15 Best Online Yoga Teacher Training Certification & Schools | Yoga Alliance January 2023

Last updated: January 12, 2023

So this is probably, like, the 45th article you’ve read about The Best Online Yoga Teacher Training and The Top Yoga Teacher Training Certifications.  You’re probably pretty sick and tired of trying to figure out which yoga school to trust with your yoga education and why different websites rate them the way they do. I get it.

While yoga has historically been and will continue to be a hands-on journey, trying times call for new explorations. The natural freedom of yoga lends itself to adaptability. This adaptability has been embraced in some of the best online yoga teacher training certifications available and approved by the Yoga Alliance.

A lot of “advice” out there tries to deconstruct online yoga teacher trainings into these nice little lists, as if you can just find the right yoga school (!) by clicking on an affiliate link (more on this later on) like you’re going grocery shopping in the today’s special aisle. And sure, you probably should google “the top…” and “the best…” and all that, as we will see, but to me, all of these affiliate lists seem like slapping a couple of sun salutations in the middle of a savasana. Technically, they don’t really hurt to read, but by themselves, they don’t actually answer the question. Which are the best online yoga teacher training certifications out there right now? Luckily, Yoga Alliance holds the answer to that question.

My goal for this article is to give you a well-rounded understanding on how to do your own research into the best online yoga teacher trainings that are currently available to you. It is essential to weigh your best options when deciding which school to trust with your money. But even more importantly, with your yoga education. So, let’s help you find the online yoga teacher training certification that is right for you.

Composed of over 7,000 Registered Yoga Schools (RYS) and more than 100,000 Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT) as of April of 2020, Yoga Alliance is the largest nonprofit association representing the yoga community. Their mission is to “foster and support the high quality, safe, accessible, and equitable teaching of yoga.”

Advocacy is a key component of the Yoga Alliance, but they have taken it to the next level to ensure quality and safety in yoga teaching and practice by:

• Creating quantitative standards for yoga instruction
• Establishing a member-wide Ethical Commitment that includes a Code of Conduct, Scope of Practice, and dedication to equity.
• Fostering accountability through fair and full feedback regarding RYSs.

Founded in 1999 to protect diversity and set quality standards for yoga training and teaching, Yoga Alliance has worked diligently to improve the yoga education experience and continue to help positively shape its progression. Thus, the Yoga Alliance-approved certification has become the benchmark by which most practitioners measure trainings and teachers.

So, why does the Yoga Alliance Certification matter? Because it is the most highly respected authority on yoga training. The immense work and collaboration that went into their 18-month Standards Review Project has ensured that quality yoga teachers are available and accessible.

This is the reason why many fitness facilities, gyms, and studios require yoga teachers to become certified with a Yoga Alliance-approved program.

To become a certified yoga teacher, you need to complete a 200 hour program. Although different schools offer shorter certificate programs, in terms of the number of hours, Yoga Alliance requires that you to receive 200 hours of educational training, at a minimum, before becoming a recognized yoga teacher.

As part of the Yoga Alliance Social Credentialing system, trainees that complete a teacher training with a Registered Yoga School (RYS) are required to review and give feedback on the school and their yoga teacher training journey before they are able to continue registering as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). In other words, Yoga Alliance isn’t telling you one training is better than another, the students are. They become the eyes and ears for Yoga Alliance in teacher trainings around the world, and the yoga community becomes more accountable as a whole.

During the RYT application process, all trainees are required to review the school, staff, and the yoga program they completed. The survey asks trainees to provide feedback on:

• Whether the syllabus reflects what was taught during the training
• Whether the training met the outlined learning objectives
• Whether the number of Lead Teacher Contact hours matched the course description
• Whether or not they would recommend the teacher training

Trainees also have an option to leave general comments and this is when things get interesting.

Yoga Alliance Social Credentialing System is intended to provide future yoga teachers (so you) with useful information when choosing the right yoga teacher training certification. Each Registered Yoga School must have a public profile that includes a rating, between one and five stars. This is the unit of measurement of the quality of the teacher training program based on the schools’s past alumni experiences.

Each yoga school can choose to publish on its own public profile the reviews former trainees left upon graduation. If a yoga school wishes to publish any of the comments provided, then all comments will be made public and attributable to the reviewer. Now, think about it for a second. Yoga helps us cultivate a deep sense of surrender (Pranidhana is a Sanskrit word that means “surrender,” “devote” or “be supported by.” Ishvara pranidhana is the final niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and refers to surrendering to a higher source (Ishvara). It is the spiritual act of surrendering the self fully to the divine consciousness, and trusting the divine wisdom to guide the life and actions of the self in order to work in the world. In Buddhism, pranidhana is a vow typically made by a bodhisattva that he/she will strive to help all humans to enter nirvana and will not enter him/herself until this goal is achieved.PranidhanaPranidhana is a Sanskrit word that means “surrender,” “devote” or “be supported by.” Ishvara pranidhana is the final niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and refers to surrendering to a higher source (Ishvara). It is the spiritual act of surrendering the self fully to the divine consciousness, and trusting the divine wisdom to guide the life and actions of the self in order to work in the world. In Buddhism, pranidhana is a vow typically made by a bodhisattva that he/she will strive to help all humans to enter nirvana and will not enter him/herself until this goal is achieved.) to life. It is about self-awareness (Svādhyāya), trust (Shraddha), and community (Kula). If a yoga school chooses NOT to make its hard earned reviews public on Yoga Alliance directory to people like you, that should be your first red flag.

We as teachers, mentors, and schools should have a clear understanding of the value of teaching yoga as a service and being of service to others through our own teachings.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a standard business measure of loyalty and enthusiasm. It is important to note that unlike the Overall School Rating, the NPS is not a measurement of the quality of the teacher training program, or any other business, (not directly anyway), but rather a reflection on how likely trainees who already completed the training are actively recommending the training to the yoga community at large.

NPS ratings are calculated by taking each trainee’s response, to the same question as the Overall School Rating (i.e. “How likely are you to recommend this teacher training to a friend?”), and putting them into one of three groups:

• Ratings of 9 – 10 are considered “promoters.” These trainees are likely to be enthusiastic about urging their friends to take this teacher training certification.
• Ratings of 7 – 8 are considered “passives.” These trainees are satisfied with the teacher training, but are not likely to be recommending the training to others.
• Ratings of 6 or less are considered “detractors.” These trainees are unhappy with their experience and unlikely to recommend the school to others.

The NPS is calculated by taking the percentage of promoters minus the percentage of detractors. The resulting number is a measure of how likely the trainees, who have completed the training, are to actively recommend the training to others.

Like with the reviews, a yoga school can choose whether to display the Net Promoter Score (NPS) on the school’s public profile. If it’s not there, well there is your second red flag. Just ask yourself this question: “Why would a school choose to hide such an important factor from the yoga community?”

Overall School Rating will always be publicly visible on the school’s profile within Yoga Alliance. Trainees rate from 0-10 how likely they are to recommend a yoga teacher training program, and this is converted to a five-star rating. Beyond the public Overall School Rating, schools can decide what other information is shown on their public profile related to:

• Training content ratings and comments
• Knowledge/teaching skills ratings and comments
• Net Promoter Score
• General comments

Here is a sample School Evaluation Survey to give you an idea how the rating system works:

We are increasingly researching the internet for the advice and experience of others. All too often yoga studios, schools, and teacher training certifications get “reviewed” and rated on different websites that are saturated with affiliation links. An affiliate link is a great way for a blog to recommend a service or product while asking the school to give the blogger “a cut” $ each time a visitor makes a purchase. The problem with this kind of a “relationship” is the bloggers will always put their bottom line before the best interests of yoga or those earning a living by teaching it.

By contrast, Yoga Alliance Social Credentialing System’s sole motivation is to serve the interests of the yoga community while maintaining the integrity of both the practice and the profession of yoga. Social Credentialing provides a meaningful alternative to the unverified, arbitrary, and sometimes inflammatory ratings and comments that consumer sites and blogs deliver. It protects the community while providing the public with a reliable and fair source of information and advice.

By combining feedback with established educational and training standards, Social Credentialing expands the Yoga Alliance credentialing process from a closed, centralized system to a transparent, dynamic dialogue between all members of the yoga community.

Yoga Alliance Social Credentialing System adds both credibility and transparency to the whole yoga community. By capturing feedback from trainees, schools are able to grow and improve their yoga teacher training programs, but more importantly, it helps potential trainees make an informed decision when selecting a yoga teacher training program.

It also:

• provides transparency about what schools teach in their trainings.
• asks the community to self-regulate and ensure compliance with Yoga Alliance Standards.

Pursuing a training that is internationally recognized is key for a successful yoga teacher career. More importantly, investing in the right Yoga Alliance approved training can dramatically increase your chances for fantastic results in the long run, and actually make you a more knowledgeable and more effective yoga teacher. I highly recommend that the school you pick to trust with your yoga education should always have these four factors:

1. The school is registered with Yoga Alliance
2. The school should have published authentic reviews on it’s public profile within Yoga Alliance
3. The school should have a healthy Net Promoter Score (ratings of 9 – 10)
4. The school you pick should have its own Yoga Alliance recognized certificates*

*If the school name is different from the name printed on the certificate, then there is something wrong. Pay attention to this. Here is a good article to help you start your research.

Always visit the Yoga Alliance website to look at these important factors before making your decision!

Below is a list of Yoga Alliance-approved schools that offer online yoga teacher training and are available to you right now. Every review includes Overall School Rating and Net Promoter Score (OSR | NPS). Click on each school to read trainee reviews for full transparency to help you make the most informed decision.

While flexible and accessible, learning online can be isolating. Community encouragement will play a role in inspiring you to complete your online yoga instructor training. Always ask if your yoga school and their yoga teacher program provides opportunities to communicate with others, includes social support via Facebook groups, forums, etc.

Your thorough research into the best yoga online teacher training certification will leave your intuition  telling you, “that’s the one.” Listen to your instinct; it rarely misleads you.

If you are considering a yoga teacher career path, becoming a yoga teacher is not as difficult as you might think. Once you’ve done your research, there are various ways to train and teach yoga. Some of these focus on a more modern style while others focus on traditional techniques. Some have a beautiful blend. Once you become an accredited yoga teacher, you will be free to develop your own signature style.