​3 Myths About Becoming a Yoga Teacher

As we prepare to hold our tenth 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, and our first in Australia, we reflect on the reasons that students have shared with us why they feel afraid or intimidated to take a yoga teacher training or become a yoga teacher. The sharings are reasonable and understandable. Let us help you feel at ease and explain.

Here are the three main misconceptions about becoming a yoga teacher that we’ve come across:

1. You need to be able to do all of the "advanced" poses

With the yoga world venturing away from a holistic approach and focusing on a more commercial and physical-based practice, we understand why it’s easy to feel like this. We can get caught up in what yoga poses should look like and forget that the practice is to cultivate self-awareness and self-understanding, both on and off the yoga mat.

At saigon om, we believe that yoga is for all bodies, ages, abilities, and levels. Our yoga teacher training is designed to meet you where you are at with your yoga practice. Advanced poses can be fun and playful, and very useful if you're featuring on the front of yoga magazine! But we’ve found that a strong and steady yoga practice that suits our body is where we really get to know ourselves and create space for transformation and insight.

But don't worry, as part of the teaching component at our yoga teacher training, we share ways to teach advanced poses when you aren't able to do them yourself or demonstrate them when you are teaching.

There are many other ways to strengthen and challenge our yoga practice which are part of our yoga teacher training program, including pranayama (breathing meditation), Qi Gong, mindfulness, Sanskrit, yoga anatomy, meditation, understanding the Ayurvedic doshas, mantra chanting, and of course the most advanced pose of all “Smile-asana”.

2. You need to have a "yoga body"

I remember thinking this way before I became a yoga teacher. What is the right yoga body anyway? I thought that I needed to look like a yoga model from a yoga magazine. When I became a yoga teacher and realised that how I feel is much more important then how I look, I let go of the stigma around the "yoga body." I felt empowered to share my yoga and mindfulness practice. Now, I enjoy being an example to other students who are thinking about teaching that you don’t need to look a certain way to teach yoga. Yoga is for EVERY body!

This is the same for being flexible. You don't need to be super bendy to teach yoga. In fact, if you are not very flexible then you will have a deep understanding of your students and know the tips and tricks to take care of less-flexible students on the mat.

3. You need to be a yoga expert

I had this conversation recently with a student who was signing up for our yoga teacher training. When I asked about her yoga experience, she humbly replied that she practices 3-4 times a week but feels she is not an expert. I really like her view on her practice.

A common misperception is that we need to know all the yoga poses, know all the Sanskrit names, and have a "perfect" daily practice to become a yoga teacher. We all know that in life, there is no perfect. And in fact, what we discover when we start teaching yoga is that the more that we learn, the more we see we have to learn. We discover that we are forever a student of yoga. After I taught my first yoga class almost ten years ago, I instantly became a better student. I wanted to take in as much information as I could, to learn and take more yoga trainings, as a way to deepen my practice and share more with my students.

In summary

Becoming a yoga teacher and sharing our practice is such a joy and a gift. Hang and I feel so blessed to guide students in their yoga journey and guide teachers-to-be on their teaching journey. 

And for those still feeling nervous about taking a yoga teacher training or becoming a yoga teacher, it’s natural to feel nervous! Your heart might be beating a little faster, no matter what “level” of yogi you feel you’re at. Starting anything new can create nervousness in us and it's okay to feel nervous. We find that the nervousness usually dissipates after our first morning together at our yoga teacher training. In addition, the mindfulness practice incorporated into the training creates a supportive environment to practice and teach yoga. 

We wish you a beautiful journey ahead both on and off the yoga mat.

With joy in your lifelong practice of yoga,
Sarah