Yoga Teacher Training designed to take you to the spiritual heart of the practice
LONDON YOGA TEACHER TRAINING
Integrated approach
Learn how to teach Hatha and Vinyasa yoga, and integrate alignment principles into a mindful flow
Find your own voice
You can only teach what you know, so we give you the skills to teach from your own experience and practical knowledge
Personal attention
We teach in small groups to give you the personal attention you deserve for maximum learning
This is a DOGMA FREE training with interesting, innovative teachers, all of whom are serious yoga practitioners with global reputations:
- Heather Elton (Asana)
- Ruth Westoby (Philosophy)
- Kat Owens (Trauma Informed Yoga)
- Richelle Ricard (Anatomy)
- Kelly McHugh (Digital Marketing for Yoga)
For more information about our teachers, visit our Yoga Teacher Training Faculty page.
The training is truly transformative – you’ll experience an authentic process that encourages you to look at your own reality, takes you deeper in your own practice, and gives you the skills to teach yoga.
Space is limited to 16 students.
We encourage you to apply early to ensure a place on the program.
The course is accredited by Yoga Alliance USA and Yoga Alliance Professionals UK (200+ hours).
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
The practice
- Practice Hatha and Vinyasa yoga in a safe and supportive environment.
- Experience an intuitive dynamic practice inspired by Ashtanga and BKS Iyengar traditions
- Develop a skilful and varied asana practice, which is the starting place for an authentic yogic inquiry – a practice that moves beyond a mere physical experience to make it relevant to real life.
- Study precise alignment principles and develop technique to avoid injury.
- Deepen your own practice
- Have an experience that will provide you lifelong inspiration and context to teach yoga.
- Learn the principles of breath/bandhas/dristi, that tie poses together into a seamless ‘moving meditation’.
- Learn how to breathe and feel your body and mind transform.
- Explore the ‘inner/outer’ techniques of yoga, to reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice.
- Learn how to teach restorative yoga to nourish the body and reduce anxiety.
- Practise basic pranayama and meditation.
- Learn to take the practice off the mat, integrate the knowledge into your life and share it with others.
- Be able to make an informed decision about what aspects of yoga you like, what you want to practise and teach.
Create a yoga class
- Study safe alignment and actions in the pose
- Build movement vocabularies and learn to sequence asana in a simple, clear and logical way
- Learn to sequence Vinyasa Flow as a seamless ‘moving meditation’.
- Rather than memorise someone else’s Vinyasa sequence, we want you have the knowledge and confidence to make up your own.
- Work in groups and individually to create Vinyasa Flow sequences.
- Learn how to structure and teach your own yoga class.
- Learn how to design a class that is accessible, sustainable and transformational.
Yoga Anatomy & Biomechanics of Movement
- Applied anatomy for yoga asana
- Learn yoga anatomy and techniques to break down ‘peak poses’ so you can teach ‘workshop style’.
- Learn how to teach yoga safely and for all levels of practitioners and different body types.
- Make yoga accessible.
- Understand basic anatomy and safe alignment so you can prevent injuries in your students and yourself.
Adjustment Clinic
- Get hands-on experience with adjustments and props, to prepare you for working with all body types.
- Learn how to use props and modifications to make yoga accessible to everyone.
- Be sensitive to issues of consent and trauma-informed yoga.
- Learn basic teaching points essential to each asana.
- Learn to guide the student’s physical body and breath to provide stability and equanimity in the pose.
- Study the Vinyasa of Touch to release patterns of emotional holding in the body.
Yoga philosophy
- Yoga philosophy is extremely important and contextualises the practice. We hire only the very best yoga philosophy professors. On the London TTC, we’re lucky that we have access to people working at SOAS and on the Hatha Yoga Project and have included Jim Mallison, Matthew Clark and Ruth Westoby.
- Integrate yoga philosophy into your teachings and personal practice.
- Hindu, Buddhist and contemporary yogic philosophy are taught in a way that lifts it ‘off the page’ and ‘off the mat’.
- Integrate ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary psychology into a mindful practice.
- Have an overview of ancient yoga thought and the roots of modern postural yoga.
- Discuss current ideas in contemporary yoga like Neo-liberalism, Cultural Appropriation, Post-Colonialism and Gender Issues in Yoga.
- Yoga philosophy is not just an academic lesson, but a yogic inquiry relevant to real life.
- We aim to reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice so you can glimpse your true nature – Purusha (pure consciousness).
- Begin a genuine spiritual practice.
Jim Mallinson reads from his own translation of the Gheranda Samhita and teaches the inner limbs of yoga (video on left) and from Hatha Yoga Pradipika and teaches meditations on Samadhi (video on right). These teachings took place in 2013/14 as part of London Yoga Workshops on Heather Elton’s Yoga Teacher Training programs. Part 1 & 13 of 22 short videos.
How to teach
- We want you to learn how to teach yoga, so we’ve built extra hours into our Practicum module.
- Watch and give demonstrations of asanas, adjustments and Vinyasa Flow sequences.
- Make your demonstrations effective and understood by students.
- Give clear instructions and refine your verbal cues to communicate effectively.
- Practice teaching in small groups to develop the confidence to teach on your own.
- Learn how to sequence asanas and create a class
- Watch videos of your performance and get valuable feedback from teachers and colleagues.
- Learn how to make yoga your business in our unique business module.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
- Yoga is an ancient science that uses the body and breath to penetrate the mind and liberate us from suffering. Yoga is the path to enlightenment – Moksha.
- While there are many different authentic paths of Hatha yoga, we believe that they merge into ONE essential teaching that uses the body and the breath to liberate ourselves from suffering.
- Asana gives you freedom physically from illness and disease.
- Pranayama frees you from your regular breath and makes the pranic body vibrant and subtle.
- Meditation prepares an unstable and distracted mind for the inner limbs of yoga.
- We aim to give you the highest skills possible to teach and reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice so you can glimpse your true nature – Purusha (pure consciousness.)
- We want you to live the yogic reality – and to take the practice off the mat, integrate the knowledge into your life and share it with others.
- Deciding to teach yoga should not be a career move. It should be a sincere calling deep within your heart. Yoga Teacher Training is an investment in the future. Being an inspired and excellent teacher involves much more than getting a certificate. It requires dedication, discipline and years of continuous practice. You must also have a true desire to serve others in order to communicate to your students the true essence of yoga. Establishing yourself as a teacher is a journey of many steps: start your journey here and become the teacher or practitioner you aspire to be.
WHERE IS IT?
The London Yoga Teacher Training is held at the West London Buddhist Centre.
This is a beautiful and tranquil space offering classes in meditation and Buddhism, with a dedicated and aesthetic yoga studio. The centre is committed to providing space for yoga and has invested in really good equipment.
There’s a spacious reception area to sit and relax in. Downstairs is a library and two special rooms for meditation events. The whole centre is fully accessible with a lift, disabled shower and toilet.
It’s easy to get to and close to tube (Paddington, Queensway and Royal Oak) and bus links.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
"Filled me with eternal happiness and joy"
“The 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Heather Elton in London filled me with eternal happiness and joy and showed me the way towards contentment. Never would I have thought a “simple” course could change my life so dramatically. The biggest shift for me was in day-to-day life, in the theoretical and the psychological.
Heather is a wonderful teacher and inspiration. She encompasses everything one could want from a teacher and sheds light on all the important aspects and fragments of a sustainable and nourishing yoga practice and teaching technique. She is wise, supportive, kind, hands-on, straightforward and extremely knowledgeable. I especially loved her complex examination of each asana backed by her deep understanding of movement, anatomy and philosophy in one.
Heather made sure we understood both the good and the bad about pursuing a yoga teaching career. Her continual investigation within the community of her past students showed us the variety of possible paths to take. I particularly loved the gradual learning and I’m now ready and super excited to share the light of yoga with others through teaching. Thank you, Heather, from the bottom of my heart.” – Andrea Vytlačilová
"A life-transforming experience"
“The minute I stumbled across an advertisement for Heather’s course I knew it was the right one for me. Heather is a passionate, caring and truly inspirational teacher. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to study with her and the internationally renowned teachers she invited to join the faculty. The training was not just physically, intellectually and spiritually challenging. It was a life-transforming experience for me. I not only developed a solid personal practice but got a deep understanding of the science of Yoga and the necessary skills and confidence to share my knowledge with others. I will always feel grateful to Heather for her guidance, support and sharing her wisdom.” – Youla Faita
"A true teacher"
“Heather is wonderful, she’s honest and disciplined – devoted to yoga. Since graduating, she has continued to support us providing advice on how to sequence a series of classes and how to grow business ideas into reality. She’s dedicated to her student’s success after the training – a true teacher.” – Laura Beckett
"I feel as if I have my life back"
“The London TTC training was seriously good. I learned so much about alignment. As an Astanga practitioner I’ll have fewer injuries. The most profound thing that happened to me on the course was the change that happened in myself. It got into me deeply and transformed the way I am. I’ve changed the way I behave, how I react to situations and the way I deal with them. My mind is more controlled and I can get out of my daydream and focus on something else. I feel as if I have my life back.” – Ines Romanelli
"A non-dogmatic approach and true authentic wisdom"
“The training was very well structured and all the workshops complimented each other to weaving together a deeper understanding of yoga. … Yes we’ve got to look inwards on our yoga journey, but what is yoga all about? I have full respect for the way you teach with a non-dogmatic approach and true authentic wisdom. I didn’t want to do something wishy-washy, or LA style, and feel that this training has been really authentic. That is really difficult to achieve in the commercial world of yoga. The yoga you taught feels REAL. Consequently, I feel a lot more connected to myself and my own practice and know what I want to teach and how I want to teach.” – Lexie Tanner
"Exceptional quality, a beautiful journey"
“The London YTT was of exceptional quality, so well structured and professionally done. It’s been such a beautiful journey. We are incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to study with such knowledgeable, inspiring and brilliant teachers!” – Chryssa Benopoulou
"The transformation is amazing"
“Yoga is so powerful. In only 8 weeks, our bodies have transformed and we are radiant versions of ourselves. The transformation is amazing. I’ve got to know myself better through the practice. As a result, I now feel that I have the skills to teach. I needed to work on my confidence to feel secure standing in front of a group of people and this training has helped me to get over my fear of being in the spotlight. I can’t believe that I feel confident to teach, but I do.” – Amanda Higgins
"Incredibly well-organised, very challenging and enlightening"
“The London TTC was incredibly well-organised, as well as being very challenging and enlightening. The time and logistics involved is really impressive. Every step of the way, you’ve put in so much effort and you really should be absolutely congratulated. A huge transformation has occurred in that I’ve always backed away when it came to doing things I thought were too difficult. I always had a marvellous excuse. So, it was a true gift to be given the opportunity to practice with someone like Edward Clark. It was truly inspirational.
My perceived limitations were tested over and over again, as well as shattered to pieces… I went into such new territory that it was really hard to know what I was supposed to grasp on. I simply stayed with my breath and trusted the process, shifting the fears and the belief that I couldn’t do things. These have been blown away and it’s incredibly empowering. I’m truly proud of what I’ve achieved. It’s been great to be taken meticulously through the different asanas, integrate them with the breath, and learn the adjustments. I love adjusting! I feel totally at ease with it. You taught us to tap into our own instincts. My practice has been completely stripped back and re-built from the ground up. And that is very confronting at times, in terms of changing my posture, the way I walk and sit – and think. That is the power of yoga. It changes your relationships and your life.” – Maureen Papas
YOUR INVESTMENT
Prerequisites
To be accepted on the training, you need to have a regular yoga practice for a minimum of two years, to ensure that you have the necessary physical stamina and mental discipline, but also to be embodied in asana practice. Teacher Training programs can be intense on a physical and emotional level. There will be good days and vulnerable days and we will help you find equanimity in the process.
Dates
The dates for the 2019/2020 Yoga Teacher Training are as follows:
14 & 15 Sept | 21 & 22 Sept | 28 & 29 Sept| 12 & 13 Oct | 19 & 20 Oct | 09 & 10 Nov | 16 & 17 Nov | 23 & 24 Nov | 07 & 08 Dec | 14 & 15 Dec |11 & 12 Jan |18 & 19 Jan | 25 & 26 Jan |
Price
The cost of the training is £2,895 GBP
(Payment plans are possible on request.)
Sample daily timetable
Saturdays & Sundays – 8:30 – 17:30
8:30 – 10:30: Pranayama | Meditation | Asana
10:30 – 11:00: Tea break
11:00 – 13:00: Yoga Clinic #1 – Anatomy | Yoga Philosophy | Sequencing Vinyasa Flow
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:30: Business of Yoga
15:30 – 16:00: Tea break
16:00 – 17:30: Yoga Clinic #2 – The Matrix of Movement | Adjustments and prop use | Practicum (How to teach)
A P P L Y N O W
Step 1: Fill in the application form below. Please read the instructions carefully.
Step 2: Each application will be read in detail, with applicants assessed individually. Successful applicants will receive confirmation of acceptance.
Step 3: Pay the non-refundable deposit of £500 GBP to secure your place.
Step 4: The balance of the course fee is due by 15 Aug 2019.
“Prayatna saithilya annate samapattibhyam”
By relaxation of all strain in the yoga posture there is a merging with the infinite.
– Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, 2.47
