What Can You Do With a 200-hour Yoga Certification?
You just graduated from your 200- hour yoga teacher training, now what? First of all, congrats on completing your YTT, take some time to celebrate that and live in that moment!
Graduating from your YTT is the first step in your yoga career, but it can be so overwhelming when you first graduate and you aren’t sure where to begin with your yoga teaching career.
There are a ton of different opportunities that come with that 200-hour certification. Let’s dive in.
Group Class Teaching Opportunities
Teaching group yoga classes is the most popular thing that people do with their yoga teaching certification. All new ytts should start by teaching group yoga classes even if this isn’t what you want to ultimately do with your yoga career. Teaching group classes is going to help you get your foot in the door and give you the best experience as a new teacher.
You can teach group classes in many different settings. Gyms and studios are the most common and where you should start. Another great place to start and establish yourself in your community is through community yoga classes, offered at your local park or outdoor space.
Private Yoga Teaching Opportunities
With your 200-hour certification you can also teach private yoga classes. You can teach private yoga one-on-one with students in their homes. This is where you will really refine your teaching, you will have to dive deep into what your student specifically needs out of the practice.
With private yoga you’ll most likely be making more money than teaching group fitness but it’s much harder work to find your clients. This is where the business side and the yoga side really get to merge together. You’ll need to use your business brain to help you
Corporate Yoga
Corporate yoga is similar to private one-on-one yoga in the sense that you will have to put in some work to help find these clients, but you’ll most likely teach them more similarly to how you teach your group classes.
Corporate clients will want to have classes on a different basis, possibly weekly or sometimes monthly. Workshops are also a great way to get corporate clients, more on that later.
With the rise of remote working, virtual corporate yoga teaching and workshops are much more popular now and can be an amazing opportunity for you to grow your yoga business with your 200-hour yoga certification.
Start a Yoga Brand
With creativity and a sense of entrepreneurship, your 200-hour yoga certification can be the key to launching your yoga brand. Whether you want your brand to be yoga clothing, equipment, an app, or a yoga related blog or youtube channel.
With a yoga brand you’ll want to bring your specific point of view. This is already a pretty saturated market, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more. With your unique point of view, you will attract the clients that resonate the most with you and your brand.
This will be one of the hardest paths to take with your yoga career, however it is extremely doable and can grow simultaneously with you as you grow in other aspects of your yoga teaching career.
Owning a Yoga Studio
With a 200-hour yoga certification you can open your own yoga studio. If you have a passion for yoga and have dreams of owning a studio, having your certification will be the first step.
Through teaching you will get a sense of how studios work, you can also volunteer to help the studios you work at with their backend operations to learn the ins and outs of the business.
Opening a studio is an especially good idea if you can see a need for more studios in your community or for a studio that is different from the ones already in your community.
Owning a studio may be the riskiest option in the “what can you do with a 200-hour certification?” question. You will need to take on the risk of the high start up costs and upkeep and marketing of the studio. However, once you’re successful in this you will be able to make a real impact in your community not only with students but with other yoga instructors as well.
Continuing Yoga Teacher Education
Sending a Post-Interview Thank You Note
With your 200-hour certification, the learning journey has just begun. You can study specialty certifications such as Yin Yoga, Chair Yoga, Anatomy, and so much more. The most comprehensive certification is the 500-hour which you’ll likely need a 200-hour as the prerequisite for.
All yoga teachers should absolutely be continuing their education but do not hold off on teaching and starting your yoga career because you want more certifications. It is extremely important for you to get out and practice teaching so that you can grow in the most well rounded way, the extra certifications and continuing education should happen simultaneously with your teaching.
