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Yoga Alliance Explained: What RYS and RYT Actually Mean
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RYS means Registered Yoga School — the school is registered with Yoga Alliance. RYT means Registered Yoga Teacher — you are, individually, after training at an RYS and paying Yoga Alliance yourself.
Quick answer: your school's RYS status does not make you an RYT. That is a separate registration you apply for, and pay for, after the course.
RYS and RYT: the difference
This trips up almost everyone, and schools rarely spell it out.
RYS is the school. It means Yoga Alliance has reviewed the syllabus against a minimum standard — so many hours of technique, anatomy, philosophy, teaching methodology and practicum.
RYT is you. After completing a course at an RYS you can apply to Yoga Alliance, submit your certificate, pay their registration fee and then an annual renewal. Only then are you an RYT, and only while you keep paying.
Your course certificate is yours forever regardless. The RYT letters are a subscription.
What the numbers mean
- RYS 200 / RYT 200 — the foundation. A 200 hour course, and the only real starting point.
- RYS 300 / RYT 300 — a continuation course for people who already hold a 200.
- RYT 500 — 500 hours of training, reached either as a single 500 hour programme or as a 200 plus a 300, together with Yoga Alliance's own teaching-experience requirements.
- E-RYT — "experienced": an RYT who has since taught a required number of hours over a required number of years.
- RPYT — a prenatal credential, built on an 85 hour prenatal training on top of a 200.
Those requirements are Yoga Alliance's to set and they change from time to time, so confirm the current ones at yogaalliance.org rather than taking any school's word for it — ours included.
Do you have to register?
No. Registration is optional and plenty of excellent teachers never bother.
It is worth doing if you want to teach in studios or on retreats that ask for it, if you want to teach abroad, or if your insurer wants to see it. It is not worth doing if you trained for your own practice, or if you intend to teach privately in a community that will never ask.
Either way, budget for it separately. Yoga Alliance charges you directly and it is not part of any course fee, ours included — one of the costs people forget, as we set out in what a training actually costs.
Is it worth the money?
It depends entirely on who you want to teach.
For a studio job in Europe, North America or Australia, it is often the first box on the form, and not having it can end an application before anyone reads about your practice. For teaching friends, running community classes, or going home with a deeper practice, it changes nothing.
Our honest advice: finish the course first, teach a few classes, and then decide. The certificate does not expire while you think about it.
What registration does not tell you
This is the part worth remembering while you compare schools.
RYS status confirms a syllabus meets a minimum, not that the teaching is good. In Rishikesh nearly every school is registered, so on its own it separates almost nobody. It is a floor for ruling schools out, not a reason to choose one.
What actually separates schools is batch size, whether specialists teach each subject, and whether anything is charged after you arrive. The questions that reveal those are in why most yoga instructor training in India fails you.
Bottom line
RYS is the school, RYT is you, and the second does not come automatically with the first — it is a separate application and an annual fee you pay to Yoga Alliance. Register if you want to teach in studios that ask for it; skip it otherwise. And do not use RYS status as your reason for choosing a school, because almost every school in Rishikesh has it.
Our 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training covers the full Yoga Alliance syllabus across fourteen subjects, each taught by a specialist. Ask us if anything above is unclear.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between RYS and RYT?
RYS means Registered Yoga School and describes the school. RYT means Registered Yoga Teacher and describes you individually, after you complete a course at an RYS and then apply to Yoga Alliance and pay their registration and annual renewal fees yourself.
What does RYT 200 mean?
It means you completed a 200 hour training at a school registered with Yoga Alliance and then registered yourself with them as a teacher. The 200 refers to the hours of the course, and it is the foundation level.
Do I have to register with Yoga Alliance after my course?
No, it is optional and many good teachers never do. It is worth it if you want to teach in studios or retreats that ask for it or to teach abroad; it changes nothing if you trained for your own practice. Your course certificate is yours regardless.
Does Yoga Alliance registration mean a school is good?
It means the syllabus meets a minimum standard, not that the teaching is good. Nearly every school in Rishikesh is registered, so on its own it separates almost nobody. Batch size, whether specialists teach each subject, and whether anything is charged after arrival tell you far more.
