Learn to teach Hatha Yoga, Restorative, Yin, Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Yoga Nidra and prenatal. Transformative sequencing,  theming, cuing and demonstration modules will teach you to theme classes & sequence intelligently. Learn exceptional teaching techniques while developing a personal Sadhana (practice) that inspires you.

Our 300Hr Elemental Yoga Teacher Training includes in-depth study in the yoga texts foundational to the practice and understanding of yoga. Through our embodied approach you’ll learn to integrate yoga wisdom into your teaching and your life.

Skill in Action Yoga for Social Justice 

I am a social justice warrior, author, dismantling racism trainer, empath, yoga teacher and practitioner, and an intuitive healer. With over 20 years of experience leading dismantling racism work and working with clients as a licensed clinical social worker, I have a deep understanding of how trauma impacts the mind, body, spirit, and heart. My awareness of the world through my own experience as a black woman allows me to know, first-hand, how privilege and power operate. 

I have a Bachelors of Arts degree from the College of William and Mary and a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. I have worked in several non-profits and served as an elected official and on many non-profit boards of directors. I have led Dismantling Racism Trainings with large corporations, small non-profits, and community groups, including the ACLU-WA, Duke University, Google, This American Life, The Center for Equity and Inclusion, Eno River Unitarian Universalist Church, Lululemon, and many others. I published Skill in Action: Radicalizing Your Yoga Practice to Create a Just World in 2017; I teach workshops in yoga studios and community spaces nationwide. I am on the faculty of Off the Mat Into the World, and serve as the Co-Director of 18 Springs Healing Center in Winston-Salem, NC.

Yoga and Social Change

Gwen Benjamin is an internationally published novelist and activist whose yoga journey has taken her both on and off the mat. As a community organizer, Gwen collaborates with numerous local and national institutions to fight for racial and reproductive justice and champion human rights.

Gwen is a Dean’s Scholar who graduated Magna Cum Laude from New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study in 2005 with a concentration in intersectional feminist studies. 

Shandara Gill burns for equity and justice for all. The journey to the yoga mat in 2007 started as a desire to recover from a lifetime of self-doubt, heal from various eating disorders and illnesses as well as, the array of self-harm that had created a disconnect from her  mind and body. Shandara, known as Shanie to friends and family, moved to Santa Cruz specifically to be a yoga teacher and integrate her passion for activism with holistic healing. She completed her teacher training in 2011, fusing her background with ananda yoga and her newfound love in vinyasa flow to provide the full mental, emotional and physical package! While receiving her master’s degree in social work, Shanie founded a yoga collective of volunteers that would serve our community’s most vulnerable populations. In 2017, this collective has become a full-fledged nonprofit organization, Yoga For All Movement. Their mission is to make the practice of yoga accessible to all in Santa Cruz County, the Central Coast, and beyond! 

Chrissy Graham

Restorative Yoga

Lighthearted, fun, and passionate, Chrissy radiates positivity. She teaches her classes using her wide-range of life experiences and the extensive knowledge she gained in her 22 years of yoga study. She is well versed in various systems of yoga and was a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher for 15 years. As a Certified E-RYT 500 Yoga Instructor, Chrissy enthusiastically teaches public classes, workshops, retreats, restorative yoga, kids’ yoga, private lessons, corporate yoga, Teacher Trainings and Immersions throughout the  San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and over seas.

Chrissy’s varied classes focus on alignment based movement with an emphasis on weight bearing poses and functional movement so students are able to develop a greater sense of their bodies’ natural alignment, to practice safely, and to strengthen while stretching. Chrissy blends philosophy, therapeutics, restoration and a knowledge of nutrition and dietary wellness to create comprehensive classes.

Chrissy’s appreciation of nature and enthusiasm for life, emanate from her soul in everything she does. Since yoga is her first love, these qualities fill her classroom

and inspire her students.

Jana Kilgore

Ayurveda 

Jana Kilgore is a board certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Clinical Nutritionist, Herbalist, Chef, E-RYT 500 Yoga Instructor, Reiki Master, writer, educator/student and guide. She has been studying traditional healing, food and plant medicine, meditation and nature since childhood.  Her life is dedicated to empowering people to become stewards of their inner and outer environments through Yoga, Ayurveda and immersion in nature. She specializes in digestive issues, auto-immune disorders, hormonal health, mental health, trauma and recovery and recently added prenatal and postpartum support to her practice. Jana is part of the teaching team for Balanced Rock Foundation, 200 and 300 YTT in Yosemite, CA and Ayurveda for yoga teachers in many other trainings. When she isn’t teaching, cooking or working with clients she is writing a book, slowly learning to surf and paddle, working in her medicine garden or out on a trail. You can find out more about her seasonal cleanses, courses, retreats and offerings at www.janakilgore.com