Can everyone become a yoga teacher?

Can everyone become a yoga teacher?

I moved to Barcelona at the end of 2019 and I was surprised to see how many yoga studios were in the city…Billions! And obviously, with them come lots of yoga teachers. The situation was even more challenging than in Dubai, where I was teaching before. And I thought to myself: is the yoga market saturated with teachers? Can anyone become a yoga teacher? I would say yes. I can definitely relate to all the scenarios: from the person running away from his/her boring corporate job (like me!) to the housewife wanting a deeper understanding of yoga, more than just a hobby, or simply someone who has been through chronic stress or depression and has decided to follow the wellbeing path through a yoga training.

Having said that, not everyone who will attend a yoga teacher training (YTT) will become a yoga teacher. Some will just stop there at the end of the course and will carry on with their own yoga journey, applying the lessons learned to their own practice. Some will teach part-time and keep their other job. Others will start teaching full-time, should they find a yoga studio ready to hire them. But then, is 200 YTT enough to teach? I would say that it all depends. To me, someone who has been practicing yoga for at least 2 years and feels confident enough to teach, then yes, Do IT!

The truth is that we are living in a world where stress is becoming the main source of illness and everyone, now more than ever is looking for some sort of relaxation to get away from their overloaded schedules and reconnect with themselves and find peace. Therefore, we need to have yoga teachers ready to share their knowledge and help others. However, it is their own responsibility to apply Satya (truthfulness) and Tapas (discipline) to make sure that they take this new life chapter of being a yoga teacher seriously. I have been to some classes where I didn’t click with the teacher for different reasons while others did. The beauty of our industry is that there is a choice for everyone to find their own students as well as for students to find a teacher with whom they can connect and learn.