Has anyone re-trained as a yoga teacher?

[NotBeingRudeBut]

I'm really fancying becoming self-employed and have thought about becoming a yoga teacher (I'm a compete beginner however).

Has anyone trained as a yoga instructor and could offer some advice regarding how to go about it, if there's an industry recognised qualification etc?

Is there much demand out there?

Thank you

Lurking as I would also love to know!

Ok I've had a quick look on the national careers service website and the British Yoga Wheel website and it appears it could take at least 2 years to qualify!

Gutted it takes so long......hoping someone with more knowledge may be along soon to say otherwise

Bet it costs!

I have to say that there does seem an awful lot to learn, so I imagined it'd be very involved.

I'm not trying to be funny, but if you are a 'complete beginner', what on earth makes you think you will be good enough or committed enough to become a yoga teacher? It's a bit like wanting to be a piano teacher without knowing how to play. Yoga isn't something you can pick up in just a few weeks.

I'm not an expert, just practice yoga a few times a week and go to some classes. I think it probably does take that long - you certainly have to have practised for a while first and know your stuff. All my teachers are seriously into it and have obviously been doing it for a long time. You also need to know what exercises are good/bad anatomically for people with old injuries etc.

There's no standard qualification afaik but the British Wheel of Yoga does well-known courses - www.bwy.org.uk/bwyt-teacher-training-course/

Yep, it takes 2 years to become qualified - although that's doing it on weekends in the UK, you can cut that down dramatically if you go abroad apparently. Though of course that costs £££

Do you practice yoga though? Because really, that's a good place to start...

Also, why on earth wouldn't it take that long? You have to:

Learn the entire system of poses and movements
Learn more than basic anatomy and physiology so you can adapt poses for people with injuries
Learn to teach a class, an art in itself
Learn enough of the culture of yoga so you can convey that to classes, including learning the Hindi names for things
As well as teaching for a number of hours in order to become qualified.

On top of that you then have to set up, advertise, get insured, find premises, etc etc. I don't want to piss on your chips but it's not something you can 'just fancy'.

I think the bwy qualification also requires that you've been going to classes / practising for at least 2 years before you start. The bwy does foundation courses as well though, doesn't qualify you for anything but looks good if you want to get more into yoga and the classes aren't doing it for you by themselves. The bwy courses are generally seen as more in depth than the quickie 'stay on an island get qualified in two weeks' ones, and not sure that I'd want to take responsibility for teaching without having more training than that.

I don't think it's really possible to make a living solely as a yoga teacher, and you have to build the business, market etc. so there are some hardnosed aspects to it.

Wilson, I think the names are Sanskrit.

My SIL is currently training and is about a year in.
She's been having classes for years and one of her teachers approached her about doing it. It's costing her lots, takes up a fair bit of her time (she also works full time) and she's always off on workshops and retreats and things.

She's doing it because she loves it though, not just to make money.

How many years have you been doing yoga, how many times a week do you do it and which tradition would you want to teach?

I've been doing up to 4 hours a week for 13 years and am not ready to train as a teacher yet

Sorry just let me

Ooh, no wilson, never mind. I feel unsure of myself now!

I do think that some people are teacher and some just aren't. I've been doing yoga for ten years regularly (most days) and sporadically for years before that. Sometimes I think I'd like to teach because I feel it's been such a gret thing in my life. But I'm just not a teacher, I don't want to stand in front of a class and direct people. I think that idea for me is just a desire to get more into it and 'deepen my practice' as they say. But maybe the OP is a born teacher, and this is the beginning of their learning more and becoming a great teacher. It's just not something that would happen in weeks or months, but maybe they know that. Don't want to discourage the idea!

Ugh, typos, sorry!