Guides
Before you choose a training
Everything else on this site is about our school. These pages are not. They are the questions we get asked before anyone is ready to talk to a school at all — answered as honestly as we can manage, including where the answer points away from us.
Should I do a yoga retreat or a yoga teacher training?
A retreat is a week of practice with no assessment and no certificate. A teacher training is a month of study that qualifies you to teach. Choose the retreat if you want rest and a deeper practice. Choose the training only if you intend to teach, or genuinely want the discipline of full immersion.
Read the full answer →Do you need yoga experience to go on a yoga retreat?
No. A yoga retreat has no entry requirement and no assessment, and a well-run one teaches to the room rather than to a standard. If you can walk comfortably for twenty minutes you have enough to begin. Bodies that have never practised often adapt faster than stiff experienced ones.
Read the full answer →What actually happens on a 7-day yoga retreat?
Two yoga sessions and two meditation sessions a day, three vegetarian meals, and a long free afternoon. Mornings start early and evenings end early. Across a week that is roughly fourteen hours of yoga - enough to change how you feel, not enough to leave you wrecked.
Read the full answer →How much does a yoga retreat in India cost?
A week-long retreat in Rishikesh typically runs $350 to $900 including accommodation and all meals. Ours is $420 twin share and $580 private. Add roughly $600 to $1,200 for flights from Europe or North America, $25 to $40 for the visa, and $60 to $150 for insurance.
Read the full answer →What does a yoga teacher training in India actually cost, all in?
Budget $1,900–$3,200 all-in for a 200-hour in India from Europe or North America. The course itself is typically $1,000–$1,600 including accommodation and all meals; flights add $600–$1,200, and visa, insurance, vaccinations and incidentals add roughly $300–$400.
Read the full answer →Hatha, vinyasa, ashtanga or yin — which style should I train in?
Train in hatha if you want the widest foundation, since most other styles build on it. Ashtanga suits people who want a fixed, demanding sequence. Vinyasa is the most employable in Western studios. Yin is a specialisation, not a first training. Most Indian 200-hours teach hatha and ashtanga together.
Read the full answer →What should I pack for a yoga teacher training in India?
Pack light, modest clothing you can move in, a shawl, a head torch, earplugs, any prescription medication in original packaging, and a thermal layer if training between November and February. Mats, blocks and most toiletries are available locally and cheaper. Nobody has ever regretted bringing fewer clothes.
Read the full answer →Is a yoga teacher training in India safe for a solo female traveller?
Yes, and the majority of students on most Rishikesh trainings are women travelling alone. Rishikesh is unusually easy compared with much of India: it is a dry, vegetarian pilgrimage town. The main risks are on the journey and in the town at night, not at a residential school.
Read the full answer →Can a beginner do a 200-hour yoga teacher training?
Yes, with about six months to a year of regular practice behind you. You do not need to be flexible, advanced or young. What you do need is enough familiarity with the basic postures that you are learning to teach them rather than meeting them for the first time.
Read the full answer →What are the eight limbs of yoga?
The eight limbs are Patanjali's framework from the Yoga Sutras: yama (ethics towards others), niyama (ethics towards yourself), asana (posture), pranayama (breath), pratyahara (withdrawing the senses), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (absorption). Physical posture is one limb of eight.
Read the full answer →When is the best time of year to do a yoga teacher training in Rishikesh?
September to November and February to April are the best months. October is the single strongest choice: warm, dry and clear after the monsoon. Avoid May and June, when the valley passes 40°C, and July to August, the monsoon, when most reputable schools do not run trainings at all.
Read the full answer →Is a 200-hour yoga teacher training enough to actually teach?
Yes for teaching general beginner classes, and that is what it is designed for. A 200-hour training qualifies you to lead a safe, well-sequenced class for healthy adults. It does not prepare you to teach injuries, pregnancy, or advanced practitioners, and most graduates need a year of regular teaching before they feel competent.
Read the full answer →Rishikesh, Bali or Goa — where should I do my yoga teacher training?
Rishikesh suits people who want traditional Hatha and philosophy at the lowest cost. Bali suits people who want vinyasa, comfort and a wellness-industry network, at roughly twice the price. Goa sits between the two, with a beach setting and a shorter season. All three certify identically.
Read the full answer →What is the difference between RYS, RYT and E-RYT?
RYS is a school; RYT is a teacher. A Registered Yoga School (RYS) is a business whose syllabus Yoga Alliance has approved. A Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) is an individual who trained at one and paid to register. E-RYT means experienced: at least two years and 1,000 or 2,000 hours of logged teaching.
Read the full answer →How do I tell a good yoga school in Rishikesh from a bad one?
Verify the lead teacher's credential in the Yoga Alliance directory, ask how many students are in a batch and how many times you will teach with feedback, and read reviews outside the school's own website. Schools that answer those three plainly are almost always the serious ones.
Read the full answer →Should I do a 200-hour or a 300-hour yoga teacher training?
If you have never trained, you need a 200-hour — it is the entry qualification and a 300-hour requires it first. A 300-hour is the second stage, for teachers who have already been teaching and want depth. Completing both gives you RYT-500 status.
Read the full answer →What is a month of yoga teacher training actually like?
Expect eight to ten hours a day, six days a week, starting around 6am. The physical load is lower than people fear and the mental load is higher. Most people struggle in week two, when novelty fades and fatigue accumulates, and most recover by week three.
Read the full answer →
Why we publish these
Choosing a yoga teacher training is a decision most people make once, with very little information, against a wall of marketing that all says the same thing. Every school in Rishikesh promises small groups and authentic tradition, in more or less identical words, which means those promises tell you nothing.
We would rather be the school that told you how to evaluate us properly. If that leads you somewhere else, you were never going to be happy here anyway — and a month is a long time to spend in the wrong place.
Practical questions about our own courses are on the FAQ, and dates and prices are on the schedule.
