Yoga Teacher Training Forum

Pros and Cons of Hot Yoga Certification

Blood vessels dilate and blood pressure decreases when yoga is performed under extreme heat and humidity. Hot yoga, which is available in many varieties, focuses on the use of heat to improve the flexibility and functioning of the body. Specifically, hot yoga targets toxins and metabolic wastes in the body for swift removal to improve overall health.

The Pros of Hot Yoga Certification

One of the best things in learning to become an instructor for these types of classes is that having any specialized certification gives you a little more leverage for obtaining teaching positions. It allows you to offer a variety of yoga classes, which can attract a different type of student that may have previously overlooked your studio due to a lack of interest in the offered classes. This can increase the student base of the studio, as well as the income produced by the studio.

Hot yoga is a specialized type of yoga that not all yoga teachers can comfortably perform or instruct, and having this certification can make you stand out from other yoga teachers. People remember what stands out, and offering a class others do not is a good way of helping potential students remember your studio.

Another benefit of having a certification for teaching hot yoga is that you have the opportunity to teach a new skill that offers a different set of positive health influences. Hot yoga increases metabolic functioning and seriously improves flexibility, and some of your current students may benefit from learning this style of yoga.

The Cons of Hot Yoga Certification

If you only have a hot yoga teacher credential, you will only teach heated classes. This is an extremely loyal, but smaller group of students in comparison to the many other unheated styles. Maintaining the environment that is needed for hot yoga classes within your own studio can be difficult. It requires high temperatures, often above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and heavy humidity. This can be expensive to achieve with electric heat, and keeping these extremes to only one area of the studio can be difficult and might require extra insulation between the rooms. It is important that the rest of the yoga studio remain at a comfortable temperature for other classes.

When it comes to such extreme temperatures, there is no denying that some people simply cannot handle them. Some teachers and students alike will be too uncomfortable in the high heat and humidity to perform yoga, and it can even result in fainting in some cases. If you are not someone who is comfortable in this type of environment, teaching it can be dangerous, as you are not as capable of recognizing to problems with students or yourself when your body is responding poorly to high temperature fluctuations.