The Unique Chemistry Of an East+West Training

Yoga is an unregulated industry that has suffered from degraded teaching standards in recent years. It’s common for yoga teacher training schools to put brand new yoga teachers on their training staff. We believe it’s crucial to the health of the yoga industry for new trainees to receive their training from master-level teachers.

Since its opening in 2017, East+West has developed a worldwide reputation for holding the highest standards of yoga teachers. We’ve spent the last 6 years obsessively recruiting the best teachers from India, Bali, the United States, Europe, and Australia to find teachers who can hold space at the level of nuance required to facilitate truly life-changing experiences for our students.

So, what makes the “Best” Yoga Teachers? Admittedly, selecting the “best” yoga teachers is an imperfect process. It’s difficult to define what makes a great teacher, and that is ultimately subjective. Here are a few of the factors we consider when selecting a teacher, and constructing our teams.

1. Taught At Least 2,000 yoga classes.

As a minimum requirement, all our leaders have taught yoga for at least 5 years and taught at least 2,000 yoga classes. We hold this as a minimum standard to avoid the current trend of increasingly inexperienced teachers leading YTTs.

2. Equal and Healthy Dynamic of Male/Female Leaders.

We believe in a balanced environment of male and female leadership energy. All our events are made up of a balance of male and female leaders. This is one of the most important and understated elements of creating a great teacher training dynamic for all students.

3. True Eastern Influence

We believe there is a true difference in teachers raised in India.  Yogic philosophy is embedded into the most fundamental aspects of Indian life. Although it’s not necessarily something we can define, it is something we can feel. We believe this presence adds extra magic to our environment. All our training teams include at least one, and often more, teachers who was born and raised in India in a traditional yogic lineage.

4. A trustworthy and safe presence.

A feeling of deep safety and trust is paramount in the teacher-student relationship. With every leader on our team we ask, could we trust this person with our lives? This safety is what allows our students to go deeper into the practice and develop truly life-long connections with our staff and other students on the course.