A yoga instructor is a fitness professional who teaches students the art of yoga. Yoga is an ancient form of exercise originating in India which involves breathwork, meditation, and various stretching poses called “asanas,” which promote mindfulness and better health. An ideal yoga instructor will be well-trained in yoga’s minute details and teach their clients how to perform it effectively and correctly, helping them achieve the mind-body connection. Yoga instructors usually work in gymnasiums or teach private classes in a studio.
Yoga has become a popular form of exercise, and if you are looking to update your resume, we’ve created a guide to help you. First, let’s take a look at the three different resume formats, one of which you’ll use to write your own resume:
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Job Duties of a Yoga Instructor
An expert yoga teacher guides students through their progress and trains them to be expert yogis themselves. The following are the job duties of a yoga instructor:
Consider each client’s skill level, age, flexibility, and health problems before introducing them to any strenuous yoga exercises.
Demonstrate asanas or stretching poses including alternative, manually adjusted poses to provide better accessibility for beginners.
Minutely observe, monitor, and correct the spine posture, balance, head, arm, and leg position of their clients while performing asanas.
Lead the individual or the group class by developing fitness plans.
Advise clients on improving their practice at home.
Teach their clients the importance and benefits of specific postures and when to do them to promote healing.
Guide clients through various forms of ancient breathing techniques like “Pranayama,” meditation.
Educate clients about yoga’s history and philosophy, the Sanskrit language, the chakra system, basic spiritual and intellectual principles of yoga, and diet for wellness.
Monitor for changes in vital signs and provide emergency first aid and CPR if needed.
Yoga Instructor Median Salaries
According to PayScale, the hourly rate is $24.96, and the total pay can vary between $29k-$102k. The income will change depending on the awareness of yoga among the individuals to cure their severe illnesses.
Top Skills for Yoga Instructors
Yoga instructors must be experts in their craft, perfecting the forms of yoga poses and their methods through hours of training over several years.
The top skills required for yoga instructors are:
- Physical fitness and endurance: Yoga instructors must show the highest level of fitness, strength, skill, and agility since most of their job entails them demonstrating yoga poses to their clients and monitoring them for form correctness. They must be flexible to be able to explain even the most challenging and complex poses of yoga. They must also work extended working hours standing up and conducting classes for their clients, individuals, or groups during early morning and evening hours.
- First aid, CPR, and injury management: Even though it is not compulsory, yoga instructors should have a CPR certification, a solid record of safety standards, and emergency assistance to show that they have gone that extra mile for the safety and health-risk prevention of your clients. Yoga instructors should also provide their clients first aid, if required, and help rehabilitate them to full strength in case of an injury.
- Specialized Certifications: Yoga is a diverse field with asanas or body posture forms existing to focus on various ailments and health issues. Technical certification in Prenatal Yoga, Senior Yoga, Nada Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Yoga Nidra will distinguish you from the competition and add weight to your resume. There are also certifications in yoga for balance, anxiety, and depression that can be helpful and which clients can benefit significantly from given everyday life stressors.
- Emotional intelligence: The yoga instructor must foster relationships with their clients to enhance their motivation, skill, and dedication to their practice. Since yoga teachers must give their clients personal attention, they must also possess emotional intelligence, connect thoughtfully with people, and be friendly and motivational.
- Software skills: As most classes move to online platforms due to significant events like the pandemic, yoga instructors must take their existing curriculum and apply it to train people online using Zoom, Google Meet, and other streaming video applications. They have to record each session to use them for practice and improve their form. If working at a health center or gymnasium, they may also be required to make sales and keep up with invoicing and record-keeping.
Yoga instructors education and certifications
To be a successful yoga instructor, one needs to undergo many hours of yoga practice, breathwork, and meditation to teach yoga to clients. The following are educational paths you can take to become a yoga instructor:
Degree
Most yoga instructors have a high school diploma with a certification. Still, recruiters prefer to have a bachelor’s degree in a health-related field like physical or health education, sports science, athletic training, or exercise science. These programs give students a comprehensive understanding of athletic injury assessment, nutrition, sports medicine, and human anatomy. The courses take four years to complete.
There are many degree courses to choose from, like Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Athletic Training from some top universities such as the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, University of Miami, and The University of Texas at Austin. For a BSc. in Health Sciences, some distinguished universities that offer experiential and contextual learning are Rutgers University and Stockton University.
There are only a handful of programs for yoga. The Naropa University and Somaveda College of Natural Medicine both offer Bachelor’s degrees in yoga studies.
These colleges encourage learning through internships and co-ops, helping students gain comprehensive knowledge and a strong foothold in their yoga field.Certifications
There are many certifications, online and offline, through which students can gain expertise and perfect their form. A certification course lays the foundation for further knowledge, shows seriousness and dedication, and updates students’ training to the current world’s needs.- Universities and colleges:The University of New Mexico-Taos, the American Viniyoga Institute, and the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts offer courses that help students study and practice a transformative and authentic approach to yoga with a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) Certification at the end of it.
- Member Associations: The Yoga Alliance and International Association Of Yoga Therapists offer registration and certification, completing 200 yoga training hours. They are some of the leading organizations with the highest number of yoga teachers to promote increased education and training standards resulting in employment by gymnasiums and health clubs.
- For-profit educational companies: My Vinyasa Practice, East+West Yoga Foundations Training, YogaUOnline offer some of the best online certification courses that help you achieve excellence in yoga forms and teach you the fundamentals of yogic life, hatha yoga, and meditation. They are registered with the Yoga Alliance and lead to a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) credential.
- Nonprofit or voluntary organizations: The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a nonprofit organization that provides online and offline yoga training to gain the skills needed to become an instructor. Every yoga teacher should ideally possess certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid training to add value to their skills and ensure their clients’ safety.
Yoga Instructor Resume-Writing Tips
Showcasing your training credentials, experience, and training hours are critical to capture a yoga employer’s attention. The following tips will help you create a quality resume:
- Add certifications: In the competitive world of physical fitness, it is essential to show your expertise to stand out. Employers want to see evidence of formal training, and some companies may require specializations like hatha yoga, mindfulness, and yoga for healing. If you have a professional certificate, add it.
- Showcase your relevant skills in your job duties: You have to explain how your relevant yoga skills translate into job responsibilities. Instead of listing your duties, show how you applied your skills to perform tasks associated with the job.
- Highlight-relevant client statistics: Yoga and physical fitness fields are result-oriented. Data and relevant client statistics about their progress, weight loss, and test results can illustrate your skills as a yoga instructor. For example, add the number of group classes you led and the number of participants you trained.
FAQ
Do I need a bachelor’s degree?
While it is generally unnecessary to go through a bachelor’s program, it helps if you know subjects like human anatomy, biomechanics, metabolism, nutrition, and kinesiology. The more educated you are, the more your deep love and commitment for learning yoga come through.
Is recertification required?
You need to keep up to date with industry standards. According to the Yoga Alliance, most yoga instructors need to get recertified after years to improve their knowledge.
What is Yoga Alliance credentialing?
Even though there are no government regulations regarding yoga certifications, the Yoga Alliance is a nonprofit organization with the most significant number of yoga teachers and institutes registered. Currently, they set the standards for yoga teacher training. Primary yoga teacher training requires at least 200 hours, for example, and can go up to 500 hours.