Yoga Training & Certification

Since being miserable at my job the whole 5 years I have been there, I have been educating myself (I am halfway through to a Health Promotion & Education degree & a minor in Addiction Studies) through my fee waver at the University and by becoming certified in various things, like becoming a Certified Smoking Cessation Facilitator with the American Lung Association and American Cancer Society, and also by recently becoming a Certified Bartender.

Gotta prepare for employment (or a way to make a quick buck) that I can do anywhere unlike other people who have been out of work for years during this recession. I believe I will never, ever be in that position. And I am a nerd that likes to learn.

I was thinking last week, what else can I get certified in that I can take with me anywhere, that I could afford, that could make me more employable, and that would be fitness-related?
I could be a personal trainer! Yeah, I would have to lose weight and actually workout more then what I do, but I could get fitter and I could take it with me anywhere. Lots of places could use a good trainer. And I could become one.

So I did some, actually lots, of searching for personal training certification companies. Livestrong gave me a good listing of companies to search on.

I liked the cost, pre-req’s, and what came with some of the certs at AFPA. Each of the bundles appear to be cost effective for me. They come with books, the test, and the allowance of 6 months to complete. Which will be ok since I have 3 races to keep me occupied for the rest of this year and I plan on taking 3-6 credits (both online classes, not sure if I should drop one) for Fall semester at BSU.

But they have a beginner yoga certification. That seems like fun. A lot of yoga teachers, although live and breathe their trade, appear a little too granola for me. Sure, you can love what you do, but I don’t want a hairy vegan hippy to learn from. No offense to those hairy vegan hippy yoga teachers. I may be stereotyping here. And a lot of those stereotypes are true at some of the teachers I looked at at local yoga studios. I had enough Patchouli in my massage schooling to last me forever. It is not what I am looking for right now.

Day Spa mag (which I subscribe to to keep informed about the industry) suggests that becoming certified through Yoga Alliance is the way to go.

Ok, but from them, classes are $1000’s of dollars and I think you have to be a regular yoga student for at least a year. And for the most part, classes are month-long intensive.

I want to be a yoga instructor that I want to learn from. Well, maybe not be an instructor because I don’t see me making a full career out of it. But spending $400 for a quick certification through the AFPA would help me gain knowledge (which is a major point) and help me in learning more about yoga, make me more marketable (just in case I need to be more marketable), then just going to a few classes in the afternoon or on weekends. If I spent the 6 months studing yoga through the AFPA, I would be halfway to the 1-year minimum for the Yoga Alliance cert.

Do you hold any fitness related certifications? Who did you go through & why? How often do you take yoga classes?