Surprising reasons people want to learn to teach Christian yoga

At every one of our teacher training classes, I ask the students why they want to take our teacher training. Surprisingly, students never say: “Because I want to become skilled at yoga.” In fact, I can’t think of one student that named yoga expertise as their primary reason for wanting to get their RYT certification.

We thought you would be interested in the top reasons people become Christian yoga teachers:

Reason 1: They seek personal transformation.

People want to make a permanent shift into a healthy lifestyle to transform their lives. By taking the time to get their RYT, people realize that they will also have a condensed period of time where they focus on learning and practicing the mind, body and soul aspects of premium health that will forever change and enhance their lives. Although it starts as way for students to take time just for themselves, they soon realize that taking they have the tools to serve others better.

Reason 2: People want to earn extra income and do something meaningful at the same time.

In this economy, earning supplemental income is important to many people, but earning money isn’t the only reason people go to work each day. Many of our teacher trainees want the satisfaction of offering the healthful practice of yoga in a Christ-filled atmosphere of praise and thanks.

Reason 3: Teacher trainees love yoga but are uncomfortable in new-age settings.

Traditionally, yoga is not associated with any religious practice, yet activities found in many traditional yoga classes, such as chanting and studying materials that may be uncomfortable for people raised in Christ-centered homes.

Almost all of our Christian Yoga teacher training students began their careers by exploring yoga in a secular environment, but once they learn of a Christ-based alternative, they feel much more at home in their practice.

Reason 4: Leading Christian Yoga classes to helps teachers work through personal trials.

Many of our graduates are drawn to teach during times when they are struggling personally. For example, graduate Lynn Singer found that teaching Christian Yoga was instrumental in dealing with the grief she felt after her son died. Another one of our graduates, Tamara Buschel, came to teach Christian Yoga to restore her own health as she fought a neurological disease.

Reason 5: They feel called to serve.

You know how relaxed and in tune with God you feel after taking a Christian Yoga class? Many of our graduates decided to become Christian Yoga teachers because they wanted to share this same feeling with their families, friends, and churches.

One of our graduates, Ashley Getz, went back home after receiving her RYT designation and taught classes in a basement for her family and friends. Now her sisters, her mother, and her mother’s close friends are Christian Yoga teachers themselves. Ashley’s major in college and graduate school is Dance Therapy, now she has incorporated Yoga Therapy into her teachings.

Have you ever thought about attending the Yahweh Yoga teacher training program?

The need for more Christian Yoga teachers is great. We receive calls and emails all the time from people requesting classes worldwide. If this appeals to you, please call for more information today.

Our LAST sale on teacher training ends December 31—no other sale will be offered in 2010. This sale is good for all 2010 teacher trainings.

Ashley Getz: Bringing Together Christian Yoga and Dance Therapy

Meet Christian Yoga Instructor and future Dance Therapist Ashley Getz

Many people become Christian Yoga teachers for personal fulfillment. Others become certified in order to teach yoga classes in a local studio. But for Registered Yoga Teacher Ashley Getz, Christian Yoga is providing a way to outreach to those from all different walks of life.

Ashley teaches Christian Yoga while she studies Dance Therapy as a second-year graduate student at the celebrated Pratt Institute in New York City. She has used her studies to work in a variety of settings; a methadone clinic (substance abuse), homeless shelters, and mental health.

Getting Her Start

Ashley first discovered Christian Yoga while she was earning her undergraduate degree in Modern Dance from Arizona State University.

After taking a studio class at Yahweh Yoga, Ashley knew it was an answer to her prayers and believed God had led her to Christian Yoga. She felt that it aligned perfectly with what God was calling her into as a dance therapist. “I love to dance and I love the Lord,” she says. “With Christian Yoga, I felt like I could use my body to glorify God.”

Ashley quickly moved from taking studio classes to enrolling in the Yahweh Yoga Christian Yoga Teacher Training program, where she graduated in 2007 with her RYT designation. The following summer, she went home to Michigan where she taught classes all summer to family and friends. Five women from her home town including her mother and two sisters, loved Christian yoga so much that they recently also got certified through Yahweh Yoga.

Looking Forward

When she graduates in 2010, Ashley wants to pursuer her career as a Dance Therapist as well as teaching Christian Yoga. “I would first like to stay working in a clinical setting,” Ashley says. “Eventually I would like to start my own practice where I can combine Dance Therapy with Christian Yoga.”

Dance Therapy is well-known as a psychotherapeutic use of movement that effects changes emotionally, cognitively, physically, and socially in individuals. So what can Christian Yoga add to a patient’s treatment regime?

“Yoga and dance by themselves are extremely therapeutic,” explains Ashley. “But without the Lord there is no hope. I believe Christian Yoga can provide individuals true healing, which can only come from Jesus Christ.”