5 weeks in studio classes & 1 week study / teaching practice week

Schedule Breakdown:
June 30th - Aug 1st 2025 (no Friday July 4th / shortened day July 3rd)
3 Saturdays July 12th, July 26th & August 9th 11-4

Mondays 12:30-5pm
Tuesdays 12:30-5pm
Wednesdays 12:30-5pm
Thursdays 12:30-6pm (*July 3rd ends at 4pm)
Fridays 12:30-5pm
 

August 4th-8th (Monday-Friday): Integration Week (no in-studio classes)
Commitment: 2 hours day with independent study and teaching practice on your own time and schedule.

Saturday, August 9th: Graduation (11am-4pm)

DESCRIPTION:
Are you ready to share your passion for yoga with others and learn how to teach? Our teaching-focused program is geared towards those who want to become a yoga instructor. In a nourishing and intimate environment, this 200-hour training will prepare you to take on the role of a teacher by empowering you with the confidence and necessary skills to teach a well-balanced vinyasa flow class. Following the intensive, you’ll be supported with options for continuing education and a teacher’s community to help guide you on your teaching path. Get ready to be inspired doing what you love.

Continuing Education workshops to support you on your teaching journey following the intensive can include but are not limited to: Creative Sequencing, Effective Cueing, Playlist Curating, Adjustments & Assists, The Business of Yoga, Pre & Post Natal Yoga, Trauma-Informed Yoga, Chair Yoga, Pranayama, Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Ayurveda and Functional Anatomy.

STYLE / METHOD
Vinyasa Flow-based method that emphasizes breath-driven movement, healthy alignment and clear instruction.

COST:
$3400 

The cost of the program includes unlimited classes at Reach Yoga during the training dates (June 30, 2025 - August 9, 2025)

*Please note that there are limited spaces available for enrollment to maintain the integrity of an intimate and personal environment.

METHOD OF PAYMENT
Credit card, check or cash to Reach Yoga.

REFUND POLICY
No refunds are available within 30 days (after May 31, 2025).

REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION
Attend a minimum of 20 classes total required. 
Attend teacher training sessions and required hours
Completion of assignments
Completion of observation hours (2)
Completion of teaching practice hours
Completion of integration week hours
Meditation 10 minutes per day
Final teaching practicum

*You will have access to all yoga classes at REACH YOGA during the program (6/30-8/9/2025) This begins on the first day and ends on the last day. Please note that classes not completed within the program dates need to be completed for an extra fee and are not included in the program cost.

**You will have one month from the program end date (9/9/2025) to complete any observations, make-ups, and required yoga classes to be eligible for certification.

***Absences: You are allowed to miss 5 hours. Any amount missed over 5 hours will require private session makeups at an extra cost. Please inquire for more information on our makeup policy.

PROGRAM BREAKDOWN / CURRICULUM
Asana Study (Poses): Exploring Alignment, Cues, Modifications, Sanskrit Names
Teaching Methodology: Skills and Techniques
The Art of Sequencing
Adjustments and Assists
Teaching Practice: Finding Your Voice
Teaching Special Populations: Prenatal yoga, Trauma-Informed, Injuries
Meditation, Mantra and Chanting
Pranayama (Breathing Techniques)
Functional Anatomy and Physiology
Subtle Anatomy and The Chakras
Yoga Philosophy: The Eight Limbs of Yoga
The Yamas and Niyamas
Classic Yoga Texts: The Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutras
The History of Yoga and Styles of Yoga
The Business of Yoga
The Ethics of Teaching Yoga

BOOKS / REQUIRED READING:
Teacher training manuals are included, but you will need to purchase additional required books. The cost is not included in the program.
Living Your Yoga by Judith Lasater
Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques by Mark Stephens
The Key Muscles of Yoga by Ray Long: Scientific Keys Volume 1
The Yamas and Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice by Deborah Adele

TO APPLY:
Please fill out the following form:
https://forms.gle/Lj632qH9iXTbUNWv5

FACULTY BIOS:

LAURA MERLO
Laura Merlo, is the owner of Reach Yoga Glencoe. She found yoga/yoga found her in 2008 after marathon running, weight training and dabbling in other fitness modalities. Her love of the mind, body, soul practice led her to earn multiple certificates to teach along the North Shore of Chicago and in 2018 she bought Reach Yoga and found what she was meant to do. Laura’s Vinyasa teaching style is a movement with breath, creatively sequenced class guided by a specific mood inducing playlist. She leads workshops, local and out of state retreats, volunteer teaches yoga at Salt & Light Coalition, and finds that cultivating personal relationships with everyone from staff to students to the entire community allows her to be the most authentic version of herself.

STACY LEVY
Stacy has been sharing her passion for yoga and the healing arts as an educator and dedicated practitioner for over 20 years. Teaching full time since 2011, she has extensively studied various lineages of yoga and has been trained in other modalities including somatic embodiment, mindfulness meditation, herbalism, functional nutrition and subtle energy work. As a teacher trainer, retreat facilitator and intuitive coach, she aspires to elevate and empower others to deepen and expand their embodiment practices through movement, creative expression and conscious living. Her yoga classes are alignment and breath-focused, with her teaching style often being described as grounding, steady-paced and down-to-earth. Stacy teaches yoga as a practice of self-discovery and self-acceptance, and believes that embodied presence helps us to align with our most authentic and whole self.

PAM UDELL
Over 25 years ago, Pam decided to get certified as a yoga instructor to add to her repertoire of personal training and group exercise classes. It was love at first breath! After receiving a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology, Pam fulfilled her dream, and in 1999 opened the doors of Healing Power Yoga in downtown Highland Park. It was during this time that she studied with instructors from all over the country, diving deep into the many facets of yoga. After about 20 years of teaching, she co-led numerous teacher training programs with a focus on anatomy and alignment. Pam is also a certified Functional Nutrition Counselor and loves to share what she learns. Pam takes the many styles she has studied over the years and blends an approachable, breath-based, feel-the-music kind of class.

SHARYN GALINDO
Sharyn Galindo, is the owner of True North Yoga & Wellness. She began her studies in yoga, breath, and meditation back in the 1990s and with an entrepreneurial spirit, opened up one of the first mind body fitness studios in 1996, which grew to three locations. She has spent much time back and forth to India and Thailand to further her studies. She has run 200 hour and 300-hour teacher training courses for over 15 years, holds a Masters in Holistic Nutrition and a certificate as a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist (CAS) from both the California College of Ayurveda and the American Institute of Vedic Studies. She is a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and a graduate of the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy as well as a certified Pain Coach. Sharyn has continued to enhance her practice of pranayama and vipassana/mindfulness meditation. She participates yearly in silent meditation retreats and teaches meditation. She is a certified Search Inside Yourself Instructor, a program that began at Google, which combines Mindfulness, Neuroscience, and Emotional Intelligence. Sharyn believes that only with a strong, healthy body—attained through proper diet, asana practice, pranayama, and meditation—can one begin to truly flourish.

RAMAA KRISHNAN
Ramaa Krishnan, born in India and now residing in the United States, is a teacher, author, and founder of the Full Bloomed Lotus Center for Self-Awareness (www.fullbloomedlotus.com). Her spiritual journey began at an early age, with a daily meditation practice, evolving through Kundalini Yoga and an in-depth study of the psychology of the chakras. These experiences deepened her understanding of sacred texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and other spiritual teachings, shaping a lifelong commitment to self-awareness and personal growth. Blending spirituality, mindfulness, and self-discovery, Ramaa empowers individuals to live intentionally and heal through inner-child work. Her book, The Yoga of Self-Love, offers a transformative path to wholeness and freedom through self-awareness and the art of narrative healing.