programs in the Knoxville area.

What to look for in a Knoxville Yoga Teacher Certification Program

1. The most important thing to look at when researching yoga teacher training programs in Knoxville is the director of the teacher training. Have you studied with this person and do you like their style? Does their philosophy of yoga resonate with you? Are they easily accessible? Do they live by the words they speak, or at least try to?

2. Next, look at training dates for your Knoxville yoga teacher training. Do the dates fit your schedule? Some yoga certification programs offer the whole training at once, some offer it on weekends only, and others offer weekend trainings in combination with some yoga teacher training requirements through the week.

3. Can you afford the yoga teacher certification program, or are there payment plans or scholarships available to make your yoga training more manageable?

4. Is the yoga teacher training offered at a Registered Yoga School (RYS) through the Yoga Alliance? The Yoga Alliance, though not perfect, is the most respected yoga organization in the country. If you’re serious about learning and teaching yoga, then do yourself a favor and go for a 200-hour Yoga Alliance-recognized program at a Registered Yoga School. Those weekend-long yoga teacher certifications offered at the gym are just enough to make you dangerous.

Why Yoga Teacher Training in Knoxville?

Unless you want to study in a yoga lineage like Sivananda, Kripalu, Ashtanga, Satyananda, Kriya, and so on — where you will need to go to a yoga center or ashram outside of the Knoxville area to study — it is a good idea to study hatha yoga in the area you intend to teach yoga, in this case, Knoxville, TN.

Why? Because the director of the yoga school will have insight into how to reach people in the area, how to market to them, and how to attract people to your classes once you graduate from your yoga training program. If the yoga teacher training has a service project as part of the requirements, some of the people you meet in your community classes may very well become your first clients. Not to mention, a director from the Knoxville area will have a list of contacts and connections for places you can contact and possibly teach once you graduate from the YTT.

In the case of Knoxville, where yoga is still new and the majority of students in yoga classes are beginners, the focus on the 200-hour basic yoga training should be at least in part on how to teach safe classes to beginners. Once you have completed a 200-hour training and built a base of students who have started yoga with you, it will be easier to target niche audiences as your interests and the interests of your students grow.

Find out more about Knoxville Yoga Teacher Certification.