It can be difficult to make sense of all the teacher training programs offered in Montreal or online. Every school or studio that offers trainings for future yoga teachers will have a program for individuals that have never taught yoga before. Whether you have been practicing yoga for 6 months or 10 years, if it’s your first time learning how to teach yoga, you will need to start with a 200-hour certification. 

Further, regardless of the style of yoga being taught at a studio (hatha, vinyasa, hot yoga, fitness, etc.), a 200h teacher training will first and foremost teach the fundamentals of HATHA YOGA, because that is where postural yoga stems from. 

Teacher trainings can vary on multiple aspects, including: 

• Structure;
• Content;
• Studio culture or vibe;
• Teachers.

STUDIO MILE END has been offering teacher trainings for more than 10 years. In light of the experience we have acquired over these years, we decided to change the structure of our program for it to better respond to students’ expectations and to the current social climate. 

Our teacher training is based on an hourglass model, meaning that it is a training that builds students’ knowledge over time and experience. We have made the choice to offer a training that is not divided by themes (for example, ASANAS or PRANAYAMA) over the different weekends, but rather to study the various aspects of yoga throughout the entire training. This means that asanas and anatomy will be studied every weekend, while other themes, such as meditation, pranayama or philosophy, will be taught at various times during the course of the training. We find it important to study, for example, “downward facing dog” at the start of the training and to revisit it later on, when more time has been spent learning anatomy. This is one of many reasons why we structured our program in such a way, which allows students to process the material in a deeper and more thorough manner. 

The most important tool in a yoga class is undoubtedly the BODY. Consequently, it is fundamental to learn how it works in order to understand its limits, both for yourself and for your future students. It is obviously possible to injure oneself in a yoga class and, accordingly, we want to help prevent that, both by teaching you to listen to your own body and to teach in a clear manner to avoid students getting hurt. 

This is why the content of our training focuses primarily on anatomy, body biomechanics, and poses (asanas). Understanding how the body works will help you to set your limits, to create safe classes for your future students, and to be independent in your teaching. In turn, this will also allow you to be more creative in your sequencing, while also learning how to respond to your students’ needs. 

Many of our students have been practicing with us for months or even years. They know us, our teaching style, our commitment to the practice, our teachers, our vibe. This is a part of what makes our training truly special. 

Having a sense of how a studio feels is an important part of deciding to commit to a teacher training. If you have never been to the studio, it will be our pleasure to offer you a complimentary class for you to come and meet us. We want you to be confident in choosing our training. 

Alongside our studio culture, the teachers of the training are an integral part of the training. Get to know them, talk with them. They have a lot of experience, whether about teaching yoga or about the training itself. The more experience a teacher has, the more they will be able to envision yoga as a whole. Having teachers who are able to do that and to respect and acknowledge the origins of yoga, while presenting it in a contemporary and relevant manner for our modern society, is important and our teachers strive to do exactly that. 

Based on comments from past students and people interested in taking our teacher training, here are a few points to consider when choosing a program: 

• Take different classes at the different studios you are considering. At a minimum, take one class at a studio before committing to their training program. Make sure that you feel comfortable within the space, that the vibe of the studio is aligned with you, that you get along with the teachers and that you connect with the community. If you are able to take classes with the specific teachers of the training program, that is even better. 
• Attend the information session (or watch the recording).
• Do not hesitate to message the person in charge of the training to ask questions and to make sure that the program is best suited to you. 
• Double check that the dates work with your schedule and make sure you will have enough time to study and practice during the course of the training. 

Approximately 75% of the people registering for our teacher training do it to deepen their own personal practice. Teaching is thus not the main objective of most people taking the training. 

Partaking in a yoga teacher training is first and foremost about offering ourselves some time and space to nurture our wellbeing. Yoga is a great self actualization tool, it can give us the means to take care of ourselves in a more autonomous manner, to create relationships with others, to reflect on life and its meanings. Yoga offers us teachings from a thousand-year old culture, with many treasures. 

Yoga offers us a pause from our busy lives to deepen our relationship with our own bodies, our breathing, our thought processes, the way we manage our stress… It allows us to ask ourselves questions, to engage with others, and to practice. Yoga can be a form of therapy; an important break from our busy lives. Yoga is a tool amongst many others that can be helpful to create space in our day to day lives, to make us more resilient, more grounded and more self aware. 

Our community is what sets us apart from other yoga studios. We are always moved by the connections that are created at the studio. 

Our teacher training students create new friendships around a common passion and it is not rare that these last for many years after the training has ended. This is one of the best aspects of the teacher training. Nothing is quite as special as seeing our students create new connections in this way and hearing them say that the studio feels like a second home. 

As a way to encourage these connections, we offer a complimentary membership to teacher training participants. Students are also members of the studio for life, which means that they will always have access to a reduced rate for workshops and events. A party is also held at the end of every teacher training to celebrate this milestone for the students. 

Once the 200h teacher training is over, students are welcomed to continue their education by signing up for our IMMERSION SERIES or our MENTORSHIP PROGRAM. Both of these options will help you to perfect your teaching skills. 

Finally, we organize a FESTIVAL in September where professors (both invited and regular teachers from the studio) will teach special classes and workshops. This is one of the many ways we take care of our community, which is our true purpose.