300 Hour Teacher Training
Refine Your Practice with the 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Certification
Where passionate practitioners become exceptional teachers:
Expand your knowledge
Refine your skills
Train with master teachers
Position yourself at the forefront of modern Yoga Instruction
Craft your unique training path with our in-depth, specialized modules.
How It Works
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200 HR from SmartFLOW
OR 200 HR from another studio. If that is the case, please complete the Heart of SmartFLOW Online Courses (to learn the foundation of SmartFLOW Yoga)
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You can complete this program as fast as 1 year and as long as 3 years. For most people, it takes 1-2 years to complete.
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Each module offers an in-depth study and practice into a very specific aspect and expression of Practice.
The modules can be taken in any order.
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We encourage you to plan and track your own progress. We’ll keep track in our office, too.
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Completing your 200-hour with SmartFLOW (or another RYS 200) along with our 300-hr Advanced Training will make you eligible to register as an RYT 500.
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Complete a 200HR Training (Ideally SmartFLOW, can be from another school)
Complete a 300HR SmartFLOW Training
SmartFLOW Certification Process
Upon completion, you'll have the title of being a SmartFLOW Teacher and are able to assist and eventually lead SmartFLOW modules and trainings.
“I've studied with Annie for about twenty years, she is always evolving and I gain so much inspiration from her presence. A true teacher and a very special person, who leaves a deep imprint on all of us who study with her. ”
Joan Hyman
Craft Your Yoga Journey
Work at your own pace and complete your custom program in up to 3 years.
Self-Led Modules
*A prerequisite to this 300HR Program
Online
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This course will elevate your understanding of the human body's nuanced expressions through physical yoga practice. You will learn skills for communicating these teachings clearly and concisely, which will help your students remain mindfully present. Through this insightful and compassionate approach to teaching, you will be able to intuit how deeply your students can safely move into a pose at any given time, while celebrating the uniqueness of each human body.
33 videos organized into 10 chapters
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This course will explore four of the eight Movement Principles in the SmartFLOW Teacher Training, with a review of the core concepts introduced in The Heart of SmartFLOW and Demystifying the Bandhas. Based around two essential yogic principles: abhyasa (do your practice!), and vairagya (let go of expectations) you'll dance along the continuum of applying effort and softening into what you discover. As you go deeper into your own practice and learn an inspired approach to teaching, SmartFLOW Yoga will also guide you toward greater personal inquiry and intuition.
18 videos organized into 6 chapters
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Working with the bandhas heightens your awareness of your subtle body, bringing energetic support to your physical practice. As you use them to enhance your asana and pranayama practices, you'll begin to see how it's possible to direct your own energy-uplifting it when you feel depleted, or transforming excess, scattered energy into grounded vitality. By managing your subtle body in this way, you'll feel more powerful, confident and capable of creating what you want out of life.
This course will explore each bandha in depth through a mixture of lecture and practice. You'll learn the anatomy, theory and proper execution of each lock, and how to apply these ancient teachings to your modern life. How and when to practice, including contraindications, will also be discussed. The course will culminate in an hour-long practice that integrates all three locks, so you can fully experience their breath-enhancing and energy-boosting effects.9 videos organized into 5 chapters
Core Curriculum
The following 5 modules are required to complete your 300 HR Training. They are generally offered once per year, and are available in person, livestream, and replay.
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In this Mentorship program, you will earn 100 Hours towards your Advanced SmartFLOW certification, which includes 10 small group meetings, 2 classes per week, 8 classes to observe and study, deep exploration of the Upanishads, and ample time to address all your questions about yoga and teaching.
Mentorship begins January 2025.
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This 50-hour Advanced Level Training, over the span of 7 days, intentionally integrates subtle practices into advanced asana by structuring each training day around a chakra. As such, we will weave multiple layers – all 5 koshas – into our awareness, setting the stage for personal transformation.
Training begins October 2024.
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Essential Breathing Techniques
Developing your Practice and Teaching Skills for Pranayama
This Intensive dives deep into Pranayama as practice, its theory and application in both healing and transformational applications. Each day will begin with a strong Asana practice, with an emphasis on each PranaVayu and the cultivation of breath awareness and Pranic movement. Afternoons will be a mix of lecture, learning various Pranayama techniques and developing increasingly subtle states of concentration, and energetic effects.
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Sama means even, or balanced as in Samasthithi or even standing pose. This pose teaches us to balance the body right and left, front and back and up and down; further it asks us to sense our feeling of being grounded with our need to feel free. And lastly it suggests that in our personal concerns we acknowledge the truth that we are part of or a greater, spiritual whole. Sadhana is practice: our daily Yogic practice. Sama Sadhana = Even, balanced Practice.
In this Intensive, you will reflect on and aim to balance your body, mind and heart similarly in all the poses we practice and in all the Movement Principles* that we explore. This will be a demanding and transformational workshop, moving you through the limbs of Yoga.
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Sama: even, balanced.
Krama: to progress, step by step.
The Art of Sequencing: Creating a meaningful and intelligent Yoga sequence is an art, and a skill – that can be learned and honed into a fun and deeply satisfying art for you and your students.The heart of this 50-hour intensive is in the strong morning Asana practice. Each daily practice will highlight an essential aspect of sequencing; afternoons will be spent mapping the sequence, generating alternate “itineraries” and modifications, and illuminating each of the elements that great sequences all share.
50 hours towards your Advanced 300-hour Training
Upcoming Workshops and Modules
Instructor: Annie Carpenter
Center for Yoga LA
Los Angeles, CA
SEPT 11 - SEPT 14
In Person Only
The Essential Arches: Keystones to Health and Healing
Join me on this 4-day journey through the body’s essential keystones and their accompanying diaphragms and Bandhas. A keystone is a central stone at the summit of an arch, which literally locks the whole together. In our bodies, there are several key areas that are the central principles or keys on which all else depends. Each keystone has a set of bases, which when balanced create dynamic stability from below, and ease and range of motion above. We will dive into the physical and energetic keystones of the body, developing awareness, release and support using all the elements of Yoga practice: asana and pranayama, philosophy and meditation. This training counts as 15 hours toward your advanced yoga certification.
Instructor: Annie Carpenter
NEST Yoga
Oakland, CA
OCT 10 - OCT 12
In Person
Livestream
The Maha Bandhas: Support from Deep Within
A deep dive into the three primary Bandhas: Mula, Uddiyana, and Jalandhara. We will explore their physical foundations, breath integration, and energetic impact. This weekend will balance strong asana and pranayama practices with discussions on history, philosophy, and anatomy, to deepen our awareness and refine our application. This weekend is open to all who want to take their practice deeper. Yoga Teachers are especially encouraged to come as these practices are often misunderstood and their transmission can be tricky. This training counts as 16 hours toward your advanced yoga certification.
“Although I had been teaching already, it wasn’t until I did the SmartFLOW Teacher Training with Annie that I truly felt I was a powerful teacher.
Jennifer
“Annie presents information in a fun and accessible way while challenging her students and pushing them to their own individual limits.”
Tiffany
“Thanks to Annie’s great reputation in the yoga community, I was able to immediately find opportunities to teach”
Kirsten