Unearth your true self.

Connect with others on the journey.

Experience what it means to live your yoga.

Our 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified healing arts program has a focus on social justice and making yoga a daily practice through applied yoga philosophy, and Ayurveda.

Through the process of self actualization we recognize yoga is our nature, not separate. We all need guides who have been on the path to help navigate, find your authentic voice, and utilize yoga as a tool of social change.

Our training draws from inclusive, collaborative, weight neutral practices investigating the pedagogy of care, attention, meditation, and self inquiry.

Are you passionate about yoga and want to deepen your practice? Have you considered becoming a certified yoga teacher but haven't found the right program for you? Look no further than Elk Rock Yoga's Teacher Training program!

Our program is designed to provide you with comprehensive training in the art and science of yoga, giving you the skills and knowledge necessary to become a confident and effective teacher. Our experienced and highly qualified instructors will guide you through all aspects of yoga, from asana practice and philosophy to anatomy and sequencing.

Throughout the course, you'll have the opportunity to connect with other trainees, fostering a supportive community and deepening your understanding of yoga through conversation and shared experiences. You'll also have the chance to participate in workshops and special events, giving you a well-rounded and immersive training experience.

At Elk Rock Yoga, we believe that yoga is for everyone, and our Teacher Training program reflects that philosophy. Whether you're looking to become a full-time yoga teacher, deepen your own practice, or simply expand your knowledge of yoga, our program can help you achieve your goals.

So if you're ready to take the next step in your yoga journey, sign up for Elk Rock Yoga's Teacher Training program today. We can't wait to see where this transformative experience will take you!

Lead teacher, Fawn Williams
E-RYT 500, YACEP, C-IAYT, BFA

Fawn is the owner of Elk Rock Yoga, IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist, Yoga Alliance Certified Continuing Education Provider, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. She was raised in a household that practiced yoga, and continues to use the tools of yoga as a way of life.

Her yoga story began with a meditation practice on the Inner Sound given to her as a child by Sant Ajaib Singh, affectionately known as Sant Ji. She has been a practitioner of yoga ever since, for over 40 years, and weaves the living practices of yoga into her work as a passionate small business owner.

Her career as a Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT, includes deep listening, client-centered goal creation, matchmaking between providers, and building transformative relationships. Through supporting clients, she endeavors to make a larger contribution to the community. Listening to her intuition as a passionate small business owner allows her to see opportunities where others might not.

Fawn’s roots in the Portland yoga community run deep. She became a yoga teacher in 2008, and has trained over 80 yoga teachers, and counting. She began her teaching career supporting folks who have less access to the healing tools of yoga like youth at risk of homelessness, the incarcerated population, and people in recovery. Having served as faculty on many yoga teacher training programs at local studios, True Self is a program that she would have loved to take.

Yoga Alliance standards

True Self teacher training program aligns with those who dream of becoming a socially conscious yoga instructor, and those who desire depth of yoga knowledge to apply to daily life. Even though Elk Rock is registered with the Yoga Alliance, our program goes beyond the minimum 200 hour curriculum standards. We allow people to choose the teacher track and become certified with Yoga Alliance at the end of training, and offer a select few the option to audit the program. Limited places are available to ensure that each person has plentiful opportunities to learn at their pace.

Modules + highlights

  • Vinyasa, hatha, yin and restorative styles of yoga

  • Intro to Ayurveda

  • Pranayama & meditation skills

  • Neuroscience of yoga basics

  • Diversity & inclusion in wellness spaces

  • Prenatal yoga primer

  • Yoga philosophy

  • Trauma sensitivity in yoga

  • Yoga anatomy & physiology

  • Chakras, mantras & mudras

  • Yoga asana

  • Developing a personal practice

Teacher track

Guidelines for those wanting to become a registered teacher:

  1. Complete a minimum of 90% of training hours; being late to more than 2 sessions is considered an absence

  2. Complete and hand in all assigned homework, provided each weekend based on content

  3. Complete personal practices based on weekend module topics

  4. Complete a test the final weekend

True Self program begins September 20, 2024

200-hour Yoga Alliance Registered Teaching Training

Our 200-hour Program mirrors the layers of a temperate rainforest. All forest layers are interconnected without hierarchy. Each layer has vital components to the health of the forest. We begin with a supportive container then layer by layer we individuate.

2024-25 schedule

  • Fridays: 6:30–8:30 p.m.

  • Saturdays: 12–7 p.m.

  • Sundays: 1:30–5:30 p.m.

Forest floor: Create a container and  build a foundation

The roots of yoga, the yamas and niyamas, subtle body, and radical self care fortify our base.

  • September 20-22

  • October 25-27

  • November 15-17

  • December 13-15

Understory: Advance the inward journey

We study the limbs of asana, pranayama, dyana, dharana, pratyahara, respiration and meditation.

  • January 10-12

  • January 24-26

  • February 14-16

  • Feb 28- March 2

  • March 28-30

Canopy: Hone your voice, take the seat, and re-emerge

Teaching tools and techniques, specialty classes, sequencing.

  • April 18-20

  • May 2-4

  • May 16-18

  • June 6-8

The 200 Hour True Self Yoga Teacher Training is a substantial commitment of time, and attendance every weekend is required for a certificate at graduation, for both Yoga Alliance credential and ERY’s confidence in giving you a certificate.

With approval, we will consider up to 5 hours of non-consecutive excused absence. Entire weekend absences and anything more than 5 hours missed, the student will be responsible for making up the hours at their own expense with faculty. ERY does not provide make-up hours included in the tuition of Teacher Training.

Each trainee receives a full scholarship included in their tuition to attend unlimited classes at Elk Rock Yoga.

Are you ready to grow?

Frequently asked questions

What do you mean by True Self and why is that the name of your teacher training?

The name ‘true self’ blends yoga philosophy with application, and nods to the fact that yoga is not a discovery, yoga is transformational.

In the Intensive Outpatient Clinic where Lead Teacher Fawn worked for many years, ‘true self’ was used to describe and differentiate disordered thinking versus a part of oneself capable of making harmonious, loving, compassionate, choices. Listening to one’s true self was also a practice of being honest, a practice of showing leadership toward an addicted mind.  Over the years she spent working in the field of trauma recovery, Fawn realized everyone is recovering from something.

Yoga is a practice that reconnects us to our inner voice of pure consciousness, and provides an intervention from samskaras, our deeply ingrained, habitual grooves of mind.

The concept of true self in yoga philosophy is referred to as atman, and denotes the part of self which is eternal, conscious, universal, and unchanging. It is the part of us beyond our personality, and our social conditioning. True self, or atman, is the part of us still filled with awe and wonder of each sunset, each flower, regardless of life circumstance

What style of yoga will I learn to teach?

True Self offers an introduction to the wide range of styles of yoga asana commonly showcased in studios. Yin, Restorative, Vinyasa, Hatha, Prenatal, Power, and Therapeutic styles will be introduced during the course of our training to pique your interest, and engage you long after our training.

This training is rooted in the teachings of BKS Iyengar and Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, now broadly known as Hatha style yoga.

The program is infused with radical care practices from Ayurveda and other healing arts like self myofascial release for self care. Being a yoga teacher is an ever demanding profession, and we aim to help our trainees feel grounded and well resourced along the journey.

We dive into the eight limbed practices of yoga philosophy and ethics, subtle anatomy, pranayama, self study, and meditation. We dip our toes into trauma research, exercise science, and biomechanics to notice where we might want to further our study. We will read from scriptures like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras & Upanishads, learn Sanskrit names of postures and techniques, learn how to use Mantra.

I just want to deepen my practice and not necessarily teach, can I take the program?

Whether or not you wish to teach, this experience is a wonderful opportunity to accelerate in your personal development. Taking a 200 hour training will deepen your practice in a supportive community and nurturing environment. We value creating a space of mutual respect and cultivating an energy of unconditional acceptance so you can learn to artfully give voice to your journey as a means to inspire and uplift others.

What are the prerequisites for attending this teacher training program?

  • 1-year minimum yoga asana experience in public group classes

  • Attended 3 or more classes at Elk Rock Yoga

  • Meet with Lead Teacher Fawn Williams

Will I be qualified to teach yoga after this training?

After the program is finished and all homework is completed, you receive a Certificate from Elk Rock Yoga Shala and can Register with the Yoga Alliance. Most teachers feel comfortable teaching one or two of the different styles we introduce during the course of the training at a foundational level. Graduates of the program can apply and audition to teach at Elk Rock Yoga, or another studio.

Tuition: Justice pricing

As part of our ongoing dedication to creating opportunities for yoga to be more accessible we offer tiered pricing.

  • $3600 Full Tuition. Pays for you, faculty, and supports others.

  • $2900 Collective Care Rate. Limited spaces. Apply here.

  • $1885 Work Exchange. Limited spaces. Apply here.

  • $1275 Audit. For students looking to deepen their practice, but not interested in a full program. Includes 5 specific weekend modules. Spaces made available in September; apply to be on the wait list.

Elk Rock Yoga offers one payment plan for teacher training over the course of the 10 month training. There are no fees for choosing a payment plan.

  • $3600 / 10 months = 10 payments of $360

  • $2900 / 10 months = 10 payments of $290

  • $1880 / 10 months = 10 payments of $188

  • Audit: $1275 / 5 months = 5 payments of $255

Your first payment secures your place.

If you need other payment accommodations please reach out to us.

What happens if I miss a class?

Make-up sessions are available for $40 an hour.