By Mel Mackintosh
Often, when I am talking with prospective yoga teacher trainees, I am asked the question: “So why should I train with AYA? Why is AYA the best?”
What a great question! What an all-important question! If you are considering yoga teacher training – at AYA or anywhere – you ought to ask this question of the program owner. I always say to prospective yoga teacher trainees: “Interview me like I was applying for a job with you!” I think the decision-making process is THAT important. You must feel super comfortable when choosing a school to engage with around this type of transformational learning.
With that in mind, here are my key responses to the all important question around what sets AYA apart from other yoga schools.
Full Worldwide Accreditation
This should be non-negotiable. AYA’s 350 hour and 200 hour courses are registered worldwide with Yoga Alliance International Registry (YAIR). That means that by completing one of AYA’s courses you can work anywhere in the world!
Believe it or not, there are many courses that are not accredited with a professional membership organisation. Completing an unregistered course means that no one is vetting the course content or the teachers conducting the training, so the quality of the teaching may be questionable and there may be no support for you if you have an issue with your training provider.
An unregistered course is unlikely to be recognised by a professional membership association, such as YAIR, Yoga Australia or Yoga Alliance.Org, meaning you may have paid a lot of money for no professional recognition. This means you may not be able to get professional indemnity and public liability insurance and may find it difficult to find employment.
Experienced Teachers In Specialist Fields
Our faculty is broad for a reason. We believe that it is better to have specialist teachers teaching specialist subjects. As a result, our teacher trainees will get to know a larger than normal group of lecturers who teach their specialist subjects in an applied way. For example, our anatomy lectures are taught by senior yogis or yoga teachers who also happen to be Osteopaths or Physiotherapists.
All of our faculty are fully accredited to be part of teacher training and they are the best in their fields! They all either run their own yoga studios or run their own businesses connected to yoga so they are wonderful mentors and guides to those who are new to teaching and want to make their way in the world of yoga.
Many of our faculty are also the Lead Trainers in further professional development programs that we offer at AYA. These include: Advanced Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Teaching, Meditation Teacher Training, Youth Yoga Teacher Training and Yin Yoga Teacher Training. Continuing Professional Development programs are vitally important to us at AYA and we provide quality, accredited further training opportunities for you once you have completed your foundation level training.
A rarity! 350 hours / 12 months of Training
Completing AYA’s 200 hours or 350 hours of training will qualify you to teach yoga. Both courses are fully accredited, are taught by the same faculty and share much of the same content. But! The 350 hour course is a rarity in the yoga teacher training world now, and has many benefits, such as:
- More content – especially expanded lectures on anatomy, meditation, philosophy and extra lectures in special needs areas such as Trauma Informed and Youth Yoga
- More time to practise teaching and to receive feedback – trainees get the opportunity to teach small sections of classes and to receive feedback from Lead Trainers over a longer period of time. Meaning, trainees have a longer time to implement what they learn before they start teaching others.
- More relaxed learning environment – the 12 month course is spread over a long period of time, giving trainees maximum opportunity to absorb the content and to consider it in their own practice first, before teaching others.
- Lots of teaching skills practice – Practice! Practice! Practice! This is the only way to feel as ready as you can to teach others. We have in-lecture teaching skills practice time and our trainees also must commit to practising their teaching outside of lecture time as well.
- Mentoring – the chance to shadow their teachers in general yoga classes at AYA is also available.
We are generous!
AYA teacher trainees are forever part of the AYA family! We want our trainees to feel at home, so we provide trainees with free access to all studio or Livestream classes for the time that they are in training. We also offer ongoing special discounts for memberships, workshops and further training options once their training is completed.
We know a lot of studio owners around Australia, and especially in Melbourne, so we will always help new graduates to find employment at a studio that suits them.
Most of our faculty teach general yoga classes at AYA or can be found treating in our therapy rooms, therefore, our trainees have many opportunities to engage with their lecturers on an ongoing basis, outside of lecture time, to cement their learning.
Study Options that Fit into Your Life
At AYA, you can study yoga teacher training over 4 months or over 12 months with intakes occuring in February, May, July and September each year. We also have a range of options that include weekends, evenings, during the week day and some Zoom opportunities, to supplement face-to-face training. This means that we are well set up to support people who do not live close to Melbourne and we have been privileged to assist trainees living in Malaysia, Europe and all around Australia to complete their training with us! And if there isn’t a training option that fits your lifestyle 100% you are welcome to talk with me about a bespoke course.
Credibility
AYA has been training people to become yoga teachers since 2005! To date, we have supported more than 1000 people on their journey to become a yoga teacher! AYA’s training programs are accredited worldwide and our faculty are experts in their fields. Our teacher training programs are continually updated with the latest research and we will always ask, “How can we do this better?”
Join us Now!
We want you to join the AYA Yoga Teacher Training family today! Go ahead and contact me, at melanie@australianyogaacademy.com or on 0143 298 132 for more information and to arrange a free trial class and studio tour.
The AYA website contains loads of teacher training information and you can download our Yoga Teacher Training Information Pack as well.
What are you waiting for?
Love, Mel