Embodied Yoga: 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training

Post-Lineage, Trauma-Informed, Rooted in Real Experience

Starting October 2026 | Open Way Yoga

-What You’ll Learn

Cultivate Vitality
Learn and practice skills that will support you in creating a sense of vitality and well being from the inside out.

Life Long Mobility
Movement, strength, and flexibility practices to support a healthy range of motion throughout life.

Heal Physical Pain
Anatomy for real bodies. Working with chronic pain, injury, and limitation. When to refer out.

Mental & Emotional Health
Nervous system regulation. Polyvagal theory. Breathwork and somatic practices for stress, anxiety, depression, overwhelm and trauma. How to stay in your scope of practice.

Trauma-Informed Teaching
What trauma is and how it lives in the body. Creating safety through language and autonomy. Recognizing dysregulation and responding skillfully.

Post-Lineage Philosophy
Understanding yoga’s roots without deifying lineage founders. Critiquing appropriation and guru culture. Building your own teaching philosophy.

The Art of Teaching
Sequencing for different populations. Cueing without controlling. Reading a room. Teaching from your voice, not a script.

What Makes This Training Different

Immersive Experience:
This is post-lineage, trauma-centered yoga. If you want to understand how yoga that actually heals physically, mentally, and emotionally, this training gives you the foundation to find that for yourself and if you choose to teach, help others do the same.

Practical Teaching Skills:
We don’t train teachers to replicate someone else’s yoga. We train teachers who share from their own practice and lived experience.

You won’t memorize scripts or follow formulas. You’ll learn to understand nervous system regulation, work skillfully with pain and trauma, and teach from embodiment instead of performance.

How It Works

Group Sessions:
Weekend intensives diving into philosophy, anatomy, polyvagal theory, and physical practice. You learn in the presence of actual bodies, not just theory.

Individual Mentoring:
One-on-one time with trainers to explore what matters to you and develop your teaching voice. This isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Peer-Reviewed Teaching:
You’ll teach a lot, with real feedback. Every graduate leaves with solid teaching hours, not just a certificate.

Flexibility of Focus:
Want to go deeper into restorative work? Breathwork? Chronic pain? We build space for you to focus on what calls you.

Who This Is For

You don’t need to be an advanced practitioner. You need to be someone who is interested in the deeper layers of yoga and wants to do healing work in yourself and the world.

If you want to go deeper in your own practice, understand how yoga can be used to address real pain, value trauma-informed practice, or are interested in being of service, we want you here.

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Program Details

When: October 2026 - March 2027

Certification: 200-Hour American Yoga Council Registered Teacher Training

Investment: $3,500

Early Bird (Register by August 1, 2026): $3,200

Earlier Bird (register by June 1, 2026): $3,000

Payment Structure:

- $500 non-refundable deposit due at registration

- Balance due in full 5 days before first training session

- Payment plans available—contact us to discuss options

Included Perks.

Starting June 1, 2026 All regularly scheduled classes and select workshops are free from the date the program is paid-in-full through the end of the Group Training Sessions.
Pay in full now and start coming to classes for free June 1!

Ready to Begin?

Space is limited to ensure personalized attention and deep mentoring relationships.

Enrollment is Open

Questions?

Email: openwayyoga@gmail.com

Phone: 440-477-4348

This isn’t just yoga teacher training.
This is learning to heal with yoga as the tool.

Are you ready?
Pay your initial deposit or pay in full today!

Training Dates & Requirements
250 Total Hours

50 OWY Class Hours: These hours are accumulated by attending classes at OWY in Huron, OWY Sandusky Rec, and any other public community classes offered by OWY

HERE’S WHAT PREVIOUS GRADUATES HAVE TO SAY:

"OWY's Teacher Training Prgram changed my life!"

"I entered Open Way Yoga teacher training primarily to deepen my own practice. I sincerely appreciated the philosophic and practice depth of this program." 

"Open Way Yoga provided quality instruction, guidance and the opportunity to explore personal yogic interests and ideas. The class curriculum was well rounded and, in fact, exceeded the 200 RYT requirements. I would recommend this teacher training program to anyone interested in gaining a greater understanding of yoga and the ability to confidently teach in a classroom setting."

Meet Your Teachers:

Shannon Thomas has over 25 years of yoga of experience. She has been the leader trainer for some of the very best teachers in our area and beyond.

I’m the owner of Open Way Yoga and lead trainer. I’ve been teaching yoga for 12 years. And have thousands of hours of teaching experience. I specialize in trauma-informed practice, nervous system regulation, the pelvic floor and somatic healing. I teach from the experience of her own healing journey and believes yoga should empower people to reclaim agency over their bodies and lives.

Mary Folger was a part of OWY’s first graduating class in 2014 and has decades of yoga experience. She is a skilled trauma informed Certified Iyengar teacher.

My first experience of yoga was in the mid 70’s. I acquired one of those vintage paperbacks and taught myself some poses; I particularly remember cobra, lotus, and headstand! There are many things I love about yoga in general: the integration of ancient and contemporary wisdom and practices, the breadth of focus – personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal; the ever deepening nature of yoga; and the brief, fleeting moments of spaciousness. I am honored to share this journey with you.

April Halm is a gifted somatic yin teacher who is skilled at helping to tend pain the body.

I was certified through Open Way and continued to add to my training over they years. I completed an additional 300 hours of yoga training during covid and added in several specialized yoga trainings over the years in Restorative, Yin, Somatic, Chair yoga, Meditation and Yoga for Pain Management.

I teach a Somatic Yin Deep Stretch with a focus on the breath to tune into your connective tissue & find space in your body to let go of the tension & discomfort you carry every day.

Tondra Frisby is a community leader and culture builder.

Tondra Bio

This training is in-person and immersive… it will change you from the inside out!

Book List

• Yoga for Everyone  
  By Dianne Bondy

• Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit
  By Donna Farhi

• Anatomy book: PENDING

• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali  Translation and Commentary By Chip Hartranft

• My Grandmother’s Hands
  By Resmaa Menakem

POLICY FOR MISSED CLASSES

We understand some travel plans are too important to miss and that illnesses and life situations happen, so if you need to miss a weekend or any of our group hours we do have ways for you to make up the material. If you are unable to complete the program by the final weekend, you will have through December 31, 2027 to complete all requirements.