With the launch of my kids yoga – printable teacher training package many parents and teachers have been happy to get their hands on teaching tools for their kids yoga classes. By offering a training download, teachers can learn from home. It saves time, money, travel, you don’t have to get a babysitter, and so on.
Now according to the brand new childrens’ yoga standards introduced by Yoga Alliance in the USA only 8 hours of kids yoga training can be non-contact hours. The new standard in the USA is 95 hours of kids yoga training.
Still, these standards are voluntary! As far as I know at this time anyone can legally teach yoga (please double check this in your country). There are no government regulations for yoga, the few attempts at regulations have failed. There are industry standards, but it is up to each teacher whether they will comply with or join an alliance or association.
What Makes a Kids Yoga Teacher?
I’m a registered yoga teacher with IKYTA (for Kundalini Yoga teachers). We seem to be among the strictest of the yoga regulations – not only do we have to take the 200 or 500 hour training, we also pledge to be a vegetarian and abstain from alcohol to be a teacher.
When I started teaching kids yoga over 10 years ago, there were no universal standards, even for adult yoga. There weren’t any 95 hour kids yoga training courses. They didn’t exist. After I did my adult training I had about 30 hours of kids yoga training in total spread over four years. The rest I learned from books. Which is why I also offer down-loadable trainings. It worked for me!
So I keep going back and forth on how I feel about this new 95 hour training requirement.
Is Yoga Teacher Training a Money Grab?
It could be easy to fill 95 hours of training – but does a new teacher really need this much training to teach kids yoga? Is it worth paying hundreds of dollars a year to register Young Yoga Masters as a training school with Yoga Alliance? Can students afford the extra tuition?
New Standard in Childrens Yoga from Yoga Alliance (USA)
This is where yoga has arrived at today, standards for a practice that existed for 5000 years without them. Take a look at this 95 hour outline on the Yoga Alliance USA Website:
Curriculum must incorporate training hours in the following educational categories:
- General Background in the Specialty Area: 12 contact hours
- Techniques Training/Practice: 20 contact hours
- Teaching Methodology: 15 contact hours
- Anatomy and Physiology: 10 contact hours
- Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle and Ethics for Children’s Yoga Teachers: 12 contact hours
- Practicum: 18 hours
- Remaining Hours (8 hours)
Total: 95 Hours, Total Contact Hours: 87, Additional Teaching Outside Curriculum: 30 hours
Tell us what you think of the new standards:
What do you think of the new 95 hour childrens yoga training standard from Yoga Alliance USA?
Yoga Teachers: Are you going to get the training? Do you feel you need it? Do you already have it?
Parents: What training do you want to be able to do yoga with your kids at home?
School Teachers/Educators: What training do you want to be able to do yoga with your children in the classroom or daycare? Would you feel more comfortable with a longer training?
Everyone: If the government doesn’t require it, do you think it is necessary to train 95 hours?
I’d love to hear what you think of this topic that kinda/sorta affects us all!
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