So you’ve created a 200 hour and have been running it for a couple of years. Now your students are looking for more and are asking you to create a 300 hour advanced teacher training. Where do you start?
First of all, don’t panic.
Creating a 300 hour yoga teacher training may be easier than you think!
First: Why It’s Easier Than You Think
When students graduate from a 200 hour yoga teacher training, they often have a sense of how they should teach in theory, but precious little skill in practice. Part of the goal of a 300 hour is to help your students integrate, embody, and innovate upon these fundamental skills. This goal means that you will be spending a good chunk of time having your students working on the practical aspects of their craft, which will take a good chunk of time:
- Practice teaching work with detailed, specific feedback from trainers ~ 50 hours
- For example: 2.5 hours on Saturday and Sunday for 10 weekends, round robin of teaching or structured practice teaching
- Assisting faculty in public classes ~ 30 hours
- Students can observe classes or assist faculty in classes with select practice teaching moments when they’re ready; perhaps they teach a by donation class for the studio under supervision
Holy heck! You’ve just planned 80 hours of your 300 hour training!
Not too shabby.
Now, these hours can not be haphazard, abstract, muddy, inconsistent, or unplanned. You will need to create clear benchmarks for skill development as well as measurable and specific criteria for success. But reinforcing your cuing basics (direct language, cuing from the ground up, cuing misalignments, stabilizing transitions, etc.) will take time and practice. So ensure that you are creating time and space in your 300 Hour to yoga teacher training to work on these foundational skills until they are organic and second nature.
Content for Your 300 Hour
So now that you’ve planned 80 hours of your program, what else should you include?
Consider:
- Class Styles. The class styles of your studio or community: which styles do students need to learn? How do you want your teachers to teach? What are current gaps in knowledge that you would address if you could?
- Sequencing. Oh sequencing! There are so many possibilities here! Creating sequences, creating sequences in different styles, teaching these sequences, adapting sequences, evaluating each other’s sequences, working on pacing, creating well-rounded classes, creating a progressive series…the possibilities are endless.
- Anatomy. Ahhh anatomy! You know how much I love yoga anatomy! If you’re looking for support here, I have a 50-hour online anatomy program for 300 hour programs led by Gil Hedley. Take a peek here and ask me for a backstage tour.
- Specialty Yoga. Candidly, I’m not a fan of putting together a bunch of speciality styles and modularizing them into a 300 hour yoga training. Though it may sound tempting from a business perspective (hey, I’ll just have a bunch of a la carte offerings and turn them into a YTT!), it undermines your ability to create a powerful and compounding journey withe one group of students. That said, if you have a particularly strong specialty style at your studio, such as hot or Yin, then you may consider incorporating a style into your 300, such as a 50-hour Yin Training.
- Philosophy. Which texts are important for your students to know? And if you’re looking for support with lesson plans, check out my Buy A Lessons and save some time! The History of Yoga, Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Ayurveda, Chakras, Koshas, Tantra, Hatha?
- Pranayama and meditation techniques. What do you want them to know? Build first on the basics. Reinforce the techniques from your 200 hour yoga teacher training program (meditation and pranayama) and then add plenty of time to both practice and group teach more advanced techniques that you want your teachers to know.
- Ethics and values. How does a professional yoga teacher comport themselves? How do they contextualize conflict or manage challenging situations? What thorny issues may emerge for a yoga professional and what tools do they need to navigate these challenges?
- Yoga Business Modules. Teaching online is here to stay. By including practical business modules on branding, marketing, teaching online, how to plan a retreat, and creating a workshop can help position your trainees for success as a professional. (Want help? Check out my extensive business electives here.)
- Other cool stuff. Hands on assists, theming, mudra, mantra, chanting, kirtan, the subtle body, adaptive yoga, teaching beginners, yoga outreach, trauma informed yoga, speciality populations.
Your task: consider your ideal graduate. What skills, attitudes, and knowledge must they have to be a representative of your business? Brainstorm! Create a wild and crazy list!
Sample Hourly Breakdown
Okay folks, so let’s say that I’m helping you out with come of your content. Let’s break that 300 hours down into manageable chunks. Here’s how you might start to plan:
- 50 hours of practice teaching and feedback by trainees
- 30 hours of actual practice (guided practice by faculty)
- 10 hours of practicum (formal assessment)
- 30 hours of assisting and observing classes
- 50 hour: Yin teaching specialty
- 50 hours: Gil Hedley’s Integral Anatomy for Yogis course
- 10 hours of pranayama and meditation practices
- 10 hours of mantra, chanting
- 30 hours of philosophical study and ethics
- 10 hours of hands on assisting
- 10 hours of business
Uh…wait, we’re already at 290 hours, which is 20 past what we need for contact hours (Yoga Alliance only requires 270).
Feel more manageable?
Yoga Alliance
Yoga Alliance is currently (as of Feb 2024) more easeful and flexible with their 300 hour standards than they are with their 200 hour standards. There is a lot of latitude for studios to create trainings that are reflective of their mission and vision and as a result, they don’t dictate the “categories” of content as strictly.
Here are a few key points (see more here):
- Faculty needs to be registered as E-RYT 500 hour teachers
- 50 hours (at least) must be allocated to Techniques, Training and Practice
- 5 hours (at least) must be allocated to Teaching Methodology
- 30 hours (at least) must be allocated to Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle and Ethics for Yoga Teachers
- 30 hours (at least) must be allocated to practicum (practice teaching, observation, assisting)
- And YES you can teach online.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully this has helped de-mystify the 300 hour YTT and put it a little closer into reach!
The 300 hour yoga teacher training is a powerful and exciting offering for your community that can support your teachers to gain confidence in their skills and authenticity in their teaching voice. Launching your 300 hour YTT may be closer than you think!
I’m here to help! Reach out anytime for an informational chat or brainstorm and let’s make it a reality.
Book a chat with me HERE.
