I get some version of this question every few weeks: "Should I sign up for a training, or just work with you one-on-one?" It's a fair question, and the honest answer is that they solve different problems. Knowing which one you actually have saves you time and money.
A teacher training gives you structure. A fixed curriculum, a set number of hours, a certificate at the end that satisfies Yoga Alliance's continuing education requirements. You're moving through material in a set order, on a set calendar, alongside other teachers in a group setting. That structure is exactly what you need when you're missing foundational knowledge and you are just starting. You will gain knowledge in different styles of yoga, anatomy, sequencing and so on.
What mentorship actually is
Mentorship is the opposite shape. There's no curriculum because there's no "everyone." It's one teacher — me — watching you specifically teach, or talking through your specific sequencing, your specific students, your specific doubts, and giving you feedback that's actually about you rather than a syllabus. No group to keep pace with. No topics you already know being covered again because someone else in the room needs them.
The tradeoff is that mentorship assumes you already have the foundation. So we rather work on refining your knowledge or teaching, but it is not for building a foundation.
"I know the theory — I just freeze when I'm teaching." That's a mentorship problem, not a knowledge problem.
A simple way to tell which you need
Ask yourself what's actually missing. If it's information — anatomy, sequencing principles, hands-on adjustment technique you've never been properly taught — a training will close that gap faster than anything else, because it's built to teach exactly that, in order, with practice built in. The Teaching Edge and Beyond the Asana exist for that.
If the information is mostly there but something else is off — you freeze in front of a room, your cues don't land the way you mean them to, you can't tell if your own sequencing is sound — that's rarely a knowledge problem. It's a feedback problem. You need someone watching you specifically and telling you the truth about what you're actually doing, not what you think you're doing. That's what mentorship is for.
You don't have to choose once and be done
Most teachers I work with end up doing both, just not at the same time. A training first, to build the base. Mentorship after, once you're teaching regularly and specific things start surfacing that only show up once you're actually in front of real students. If you're not sure which stage you're at, that's a completely reasonable thing to ask about before you commit to either — reach out and I'll tell you honestly which one makes more sense for where you are.
