In short
You do not need to be advanced to do a 200-hour yoga teacher training. You do not need to touch your toes, hold a headstand or do arm balances. What helps is a regular practice for six months to a year, enough stamina for two long sessions a day, curiosity about the philosophy, and an honest reason for going. Complete beginners can manage a training, but they find it much harder, so a few months of steady practice beforehand is the best preparation.
- Advanced poses needed?
- No
- Practice beforehand
- Ideally 6–12 months, regularly
- Stamina for
- Around 4 hours of practice a day
- More important than flexibility
- Consistency, curiosity, a reason
- Complete beginner?
- Possible, but hard
- Best preparation
- 3 months of daily practice
This is a companion to our checklist for choosing a yoga teacher training. That article helps you judge a course. This one helps you judge yourself, which is the harder part.
Do you need to be advanced to do a yoga teacher training?
No. A 200-hour training is a foundation course. It is where you learn to practise properly and to teach the basics. It assumes you are a student, not a finished practitioner.
Plenty of excellent teachers could not touch their toes at the start of their training. Plenty of very flexible students make poor teachers. Flexibility is partly genetics, and it is not what the course is testing.
What makes the difference is less visible: whether you have practised regularly, whether your body can cope with long days, and whether you want to understand yoga rather than just perform it.
What does a 200-hour training actually expect of you?
| Area | What it expects | What it does not expect |
|---|---|---|
| Physical practice | Two sessions of around two hours a day, six days a week | Full splits, arm balances, a perfect headstand |
| Stamina | The ability to keep going, gently, day after day | Athletic fitness |
| Study | Anatomy, philosophy and methodology classes most days | Any prior study of Sanskrit or philosophy |
| Teaching | Practice teaching in small groups, with feedback | Teaching experience |
| Attitude | Openness, punctuality, willingness to be corrected | Already knowing the answers |
Our article on what actually happens in a 28-day training walks through a typical day hour by hour, which is the best test of whether it suits you.
What are the signs you are ready for a teacher training?
- You practise regularly, at least two or three times a week, and have done for six months or more.
- You know the basic poses by name and can follow a class without watching the person next to you.
- You can practise for ninety minutes and still want to come back the next day.
- You are curious about the “why”: the breath, the philosophy, how the poses affect you.
- You can take correction without feeling judged.
- You have a reason, even an uncertain one: to teach, to deepen your own practice, or to give a month to something serious.
If most of these are true, you are ready, whatever your hamstrings say.
What are the signs you should wait?
- You have a current injury that stops you practising most days. Get it treated first; a training will not rest it.
- You have never taken a class and do not know whether you enjoy yoga.
- You are hoping the course will fix a crisis. A training is intense and can bring a lot up. It is not therapy, and it works better from steady ground.
- You want the certificate mainly to start earning quickly. Read our honest look at what yoga teachers earn first.
Waiting six months is not failing. It is often the best decision a future teacher makes.
Can a complete beginner do a yoga teacher training?
Yes, but it is hard, and it is worth being clear about why.
- Your body is learning everything at once. Other trainees are refining poses; you are learning them. The soreness in the first week is real.
- Teaching is harder when you have only just met the pose you are teaching.
- You miss the subtle teaching while you are still working out which foot goes forward.
Beginners who do well tend to share two things: they are physically active in some other way, and they arrive humble and patient with themselves. If that is you, it can work. If you have the choice, take a few months of classes first. Our guide to starting yoga over 50 and your first yoga class are good places to begin.
A three-month plan to arrive ready
| Weeks | Practice | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Three or four classes a week, or our 20-minute home routine on the other days | Learn the names of 20 common poses |
| 5–8 | Five days a week. Add ten minutes of breathing practice and five rounds of sun salutations daily | Read an introduction to the eight limbs |
| 9–12 | Six days a week, including at least one 90-minute class. Start a five-minute daily sit | Read the Yoga Sutras in a plain translation; teach one pose to a friend |
Our guide to the six weeks before your training goes into the final stretch: sleep, food, the reading list and packing.
What if you are not sure you want to teach?
Then you are in good company. Many trainees on any course come for the practice, the philosophy and the month itself, with no plan to teach. A teacher training is one of the few ways to give a whole month to yoga with structure, a teacher and a group.
Some of those students discover they love teaching. Some do not, and leave with a practice that lasts for years. Both are good outcomes.
How should a newer student choose a course?
- Small groups. You need correction, and correction needs time. Our article on why small groups matter explains what changes.
- A slower, traditional style rather than a fast, advanced one. Long holds and clear instruction are easier to learn from.
- Teachers who modify poses as a matter of course, and say so when you ask.
- Honest answers to the question “will I keep up?” A school that says yes to everyone without asking about your practice is not listening.
- Watch the red flags in our guide to spotting a poor training.
Tell us about your practice
Our 28-day, 200-hour training in Fort Kochi is taught in the Sivananda tradition, at €899 all-inclusive. Message us with how long you have practised and anything you are unsure about.
Common questions
Do you need to be advanced to do a yoga teacher training?
No. A 200-hour training is a foundation course and does not expect advanced poses, full flexibility or a headstand. What helps most is a regular practice for six months to a year and the stamina for two long sessions a day.
Can a complete beginner do a 200-hour yoga teacher training?
Yes, but it is much harder, because you are learning the poses while also learning to teach them. If you can, take a few months of regular classes first.
How long should you practise yoga before a teacher training?
Ideally six months to a year of regular practice, at least two or three times a week. A focused three months of near-daily practice is also good preparation.
Do I need to be flexible for a yoga teacher training?
No. Flexibility depends partly on genetics and is not what a training tests. Consistency, stamina, curiosity and the ability to take correction matter far more.
Can I do a yoga teacher training if I do not want to teach?
Yes. Many trainees come to deepen their own practice and study the philosophy. A training is one of the few structured ways to give a whole month to yoga.
Known to his students as Achu, Aksharanand trained in the Sivananda tradition and holds an Advanced Teacher Training Certificate. He has taught Hatha Yoga, pranayama, meditation and Vedanta philosophy in Fort Kochi for over fifteen years, across more than 5,000 group classes and seventy international teacher training batches.
More about Achu and the school · Book a class or ask a question