Yoga Teacher Confidential: Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

63. How I Chose My 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training (And Why I'm Building a Better One)

• Sage Rountree • Episode 63

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Most 200-hour yoga teacher trainings teach you how to do yoga—but they don't teach you how to teach yoga. If you've been through a training yourself, you know exactly what I mean. You spent weeks learning Sanskrit names, memorizing muscles, and perfecting your own poses. Then they handed you a certificate and said you're a yoga teacher now. Except you didn't really feel like one.

In this episode, I'm taking you back to 2003 when I chose my own 200-hour training by looking through the printed pages of Yoga Journal. I'm sharing what made that training brilliant, what I learned from watching my business partner go through a different program, and how running our own training for nearly a decade taught me what works and what doesn't.

Then I'm telling you about the 200-hour training I'm building right now with my colleague Amy Boerner. It's designed to teach you how to teach first—giving you the pedagogical foundation most trainings skip—and then lets you practice teaching real humans at a gorgeous eco-resort in Dominica. The online portion opens January 1, 2026, and the on-the-ground intensive runs May 12 through 26, 2026.

If you've been thinking about becoming a yoga teacher, or if you've already done a 200-hour and know something was missing, this episode will show you what's possible when a training prioritizes teaching skills over pose knowledge.

Listen now.

Want to become (almost) everyone's favorite yoga teacher? Get in the Zone at Comfort Zone Yoga, my virtual studio focused on teacher development. I have a ton of Sage advice in there for you—let's chat there!

For more insights, subscribe to Yoga Teacher Confidential, check out my YouTube channel, and follow me on socials:

And come explore my mentorship program, my Yoga Class Prep Station membership, continuing education workshops and 300/500-hour teacher training programs, and my many books for yoga teachers. It's all at ...

Can I tell you something? Most 200 hour yoga teacher trainings teach you how to do yoga, but they don't teach you how to teach yoga. And if you've been through a 200 hour training yourself, you might know exactly what I'm talking about. You spent weeks, maybe months learning Sanskrit names, memorizing muscle groups, perfecting your own osana. You filled out worksheets. You practiced on your peers until everyone was physically exhausted and then they handed you a certificate and said, congratulations, you're a yoga teacher now. Except you didn't really feel like one did you? Because knowing how to do a pose and knowing how to teach someone else to do that pose, how to sequence it, how to cue it, how to modify it, how to make your student feel seen and supported and successful, those are completely different skill sets. And most 200 hour trainings focused almost entirely on the first one. I know this because I have been on both sides of it. I graduated from my 200 hour training in 2004. I have run a 200 hour program at my physical studio, Carrboro yoga company from 2011 until just recently. I have taught in other people's trainings. I have mentored hundreds of yoga teachers through my 300 hour yoga teacher training program. And I can tell you this with absolute certainty. The teachers who struggle the most after graduation are the ones whose training taught them yoga, but not pedagogy. Andragogy. Actually, that's the study of how adults learn, which is different from how children learn, and it's what we actually need as yoga teachers.

This is Yoga Teacher Confidential:

Secrets of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher. I'm Sage Rountree, and here's what I want to talk about today. I'm going to tell you the story of how I chose my own yoga teacher training back in 2003 when you had to look in the printed pages of Yoga Journal to even find programs. I'm going to tell you how that experience and watching my business partner go through a different training than running our own for nearly a decade taught me both what works and what doesn't. And then I'm going to tell you about the 200 hour training I am building right now. The one where I finally get a do-over on all the things I wish I had done differently the first time around. And if you are thinking about doing a 200 hour training or if you've already done one, but you know in your bones that something was missing, I want you to stick around because I think what I'm building might be exactly what you need. Let me take you back to 2003. I was pregnant with my second daughter, and I had been deepening my yoga practice as a compliment to my running. I had just jumped the rails out of academia. I have a PhD in English literature, but there were 700 or more applicants for every desirable tenure track job as I was finishing my dissertation. So I pivoted into academic publishing, working for Duke University Press, as well as Oxford and Cambridge University presses. And as I was doing this work, I thought, I've been trained to teach. I taught freshman composition. I taught drama as a genre. I taught contemporary literature all at UNC Chapel Hill. Why couldn't I teach yoga? So I started looking for yoga teacher trainings. This was before everyone had a website, before you could even Google things. I'm talking about the printed directory in the back of Yoga journal. I found one program at a retreat center nearby. The lead teacher was a disciple of Dharma Mitra, very spiritual, a little intimidating, but apparently solid. And that program was a strong contender. But then my mother-in-law found me a training in Charlotte, North Carolina, about two and a half hours away. It was an eight month program, one weekend per month, and she had wonderful ulterior motives. If I went to Charlotte for training, I would bring my husband and our two young daughters, and she would get to see her grandchildren one weekend every month. She very generously offered to cover the tuition, so that became an easy choice. The program I took was led by a woman named Lesa Crocker, and she had the most interesting background. She was a massage therapist and a Rolfer, which meant she had incredibly solid anatomy training. She had studied Kundalini yoga with Yogi Bhajan. Now we now know he was quite problematic, but at the time, he was a big deal. She had gone out to the ashram in New Mexico to study Kundalini with him. And she had also studied Hatha Yoga with Erich Schiffmann, a West Coast teacher who wrote one of the most beautiful books about yoga I have

ever read: Yoga:

The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness. Erich called his approach and yoga for freedom yoga, and it was all about freedom and permission for the practitioner. Very kripalu style. If you're familiar with Kripalu. So Lesa had this Trinity. She knew anatomy from the inside out, spirituality and chanting from Kundalini and this sweet permissive student-centered approach from Eric Schiffman. Here's what made her training brilliant. Instead of teaching us secondhand information about different styles of yoga, she brought in the actual teachers from those lineages. The premier Ashtanga teacher in Charlotte came and taught us Ashtanga Yoga. The premier Kripalu yoga teacher, Debbie George, came and taught us Kripalu yoga. It was what I like to call an ecumenical approach. It was broad instead of deep. If I had wanted to teach Bikram or Ashtanga yoga specifically, I would've needed a deep dive into that one method. But instead, I got this incredible survey, this overview, so I could go in later and flesh out the pieces I needed. I started that training in September, 2003. My daughter was born August 4th, so I had a six week old baby when I started. My husband would bring her to me during breaks so I could nurse her. I remember being so nervous before the first Friday night session of YTT and then so excited after it that I could not sleep. I got almost no sleep Friday night into Saturday before going back all day Saturday and most. Sunday, I hope you can relate and that you are that excited to be in your own yoga teacher training. Mine was a great fit. Flash forward to 2010. My business partner Lies Sapp and I took over Carrboro Yoga Company when the founder moved across the country that summer, the studio was hosting a 200 hour training led by Stephanie Keach, founder of the Asheville Yoga Center, a very famous school that thrived through the two thousands and 2010s. Lies was already signed up to take Stephanie's training when the opportunity to buy the studio came up. So she went through teacher training. Both as a student and as a brand new studio owner, which gave her an incredible crash course in all things yoga. Fun fact, one of Lies's colleagues in that 200 hour YTT was a woman named Amy Boerner. I'll tell you a little bit more about Amy later in this episode. Now, Stephanie's program was structured a lot like mine had been. It was ecumenical with guest teachers coming in to present on their respective styles, but least noticed some things that didn't work so well. The intensive format was three weeks straight, and it was a lot to process. They would wheel in the four by three aspect ratio television after lunch to show anatomy videos, and everyone would be falling asleep. She felt like the anatomy actually never really landed the way it needed to because of that. All of these experiences informed how she and I built the Carrboro Yoga Company, 200 hour training. We adopted that ecumenical great books approach, going straight to the primary sources, bringing in lead teachers from our community. We ran this YTT in various formats from 2011 until the pandemic hit. Then we resumed it for one cycle and eventually we handed it off to my colleague Alexandra Deto, who's been my co-author on four books, most notably our bestseller, teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses, and Alexandra brings her own flare. She taught for 19 years at the community college level, so she really understands how adults learn. Once we had handed this program to Alexandra, I turned my attention to the 300 hour training, and here's where things got really fun and interesting for me as a curriculum designer. The 300 hour at Comfort Zone Yoga, that's my virtual studio where I now host all my teacher trainings, has a core curriculum. It's called Mastering the Art of Yoga Sequencing. It's all about structuring the container of your class. It's designed to help you become. Almost everyone's favorite yoga teacher, the one that students seek out, the one who creates that magical experience where people feel exactly how they want to feel. Then the other half of the 300 hour YTT you will fill in with electives, things that light you up. It's like graduate school, right? You have your required courses and you have your electives. And that structure works beautifully because by the time you get to the 300, you already have the foundation. You've done your 200. You know the basics. But here's what I realized. Most people's 200 hour experience didn't actually give them a foundation in teaching. It gave them a foundation in yoga. Let me be really direct with you. If you took a 200 hour yoga teacher training and you finished it feeling like, okay, I know a lot more about yoga, but I still don't know how to actually teach a class, that's not your fault. That's not because you weren't smart enough or dedicated enough or present enough. It's because the training was designed to teach you the wrong thing. Most 200 hour trainings are built around the assumption that if you know enough about yoga, if you can name all the poses in Sanskrit, if you understand which muscles engage in Warrior two, if you can recite some of the yoga sutras, then teaching will just happen. You'll figure it out. But teaching is a skill. It's a craft. It's an art form, and it requires its own training. Think about it this way. I have that PhD in English literature. I spent years studying literature, analyzing texts, writing about symbolism and theme a narrative structure. But you know what actually prepared me to stand in front of an English classroom and teach freshman composition. It was not my knowledge of literature. It was my training in pedagogy. It was learning how to structure a lesson, how to create assignments that actually help students learn how to give feedback that lands how to read the room and adjust in real time. That's what most yoga teacher trainings are missing. They're giving you the content knowledge, which don't get me wrong, is critically important, but they're not giving you the pedagogical training. They're not teaching you how to teach, and here is why that matters so much. When you don't know how to teach, when you're just mimicking what your teachers did or winging it or feeling like an imposter, every single time you step in front of a class, it shows up in your teaching, not because you're a bad teacher, but because you're anxious, you're in your head, you're worried about what to say next, or whether you're doing it right or what people are thinking about you. And when you are anxious, your students feel it. They can't relax, they can't drop in. They can't have the experience you want them to have. But when you do know how to teach, when you have a structure, a framework, a methodology that you trust, you can relax, you can be present, you can actually see your students and respond to what they need in real time. You can create that magical experience where people leave your class feeling exactly how they need it to feel. That is what I want for you. Not just knowledge about yoga, but mastery of teaching yoga. And that's why I am building a new 200 hour training that does both. Here's the beautiful thing I get a do-over. I am building a 200 hour yoga teacher training right now, and I get to design it with everything I have learned from taking one, running one, and teaching hundreds of teachers. In the 300 hour, I get to fix all the things that didn't work. I get to build in all the things I felt were missing, and I want to invite you to be a part of it. Here is how it works. I am co-teaching this 200 Hour with Amy Boerner. Remember I said she was a student alongside Lesa in their original 200 hour yoga teacher training? The first year Lies Lesa and I owned Carolina Yoga Company or Carrboro Yoga, Amy and I are splitting the duties for this 200 into two parts. I am teaching 50 hours of what I would call the container, the pedagogical foundation, the teaching methodology, the stuff you need to know before you ever step in front of a class. This is self-paced and available online through Comfort Zone Yoga opening on January 1st, so you can work through this core curriculum on your own timeline in the ways that work best for how you learn. That could be watching the videos, reading the transcripts, or listening to the private podcast. You'll be reading my books, the Professional Yoga Teacher's Handbook, the Art of Yoga Sequencing and Teaching Yoga Beyond the Poses. I also have a new book coming out called Yoga Off the Mat, which I co-wrote with Alexandra, but that won't launch until after the training starts. I still encourage you to pick it up to flesh out your approach to yoga philosophy for modern life. In my 200, you'll be watching videos or alternatively listening to the private podcast or reading the transcripts if that's how you learn better. Because adults learn in different ways, and a good training needs to honor that. You'll also be reflecting and articulating what you personally think matters for yoga teaching. What kind of teacher do you want to be? How do you want your students to feel before, during, and after your yoga class? How can you niche down as a yoga teacher to help people solve particular problems with yoga? How can you be as inclusive as possible? How can you be of highest service to your students and your community? This is the pedagogical training. This is the how to teach part that most 200 hours, skip right over. And then you'll take all of that learning and you'll go practice it with Amy on the ground at Jungle Bay Eco Resort in Dominica. Now, Dominica is an island in the Caribbean, but it's not the Dominican Republic. It's further south in the chain. The on the ground intensive in Dominica runs May 12th through 26th, 2026. And here's where it gets really exciting. Now Amy is leading the destination component, the hands-on practicum, the practice teaching, the embodiment of everything you've learned. You'll be working with your fellow trainees, yes, but more importantly, you won't just be teaching each other. You'll be teaching actual humans, real resort guests, people who did not sign up for yoga, teacher training, people who just want to take a yoga class. I am going to teach you my greatest hits lesson plan because you've gotta start somewhere, right? If we're thinking about this like culinary school, the greatest hits lesson plan is the recipe You're going to learn first, and you're going to teach that class to the resort guests over the two weeks that you're on the island. You'll get to repeat it. You'll get a do over if you want to articulate something differently, and as your confidence grows, you can start to vary the recipe. You'll be using the serve method that I teach in my 300 hour program? Yes, even at the 200 hour level because it works. And in between your practice teaching, you'll be lounging by the Infinity Pool eating organic cuisine that served to you without you lifting a finger. Doing seva, service work for the local community on the island and soaking in one of the most gorgeous places on Earth. This is not your typical yoga teacher training. This is a training that teaches you how to teach and then gives you space to practice teaching in a supported low stakes high impact way. Look, here's what I know. The yoga teaching world doesn't need more people who can demonstrate a perfect Chaturanga. It needs more people who can teach in a way that makes students feel seen, supported, and successful. It needs teachers who understand that they are not the hero of the story. Their students are the heroes. It needs teachers who know how to structure a class, how to cue effectively, how to modify and adapt in real time, how to create an experience that serves. If you've been thinking about becoming a yoga teacher, or if you've already taken a 200 hour and you know something was missing, this is your chance. The 200 hour training with Amy and me begins online January 1st with the on the ground component in Dominica, running May 12th through 26th. 2026. You can find. All the details and apply right now at carrboroyoga.com/destination200ytt. The link is also in the show notes, and if you've already done a 200 hour training somewhere else, here's something you might not know. There is no rule that says you can't do another one. In fact, I would love to work with you in this program. You will get so much more out of it the second time around, especially now that you know what questions to ask. And for those of you who have already completed your 200 hour and who feel ready to take your teaching to the next level, I want to invite you to check out the 300 hour program at Comfort Zone Yoga. The core curriculum is mastering the Art of Yoga sequencing, that mentorship membership I mentioned earlier, and it is designed to help you become almost everyone's favorite yoga teacher, the one student. Seek out the one who creates that experience people can't stop talking about. You can find that at comfortzoneyoga.com as well. One more thing I really want to hear from you. I am building this training right now with everything I have learned over 20 plus years of teaching and training teachers. But I also want to know, what did you love about your 200 hour training? What do you wish had been different? What was missing? You can reach me on social media where I am at Sage Rountree with no letter D on pretty much every platform. You can email me at info@sagerountree.com. Also no letter D. You can drop a comment at Comfort Zone Yoga. We have a community space there called The Zone. I am genuinely eager to hear your highs and lows from your own teacher training experience because this is a conversation, not a monologue. We are building something together here. And if what I've described today resonates with you, if you're thinking, yes, this is what I've been looking for, then I really hope you'll join us because I think you are going to love what Amy and I are creating. Thank you for being here. I'm Sage Rountree. This is Yoga Teacher Confidential, and I will see you on the mat or in teacher training.

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Sage Rountree

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