For yoga instructors, obtaining your initial certification as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance is an exciting milestone. But certification is just the starting point in your ongoing training as a teacher. To maintain active status with Yoga Alliance, instructors must complete required continuing education hours. So what are the specific requirements?
The specifics depend on what type of certification you currently hold with Yoga Alliance:
RYT 200 Hour Certification
If you are certified at the 200 hour level, you must complete 25 continuing education hours every 3 years. This averages around 8 hours of training yearly. Options include in-person workshops, online courses, classes, intensives, and more. Just be sure your CE provider is registered as an approved program with Yoga Alliance to count the hours.
RYT 500 Hour Certification
For instructors certified at the 500 hour level, the requirement jumps up to 85 continuing education hours every 3 years. That’s around 28 hours annually. These can be a mix of both contact training hours as well as non-contact hours like teaching, self-study, and writing.
E-RYT Certification
If you hold Yoga Alliance’s Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher credential, you must complete 100 CE hours every 3 years. Roughly 33 of these hours should be contact hours. The remainder can be non-contact work like mentoring, teaching, and creating content.
CE hours allow instructors to continue developing their knowledge and abilities. Workshops on anatomy, adjustments, sequencing, philosophy, and more expand a teacher’s understanding over time. Ongoing education also fulfills Yoga Alliance’s requirements for maintaining accreditation.
Programs like Marianne Wells YTT provide graduates with resources and recommendations for quality CE workshops and training. This ensures you easily fulfill the hourly requirements each renewal period. With a passion for lifelong learning and growth, CE hours become an enjoyable part of sustaining a rich teaching practice.
Remember to log your hours in your Yoga Alliance account and retain any certificates of completion. Come renewal time, you can seamlessly provide documentation that you’ve satisfied your continuing education. With a commitment to ongoing training, you’ll retain your credentials and continually elevate your abilities as a yoga instructor.