How to Become a Yoga Instructor in South Africa

 It is never too late to learn what is always necessary to know. Seneca the Younger

Yoga attracts thousands of new teachers across the globe to its transformative power. A Yoga practice can transform the mind, body and soul and we all need some balance, peace and contentment while the world is growing increasingly complex and uncertain.

Yoga can teach students to focus on what they have, work towards acceptance, gratitude, joy and overall balance. Yoga instructor training will not only help you become better at walking the path that so many seek, you’ll also have the potential to teach and aid others on their journey towards creating a happier and healthy life.

Are you ready to make a positive change in the world around you?

Let’s look at how you can become a yoga teacher.

What Yoga Instructor Training Can Teach You?

Many yogis will tell you that yoga is not just a physical and mental practice, it eventually becomes a way of life, especially if you choose to make a career of it. The commitment comes easy once you experience the benefits of yoga yourself, and as a teacher, you’ll learn and experience the benefits of yoga while practising, learning and teaching.

Yoga instructor training will include modules or classes around the building blocks of the yoga practice. Because you work with the physical body, you’ll learn about anatomy, how the body works and how the exercise and practice of yoga can improve your physical health, help you lose weight and even reverse heart conditions.

Yoga is also about calming the mind, and meditation forms an integral part of creating a relaxed focus in your life. Many yoga styles will include meditation as part of a normal class because the yogis recognised how important it is for us to control our thoughts first before we’ll have the ability to direct them towards creating the life we want.

You will also touch on spiritual aspects or yoga philosophy. This explains the ancient art and it is amazing that traditional and historical beliefs are slowly moving towards modern beliefs through the help of modern science. Spending a significant amount of time on understanding the benefits of yoga will make your training and teaching more impactful, as students appreciate the ‘why’ when you ask them to perform a specific asana (pose).

Above and beyond the physical health benefits, mental relaxation, stress release and historical or spiritual backgrounds, yoga will provide insight and light into how you craft the mindset, life and balance you want for yourself, a great gift to impart to students once you are a yoga teacher.

Teachers and Training Courses Differ

A good teacher will not only provide good explanations around the yoga poses, how to set them up and safely move out of them, they will also guide you on making hands-on adjustments on your own students one day. This is hard to learn on your own and it takes years of experience to easily demonstrate through words how someone can quickly do a specific asana or come out of a difficult pose.

Great teachers will entrench their students in yogic philosophy without it becoming preachy or making it sound like a lecture. Yoga is all about finding the balance between work and letting go and this should also come across in the style of a good yoga teacher.

Look for a teacher that is relaxed, allowing you the space to completely be yourself. You need a safe space to explore your body and delve into the yoga experience yourself, while they manage to instil a sense of discipline and guidance that improves your yoga practice.

There are a couple of international yoga teacher training (YTT) courses that offer a variety of teachers and styles as part of their courses. Yoga is however about your connection with people, and therefore finding a connection with the main teacher, or studio, is important.

It sounds obvious, but you need to trust and believe in the teachers who provide you with course content, lessons and classes. Great yoga teacher training should be an immersive and positive experience. A yoga practice and course can also be a life-changing and personally significant lifetime event, which is why we want you to choose the best training course and teacher.

Find a yoga studio and teachers who are as passionate about teaching as they are about the practice of yoga.

You will realise that great yogis don’t always necessarily make great teachers, so seek a teacher that uses descriptive words, give balanced classes that cater for all types, and has the experience in teaching and accreditation from an international body like Yoga Alliance.

Teaching Without Instructor Certification

So what are the steps to becoming a teacher and do you require instructor certification?

The industry in South Africa is not as regulated as other professional industries and there are actually very few requirements. Although not usual, there are some teachers who have practised for years without a formal qualification and are teaching yoga.

Yoga is all about the practice and a good instructor will experience and live through their own practice before they transfer that knowledge over to their students.

There are however some risks associated with not knowing all the physiological aspects of doing yoga.

What do you do when someone gets injured in your class and you didn’t have the required training?  We recommend that anyone with little experience in yoga should first do a beginner course to ensure they have the basics covered.

Looking for a registered yoga course and school that’s accredited by Yoga Alliance in your city, comparing prices and then researching the teachers presenting the course will be the first steps to seeking out a good teacher training.

The teachers who usually teach yoga without experience tend to lean more towards the spiritual aspects and reasons for practising yoga. A good yoga school generally offer access to a good training course that will include the spiritual philosophy and physical practice requirements.

Experience the Yoga You Want to Teach

Do you want to become a vinyasa yoga teacher, an ashtanga teacher, a hatha yoga teacher or move more towards restorative and yin yoga styles?

This can be a tricky question if you have not experienced the various yoga styles.  Most people going through yoga teacher certification have probably not experienced the various styles, but as a newbie we’d recommend you dive head-first into yoga and try as many classes and styles as possible.

If you cannot wait and want to teach a good generic style of yoga, then vinyasa or hatha yoga for beginners is a good start. Most 200-hour yoga teacher training courses use that as a foundation, but be sure you read about the style as some might be specifically dedicated to one style and philosophy.

Your love for yoga needs to shine through your teaching.

Therefore find a yoga practice that you love. Online yoga can be great to explore the yoga styles that might not offer group classes in your area.

Once you’ve established your passions you can always do specific searches, retreats and even do immersive courses in other cities like Cape Town or Johannesburg, which have an extensive variety of registered training courses.

A Summary: How Do I Become a Yoga Teacher?

As you can see, the toughest part of the journey will probably be making the initial decision about the best programme you'd want to invest your money in.

We have plenty of options in South Africa when it comes to certified yoga teacher training and you can easily make a career of it or start your own business if you work systematically with discipline and a plan.

Here are the core steps in choosing the instructor training:

1. Be clear on why you want to teach as it’ll determine whether you choose a professional course, yoga alliance certification or a specific style
2. Explore yoga and find a style you’d love to teach
3. Find a yoga studio and teacher that will fire up a passion for yoga in your belly
4. Research and compare prices, the hours, the duration or quality of the course
5. Get ready to welcome a transformative experience in your life.

The best yoga teachers are those who live and breathe the practice. We have some of the best teachers right here on Superprof to also give you a couple of classes, whether it's hatha or vinyasa, frequent or as a once-off.

What are you waiting for?