200 Hour Teacher Training

Q: I don't think I want to teach yoga. Is the CYTT really for me, or is this a training for people who want to learn how to teach yoga?

A: Many of our students join because they want to deepen their personal practice and understanding of yoga. This 200HR training provides a strong foundation in the eight limbs of yoga, which can be a wonderful jumping off point for continued self-study and understanding of yoga's expansive teachings.

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Q: I'm interested, but I'm hesitant because I think others will have more experience than me, or that I'm not "advanced" enough in my practice. Am I ready?

A: Please know that this is a very common feeling. What we're most interested in is your desire to learn more about yoga and all that this means. In addition to yoga asana, our training includes explorations of meditation and mindfulness, yoga philosophy, pranayama (breathing practices), the yamas and niyamas (the ethical guidelines of yoga), appreciating and not appropriating yoga, and so much more. If you've been practicing regularly for more than a year and are ready to dive deeper, we invite you to apply.

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Q: My schedule is pretty full already—will I have time for this?

A: One of the wonderful things about this program is that it takes place over the course of a year, so you'll have time to do the readings and attend sessions over an extended period of time. Many yoga teacher training programs run as intensives over the course of a few weeks or a month. We intentionally created a longer program in order to be a better fit for people with full lives, and to allow more time for processing and integration over the course of the year. The hybrid in-person or virtual option also allows for more flexibility when you need it.

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If you have any questions about the Circle Yoga Teacher Training, contact us.

Program Details

Mindful yoga, rooted in community, is the foundation of the 200HR Circle Yoga Teacher Training.

We’ll spend the first few sessions of the training establishing our own training community and exploring what mindful yoga means to us. As we continue into the first few months, you will lay the groundwork of your teaching skills by:

• Learning how to establish or deepen your own mindfulness practice
• Participating in user-friendly asana and anatomy workshops where we build the principles of asana alignment (standing poses, forward folds, backbends, twists) based on the way real bodies work
• Beginning to study yoga philosophy and breath / pranayama

After a few months, you’ll begin to apply the principles you’ve learned by:

• Practice teaching individual asanas in pairs, with a focus on clear language and building poses from the foundation
• Learning sequencing basics (how to put poses in order to structure a class)
• Discussing mindful classroom management and how to create a welcoming environment for all community members

As the program progresses toward summer, you will develop your understanding even further by:

• Gaining exposure to special topics like yoga for seniors, yoga for larger bodies, equity in yoga spaces, and prenatal yoga
• Studying more complicated asanas and sequencing (inversions and Suryas)
• Tackling more nuanced topics like energy-based practices, flow yoga, and thematic sequencing
• Learning how to teach more subtle topics like mindfulness and breath awareness / pranayama
• Discussing how to thrive as a yoga teacher, including the business of yoga
• Refining your own asana teaching and preparing for an intensive practice teaching weekend in June
• The summer months of the program will be less structured for you to work independently on your Capstone Project, which involves writing up a class that you create and providing a yoga offering to a community of your choice

We come back together in September 2023 for our final week of the program, in which you will:

• Practice teaching online
• Reflect on your summer experiences, ask any last questions of the lead trainers, and consider what it means to be a yoga teacher and your own next steps
• Graduate!

Homework

You will reinforce what you learn in class with carefully designed homework assignments, which you will work on individually or in small study groups depending on the assignments. Examples of these assignments include: writing teaching scripts (what you say when you teach a pose), putting together sample sequences (the list of poses, in order, that you would teach in a class), doing reading on mindfulness and yoga philosophy, preparing an anatomy presentation, and observing different types of yoga classes. We expect that homework to take about 4-5 hours a month, on average.

Studio Classes and Video Library

Trainees will have 10 Circle Yoga classes to use, in person or virtually, and unlimited access to the Circle Yoga Video Library. The video library is continuously updated to include about 90 days worth of recorded classes from our regular class schedule.

Private session

To provide you with truly individualized guidance, over the summer each trainee will have the opportunity to schedule a 45-minute private session. This is unusual for teacher training programs, and it's a wonderful opportunity to have a senior teacher focus completely on your unique experiences and goals.

Final thoughts

You will emerge from this training with a deeper understanding of yoga, of mindfulness, and of yourself. And this is just the beginning of the journey: the true joy of a training is that it allows you to embark on the path of sharing yoga with others. Teaching yoga can be infinitely challenging in the best of ways, and also infinitely rewarding. This training will give you a strong foundation to learn and grow gracefully through all of the challenges—and to be ready to fully enjoy the rewards.

Lead Trainers

Alex Phelan, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT

Alex (she/her) has been teaching yoga since 2009 and completed over 1,000 teaching hours. In 2017, Alex helped to launch the 200HR Circle Yoga Teacher Training. In her role as teacher trainer, she is passionate about providing trainees with the skills they need to offer yoga beyond the confines of a traditional studio or gym setting. This includes understanding the anatomical basis for asana in a holistic, mindful and balanced way. Alex is also a certified Yoga Therapist with a Masters of Science in Yoga Therapy from the Maryland University of Integrative Health. As a yoga therapist she works to ensure that each student or client is offered a balanced practice that is appropriately challenging and matched to their needs and goals.

Julie Holly, E-RYT 500

Julie (she/her) believes that yoga is life-affirming, fun and a tool to deepen compassion, empathy and social justice. She is a student, practitioner and teacher of Rajanaka yoga and her asana philosophy is rooted in biomechanics, serving the individual needs of her students. In addition to being an E-RYT 500, YACEP, Julie is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition Coach, a Certified Cancer Exercise Specialist and a graduate of Howard University. She has been teaching yoga since 2010 and her students range in age from three to 85 and benefit from her knowledge, humor and passion for yoga. She will be releasing her first book Breath by Breath: A Journey of Yoga & Loss in the autumn of 2023. When she isn’t practicing yoga she is living it by planting a sustainable garden, hanging with her rescue dog, Malcolm, and cooking delicious, plant-based meals.

Kellie Finn, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT

Kellie (she/her) is thrilled to be joining the CYTT team for the 2023-24 program, and excited to meet the curiosity of incoming students hungry to learn more about this powerful philosophy for living. Though she started yoga in 1991, she still (often) finds herself amazed by the metamorphosis these practices offer. She participated in her first yoga teacher training in 2001, following two years of study at Kripalu. Since then she has taught and worked therapeutically in studios, wellness collectives, chiropractic offices, colleges and universities, hospitals, gyms, eating disorder programs, community centers, and private practice. In 2016, she completed her MS in Yoga Therapy at Maryland University of Integrative Health, where she currently works as adjunct faculty. Kellie loves creating curriculum that fosters intrigue, reverence, discernment, self-understanding, presence, and community. She believes these practices are meant to be lived, and that learning to embody them is a lifelong journey that brings increasing authenticity, freedom, and joy.

Philip Bender, E-RYT 500

Phil (he/him) teaches yoga and meditation to facilitate greater joy and confidence in the lives of beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Not above tossing in a show tune, Phil has a lighthearted approach that honors traditional spiritual insights while making them accessible.

Since 2015, Phil has been a co-teacher of YTT and AYTT at Anne Arundel Community College and Blue Lotus Yoga in Raleigh, NC. He teaches weekly for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, Circle Yoga and Willow Street Yoga, and offers courses at Montgomery College’s Lifelong Learning Institute. He also hosts popular noontime and morning meditations via Zoom.

An initiate of the Himalayan tradition, Phil currently draws inspiration from the somatic work of Reginald Ray, Kamini Desai, Les Fehmi, Rod Stryker, Judith Blackstone, among others. In addition to yoga certifications, Phil is certified as an Integrated Amrit Yoga Nidra teacher, a Member of Buteyko Professionals International and currently completing requirements to become a Certified Focusing Professional.

Guest Trainers

Denise Alston, PhD, E-RYT 500
Yoga Nidra

Michelle Brooks, RYT 500
Safe Spaces for Larger-Bodied Yogis
Michelle (she/they) has been teaching movement since the mid 1990s when she was certified as a step aerobics and weight training teacher. A friend introduced her to yoga 15 years ago and when faced with challenges as a larger bodied yogi, Michelle began to attend classes at Circle taught by Annie Carlin Olle and then decided to offer the same welcoming environment to others. She graduated from RYT 200 (2018) and RYT 300 (2021) training at Circle Yoga and is Curvy Yoga certified. Michelle's classes are infused with a sense of joy and fun and she focuses on mindful movement to connect with and love your body. When she isn't on the mat, she’s usually playing with her basset hounds, Boo Radley and Scout.

Michelle Cohen, RYT 200, CBD
Adapting for Prenatal Students
Michelle (she/her) is a birth doula, an Ayurvedic postpartum doula, and a prenatal and postnatal yoga teacher supporting birthers in the Washington, DC area. She believes strongly that the mind-body tools of yoga, breathwork and meditation can positively impact and support each individual’s unique childbearing and birthing transformation. Michelle has been working with families since 2008, teaching hundreds of pregnant and new parents how to holistically connect with their bodies and their babies. She is sustained by her Zen Buddhist meditation practice, which she began when her own two boys were toddlers.

Yael Flusberg, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT
Ethics of Yoga Teaching
Yael (she/her) brings 15 years of experience teaching yoga and 30 years of experience in facilitation, training and coaching with social change organizations and leaders to her work preparing the next generation of outstanding yoga teachers. She has offered her own 50-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training since 2016, and has served as a guest trainer and mentor for multiple yoga training programs on modules ranging from pranayama and meditation to energetic anatomy and creative themes to ethics, business, and trauma-informed teaching. She was a teaching assistant for the Kripalu’s Integrative Yoga Therapy Program around yoga and mental health. Yael sat on the core teaching faculty for Circle Yoga’s Advanced 300-hour Teacher Training and is a regular guest trainer for its 200-hour CYTT.

Michelle C. Johnson, LCSW, E-RYT 500
Equity / Skill in Action
Michelle (she/her) is an activist, author, anti-racism consultant and trainer, and yoga teacher and practitioner. She has years of experience as a clinical social worker and has led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small non-profits, and community groups—including the Duke University, Google, Kripalu, Yoga Alliance, and Lululemon, and many others—over the last two decades. Michelle published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World (2017), which is one of the main texts of the 200HR Circle Yoga Teacher Training. She has since published Finding Refuge (2021), We Heal Together (2023), and A Space for Us (2023). In addition to being a guest trainer for the 200HR CYTT and 300HR CYTT, Michelle is a consultant to Circle Yoga’s Racial Equity Team.

Leyla Kenny, E-RYT 200
Anatomy
After spending a year-long residency at the Kripalu Center, Leyla (she/her) became a certified yoga instructor in 1998. Leyla has been teaching yoga continuously for over 25 years. A life-long learner, Leyla continues her studies by attending trainings on anatomy, prenatal and postnatal yoga, yoga for aging bodies, and yoga for children. In 2002, she co-founded Capitol Hill Yoga and remained co-owner until 2008. She has been fortunate to teach at a variety of locations and with a variety of people from formerly incarcerated individuals to a former Supreme Court judge. Leyla has been teaching at Circle Yoga since 2010 and is currently serving as the Circle Yoga Board President. Leyla is a professor at Catholic University, a mindfulness instructor at Sibley Hospital, and a psychotherapist.

Sydnea Lewis, RYT 500
Teaching Beginners
The Business of Yoga
Sydnea (she/her) is a passionate and experienced yoga instructor who is dedicated to helping others become skilled yoga teachers. She completed her 300HR yoga certification through Circle Yoga and her 200HR certification through Yoga District, and has since focused on sharing her knowledge and experience with aspiring yoga teachers and practitioners. Sydnea is also certified in several other areas, including Rocket Yoga, Accessible Yoga, and teaching yoga to kids with special needs. Her approach to teaching is warm, welcoming, and accessible, and she is committed to helping her students develop the skills and confidence needed to become effective yoga teachers. Sydnea believes that yoga is for everyone, regardless of age, background, or body type, and is passionate about sharing the benefits of yoga with others.

Matthew Lyons, E-RYT 200
Yoga and Meditation
Inclusivity in Yoga Teaching
Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Matthew (he/him) has lived in the DC area for over 30 years. He began practicing yoga consistently in 2014. After several years of practicing Bikram Yoga, his interests shifted to vinyasa, Yoga Nidra, Yin Yoga, and restorative practices. Matthew completed his RYT-200 training as well as a 100-hour Yin Yoga teaching training in 2017, and has since continued to pursue training in Yoga Nidra, restorative yoga, and sound healing. Matthew brings a calm, mellow vibe into his classes, with the intention of making yoga accessible and fulfilling to each student's body and spirit. He holds a law degree from George Washington University Law School and spent nearly 26 years working on congressional affairs and federal public policy before deciding to dedicate his time and energy to guiding gentle movement practices, meditation, and sound healing.

Annie Mahon, MA, MS, E-RYT 200
Mindfulness
Annie (she/they) is an author, ordained Buddhist mindfulness teacher and founder of the Circle Yoga Cooperative in Washington, DC. She has been writing about mindfulness, parenting, stress and yoga since 2004. Her blog, rawmindfulness.com, led to a book of Annie’s collected essays, Words to be With. Her most recent book, Things I Did When I was Hangry (Parallax Press, September 2015), documents Annie’s search for sanity in her eating disordered family life and reveals how mindfulness helped her go beyond the search for perfection and learn to love the moment as it is. Annie holds certifications in yoga, focusing and massage therapy and dabbles in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). When not visiting her children, teaching, traveling the world with her husband, drinking jasmine tea with honey, writing or walking her dogs, she practices yoga and mindfulness with her community in DC.

Mercedes Santos, E-RYT 200
Yoga for Seniors
Mercedes (she/her) began practicing yoga 32 years ago and has been teaching both group classes and private yoga sessions for 18. She especially enjoys teaching older students, and has developed programs that include discussion and practices to support a variety of aging-related needs. Using her knowledge of aging, anatomy, therapeutics and pedagogy, she has designed workshops for yoga teachers who have an interest in these topics. Mercedes’ commitment to teaching is grounded in her belief that yoga can be valuable and accessible to everyone and that the power of the individual practice is amplified when shared in community.

Alice Wylie, E-RYT 500
Flow Yoga
Alice (she/her) has been teaching yoga since 2004 and is an E-RYT500 through Yoga Alliance. She first discovered yoga 25 years ago when she was dancing professionally and was instantly drawn to the peace of the practice. She believes yoga is one of the greatest gifts in her life, shaping her way of experiencing the world. Sharing a small slice of this vast practice with others is an honor. She received her primary training through Tranquil Space in Washington, DC. Further studies include the Pilates mat training through Quantum Pilates, completion of Dr. Ariele Foster’s Yoga Anatomy Training and Jill Miller’s Level 1 Yoga Tune Up® Teacher Training in anatomy, biomechanics, and yoga therapeutics led by Laurel Beversdorf. She is thrilled to be part of the CYTT team!

Program Fees

The fee for the 2023-24 training is $3,695.

What does the fee include?

The fee for the 2023-24 training includes:

• 200 live contact hours (in person or online) with a diverse set of highly experienced trainers
• 10 Circle Yoga classes (in person or online), which you can take as you like throughout the program year
• Unlimited access to the Circle Yoga Video Library throughout the program year
• A 45-minute private session with the lead trainer of your choice

Payment Options

With Early Bird pricing, payments will be made as follows:

• Due with application: $25 application fee (non-refundable)
• Due upon acceptance to the program: $350 deposit (non-refundable)

The application fee and deposit are included in the overall training fee. Trainees may choose one of two options to pay the remaining registration fee:

Option 1: Pay remaining fees in full by Wednesday, Sept 6:
$3,320 paid in full

Option 2: Pay remaining fees in monthly installments, with the first installment due Friday, Sept 1 and the final installment due in August 2024:
$285 paid in 11 monthly installments and $275 paid in the final installment for a total of $3410

Option 2 includes a $90 processing fee for the year, which is already calculated into the monthly payment. Also, trainees choosing this option will be required to keep an updated credit card on file with Circle Yoga, so that payments are automated.

Flexible Make Up Policy

For missed hours

We recognize that not everyone will be able to attend all sessions. You have two different options for making up missed hours:

1. During the subsequent training year: You can make up as many as three regular weeks (33 hours) at no charge during the next training year. If you miss more than 33 hours, making up additional hours in the next training will cost $20 per hour.* You will need to make up the exact sections of the syllabus that you missed. Since the schedule may vary year by year, this may mean mixing and matching in different weeks. (For example, you would make up “Classroom Management,” “Standing Poses,” and “Teaching Pranayama,” not “Week 5”).

2. Private sessions during 2022-23: We also offer private make-up sessions with our trainers for $75 an hour. These sessions may be shared, with the cost split by trainees who miss the same sessions. We will make every reasonable effort to schedule trainees together. If you need to cancel a make-up session with less than 24 hours’ notice or arrive late to a session, you will still be charged for the trainer’s time. With fewer trainees, make-ups often move more quickly than the initial session, so at the trainer’s discretion, the make-up session may be shorter (never longer) than the original session. Additionally, some practices may be recorded for students and trainers to access in a private video library. Students may use the recorded practices for up to 3 make ups for missed practices only. Practices made up this way involve watching and practicing along with the video and then turning in a written reflection. There's a $35 admin fee per practice made up this way. Missed discussions and group work must be made up with a trainer.

* It is Circle Yoga’s intention to offer CYTT each year. In the event of low enrollment or other unanticipated circumstances, it is possible that the program will not be offered in 2024-2025. In that case, trainees who need to make up missed sessions will only have the option of $75/hour private sessions in order to complete the hours for Yoga Alliance certification.

How to Apply

We are now accepting applications for the 2023-24 Circle Yoga Teacher Training!

Apply now.

After we receive your completed application and $25 application fee, you should receive an email confirming receipt. We will be back in touch within 7 business days. Upon acceptance to the program, a $350 non-refundable deposit is due within 14 days to secure your space in the program.

Scholarships

Each year, we award a limited number of partial scholarships for the Circle Yoga Teacher Training with the goal of making our training more accessible to individuals who hold marginalized identities and those who are experiencing significant financial hardship. If neither of these qualifications applies to you, please consider opting for our installment payment option.

Given the relatively small size and limited budget of our program, we are not able to offer full scholarships.  

How to Apply for a Scholarship

To apply for scholarship support for CYTT, please complete the scholarship application and the standard CYTT application. We will not be able to consider scholarship requests without an accompanying CYTT application. If the $25 CYTT Application Fee is beyond your means, contact us.

The priority scholarship application deadline for the 2023-24 Circle Yoga Teacher Training was Friday, June 30. 

Scholarship applications received after June 30 will be considered on a rolling basis if additional scholarship funds are available.

The following refund policy reflects what can be refunded for trainees who apply to the program by June 30 with the $3495 Early Bird Fee. For trainees who apply after June 30, the refund amounts will be adjusted to reflect the standard $3695 program fee.

Refund Policy

The $25 application fee and initial $350 deposit for the program are non-refundable. If for any reason you need to withdraw from the program, refund requests must be received in writing, and refunds can be provided according to the following schedule:

• If you withdraw from the program before Wednesday, Sept 6, you will receive a refund of any program payment you have made (not including the $25 application fee and $350 deposit).
• Between Wednesday, Sept 6 and Wednesday, October 4, if you have paid the remaining program fee of $3,120 in full, you will receive a refund of $2,852.50.
• Between Wednesday, Sept 6 and Wednesday, October 4, if you have paid the first of 12 payments ($267.50), you will not receive a refund, but you will not be responsible for any further installments.

No refunds after October 4, 2023.

If you have any questions about the Circle Yoga Teacher Training, contact us.