Planning a yoga teacher training? Not sure what format to use? Here are some tips to get you thinking about your schedule in the most effective – and marketing friendly – way.
1. Plan with your students in mind
Who are your ideal students for your training? What is their life like? Do they work 9-5, or do they have flexible schedules? Do they need their weekends free for family, or is a Saturday/Sunday schedule perfect? Do they want to get away on a TT retreat for three weeks, or parse out the information over several months?
If you’re not sure what your community needs, consider sending a survey as well as asking potential students less formally. Proactively tailoring your format for your students will ensure that you are creating a program that people can actually attend.
2. Compare Formats
In a nutshell, teacher training formats are either long form (also called part time) or intensives (think full time). An intensive is usually 3-4 weeks long and runs for up to 12 hours/day. (Some teacher trainings try to get students certified in two weeks, which would require days that run from 7 AM-10 PM – eek).
Despite the challenges of working 9-5 and attending a full-time program, the intensive format is surprisingly popular! It’s perfect for students who are:
- retirees with no 9-5 obligations
- university students (during breaks)
- those who have a flexible work schedule (personal trainers, service industry, consultants, etc.)
- those in life/job transition
A part time program (usually these run over weekends and some combination of additional evenings) are perfect for students who:
- love a slower, more integrated pace of learning
- work 9-5 and need their weekdays free
You might also consider what I call a blended format, which combines elements of both the part time and intensive format. In a blended format, you break your training down into 4-5 day segments, then run these segments from Thursday-Sunday (or Wednesday-Sunday). In this kind of program, you may run your program once a month for four months to complete your full training.
A blended format can support 9-5’ers (they don’t have to take as many days off as they would in an intensive, since the TT is primarily over weekends), but can also appeal to students who have to travel long distances to take the training (they only have to travel five times, rather than every weekend).
3. Evaluate Tolerance
If you are running a 200-hour Yoga Alliance training, then you need to have 180 contact hours in the classroom to adhere to their standards. When are you considering schedule your days, I find the ideal length of day is no more than eight training hours (so 8-5 with a one hour lunch). Six hours feels even more civilized. Running a longer day is taxing not only for the students, but on the faculty as well.
If you are one faculty member holding space for the entire training, you will want to consider how you can manage your days so that you are not worn out (in other words, plan your days carefully and ensure that you’re not lecturing the whole time). If you have several faculty on your team, then manage their schedules carefully to support the preservation of energy. I’ve single-handedly run a 200-hour intensive; it’s not easy!
4. Consider the logistics of your training space
Check in with your proposed training space and find out if there are any scheduling requirements that you will need to work around. Often, trainings occur in spaces around public classes. If you are working around classes, don’t forget that you will need a buffer of at least 15 minutes before and after the class to allow for the flow of students. Checking in with your training space ahead of time will ensure that there are no disconcerting surprises where you suddenly lose classroom time.
5. Holidays!
When you are scheduling your program, look at your dates and compare them to the holidays. Not everyone may want to come to teacher training on Mother’s Day! There are pro’s and con’s to scheduling your training over statutory holidays; while some students will appreciate the time off, others will have reserved those holidays for family time (again, here is a great question for your survey!). Generally speaking, don’t schedule your TT over any major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s) as you will have a lot of absences and grouchy students needing to make up work. If you do schedule training over a holiday like Mother’s Day, proactively address the scheduling issue and offer sensible make up options to students so that the students feel supported.
Have questions? Schedule a free chat and let’s hear!
