How To Choose The Perfect Continuing Education Course

Just like with most professions, your initial training as a yoga teacher is only meant to offer you a “license” for teaching. It’s just the beginning – the way to get you through that very first door in a world full of all kinds of doors.

Continuing Education is a very important part of being a yoga teacher. First of all, knowledge is constantly evolving. And staying up to date is part of our responsibilities as yoga teachers. At the same time, we ourselves are changing day after day of walking this path. So, it may not take long for our initial training to feel outdated. Then there are the yoga organizations that require you to complete certain hours of Continuing Education during a specific period from your initial registration, for you to be able to maintain your certification.

Learning new things with a Continuing Education course will not only keep you up to date. It will most importantly help you stay inspired. If you’re making a living as a yoga teacher, you are most likely teaching hours and hours each week. In order to keep your classes from becoming kind of monotonous, you need to learn new things that will inspire you to enrich your teaching.

Instead of choosing a training based on what is popular at the moment, make sure you choose to learn something you are really passionate about.

Learning new things is exciting after all. So, take some time off from teaching and get back to being a student yourself. Give yourself the chance to attend a new workshop or a new training – the chance to evolve. Once you do, you’ll see that you can’t wait to share what you’ve learned with your students. 

Let’s have a look at some things to keep in mind when looking for a Continuing Education course. Can you think of a better timing than the start of the year? 

Follow your passion

There are so many different topics you can choose from when deciding on your continuing education. You have the opportunity to specialise in everything, from yoga therapeutics or anatomy to prenatal and postnatal yoga, and from philosophy to meditation or yoga nidra. The possibilities are endless. 

You have the option to choose your specialty according to what presently goes on in the market. You can see what kind of classes people are asking for, and if there is any certain trend or any specific gap you could possibly fill. 

The problem with this method is that you can easily fall into the trap of getting involved with something you actually don’t enjoy. And all of us have at some point experienced what it’s like to have to learn something we have no interest in. It wasn’t that fun, was it?

As there’s no way you can learn everything that comes under the yoga umbrella, you need to choose a specialty. But instead of choosing a training based on what is popular at the moment, make sure you choose to learn something you are really passionate about. 

Learning new things can be exciting as long as you are interested in what you’re learning. And this excitement will show once you get to share your new knowledge with your students. So, take a moment to listen to your heart and see what really lights you up. Learn about what you love, and you’ll always love what you teach!

Know what you are looking for 

Before even starting to look for a Continuing Education provider or checking for the prices, you need to make sure you know exactly what you are looking for.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• Can you name the #1 reason for wanting to take a Continuing Education course in a specific field? Do you need to gather the credits that will help you maintain your certification?
• Are you looking for a training that is recognized by a yoga organization such as Yoga Alliance, or does this make little difference to you?
• In case you do have the option to choose, do you prefer to attend an on-site or an online training?
• How is your schedule? Could you attend an intensive course? Do you only have free time on weekends?
• Does your schedule allow you to attend a live program? Would a training with pre-recorded on-demand content be more suitable for you?
• Take some time to think of all these or maybe create a couple of pros and cons lists. This will save you lots of time during your research later on.

Do Your Research

There are a lot of Continuing Education courses providers out there. On one hand, this is great, as this means that you can find many people that have both the knowledge and the experience to be able to deliver a Continuing Education program. At the same time, though, this abundance of options makes it more difficult for you to find the one that best suits you. So, you’ll most likely have to do quite some research.

It might be helpful to start with any recommendations from your colleagues. Remember, however, to not just stick to those. After all, your colleagues will only be able to share their opinion on the courses they’ve taken, and they’ll have little to say about all the alternatives they didn’t take. 

A very important part of your research should be focused on the instructors in each training. You’ll need to search for some information on them as well. Make sure that they are experienced educators specializing in the specific field you are interested in. 

The truth is that in most cases you’ll be able to find limited information about Continuing Education courses on the provider’s website or social media. And probably the most common information missing will be the course’s price. This means that you’ll most likely have to contact the provider via email or make a phone call. 

This way, however, you will have the opportunity to ask everything that comes to mind. And you will easily get to understand if you are speaking the same language or not. 

Starting your next Continuing Education course at the start of the new year is always a good idea! And even if you’re just looking for the credits that will help you maintain your certification as a yoga teacher, there is a way to actually get the most out of it.