Tropical yoga retreat outside

7 Benefits of Yoga Teacher Training (Even When You Don’t Want to Teach)

Have you ever felt the need to escape your normal 9 to 5 routine and travel to an oasis? Are you craving an experience that reminds you of the simple things in life, and how strength and happiness comes from within? A yoga teacher training program is a great opportunity to get away, clear your mind and even pick up some impressive yoga skills and knowledge along the way. 

At Blue Osa, our resort is set up as a yoga teaching training program. We invite yogis of all levels to come to our retreat to discover yoga philosophy, understand how to teach yoga and make hands-on adjustments to their own personal practice. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to sit back, relax, and make like-minded friends along the way! 

Signing up for an immersive yoga teaching training experience can open up a whole new world for yogis, but it’s not just for the professionals. There are so many benefits that come with signing up for a yoga teacher retreat, whether you want to work on your inner peace, create a new fun hobby or go on an adventure you’ve always dreamed of taking. 

Are you ready to indulge in the sweet sunset while in savasana? Here are the benefits of a yoga teacher training course, even when you don’t want to be a teacher:

1. Improved Mindfulness

Yoga can be tied directly to mindfulness – when you want to cultivate a deeper connection with your inner being, you may be more inclined to unwind in a quiet, relaxed environment. This is exactly what yoga can provide, and a yoga teacher training course can take it a step further and help you achieve mindfulness like never before. 

You get to practice alongside experienced professionals who can teach you exactly what you need to do to unwind to the fullest extent. Then, you can carry this skill and perspective along with you and share with others.

2. Enhanced Physical Strength

Yoga has a reputation for improving strength and flexibility – it takes a lot of physical effort and strength to be able to hold your body in certain positions, specifically ones that a trained yoga instructor can do. 

Practicing yoga regularly can enhance the muscles in your arms, back, legs, and core, but taking a yoga teacher training course will only elevate your strength. You’ll spend more time practicing consistently, which can ultimately challenge your body and help you grow stronger. 

3. Better Yoga Alignment and Form

Yoga has more recently become a popular form of exercise – something very exciting for yogis to hear! But with so much popularity around the practice, it’s important to learn from the professionals. 

When you enroll yourself in an immersive yoga teacher training, you have the opportunity to readjust your own personal practice and ensure you’re doing each yoga position as intended. The experienced trainers at a retreat can pass along their knowledge and suggestions to ensure you have a safe, effective, and enjoyable practice. 

4. Enhanced Yoga Understanding 

As mentioned earlier, yoga and mindfulness go hand in hand. Yoga is a spiritual, ancient practice with deep roots in discovering compassion, self-awareness, and utter bliss. A YTT course is a great way to open your mind to the idea of spirituality in yoga, and that this practice goes way beyond posing and stretching. 

Even if you don’t want to become a teacher, you can take your learnings and improve your own yoga practice or share your discovery of spirituality with friends or family. Practicing yoga doesn’t have to mean teaching others – for many, it’s a satisfying experience and hobby that brings them peace. 

5. Improved Self Esteem

A yoga teacher training retreat is designed to help you and other like-minded students develop the skills and capabilities to host and teach yoga classes. Even if you don’t have the intention of taking your practice public, there are still valuable lessons that can be learned about confidence and self-esteem.

When you become a yoga teacher, you have to be the center of attention in the room. Students are utilizing you as their resource for assistance, which makes having confidence a necessity. Attending a yoga teaching retreat can give you a lesson in self-esteem that you can carry around with you for the rest of your life. 

6. A Relaxing Vacation

Yoga teacher retreats like Blue Osa are designed to create the ultimate atmosphere for a divine yoga experience. Located in Costa Rica, Blue Osa is the ultimate retreat for relaxation, allowing you to be one with nature and immerse yourself in the ocean and on the beach. So even if you simply want to enroll in the yoga teacher class for your own personal learning journey, you also get to enjoy a beach vacation.

7. New Friends

Each yoga teacher training experience brings a group of like-minded individuals together to bond over a similar hobby and interest. This means there’s so much opportunity for building long-lasting friendships. Even if you don’t want to become a teacher after the retreat, you’ll likely leave with new friends who you can practice yoga with in the future. 

Close up of yoga class

Reap the Yoga Teacher Training Benefits at Blue Osa

You don’t necessarily have to become an instructor after completing our Yoga Alliance® approved Yoga Teacher Training! Learning yoga from the experts is a great way to dive deeper into your own yoga practice and develop better self awareness. When you complete our teacher training program, you can feel more empowered with:

  • The tools that can give your life meaning and purpose.
  • The skills needed to improve your own physical practice, and hand down your knowledge to other training students, friends or family members.
  • The confidence to live life with peace and serenity.

Are you ready to take your yoga practice to the next level? If you’re looking for a spiritual-awakening experience, enroll in the best yoga instructor training program today. 

Teaching methodology + practicum

  • Learn how to lead and market successful yoga retreats
  • Learn the principles of demonstration, observation, assisting/correcting, and instruction.

  • Learn different teaching styles.

  • You’ll learn specific techniques that will enable you to easily teach all levels

  • You’ll also learn how to sequence your asanas to create a natural, therapeutic and transformative arcs in your classes

  • Learn the qualities of effective teaching

  • Learn the business aspects of being a yoga teacher and gain the building blocks of how to build a thriving yoga career

Development of the Professional Essentials

History, Philosophy + Ethics

  • Identify your spiritual stance so you can step into it as a source of strength
  • Identify walls and develop strategies to take them down
  • Create a support network and support strategies and have them in place when you leave
  • Complete a physical and spiritual adventure challenge
  • Learn the business aspects of building a thriving yoga career
  • How to bring the practice of yoga into your everyday life and make it work for you
  • The science and application of mantra
  • An overview of the history of the yoga tradition
  • The ethical standards of teaching yoga

Yoga Humanities

Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™

  • Receive training in Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™ training for Yoga Teachers
  • Go further in your anatomy training
  • Learn how to access muscle function
  • How to sequence transformational yoga classes
  • Learn the energetic and deeper sublime effects of asana
  • The science and application of Mantra
  • Design classes based on Ayurvedic principles
  • Knowledge of both human physical anatomy and physiology (bodily systems, organs, etc.) and energy anatomy and physiology (chakras, nadis, etc.).

Anatomy & Physiology

Techniques, Training and Practice

  • A breakdown in the anatomical and energetic categories of postures
  • Develop a daily meditation practice
  • Learn pranayamas, kriyas, chanting, mantra, meditation, and other traditional yoga techniques
  • How to sequence and structure transformational 60 and 90-minute classes
  • Practical experience teaching postures, classes, and meditation
  • Learn deep relaxation techniques
  • Yoga Nidra, as taught by the Himalayan tradition and Western tradition
  • Learn how to conduct and lead fire rituals
  • Kundalini Yoga techniques
  • Learn the subtle energetic aspects of yoga like the Koshas and chakras
  • Kriya Yoga and Laya Yoga

Advance Your Own Practice in Yoga

Techniques, Training and Practice

  • A breakdown in the anatomical and energetic categories of postures
  • Develop a daily meditation practice
  • Learn techniques in pranayamas, kriyas, chanting, mantra, meditation, and other traditional yoga techniques
  • How to structure and sequence transformational classes
  • Practical experience in teaching postures, sequencing, and meditation
  • Learn deep relaxation and meditation techniques that come from the Himalayan tradition

Develop a Rock Solid Practice in Yoga

Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™

  • Receive training in Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™ training for Yoga Teachers
  • Develop an understanding of basic anatomy
  • Learn about muscle function and how to improve it (something you will not learn in any other YTT)
  • Knowledge of both human physical anatomy and physiology (bodily systems, organs, etc.) and energy anatomy and physiology (chakras, nadis, etc.)
  • The study of both the subject and application of its principles to yoga practice (benefits, contraindications, healthy movement patterns)
  • Skills to teach yoga classes suited to all levels of practice.

Anatomy & Physiology

History, Philosophy + Ethics

  • An in-depth study and application of the Yoga Sutra
  • How to bring the practice of yoga into your everyday life and make it work for you
  • The science and application of mantra
  • An overview of the history of the yoga tradition
  • The ethical standards of teaching yoga

Yoga Humanities

Teaching methodology + practicum

Get hands-on practice teaching so that you’ll be able to teach on day one after the training is finished. You will:

  • Practice teaching in small and large groups

  • Be ready to teach yoga as soon as you leave the yoga teacher training

  • Get hands-on experience teaching and give/receive feedback

  • Practice assisting students

  • Learn the principles of demonstration, observation, assisting/correcting and instruction

  • Learn different teaching styles

  • Learn qualities of effective teaching and adjust to the student’s process of learning

  • Learn the business aspects of how to build a thriving yoga career

Development of the Professional Essentials