Yoga teacher training seems to be one hell of a commitment with a month of detention in a foreign land, living community style with strangers, and doing high standard yoga that just might get a tad bit too much, but before you show this reasons to shy away from this program that has been changing lives from its very inception, think at least twice.

Though trending high among yoga lovers of all kinds today, the concept of yoga teacher training is not free of its share of misconstruction by novices. Clear up your error in judgment as we bust these common mistakes made about yoga:

You Don’t Necessarily Have to Be a Teacher

The name of the course is the very root of the mistake people very commonly make. No, you don’t necessarily head in the direction the name suggests. Yoga Alliance registered schools around the globe produce graduates who can register with the Alliance to start a yoga teaching practice but it is only one of the multitudinous ways a YTTC can expand your possibilities and make your life better than it already is. A 200 Hour YTTC only has one segment of ‘teaching methodology’, the rest of the course is nothing but involved learning and practice of this thousand-year-old art.

It’s Just Not Asanas

Yoga is more than a physical practice—this you might have heard everywhere but wouldn’t have a clue about until taking a Yoga TTC, especially a 200 Hour YTTC in Rishikesh, India- the hallowed birth land of the practice.

At such a course, the curriculum is formulated with acute comprehension. The asana sessions emphasize two of the main veins of yoga- the Hatha and Ashtanga traditions, and back this with philosophical annotations. Besides philosophy and history of yoga, the course explores scientific relativism of yoga with ‘yoga therapy’ and ‘yoga anatomy’.

A Pretzel Body Not Required to Sign Up

No doubt, the perfect bendiness of yoga models can be a little daunting but don’t let that bar you from your YTTC aspirations. You don’t need a super bendy ballerina bearing to start your journey with a 200 hour hatha yoga teacher training. Dedication and hard work will get you there.

Yoga and Meditation are Not that Different

Yoga and meditation are not split into two different categories in a YTT. The two are often concurrent and that is a great feeling. To be meditative and be in harmony within and outside is yoga.

The Cerebral-looking Tomes of Yoga Actually Gives a Simple Message

The embellished language and girth of seminal books such as the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali could initially be a bummer but if you let things sink in and have the patience to hear out your YTT instructors at the philosophy classes, everything will narrow down to simple humanitarian and spiritual messages.

At any reputed Hatha and Ashtanga yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, you will find teachers well versed in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the language of the scriptures and interpretation by an authentic Indian teacher who understands the fundamentals of the language will always have an extra edge.

Living with Strangers Can be Great Fun Too

YTTs can actually be a great way for introverts to come out of the shell. Communing with each other every day amidst the resonances of yoga can be a great ice-breaker, and what’s more, there is a one hundred percent chance of finding a best friend among such wonderful and like-minded yoga souls.

You Can Totally Merge Vacationing with Yoga

200 Hour YTTC from selected yoga schools in India slots in a number of cultural trips, nature explorations, and adventure opportunities in the general schedule to break the monotony and stress of a rigorously continuing yoga discipline. Rest assured, weekends and off days will be well spent vacationing around town. Choose an exquisite place to yoga!

Ayurvedic Food Doesn’t Taste Like Dung

Whoever tells you Ayurvedic food is bland and gross is taste-blind. You will know this when tasting the supremely appetizing food works that the Ayurvedic Indian cookbook offers. At a Yoga TTC in India, you will be served three Ayurvedic meals a day. Welcome to spice heaven!

Yoga Can be Funned Up with Dance and Much Else

At a teacher training of yoga, you can actually let your fun side take flight. There is yoga dance to dance and laughter yoga to laugh. At the end of the course you will need to do a demo of your way of teaching yoga and you can fun it up as much as you please!