No one can tell you when you will be ready to actually teach. Many complete their 200-hour certification and immediately begin teaching full time, however, this is increasingly rare, as many students do the 200-hour-teacher training just to deepen their own practice. Most students use the 200-hour training as an introductory experience and begin sharing their practice slowly with friends and family first. It’s very common for students who complete the 200-hour to teach part-time or on weekends for a few years, and slowly work up a client base. It’s also common for those with a 200-hour certification to begin teaching years later.
Our recommendation for teachers who want to teach after getting their 200-hour certification is to begin anywhere, even if that means just teaching for friends or family, or at a free community center. Naturally, your first few classes won’t go so well, and the important thing is that you keep getting more experience. The best teachers are not the ones with the most natural talent, but the ones who have the most live experience teaching. The only way to get that experience is to get out and do it!