Teacher Trainer Qualifications Working Group

Teacher Trainer Qualifications

THE CONVERSATION: What qualifications are necessary to be a trainer of yoga teachers?

WHAT WE LEARNED:

Yoga professionals were divided with respect to requirements for Teacher Trainers, or teachers who train others to be yoga teachers. While differences were prevalent via our survey, the listening tour, the virtual town halls, and the working group sessions, nearly everyone agreed that recently graduated Registered Yoga Teachers (RYTs) are not immediately qualified to be Teacher Trainers.

We saw in our 12,000-respondent survey from early 2018 that with respect to curriculum for Teacher Trainers, there was general consensus among professionals that Teacher Trainers should: have a certain level of expertise, have taught a minimum number of public classes consistently, have assisted other yoga teacher trainings, maintain continuing education hours, and even take a training in pedagogy (or teaching methodology). Read more here.

Standards Review Project Survey: Attitudes and Beliefs of Yoga Professionals and Practitioners Worldwide 2018, Edge Research.

⇲ Read the Working Group Paper

Through the working group specific to Teacher Trainer Qualifications, a few recommendations “rose to the top”, such as:

Teacher Trainer qualifications needed to be overhauled with “lead” Teacher Trainers being ERYT 500 credentialed
Yoga Alliance should offer Teacher Trainer courses for Registered Yoga School (RYS) Teacher Trainers at the 200 and 300 levels and should require additional continuing education hours of Teacher Trainers
Yoga Alliance could create additional credentials to represent experience and expertise of Teacher Trainers – the Lead Teacher Trainer (LTT) at 200, 300, and 500 and the Experienced Lead Teacher Trainer (ELTT) at 200, 300, and 500

To learn more about this working group’s recommendations, please download the Teacher Trainer Qualifications Working Group Paper here. As a reminder, Yoga Alliance brought together a diverse spectrum of expert advisory voices to maximize the perspectives and resources within this area of inquiry. They represented one stream of input in the process, albeit an important stream. We thank them for their participation and dedication.

Note: these working group papers provide expert recommendations to Yoga Alliance and the yoga community for consideration as the Standards Review Project continues. They are not prescribed actions but rather insights from an experienced and dedicated group of subject matter experts. They were written by an independent third party. At this point in time, no decisions have been made regarding standards updates, and we welcome and encourage your feedback and comments regarding the entirety of the SRP process.

Advisors In This Group:

Jafar Alexander

Jafar J. Alexander, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, believes that "practice is what happens on the mat, and yoga is what happens in life.” His belief is “Yoga is yoga. No need to complicate it, it’s quite simple. Breathe, move, and find your ...
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Maria Garré

Maria E Garré, M.Ed, AP, AYT, ERYT-500, is an ayurvedic practitioner, ayurvedic yoga therapist, and Prana Vinyasa Instructor. She is a respected educator and leader in the field of yoga and ayurveda. Maria delivers practical and inspirational classes, courses that inspire ...
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Heidi Goldman

Heidi Goldman, C-IAYT, RYT-500, YACEP, LMT, Certified Industrial Ergonomist (CIE), has been called a “Teacher of Teachers” and is a certified Yoga Instructor with the California Yoga Teachers Association (CYTA)/California Institute for Yoga Teacher Education, currently the San Francisco Iyengar Yoga Institute, with 43 ...
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Jasmine Hines

Jasmine C. Hines, RYT 200, is a mother, cultural organizer, creator of the Amplify and Activate Summit, and founder of the Inspower Agency. Operating from the belief that change begins within, the Inspower Agency’s mission is to co-create actionable paradigm shifts at the intersection of ...
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Amber Karnes

Amber Karnes is the founder of Body Positive Yoga. She’s a ruckus maker, yoga asana teacher (E-RYT 200), social justice advocate, and a lifelong student of her body. Her commitment to accessible, adaptive yoga practice empowers thousands of diverse practitioners around the ...
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Shelby Lafrinere

Shelby Lafrinere is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, personal trainer, and certified polarity practitioner (integrative bodywork). As an artist, activist, professional dancer, and lover of laughter, she began meditating in high school and practicing yoga in 1997. As a student, ...
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Ryan McGraw

Ryan McGraw approaches every class with the belief that everyone can do yoga. As a person with cerebral palsy who has been practicing yoga for 15 years, Ryan is well aware that yoga poses can be adapted to meet the needs of the ...
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Nikki Myers

Nikki Myers, MBA, C-IAYT yoga therapist, somatic experiencing practitioner, addictions recovery specialist, and certified health coach is an accomplished speaker, teacher and practitioner. Born from her personal struggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, the Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Based in its theme ...
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Arturo Peal

Arturo Peal is a Certified Yoga therapist who holds a Masters Degree in Chinese Medicine and practices Craniosacral Therapy. He has been involved in the "alternative" health-care field for more than 30 years, teaching anatomy and physiology for yoga teacher trainings, body workers, and for ...
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Sherry Sidoti

Sherry Sidoti is the Director and Lead Teacher of FLY Yoga School, a 200 hour and Advanced Yoga Teacher Training on Martha’s Vineyard. She is the Founder of FLY Outreach, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the community through yoga education, teaching ...
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Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh is a yoga teacher with 35+ years teaching experience and is an internationally celebrated New York / LA Teacher who remains fresh in his quest to keep innovating with new methods, approaches, depth and insight. Ravi (with Ana Brett) ...
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Rod Stryker

Yogarupa Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga® and the author of The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. He has taught for more than 35 years, dedicating his life to improving lives through his ...
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Katie Thorworth

Katie Thorworth, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is a licensed physical therapy assistant specializing in the anatomy of movement. Katie started teaching yoga in 2000, has taught thousands of classes, and has helped launch the career of hundreds of yoga teachers over the years. She ...
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Chétana Jessica Torrens

Chétana Jessica Torrens co-founded the Akhanda Yoga approach and has facilitated philosophy, methodology and transformational experiences sessions for about 25 Akhanda Yoga Teacher Training programs. She also offers workshops and is a YTT guest lecturer in yoga philosophy and history, teaching methodology ...
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Michele Winship

Michele Winship, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, began practicing yoga with video tapes (!) in the mid-90s as a complementary practice to aerobics and weight training. When she took her first class at Yoga on High in 2001, she knew she had ...
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