We sat down with Rhonna Griffin, LYT Director of Education and Programming and LYT Senior Instructor, to ask some questions about the LYT Yoga Level 1 200-Hour Teacher Training. Read on to find out more!
Q: How long has the LYT Yoga Method been around and when was the first online guided LYT Yoga Method teacher training?
A: Lara started intentionally crafting the method and teaching from her home studio 20 years ago. As her children grew older and the demand for her classes grew she ran her first teacher training in 2012 and opened her first public studio in early 2013. Since that time we ran eight in-person trainings before creating our first online teacher training in January of 2020.
Q: How many cohorts have there been and how has each teacher’s training evolved?
A: Currently, we are enrolling our seventh group (cohort) for the Guided Online Teacher Training. Some of the biggest changes we have made since the original online training launched in 2020 are incorporating more perspectives through the Philosophy sections and refilming the original classes to incorporate more diverse bodies both in gender, age, and experience. More recently we added mentorship to the Level 1 training, which is a wonderful way for trainees to have another contact point with the LYT Team as well as an ongoing support system. Finally, we began offering a complimentary movement consultation to allow all participants to get experienced eyes on their own practice so they can get specific feedback to achieve their training goals.
Q: What do you wish people knew about the teacher training that maybe isn’t as obvious until you’re doing it?
A: I wish people knew how much LOVE is put into the training. Every single person involved loves what they do and looks forward to supporting the trainees. This energy and care truly cultivates a sense of family and community that always delights me even though I have seen it happen time and time again.
Q: What do you say to someone who already has already taken 200+ hours of yoga teacher training to still consider taking this one?
A: This training is unlike anything you have done before because of its physical therapy foundations. Every pose and every move is explained from a biomechanical perspective so that you can truly understand the WHY behind them all. There is more emphasis on understanding and encouraging you to be a critical thinker rather than just repeating cues you may or may not understand.
Q: As one of the lead teacher training instructors, what is one of your favorite things about leading teacher training?
A: I love seeing people from ALL OVER THE WORLD come together with the shared vision of discovering how to move better and share that love with their communities.
Q: Can you share a bit about how you’ve seen teacher trainees connect and network over the years through LYT workshops and retreats?
A: I think this is actually my favorite part of my job. Our LYT Family FB group is open to all people who have gone through the Level 1 training. This allows cross-cohort introductions to be made and then deepened through continuing education courses such as Sequencing Labs and the Level 2 training. Of course, as a travel junkie, I LOVE getting my feet on the ground and hosting community events in areas where we have a density of trainees and being the conduit for them to gather and meet in real life. Such a joy.
Q: What are some ways you’ve seen certified LYT teachers take what they learn in the training and use it beyond teaching LYT yoga classes?
A: Such a great question! I love that we have so many people who also teach other disciples and are able to incorporate the ideas and cues we use in LYT into their respective activities. Some examples are people who coach horseback riders and baseball players, teach cycling classes, weightlifting, reformer pilates, and more. LYT is more than just a “type of yoga” it is a method of moving that can be carried out in any discipline. Additionally, we have seen our instructors collaborate together to host workshops, retreats, teacher training, and even open studios with the LYT Method as the primary class type!
Q: What can you tell me about the closed-captioning aspect and why this became a necessary feature for the training to include?
A: Since the very first online teacher training our percentage of non-native English speakers has been significant. It felt like a natural progression for us to start making our training more accessible to that population as well as others for whom aural and visual comprehension is not their strongest learning modality. Adding the closed captions (subtitles) supports all these groups so that they can deepen their understanding of the concepts by reinforcing with text what they are hearing and seeing in the videos.
Q: For some people, it can feel daunting to take an online training course and hold oneself accountable versus an in-person training. How does the LYT Teacher Training help combat this obstacle?
A: Great question! I think the first thing I want to tell people is that it is NOT a requirement to watch every single video and understand every single concept in order to certify. There is an abundance of content that is intended for you to go back to and refresh as often as you’d like. This is the benefit of the online training over in-person, that you do have all the recorded content to refer back to for years to come. Additionally, the mentoring sessions really give you that sense of community and weekly accountability to show up and continue to engage in whatever way is available for you. Finally, we offer three to four weeks after the end of the ten-week course to submit your materials for certification. Should a trainee need significantly more time than that we can offer unlimited certification time with our Administrative Certificate process for a fee.
