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Intensive Training vs. Long Courses
Rebecca Ffrench on 14 April, 2010 |

There's much debate in the yoga world over which time frame for training is best. Advocates of long term training courses declare their method to be the 'quality' approach, while champions of the intensive training method herald the life changing capabilities of the immersion method.

Define the training methods
When splitting training courses into the two categories you need to look at how the course is offered. If a course meets once a month over the period of 12-18 months then you’re looking at a Long Term Course, even if they have a week long retreat in the middle. If a course involves three or four weeks of daily tuition (with a couple of days off thrown in), then you're looking at an Intensive Course - even if this is followed up with a workshop/exam at a later date.

Of course categorising yoga teacher training classes like this is a bit of a blunt tool. There are plenty of courses who offer the middle ground. Some training courses meet at weekends only, taking three months to complete. Others meet for four week long retreats over six months. These hybrids span the middle ground between the two training methods and can hold the pros and the cons of both methods.

The pros and cons of the Intensive Training Method
The intensive training method is total immersion training. A minimum of 180 training hours packed into a couple of weeks is an intense way to train, but for some people this is just what they are looking for. People who are looking to radically alter their life are often drawn to this method. It's not just a teacher training course but also an extended retreat. It can be a rocky ride with many hidden emotions and feelings rising up through the path of self enquiry, but it can also be the catalyst for change.

Many people learn better when they can focus themselves wholly on one subject away from daily life. If you train abroad you can leave family, work and regular life behind and train with absolute freedom from distraction. These trainings often take place in an idyllic tropical climate, so you get holiday in paradise to boot. But this - believe it or not - does have a downside. Will you be able to keep up all that enthusiasm and daily practice when you return to the real world?

The friends you make on an intensive teacher training course are often friends for life. You'll have been brought together from all parts of the globe with a common passion and goal. People who were strangers at the start will go through the same laughter and tears, physical demands and exam time stress… A rollercoaster of emotions that could take years to experience with someone in ‘real life’. This incredible bond carries through to when you’re released into the world, and they become your support group when you begin to teach.

With all this in mind, there’s no doubt that intensive trainings make you a great yogi. You live the life 24-7 and hone your physical practice like never before. But does it make you a good teacher? The truth is that while time may be spent learning how to teach (teaching methodology), very little time will be spent actually practicing your skills. Many students who graduate from this style of training find the real learning happens on the job when they start to teach.

Long Term Teacher Training Courses
The long term teacher training is the very antithesis of the intensive course. This slow, progressive method adheres more strongly to the traditional way of learning yoga.

If you meet once a month you have plenty of time to assimilate all of the information in between sessions. Then if there’s something that you don’t understand or have discovered you can discuss it at your next meeting. This personal discovery allows the information to really become a part of you, something that you know inside and out. If you are teaching while you do the course you’ll also have time to practice all the skills that make a great teacher – quality of voice, good communication and ability to adjust or demonstrate. If this sense of space and time to develop appeals to you then a long course would be a great idea. If you think you might loose interest half way through a more accelerated learning might be a better option.

On a practical level there are many people out there who simply can’t take a month off work to go and train as a yoga teacher. Work or family commitments make such a long break impossible for many students, and so meeting once a month makes perfect sense. If a course fits comfortably around your existing schedule you’ll be happier, less stressed, and will doubtless enjoy the whole experience more.

A long term course can sometimes be financially more viable. Some (not all) long courses offer an installment option to pay your fees, spreading the cost of the course over the 12-18 months of training. If you haven’t got any savings tucked away this might be your chance to get started on the route to becoming a yoga teacher without having to wait. Bear in mind that many longer courses are British Wheel of Yoga accredited which means extra costs in the long run (BWY membership fees etc).

Choose The Timing That’s Right For You
In the end you’ll need to pick a course that is right for you. No one call tell you which method is best, simply the one that worked for them. Have a look at your existing commitments and think about how you learn best. The best advice is to go with your gut instinct – that wisdom of your Inner Teacher.