The floor below which we will not certify, will not insure, will not list. Twenty years of cohort outcomes confirm where the line should sit. Live contact hours, named lead teachers, two hundred hours minimum — these are not opinions.
The international floor for yoga teacher certification. We've held this since 2006. Below 200 you are an enthusiastic amateur; the certificate that follows is decoration, not credential.
200 hours is the minimum density at which the curriculum can carry anatomy, contraindications, sequencing, adjustment, philosophical context, and supervised practice teaching together. Below that floor, something is cut — and what gets cut is what keeps a class safe.
Curriculum densityA graduate who can plan and lead a general-population class, recognise common contraindications, offer credible adjustments, and hold a room. Not a senior teacher; not a specialist. The competent floor — and a credential insurers will write a policy against.
The competent floor300hr+, 500hr+, and the SYT track are the meaningful additions — depth, specialism, the right to lead trainings of your own. These compound over a career. Modular fast-tracks and weekend top-ups do not. Real seniority is measured in years and cohorts.
The progression that countsYoga is taught in bodies, not browsers. The intersubjective core of the practice cannot be transmitted through a screen alone. We require 180 live contact hours, with the SYT lead personally delivering at least 70 percent. Self-paced supplementary content is encouraged, but never as a substitute for the live work.
If a 200-hour course is the foundation, the lead teacher delivering it is the load-bearing wall. We accredit training providers — not just courses — and the bar for becoming one is set deliberately high.
SYT (Senior Yoga Teacher) status. 500-hour qualification minimum. A track record of teaching public classes for at least five years before delivering a teacher training. Seniority earned, not awarded.
SYT · 500hr · 5 yrs teachingThe named lead must personally deliver 70 percent or more of the live contact hours. Cannot be delegated to assistants. Cannot be replaced with pre-recorded video. The trainee pays for the lead — the lead teaches.
70% live, by the named leadGraduate outcomes are tracked. Five-year retention, insurance claims, complaint records. ATPs whose cohorts underperform on retention or carry disproportionate claims are reviewed, supported where possible, and de-listed where required.
Outcomes audited, not assumedBoth call themselves "200-hour". The substance behind the number diverges sharply. We hold the line; some bodies do not. Five-year cohort outcomes confirm the gap.
Where the floor lives in the rest of the field. Three places to stand on the line, not just read about it.
Filter the directory of YogaPros-accredited training providers. Live contact, named leads, verified delivery. The list of trainings that meet the floor.
Open the directory For experienced teachersFor experienced teachers building toward an SYT track. The pathway from teaching to training the next cohort — and the requirements that pathway demands.
See the pathway For studios & studentsLive CV — provider-confirmed credential records, time-stamped and public. The substance behind the standard, made checkable in a single click.
See Live CVFind an accredited course where the standard is held — not negotiated.