300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh: The Complete 2026 Guide

You finished your 200-hour course. You may be teaching a few classes now. And you have a feeling that you only scratched the surface.

That feeling is the reason the 300-hour training exists. This guide explains what it is, who it suits, what you study, what a day looks like, what it costs, and how it leads to RYT 500. If you want the course details and live dates, they are all on our 300 hour yoga teacher training in Rishikesh page.

Written by Mayuri Shewale, E-RYT 500 (Yoga Alliance) and founder of Swaastik Yog School in Rishikesh. I have taught yoga for more than 15 years, and I lead every training batch at our Tapovan campus myself. The prices and dates below come from our live course schedule. The Yoga Alliance rules come from Yoga Alliance's own published standards.

What is a 300-hour yoga teacher training?

A 300-hour yoga teacher training is an advanced course for people who have already finished a 200-hour training. It does not repeat the basics. It goes deeper into advanced asana, hands-on adjustments, pranayama, philosophy, therapeutic yoga and teaching skills. Yoga Alliance calls it a "300-hour advanced teacher training".

Think of it like this. The 200-hour course teaches you to lead a safe, simple class. The 300-hour course teaches you to lead any room: mixed levels, students with injuries, advanced practitioners, workshops and retreats.

Not sure how the two levels differ in detail? Our short post on the difference between 200 and 300 hour yoga teacher training covers that one question. This guide is the full planning guide for doing your 300 hours in Rishikesh.

Who is the 300-hour course for?

The 300-hour course suits people who already have a 200-hour certificate and want to teach with more depth and confidence. 300-hour students usually fall into one of these groups:

• New teachers who finished a 200-hour course and felt it went by too fast.
• Working teachers who want to teach arm balances, inversions and deep backbends safely.
• Teachers who meet injuries in class, like sore backs, knees and shoulders, and want better tools.
• Philosophy lovers who want to study the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita properly.
• Teachers working toward RYT 500 for studio, retreat or teacher-training roles.

Who should wait? If you have not practised much since your 200-hour course, give yourself a few months of steady practice first. The 300-hour asana classes assume a strong base. You will also teach real classes and get honest feedback. That is where the growth is, but it can feel exposed.

What do you need before you join?

You need a 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate. It does not have to be from our school. Any Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School (RYS 200) anywhere in the world is fine. You send a copy of your certificate or completion letter when you register.

If your 200-hour course was not with a Yoga Alliance school, email us at swaastikyogschool@gmail.com. We look at those case by case.

Never done a teacher training at all? Then the 300-hour is not your starting point. Look at the 200 hour yoga teacher training, or the 500 hour course, which needs no prior training. Our guide to what RYT 200 means explains the first step.

How does the 300-hour course lead to RYT 500?

Yoga Alliance's RYT 500 needs two things: 500 hours of training and 100 hours of teaching. A 200-hour course at an RYS 200 plus a 300-hour course at an RYS 300 meets the training part. The two courses can be at the same school or at different schools. The 100 teaching hours must come after your 200-hour training.

One thing confuses many students. Yoga Alliance has no "RYT 300" title. When you finish our course, you get a 300-hour certificate from a Registered Yoga School. You then use it, together with your 200-hour training, to apply for RYT 500.

Step	What you do	What you have after
1	Finish a 200-hour training at an RYS 200	RYT 200 (you can register right away; no teaching hours needed)
2	Teach classes and keep a simple log of your hours	Teaching hours that count toward RYT 500
3	Finish a 300-hour training at an RYS 300	500 training hours in total
4	Reach 100 teaching hours since your 200-hour training, then apply	RYT 500
Later	Teach 2,000 hours over at least 4 years (500 of them after your advanced training)	E-RYT 500, the level that can lead teacher trainings

Tip: leave a gap between your 200-hour and 300-hour courses and teach during it. Then you may already have your 100 hours when you finish. You can apply for RYT 500 straight away.

Yoga Alliance's own standards (August 2024 edition) list a one-time $50 application fee and $65 a year in membership dues. These go to Yoga Alliance, not to us, and they can change. Check yogaalliance.org before you apply. If you are still deciding whether registration is worth it, read is Yoga Alliance certification worth it?

200 vs 300 vs 500 hours: which one fits you?

Pick by where you are now. No training yet: choose the 200-hour or the 500-hour. Already hold a 200-hour certificate: choose the 300-hour. Here is how our three main courses compare.

	200-hour	300-hour	500-hour
Level	Foundation	Advanced	Foundation + advanced in one go
Prior training needed	None	200-hour certificate	None
Length	22 days	22 days	51 days
Start dates	5th and 15th monthly	5th and 15th monthly	5th monthly
Dorm	$440	$660	$880
Shared room	$880	$990	$1,650
Private room	$1,100	$1,485	$2,200
Leads to	RYT 200	RYT 500 (with your 200 hours + 100 teaching hours)	RYT 500 (after 100 teaching hours)

All prices are in US dollars and include the course, your room and two meals a day. For a longer look at the bigger jump, see 200-hour vs 500-hour yoga teacher training. To see how these prices sit against the rest of Rishikesh, see our Rishikesh yoga teacher training price index.

What will you study on the 300-hour course?

The 300-hour syllabus has six parts: cleansing practices (shatkarma), advanced pranayama, advanced asana, philosophy, anatomy and yoga therapy, and teaching skills. Each one builds on what you learned in your 200 hours. Nothing is a repeat.

Module	What you study	How it goes past the 200-hour
Shatkarma (cleansing)	Jal neti, rubber neti, vaman dhauti, nauli, kapalbhati, trataka (candle gazing)	You practise each one yourself, then learn when it is right and when it is not
Advanced pranayama	Nadi shodhana, breath retention (kumbhaka), bandhas, surya and chandra bhedana, bhramari, sheetali	Breath holds and locks, and how to teach breathwork to mixed groups safely
Advanced asana	Advanced hatha postures, the Ashtanga intermediate series, arm balances, deep backbends, inversions, props	Hands-on adjustments, sequencing for strong students, and injury management
Philosophy	Yoga Sutras chapters 3 and 4, Samkhya, selected Bhagavad Gita verses, an overview of the Vedas and Upanishads	A full study of the texts, not just the eight limbs, and how to talk about them in class
Anatomy and yoga therapy	Body systems, chakras and nadis, therapeutic use of asana for lower back, knee and shoulder issues, nervous-system regulation	Adapting a class for students with injuries or long-term conditions
Teaching methodology	Advanced sequencing, student management, the business of yoga, supervised practice teaching	Designing a 6-week series, a workshop or a retreat, not just a single class

Who teaches it? I lead the advanced asana, adjustment and sequencing classes, and I sign off every student's teaching practice. Rahul Badoni teaches the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita and Sanskrit. You can read about the whole team on our teachers page.

How are you assessed?

The final exam is a practical teaching exam. You teach a class, and your teachers watch and give feedback. It is not a written paper. During the course you also teach parts of classes to your batch, so by exam day you have stood at the front of the room many times.

What does a day on the 300-hour course look like?

A normal day runs from about 5:30 AM to 10 PM. You have two practice sessions, two theory classes, a workshop, meditation in the evening, and a rest block after lunch. Here is our 300-hour timetable.

Time	What happens
05:30 – 06:00	Wake up and cleansing
06:00 – 06:30	Herbal tea and shatkarma
06:30 – 08:00	Advanced hatha / vinyasa practice
08:00 – 09:00	Advanced pranayama
09:00 – 10:00	Brunch
10:30 – 11:30	Yoga therapy / anatomy
11:30 – 12:30	Philosophy / Yoga Sutras
13:00 – 14:00	Rest and self-study
15:00 – 16:00	Analytical training / workshop
16:00 – 17:30	Ashtanga intermediate series
18:00 – 19:00	Meditation / yoga nidra
19:00 – 20:00	Dinner
22:00	Lights out

Timings can shift a little with the season. If you want to feel what these days are really like, our day in the life of a yoga teacher training walks through one from start to finish. The 300-hour rhythm is similar, but the practice is stronger.

How long is the course and when does it start?

Our 300-hour course lasts 22 days and 21 nights. New batches start on the 5th and the 15th of every month, all year. For example, a batch starting on 5 November 2026 ends on 26 November.

• You can move in the day before your course starts.
• Day 1 begins at 6:00 AM.
• We cap every batch at 12 students, so you get real hands-on feedback.
• Classes are taught in English.

The next open dates are always listed on the 300-hour course page.

How much does the 300-hour training cost in Rishikesh?

At Swaastik Yog School, the 300-hour training costs $660 in a dorm, $990 in a shared room, or $1,485 in a private room. The price includes the course, 21 nights' stay, two vegetarian meals a day, materials and your certificate. You book with a 10% deposit and pay the rest when you arrive.

Room	Who you share with	Total price	10% deposit to book	Paid on arrival
Dorm	4 people, same gender, shared washroom	$660	$65	$595
Shared room	1 other person, same gender, attached washroom	$990	$95	$895
Private room	Just you, attached western bathroom	$1,485	$145	$1,340

The deposit is 10% rounded down to the nearest $5. You can pay it by card link, PayPal or bank transfer. Before you pay, please read our refund policy. In short, the deposit and the course fee are not refundable. But you can move to a later batch, and medical emergencies are looked at case by case.

What is included

• 21 nights in your chosen room
• Two sattvic vegetarian meals a day (brunch and dinner), evening chai and herbal tea
• Printed advanced course manual (yours to keep)
• Yoga mat, props and a shatkarma kit
• Weekend excursions and an Ayurvedic cooking class
• Wi-Fi
• Your 300-hour certificate

What is not included

• Flights, visa and travel insurance
• Airport transfer (we can arrange it for you)
• Laundry and personal spending

Not sure which room to pick? Our guide to dorm vs shared vs private rooms shows real photos of each.

Should you do 200 + 300 hours, or the 500-hour course?

If you have no training yet, the 500-hour course costs less than doing a 200-hour and a 300-hour separately, and it is one trip instead of two. If you already have a 200-hour certificate, the 300-hour is the natural next step. Here is the honest maths for someone starting from zero.

Room	200-hour + 300-hour (two trips)	500-hour (one trip)
Dorm	$440 + $660 = $1,100	$880
Shared room	$880 + $990 = $1,870	$1,650
Private room	$1,100 + $1,485 = $2,585	$2,200

So why do people still split it up? Three good reasons:

• Teaching in between. You go home, teach real students, and come back knowing what you need to learn. Your teaching hours also count toward RYT 500.
• Time off work. Two trips of 22 days are easier to arrange than 51 days in one go.
• Body and mind. Advanced practice lands better when your 200-hour learning has had time to settle.

How do you choose a 300-hour school in Rishikesh?

Rishikesh has a lot of schools, and they look alike online. Before you pay any deposit, ask every school the same questions. Here is what to ask, why it matters, and how we answer.

Ask the school	Why it matters	Our answer
Are you registered as an RYS 300?	Only hours from a Registered Yoga School count toward RYT 500	Yes, we are RYS 200, 300 and 500. Check our Yoga Alliance profile.
How many students are in a batch?	Advanced adjustments need close attention	A maximum of 12
Who actually teaches the advanced asana?	Senior teachers matter most at this level	Mayuri Shewale, E-RYT 500, leads every batch
How are adjustments handled?	Consent and safety	Offered, never imposed. You can decline any time, and we teach you to ask your own students the same way.
Is there a written code of conduct?	Clear teacher–student boundaries	Yes. Ask us for it before you book.
What exactly is included?	Hidden costs add up fast	Room, 2 meals, materials, excursions, Wi-Fi, certificate
How is the exam done?	Shows whether you will really teach	A practical teaching exam

Most of our students are women, and our head teacher is a woman who is on campus throughout your course. Female staff are on campus at all times. You can read more on our women-led yoga school page, and in our guide on whether Rishikesh is safe for solo female travellers.

Why do your 300 hours in Tapovan, Rishikesh?

Tapovan is the quiet, green yoga quarter of Rishikesh, on Badrinath Road above the Ganga. Our campus has the shala, dining area and rooms in one place, so you never travel between classes. Some practices move down to the Ganga beach. For your free day, see our list of things to do in Rishikesh.

Coming from abroad? Most students use India's e-Tourist Visa and choose the "Short Term Yoga Programme" option. Our step-by-step India visa guide for yoga teacher training shows each form.

Frequently asked questions

Can I do the 300-hour course without a 200-hour certificate?

No. The 300-hour course is advanced training, so you need a 200-hour certificate first. If you have no training yet, choose our 200-hour course or the 500-hour course. The 500-hour needs no prior training and covers both levels in 51 days.

Does my 200-hour certificate have to be from Swaastik Yog School?

No. A 200-hour certificate from any Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School is fine. If your 200-hour school was not registered with Yoga Alliance, email us and we will look at it case by case.

Will I be RYT 500 on the day I finish?

Only if you already have 100 hours of teaching since your 200-hour training. Yoga Alliance asks for 500 training hours and 100 teaching hours. Your 200 plus 300 hours cover the training. If you still need teaching hours, teach them after the course, then apply.

How hard is the physical practice?

It is noticeably harder than a 200-hour course. You work on arm balances, deep backbends, inversions and the Ashtanga intermediate series. You will be shown modifications, so you do not need to do every advanced pose fully on day one. But you should be practising regularly before you come.

What food is served?

We serve sattvic vegetarian food: brunch and dinner, plus evening chai and herbal tea. We can make your meals dairy-free. The only dairy we use is paneer and ghee.

Is the deposit refundable?

No. The deposit and the course fee are not refundable. But you can transfer to a later batch, and medical emergencies are looked at case by case. Please read the full refund policy before you pay your 10% deposit.