Joey Votto earns yoga instructor certification in Spain

Joey Votto did not just step away from baseball after 17 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds. He went looking for another discipline to master, and in Cádiz, Spain, he earned a yoga instructor certification.

The former National League MVP and six-time All-Star had already built a second act around movement, travel and technical skill. Votto also picked up official sushi chef accreditation in Japan, part of a post-retirement stretch that has taken him through Japan, Poland, Jordan, Egypt, Spain, Mexico, Ireland, Dubai, Sri Lanka and other stops. On the Rates & Barrels and Starkville baseball podcast, Votto described that stretch as a chance to keep learning, not just slow down.

That matters because Votto’s move into yoga sits at the intersection of three things elite athletes often wrestle with after retirement: identity, structure and purpose. For a player whose career was defined by preparation and precision at the plate, certification signals more than casual interest in recovery or flexibility. It points to formal study, teaching methodology and a willingness to be a student again in a field that values both discipline and embodied knowledge.

Votto had been open to yoga before his playing days ended. He had said he might take a yoga class and planned to resume school as an online student at Arizona State University, where he was set to major in Spanish. That combination, yoga and Spanish, now fits the path he has taken since leaving Major League Baseball behind. He has continued to build a life around new places and new skills rather than around a traditional retirement routine.

His baseball exit became official on August 21, 2024, after a final attempt to get back to the big leagues with the Toronto Blue Jays was cut short by an ankle injury. The comeback never fully took shape, but the retreat from the field opened the door to a different kind of training. In Votto’s case, that has meant surfing in Ireland, studying food in Japan and now completing yoga instructor certification in southern Spain.

For the yoga world, Votto’s certification is notable because it shows how teacher training can attract people who are not looking for a brand refresh so much as a serious next chapter. Coming from one of baseball’s most distinctive on-base hitters, the move reads less like a soft landing and more like a reinvention built on the same habits that once made him a standout in Cincinnati.