Yoga Teacher Training

How to choose a yoga teacher training

Courses are sold in hours. Yoga Alliance, a US-based registry of schools and teachers, sets the tiers most schools use: 200 hours is the foundation for a first-time teacher, and 300 hours is an advanced course taken afterwards that counts towards the 500-hour level. Registration with it is voluntary, and studios differ on whether they ask for it.

A residential 200-hour course takes about three to four weeks of full days; anything much shorter is normally a 50- or 100-hour module on one subject, such as yin or pranayama, so check the hours in the title before you compare prices. On this page, 50 of the 92 courses run 20 days or longer, and the median is 21 days.

The largest groups are in India (40), Nepal (14) and Indonesia (10). Of the courses in India, 33 are in Uttarakhand, the Himalayan state that includes Rishikesh.

74 of the 92 programmes here start between $450 and $2,999 per person, and the median starting price is $1,300. Residential courses often bundle tuition with a room and meals, so compare what each fee covers, not only the total.

Length

2–100 days

Median length

21 days

Starting prices, per person

$450–$2,999 (74 of 92)

Median starting price

$1,300

Prices are converted from each host's currency at the European Central Bank reference rate of October 19, 2026.

Before you book

• If you plan to register as a teacher, find the school itself, not only one of its teachers, in Yoga Alliance's directory, under the name that will go on your certificate.
• Ask who leads the course on your dates, how big the group is and how you will be assessed.
• Get the daily timetable, the room type, the meal plan and the deposit terms in writing.

Frequently asked questions