ACCESS 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training

Is the ACCESS 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training for me?

There is a lot to sift through and consider when researching Yoga Teacher Trainings. Google search 200-Hour YTT and you'll get pages upon pages of results. But how do you choose and how do you know which program is right for you?

There is a lot to sift through and consider when researching Yoga Teacher Trainings. Google search 200-Hour YTT and you’ll get pages upon pages of results.

But how do you choose and how do you know which program is right for you?

If you haven’t yet, begin your search using these tips provided by Evolution Power Yoga Owner and Founder, Lisa Taylor (she’s taken and led enough yoga programs and YTT’s to know a thing or two about what’s important when comparing and deciding).

Now that you’re set with what to consider, let us answer some common questions for you to get the ball rolling – starting with an overview:

What is the ACCESS 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training?

ACCESS is our foundational program (part of a 5-module 1250-hour cumulative Evolution Learning Institute training series) broken into 8-weekend sessions.

The format is a combination of in-person, live-virtual, and on-demand learning with an option of fully-virtual participation. We’ve created a hybrid learning experience where in-studio participants can almost seamlessly (nothing is 100% with technology) integrate and interact with one-another allowing you the opportunity to enroll in a high-quality YTT program and experience connection and community from afar regardless of your geographical location.

200RYT 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training

Why should I consider enrolling in the ACCESS YTT program?

This program is the choice for you if you want to pursue a career in teaching yoga, but it’s also for you if that isn’t your end goal. We specifically designed this program to be a platform for anyone – yoga enthusiast or not – as an access point for creating something new and powerful in your life.

Here at Evolution, we define power as the amount of time it takes to turn an intention into reality.

Power in your life can look like many things; being an effective leader, clearly communicating with others, interpersonal communication (we’ve all experienced the voice and we’ve all had a moment, or two, of being a brutal judge of ourselves), accelerating in your career, building authentic and meaningful relationships.

Notice how all of those items mentioned have the opportunity to be life changing. Imagine what would be possible for you if you had the tools and principles to turn your desires and goals from thoughts, journal entries, and Pinterest boards and actually manifest them as a reality.

ACCESS can get you on the path to doing just that.

How can a Yoga Teacher Training help me in my career/in my life?

No matter who you are on this earth, whether you have a full-time career, you’re a student, you’re a full-time parent, caretaker, retired – we ALL utilize this one specific thing every single day and in every single interaction.

Communication.

Unless you’re a recluse or live on a deserted island, there’s no avoiding it. And mastering this skill has the potential to open doors and break down barriers.

Imagine the productivity of a work team when leadership clearly communicates the end goal and expectations.

Imagine the fights between you and your spouse or parents that could have been avoided because of unclear communication.

Imagine the connections and relationships that were missed because you viewed the fact that someone spoke a different language as a barrier to communicating. (if this kind of stuff interests you, then FYI, we dive even deeper into this territory in EMPOWER!)

Our ACCESS YTT program uses teaching yoga as the means for honing in and developing this skill. That’s how a yoga teacher training has the ability to change your life.

What else do I learn during this training?

Our ACCESS YTT program, like our style of yoga, is largely based around 3 practices and techniques; Asana, Meditation, and Inquiry. Let’s define each.

Asana – the physical practice. Getting on your mat, moving, sweating, and connecting with your physical being.

Meditation – a chance to sit down, get still, and be present to what’s actually going on

Inquiry – asking questions, sharing with others, and hearing what they’re discovering in pursuit of seeing life in a new way different from the way you automatically did.

These tools alone give you the access to getting up to something bigger than yourself. Not just that, creating a difference not only in your life, but in others’.

How?, you ask.

By engaging in these practices you inevitably create an impact on other’s you interact with every single day – your affect, your outlook on life, the energy you bring into a space – people can sense this.

And when they sense and see that something is new and different in you, then they ask “what’s going on” and you tell them, that act right there, sharing with them how yoga has created a difference for you, suddenly opens them to what is possible for them.

And from there, they go and do the work of getting on their mat and experiencing their own breakthroughs – it’s a ripple effect that has the power to change entire communities.

BUT – the program doesn’t stop there. You’ll also gain knowledge and experience with the following:

  • Anatomy of yoga: created and led by Philomena Behmer, fellow EPY yoga instructor and long-time Anatomy and Physiology Professor at a local College.
  • Leadership Development
  • Business of Yoga: guidance for pursuing yoga as a full-time career, entrepreneurship, owning a small business, and effectively marketing yourself as an instructor
  • Collaborating and working within a team setting (large and small)
  • Deepening your yoga practice: you’ll have plenty of time on the mat, so there’s no denying you’ll take your personal practice to a whole new level (or establish a practice – there’s no prerequisite for enrolling in our YTT, we’ve had completely new students enroll after their first class because they were just interested or knew they wanted more!)

Now that you have a general idea of what the program is, let’s dive in to the nitty gritty and the details; the things that really determine whether or not this is something you can fit into your life schedule.

ACCESS 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training

What is the time commitment?

There are 8 weekend-long sessions (Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday) held one weekend per month. Fridays are 4 hours in the evening from 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm ET done remotely via live-virtual participation. We’ve found this is the easiest option given the variety of schedules and life obligations. Saturdays are a full day with the option to participate in-studio (ideal for those who live locally or within traveling distance to our studio location) or live-virtual. Sundays are self-paced learning where you complete your work via on-demand video content and on your own time schedule. You don’t have to do it on Sunday, but we find it’s the most popular option for Trainees since they already allotted the time that weekend to be focused on program.

Aside from live-program time, you’ll be given homework to complete outside of live hours such as connecting with your small group, completing inquiry work, your asynchronous learning if you choose to not complete it on the Sunday, and practice teaching. This works out to roughly a handful of hours – it really all depends on how much time and energy you invest in the work.

But keep in mind; the amount of work you put into the program is directly related to the results you’ll experience during your program and after. You’re already investing your time and money, it’s best to do the program as its intended to be done so you don’t reach the 8th weekend and feel like nothing has changed. Our Training team will fully support you throughout your entire training, and we want you to succeed – but we aren’t here to micro manage. It’s an adult learning environment. If you don’t want to do your homework, we’re not hunting you down and putting you in detention.

Why does your YTT program cost what it does?

There are a lot of factors that go into determining what we price our programs at.

1. Expertise

  • We’ve been leading trainings since 2009 with a deep reflection and dissection of the program after each cycle has ended. We review feedback from the trainees as well as connect one on one with the leaders to hear what worked and what didn’t work. Then, we take all of this information gathered, along with new techniques and insights from our own personal growth and trainings, and add or remove where needed. We’ve revised the manual and reworked the program over 30 times to date in order to create a program that produces exceptional instructors that we want to hire.

2. Unique Training Manual

  • Our program training manual was written and created by Lisa Taylor – Owner and Founder of Evolution Power Yoga and World Class Yoga instructor with thousands of hours experience as a student, an instructor, a program creator for other world-wide yoga programs, and business owner.
  • Different from a textbook, this manual is a source of learning but also a workbook that you will personalize throughout the program. In essence, you create your own guide to teaching which is why so many of our instructors still reference their manuals years after graduating the program.

3. Quality Instruction

  • Our programs are led by hand-selected instructors. To be a leader of a program you first have to apply to apprentice, complete an apprentice successfully, and then apply to lead and be given approval. Our leaders are at minimum 500-hours certified, many are Baptiste certified, and they are team players who continue to create a difference in their student’s lives, fellow teacher’s lives, communities, and their own teaching career. They are passionate about the program and what it provides for you, the student.

4. Accessibility

  • We always had the goal of eliminating all boundaries when it comes to the ability to enroll in a high-quality yoga teacher training, and technology supports a large part of that. The live-virtual component has allowed us to expand our reach beyond geographical limitations we used to encounter. And we continue to refine the digital experience, upgrading equipment when and where needed so we can provide an impactful learning experience for those who are joining us virtually.

And as mentioned previously, we guarantee that upon completing this program (attending and completing all training weekends, assignments, and homework) you will have the ability to successfully lead students through a Journey Into Power Vinyasa yoga class, and you’ll have the certification to go along with it. This all means you will have the foundation to establishing a sustainable career in teaching, if that’s what you wish to do.

access 250-hour yoga teacher training guide

What’s included in tuition?

We do our best to avoid any hidden costs, so your tuition covers everything listed below with the exception of additional required reading for the Anatomy of Yoga Course (which is included in your YTT training and tuition) totaling anywhere from $8.49-$21.99 depending on your format preference, as well as Journey Into Power by Baron Baptiste ($0.00-$21.00 depending on your format preference).

Altogether, you can expect anywhere between $9-$40 additional required material

Included in your tuition:

  • 274-page Training Manual
  • Training Weekends
  • Anatomy of Yoga Course
  • Unlimited in-studio yoga for the duration of the program ($920 value)
  • Unlimited Evolution GO: 40+ Livestream classes every week + our On-Demand library featuring new content daily for the duration of the program ($104 value)
  • T-shirt at the start of program
  • Certificate of Completion upon Graduation

Do you offer payment plans?

Yes we do! One of our main goals with our YTT programs is to make is accessible to anyone who has a desire to do the work and be up to something bigger. This includes removing any financial boundary which is why we have a selection of payment plans to choose from if that’s the route that makes the most sense for you.

Payment plans extend as far out as 36-months and most are interest-free. If you choose to pay in full you can take advantage of our pay-in-full discount and receive $250 off your tuition!

What if I miss a weekend?

We fully understand if work schedules or pre-made plans interfere with a training weekend, so don’t let that deter you from enrolling. A portion of our educational material is on-demand so that can be done at any point on your own time. We also record live portions of the program for the instance where you or another trainee is unable to attend. Recordings are only use for make-up purposes and are not published anywhere.

We do highly encourage you to attend weekend 6 in-person as a large component of this weekend is a live teaching practicum and cannot be made up using recorded or on-demand content.

If you know ahead of time that you will be missing a day or a weekend just let your program Lead know so arrangements can be made to catch you up prior to the following weekend. You are unable to receive your certificate of completion until all missed program days and practicums are completed.

What if I don’t live locally?

Luckily, we live in a day and age where technology allows us to break through geographical boundaries that once limited a person’s ability to enroll in a high-quality program! Whether you live locally in Lancaster, York, or Harrisburg PA or you live halfway across the globe you have the option to earn your certification virtually via livestream and on-demand learning.

We have graduated many virtual-only students in both our ACCESS 250-Hour and EMPOWER 300-Hour YTT programs.

Is participating virtually different than the experience in-person?

Rest assured, we work hard to create an incredible experience no matter if you’re in person or halfway across the world. We check in with virtual trainees to gather feedback and none of them have reported feeling unfulfilled regarding their decision to enroll virtually or felt they had a lesser experience. When the pandemic first hit we actually were forced to lead 2 programs fully remotely with almost zero in-person interaction and we were surprised at just how amazing those cycles went!

We did a lot of on-the-fly learning and adjusting (COVID hit the first weekend of our 300-hour YTT training and all 8-weekends of our 250-Hour YTT training) and we left the decision up to the trainees on whether or not to hold the training virtually or to wait until the quarantine ended and all participants were a go for the digital experience – and we couldn’t be more grateful!

Since then (March 2020) we have now successfully graduated 6 fully-hybrid YTT cycles and we continue to survey our virtual students after they complete and use their feedback to adjust and improve the experience each time.

What Certification do I receive?

Upon successful graduation of the program, you will earn a 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate of completion. If you choose to go the route of working as an instructor at a yoga studio or formally registering yourself through an association such as Yoga Alliance, this certificate will act as your proof of formal training.

But what is Yoga Alliance, you ask? Yoga Alliance is the largest nonprofit association representing the yoga community, aimed to support the high quality, safe, accessible, and equitable teaching of yoga. As a graduate of our program, your certificate will allow you to register through Yoga Alliance as a 200RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher).

Do you hire your graduates?

While we do not guarantee job placement, we do directly hire our graduates! By the time you complete the program, you will already have a strong understanding of our business practices and the principles and practices we teach and lead by, you’ll have memorized the sequence we teach, and we will be assured you are the product of a high-quality training.

So, if you’re curious about the program, just ask your instructor after your next class because they’ve been through it!

Next Steps

Now that you have a better understanding of some key elements in our ACCESS YTT program, the next step is booking a call with someone from our training Team!

This is a zero pressure call and the goal is to answer any remaining questions, share some personal experiences (everyone on our Training Team has taken the program and/or leads it), and equip you with all of the knowledge you need to make the best decision for you.

And if this answered everything and you’re thinking “yes, this is the program for me!”, excellent! You can complete your application form here and if you are choosing to utilize the payment plan option, complete your enrollment by setting up your payments here!

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