One of the most common questions we get from potential trainees for our foundational 200 hour vinyasa yoga teacher training is, do you think I'm ready? If you are thinking about this, you are not alone. Most who show up to their first day of training are wondering if they are ready, glancing over at the other trainees and their yoga practice. Is she stronger than me? Is he more enlightened than me?  

We've had trainees from all walks of life graduate our program with flying colors. An 18 year old recent high school graduate having a taste of freedom. A 63 year old former marketing director looking for change. A 23 year old medical student on a gap year. A 34 year old psychologist in-between jobs. Along with most of our trainees (we've graduated over 100 at the time of writing), they have a few things in common. Do you recognise yourself in any of this?  

1. Practicing yoga is important in your every day life. You prioritise your practice. You sign up for workshops, look up vinyasa classes when you travel and you schedule your social life around your favourite teachers. 
2. You are hungry for more yoga knowledge. Ready to listen to the details of chaturanga dandasana. Ready to try challenging transitions and unusual poses. Ready to hear the story behind modern yoga. Eager to connect the dots. 
3. Your practice is so advanced that you know the unimportance of advanced poses. You know that listening inwards is everything. You know that progress is highly individual, and that an asana never ends. 
4. Your yoga practice is so important to you that you are not sure you want to teach yoga at all, but may just want to keep it to yourself. (That's right. Few trainees are career minded. Few know what they want. But all are very passionate about yoga and its' effects).
5. You are ready for change. In-between things. In transition. Tired of your job. Looking for meaning. Looking for like-minded people. 
6. You have already taught yoga casually to a few colleagues or friends, and noticed that you got away with it and actually had fun. 
7. You have a personal story behind your yoga passion. It has meaning and has had an impact on your life.
8. You are looking for a challenge and an adventure.
   
9. You haven't found a teacher your love where you live, and feel like you have to take matters into your own hands and learn the craft.  

Read about our next 200 hr vinyasa yoga teacher trainings here.  And feel free to contact us if you want to discuss if our training is the right one for you!

Less of a career choice, more of a heart's desire. That's what brought most yoga teachers to start teaching. Yet, it is certainly a profession, no matter to what degree you end up teaching. Here are few things we'd like to share that might help you if you are thinking about becoming a yoga teacher. 
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• HAVE A PRACTICE. Meaning, have somewhat of a journey in your own practice, a development, to refer back to in training and as you begin to teach. In our trainings we ask minimum 2 years of regular vinyasa practice. 
• HAVE A PASSION. Ask yourself why you would like to teach yoga. Make sure you have an answer that holds up. You will need to be passionate about your new profession – it's a competitive business out there and if your WHY is in place you'll have a great starting point. 
• COMPARE TRAININGS. This is a big one. It's time consuming. And confusing. You need to find a teacher training that suits you. A yoga teacher training is a big investment in time and money. They vary tremendously in quality because unfortunately it's a very unregulated field. There are various certifications and it can all be extremely confusing. Still, you will have to do it. Compare and read all the fine print. Contact the directors of the program if you don't already know them, and ask all your questions. Talk to them on the phone. Find out if there's a real connection. It's important. Ask for references from former trainees. Get them on the phone. Trust your gut instinct. Consider these things:

1. My local trusted teacher or a teacher I don't know with a more exciting sounding program? Well...sometimes the local option is the only option, depending on your life situation. If your local teacher offers a training and the program doesn't appeal to you, consider waiting until your life situation changes. Don't invest and risk your future relationship with your local studio owner if you're not 100% sure the program is right for you. 
2. A program on weekends for a year or a live-in 3-4 week intensive? Another one that depends on what suits you. Not everyone can take 3-4 weeks off work and life and step in to a bubble. If this is the case, the weekend set-up is great. The biggest positive with this format is that it allows plenty of time to digest all the content. But if you can do an intensive, consider it. To basically go to summer camp as an adult, for several weeks, living only yoga, is quite a treat. You are unlikely to do anything like this again in your adult life. You'll make strong connections with others, you'll check out of your regular life and get a chance to contemplate it all. Make sure you pick a training with decent quality housing and meals included though.  A program like this is quite intense and to have to scramble and shop and cook will take your attention away from the beauty of immersion. It's worth the extra money to go for the all-inclusive option.   
3. A celebrity teacher or a less known teacher? A well-known yoga teacher can look impressive on your resume and may also help future students to understand what type of yoga they can expect from you – if they know that teacher. Quite often, the well-known teacher's YTT:s are big group trainings, where you may or may not create a personal connection with the teacher. It can be soothing to be "left alone" and just do your own thing on the sidelines, but ultimately getting personal attention is of very high value. To be seen and supported is key in a training. Make sure you get to talk to a former trainee who can describe the learning environment before deciding. Be aware of guru-like hypes (they do exist) and with lesser-known and well-known teachers, inquire about the main focus of their training to ensure it suits you. 
4. In-person or online? Since 2020, many yoga teacher trainings have gone online permanently. Again, if this is your only option for lifestyle reasons, go for it. For online trainings, aim for a well established and well known teacher. This way you are more likely to be offered a professional technical solution and high quality digital material. Also, you can access teachers that may not be accessible otherwise, so go big! If you have the chance to do a yoga teacher training in person though, consider it. Yoga is all about connection and community. It's about bodies and minds and humans. It's about the senses. Spending 200 hours in front of your screen doing something this embodied and connected may or may not take you to a place of confidence as a new yoga teacher. If you can, take the opportunity to learn with others, to see others and be seen. 

• GO ALL IN ONCE YOU'RE IN TRAINING. Let go of everything else and focus fully on the content. This is your chance to immerse. You're in the conversation, in the bubble to some degree. Step in, dive in. 
• TRAINING BEGINS AFTER TRAINING. Yes. It does. Start teaching right away while all the content is fresh. Start with friends and family and just do it. Hopefully your yoga teacher training prepared you for this. Teach the same class over and over until you feel ready to create a new one. Allow everything to take time. 
• 1–2 YEARS LATER. After you start teaching, allow a year or two of a couple of classes per week until you feel comfortable delivering a class. Usually you'll enter a new phase here, of some doubt and a new longing for support and fine-tuning your skills and offerings. But that's another story. 

Interested in a vinyasa teacher training? Check out our Yoga Alliance certified 200 hour trainings here ››  And our certified Advanced vinyasa teacher training here ››

Every now and then when looking for vinyasa class planning inspiration, all you need is a picture of one fun, funky, surprising, modern yoga pose variation. That one, where you go "Ha, I've never tried that".

Then you roll out your mat, play with the pose variation, break it down, and your whole class sort of unfolds. Vinyasa is beautiful that way, as teachers we are free and unlimited to explore, play, offer up new exciting dishes and flavours.

Just remember that including a funky yoga pose will ask something from you. Make sure you try everything about the pose, transitioning in and out of the pose, find the easier versions of it to guide it well to all levels of yogis, and of course sequence it into your class in a sensible, pedagogic and intelligent way. Have fun sequencing your next funky and playful vinyasa class!  

1. Humble Flamingo
Photo: Pinterest/Aloyoga

2. Variations of Camel pose
Photo: Pinterest/lululemon

3. Goddess pose variation with a big smile
Photo: Pinterest/Christina Michelle

4. Crazy triangle pose 
Photo: Pinterest/nobadaddicion.com

5. Forearm wheel with lounge legs
Photo: Pinterest/Society6.com

6. Pistol squat hold
Photo: Pinterest/Erica Tenggara

As vinyasa teachers we constantly crave and look for new and fun transitions, don't we? How to guide students from one pose to the next with elegance and maybe a little innovation is an art. Here are three fun, playful transitions that might give a little edge to your next vinyasa flow yoga class. To see them in movement, there are links below. You can find more moves if you head over to Elin's Instagram account and look under reels!

From all fours, inhale to extend the right leg back. Exhale to lift left knee and draw right knee into chest (big image). Inhale lower left knee, right leg presses back. Exhale lift left knee, draw right knee to chest. Now inhale to three legged dog. Exhale to step the foot forward between the hands. Inhale arms up to high lunge. See the reel here.
​

From three legged dog, exhale to shift forward to three legged chaturanga. Inhale to upward facing dog. Exhale to sit back on your heels, grabbing the heels. Inhale press hips and chest forward to camel pose. Exhale to come all the way to down dog or child's pose. See the reel here.
​

Establish dolphin pose, ensuring that the elbows are pointing straight back, hands shoulder width apart. On an exhale, keep the elbows bent and shift the chest forward, squeezing the elbows in until landing in chaturanga. The arms never straighten. Inhale to up dog and exhale to down dog. See the reel here.
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At the time of writing this, True North Vinyasa has graduated close to one hundred amazing, authentic vinyasa flow teachers at the 200 hr level. At this point we are getting ready to start designing a program on the 300 hr level (the two certificates combine into a 500 hr certificate). Our current plan is to launch the program in 2022. But we'd like your help in our pursuit to put together the best possible program!

If you are a yoga teacher, let us know what you are craving and longing for in an advanced teacher training. What is the most important for you? Please take 5-10 minutes and help us by filling out the survey below. More information about the advanced teacher training (we can tell you already that we'll have a lot of practice, anatomy, vinyasa sequencing and yoga business on the schedule!) will follow later this spring/summer. 

Link to the survey

Thank you!
Elin & Lisa

At the moment, Yoga Alliance has extended the possibility for yoga schools to offer yoga teacher trainings online for at least another year. Chances are, this is a permanent shift. It's now possible to join a certified training anywhere at anytime, for as little as €350. A difficult choice for someone interested in becoming a yoga teacher just became even more difficult. How do you compare a €350 training with a €4500 training? We think you don't. 

We discussed moving our training online when the pandemic first hit. Ultimately, our decision is firm. We will not offer our program online. These are some reasons why. 

• A True North Vinyasa training means making connections for life. In a way that you never really get to do much as an adult. You know, like going to summer camp. Or like moving into the dorms at university. Or staying in hostels in Australia. In that way when you really get to know people because you hang out with them all the time. We wouldn't be able to create this human connection online. 
• A True North Vinyasa training is an immersion. It's 3 weeks of escaping your every day life, creating new habits and patterns that might stay with you forever. We cannot create an immersion online.
• A True North Vinyasa training is development of your yoga practice and of yourself. Daily feedback from your teachers and fellow trainees will do that. We cannot fully see you or assist you online. 
• A True North Vinyasa training is high quality down to every detail. From the paper picked for the manual to the food on your plate. We cannot guarantee this type of quality online. 
• A True North Vinyasa training is real. We hug. We dance. We laugh. We challenge you. We get to know you. We boost you. It's hard to believe we could give you this experience online.  
  

So, instead of re-inventing our program and trying to squeeze it into a screen, we will stubbornly stick with our 3 week intensives through 2021 as well. This is what we are passionate about. This is what we do best. 

PORTUGAL APRIL 2021
SWEDEN SEPTEMBER 2021
PORTUGAL NOVEMBER 2021

If you're a yoga teacher, you're also an online yoga teacher now. Whether you like it or not. Overheard in a yoga podcast last year, oh so true. We've had to adapt and adjust, fumble around with cables, software and angles like never before. Here are a few things we've learned so far about teaching vinyasa flow online to a live group.

1. SOUND | Sound quality is by far the most important technical aspect of livestreaming. Assuming your cues are super clear. A microphone with a transmitter does the trick. A lav (one of those little skin coloured thingies that attach to your head) can be in the way when you teach vinyasa as you're moving a lot. The Røde Wireless Go (around €220) is a fantastic device that Elin uses. Lisa decided to go with AirPods Pro (also around €220), which can double as a microphone. And of course, the AirPods are also useful when you take an online yoga class yourself. We've both had positive experiences.
2. VISUALS | Video quality is trickier to deal with and not as important as people are doing yoga, not eating popcorn and watching from the sofa (we think). We've tried using the iPhone as a camera, the laptop camera and a webcam. The conclusion is that the visual quality is only as good as your internet connection. In addition, unless you are operating a production company, your visual quality will simply never be as good as if you're using a real video camera. With livestream, it will also be a little on the grainy side for most of us. Acceptance is good here.  
3. NO-GO | Using a good "real" camera/video camera is great for producing yoga videos. For livestream, it requires a lot of extra tech and it's healthier for most of us one-person-shows to think of livestream and production as two different things. The set-up has to be simple, so that you can focus on giving an awesome class.   
4. PLATFORM | Zoom works fine, but there are services popping up designed for teaching yoga online. Both of us are currently working with vstudio, a smaller start-up specialising in making it easy for us as yoga teachers. The big win here is the professional look and the integrated payment system. It's easy for your yogis to sign up and pay, and easy for you to use. You pay with a percentage of your revenue, so it feels like a win-win. There are other services doing similar things, like Ribbon that we also heard is good.
5. MUSIC |  If you have a good microphone you're music (if using) will not be picked up. Either instruct people to play their own music at home, or send a link to your playlist on spotify, which most people have. During class, tell your group when to turn on the playlist. 
6. SEQUENCING | As much as we love mandalas and half mandalas, funky transitions and spinning around – this is difficult for people at home since they are being instructed from a screen and screens don't move around the room. Try not to confuse your class, keep it fairly simple.  
7. MODELS | When teaching the class, it can really help to have a couple of people in the classroom, if that's available. Even just one student will take pressure off you to demo everything and it will also give the person at home a studio feel. And another body to glance at. You will unavoidably demo the entire class – a little less if you have a few bodies practicing. It's hard to demo and teach – you'll feel your heartbeat and start to sweat. When your class is in downward facing dog, it's a good idea to sit on your knees a little. It will be more calming for you.
8. CLARITY | Being clear is even more important when you teach online. Say not too little, not too much but just enough.  
9. RELEASE | It can be good to record your classes – you can keep them as pay per view or post them for free. It can also be calming to let livestream be only live, to not record, and to release the experience completely.    

Your can find both Elin, Lisa and Nazareno online streaming away in the winter and spring of 2021. Take a class with one or all of us to get an idea of what you can expect in a daily practice at a 200 hour vinyasa teacher training.

Inpsiro Yoga's (Lisa & Nazareno) Virtual Studio ››
Elin Jensen's Virtual Studio ››  

We are at the half way point of our 200 hour Vinyasa Teacher Training immersion in Portugal. We are fortunate to be in this educational and personal growth bubble for three long weeks. Under the olive tree, soaking up the sun, we asked everyone to share one of their insights so far. Ten days with 2 hour morning practices and long hours loaded with lectures, discussions and workshops covering everything from the Yoga Sûtra and Human Anatomy to teaching sun salutations and learning hands-on assists. Here is what some of our trainees shared. 

​In our yoga teacher trainings, on the very first day, we ask our students this question. What makes a great yoga teacher? Not a good yoga teacher. Great. It's always a fantastic discussion. We end up with a long list of qualities that a great yoga teacher should have and quickly realise we may or may not have the time to develop them in the 200 hours ahead. But as hard as it is to sequence a class, separate left from right, and communicate the depth of yoga to a room full of people, even when all this is in place a yoga teacher can still be, well just good.  

This discussion is important. How do we go from good to great? Do all great yoga teachers fill the room in the big cities? And, if a yoga teacher is popular and has a huge following, does that mean she must be great? Does a yoga teacher in a big high profile studio teach at a higher level than one in a small town space with 8 students? Think about it. Who is a memorable yoga teacher you have come across? One that you were willing to change your own schedule for. One whose class you cancelled when you heard there would be a substitute teacher. What did she have that the others didn't have?    
 
What we have found is that great yoga teachers don't always come in the format of sold out high profile events. The primary quality of a truly great yoga teacher we believe is presence. The ability to truly connect. To work in a dialogue with the students, to see them, to be there in every cell and breath. Keep your eyes open – you can come across a great teacher anywhere at anytime.  

In this the year of the mighty Covid-19, the connection of course is challenged. That dialogue with students is always compromised when teaching online. Not to mention when training teachers online. For a brief moment there, we were tempted to move our training to an online format. It seemed like the only way. But it never felt right by our trainees and everything we worked for and stand for.

We are so very grateful to our trainees this year, who have stayed with us and moved their dates forward. With your support and trust, we've been able to stay with our original concept: in-person immersion vinyasa teacher trainings with, you guessed it, human presence and connection for three long weeks. We managed to pull off an in-person training with 12 beautiful souls in Sweden in September. At the time of writing this, we are looking forward to our up-coming sold-out training in Portugal November 2–22, 2020.     

Just a quick note to share a couple of playlists designed for a sweaty, juicy vinyasa flow practice! You'll get some drum beats and rhythm to encourage students to flow, pulse and shift, even when holding a pose. Enjoy!

90 Minute Vinyasa Playlist ››

80 Minute Vinyasa Playlist ››