How to Choose a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh

Namaste. Every week I receive letters from seekers around the world asking the same question: "There are so many yoga schools in Rishikesh — how do I choose?" After twenty-five years on this path, five of them living inside the Bihar School of Yoga, I want to answer honestly — even where honesty does not favour my own school.

Rishikesh has hundreds of registered yoga schools. Some are extraordinary. Some are businesses wearing spiritual clothing. The seven questions below will help you tell the difference, wherever you finally choose to study.

1. Ask about lineage, not just certification

A certificate tells you a school completed paperwork. A lineage tells you where its knowledge comes from. Ask any school: who taught your teachers, and who taught them? If the answer stops one generation back, the teaching is likely assembled from workshops and videos. Traditional lineages — Bihar School of Yoga, Sivananda, Himalayan tradition and others — carry practices refined over generations. When your teacher-of-teachers is known, the depth reaches you.

2. Batch size decides everything

This is the question almost nobody asks, and it matters more than any other. In a batch of thirty or forty students, you are watching a class. In a batch of ten, your teacher knows your name, your stiff left hip, your breathing pattern, and the day you struggled. Adjustments become personal. Philosophy discussions become conversations. Ask every school directly: how many students in my batch? If they will not give a number, that is your answer. At our school we stop at ten — not for marketing, but because beyond that, true transmission weakens.

3. Read the daily schedule like a detective

A serious 200 hour training is residential and full: prāṇāyāma before sunrise, āsana practice, philosophy, anatomy, teaching methodology, evening meditation. If a schedule shows three hours of classes and long "free time for exploring", you are looking at a holiday with a certificate. Also notice what is taught: is philosophy a daily class or a Friday afternoon token? Is prāṇāyāma treated as foundation or decoration? The schedule reveals the school's soul.

4. Who actually teaches you?

Websites show impressive founder photos; then a junior assistant teaches your entire course. Ask: which teachers will take my batch, and how many hours will each teach? Look for teachers who live the practice daily — not only perform it. Experience matters less as a number and more as a way of being: you will feel it in the first class.

5. Understand what the fee includes — completely

Compare totals, not headlines. A "$900 course" becomes $1,400 after room, food, materials and "registration fees" appear. A transparent school states plainly what is included. Our own pricing, for example, includes accommodation, three sattvic meals daily, full tuition and airport pickup — from $999 for a 200 hour training in triple sharing. Whatever school you choose, get the complete number in writing before you pay anything.

6. Check how they handle money — it predicts everything else

A school's refund policy tells you its character before you arrive. Is there a written policy? Is the deposit amount reasonable (ours is $100)? What happens if you must cancel? Schools that are vague about money before you arrive rarely become generous after. Read the policy page; if a school does not have one, walk away.

7. Trust the small signals

Finally — write to the school. Notice how they answer. Do they respond personally or with a sales script? Do they ask about you — your practice, your health, your intention — or only about your payment? A school that interviews you a little before accepting you is a school that cares who sits in its circle. The conversation before enrolment is a sample of the teaching after it.

A word about Yoga Alliance

Many students ask if a school must be Yoga Alliance registered. Registration is useful — many studios abroad ask for RYT credentials — but understand what it is: a registry, not an inspection. Nobody from any alliance sits in classes measuring depth. Use registration as one factor, never the deciding one. The certificate opens doors; the training itself decides whether you can walk through them.

Choosing with the heart, checking with the head

"When students find the right school, they simply know. The checklist protects you from mistakes — the final choice comes from somewhere quieter."

After all these practical questions, I will tell you a secret: most students report that when they found the right school, they simply knew. The practical checklist protects you from mistakes; the final choice comes from somewhere quieter. Sit with each option. Notice which one returns to your mind in stillness.

If your search brings you to consider our school, I welcome your questions personally — ask me anything on WhatsApp or through our consultation form. And if another school serves your path better, I wish you a beautiful training. The yoga is what matters.

Hari Om Tat Sat,
Renu Singh