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SOUL OF YOGA INSTITUTE

200-Hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training & Certification

Start

Anytime

Pace

9–12 months (with up to 2 years)

Tuition

$3,833 (discounts available)

Format

Flexible Choice (In-Person, Live-Online, or Recordings )

Yin Yoga as a Specialty in Your 200-Hour Study

Yin Yoga approaches practice through stillness, time, and attention. Instead of building intensity, it works by staying in poses longer. In our Yin Yoga teacher training, you’ll explore how longer-held poses influence the body and how a slower pace changes sensation and your response to it.

Within Soul of Yoga’s 200-hour yoga teacher training , this Yin Yoga training program functions as a dedicated area of focus. Alongside foundational study, you’ll work with variation, pacing, and individual differences. The emphasis is not on performing poses, but on understanding what is happening within them and how to guide that process when teaching Yin Yoga.

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A recognized first credential

A Yoga Alliance Registered 200-Hour Pathway

Soul of Yoga Institute is a Registered Yoga School. Complete the same curriculum and learn from the same faculty whether you join live online or in Encinitas, then apply for the RYT 200 credential after graduation.

What you will study

A Broad Foundation for Personal Growth and Teaching

The 200-hour curriculum brings together 48 weekly Asana Labs, three Core Modules, and one 50-hour Specialty Path. Across them, you explore the major systems and practices of yoga while learning to embody the teachings—not only study them intellectually.

Asana and practicum

Learn how to safely build and teach yoga poses through weekly Asana Labs and practice throughout the Core Modules.

Anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics

Explore the body and movement, including principles of balanced posture and alignment.

Yoga philosophy and traditions

Study yoga history and meaning, the Sutras, Bhakti, yoga mythology, the Heart of Yoga, mantra, and mudra.

Pranayama, breathwork, and meditation

Develop direct experience with breath, meditation, and contemplative practices as part of your own growth.

Teaching methodology

Develop teaching skill through Asana Labs, practicum opportunities, and teaching-methodology sessions.

Accessibility, equity, and ethics

Study accessibility, equity in yoga, the Yoga Alliance Code of Conduct, and scope of practice.

Professional development

Prepare for the professional side of teaching, including a development workshop on the business of yoga.

What You’ll Learn in Yin Yoga Instructor Training

This Yin Yoga program focuses on how the practice actually works. You’ll study how time and variation shape the experience, and how to guide students through longer holds without over-directing or fixing their position.

Yin & Yang as a Way of Understanding

  • Yin and Yang as descriptions of all things, not separate forces
  • Seeing how any experience can be understood through both Yin and Yang
  • The five principles of Yin and Yang, including how they transform into each other
  • Recognizing how practice shifts between more active (Yang) and more receptive (Yin) phases

Moving Through the Phases of Practice

  • Exploration phase: finding the version of a pose that fits your body
  • Still hold phase: settling into time while reducing unnecessary effort
  • Rebound phase: choosing the position that creates the least stress in your body
  • Learning how to guide time so only one phase is explicitly timed and the others remain responsive

Understanding Intensity in Practice

  • Teaching mild to moderate sensation as a baseline
  • Recognizing different edges and when intensity has gone too far
  • Using the rebound as the most reliable feedback tool
  • Responding appropriately when students feel numbness, sharpness, or nerve-like signals

Observing the Breath

  • Natural breath as the baseline
  • Understanding how poses affect the diaphragm and breathing space
  • Teaching release of control without making it a rule
  • Supporting awareness of breath without directing or correcting it

Archetypes and Variation

  • The five archetypes and what each one targets
  • Understanding how variations exist within each archetype
  • Teaching toward a target area without creating a fixed goal
  • Working with asymmetry and normalizing side-to-side differences

How You Guide the Practice

  • Guiding exploration so students learn to trust their own body
  • Teacher as guide, student as decision-maker
  • Offering options without overwhelming students
  • Supporting emotional release and integration within your scope of practice

This Training Will Be a Fit If

01

You Prefer a Slower, Reflective Practice

You’re interested in practices that slow things down and place attention on what is happening internally. Rather than moving from pose to pose, you’re curious about what changes when you stay and observe.

02

You’re Interested in How Yin Yoga Actually Works

You want to understand how sensation, structure, and variation influence practice. Instead of relying on fixed alignment, you’re interested in how Yin Yoga adapts to different bodies.

03

You Want a Structured Way to Study Yin Yoga

You’re looking for a clear, step-by-step approach to learning Yin Yoga within a complete training, rather than piecing together information on your own.

04

You Want to Teach with Clarity

You want to guide longer holds without directing every detail. This approach to teaching Yin Yoga focuses on offering structure while allowing students to respond to their own experience.

The Structure of the Yin Yoga Instructor Training Path

This Yin Yoga instructor training is integrated into Soul of Yoga’s 200-hour program as a dedicated area of study. Alongside your broader training, you’ll spend time working directly with longer holds, variation, and pacing. While the external form of Yin Yoga is simple, learning to guide it requires careful attention to how students respond over time, and how to support that process without over-instructing.

Training Format & Learning Experience

  • Guided Yin Yoga practices so you experience each phase in your own body
  • Study of archetypes with variations and prop-supported options
  • Teaching labs with opportunities to practice and receive feedback
  • Time for questions, discussion, and reflection as understanding develops
  • Support materials to revisit as you begin teaching Yin Yoga

Why Yin Yoga Matters in Teacher Training

Yin Yoga offers a counterbalance to a style of practice that often emphasizes effort and constant movement. By staying in poses longer, attention shifts away from doing and toward observing. This changes how you relate to sensation, how you pace a class, and how you support students without relying on continuous instruction.

01

Time and Stillness

Longer holds give the body and mind time to settle without rushing into the next pose.

02

Sensation and Awareness

You begin to notice sensation more clearly instead of reacting to it.

03

Rebound and Integration

Pausing after each pose allows the effects of the hold to settle and become more noticeable.

04

Balance in Practice

Yin Yoga supports more active practices by developing the ability to slow down and yield.

STUDY IN A WAY THAT WORKS FOR YOU

Flexible Learning Paths to Align with Your Life

Your schedule and lifestyle are unique, and so are your learning options. Whether you thrive with live classes, self-paced study, or full immersion, each format provides a complete and transformative yoga training course experience. Feel free to switch between them as needed to best complete your curriculum.

In-Person Training

Direct, hands-on guidance from teachers

Connect with peers in an engaging campus setting

Experience the collective energy of group practice

Live Online Instruction

Interactive sessions on Zoom with expert faculty

Receive live feedback and Q&A opportunities

Join a supportive international community

On-Demand Video Training

Access recorded classes anytime, from any device

Join a supportive international community

Enjoy flexibility while staying aligned with your goals

See the rhythm before you commit

What the Training Year Looks Like

Begin any time. The three Core Modules repeat each year in January, May, and September, and you start with whichever one comes next. Weekly labs continue throughout your training, while your chosen 50-hour specialty follows its own published schedule.

Weekly

48 Asana Lab Hours

Two one-hour live time options are offered each week for guided practice and teaching development.

January Core

Spirit, Science, and the Power of Yoga

A one-week Monday–Friday intensive, held each January.

May Core

Samadhi and Skill

A one-week Monday–Friday intensive, held each May.

September Core

Tapas and the Courage to Change

A one-week Monday–Friday intensive, held each September.

Specialty

50-Hour Yin Yoga Specialty

Your Yin Yoga specialty follows its own published schedule.

The Core Modules form a repeating annual cycle, not a required sequence. Each runs 8:30 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Pacific, with scheduled breaks to reduce screen fatigue for online students.

A foundation with somewhere to go

Continue Your Study at Soul of Yoga

The 200-hour training is a complete first credential and the beginning of a wider learning path if you choose to continue.

200-Hour

You are here

300-Hour

Advanced study

RYT 500

Combined pathway

Yoga Therapy

IAYT-accredited program

Master’s

Integral Health

Who stands behind the curriculum

Learn From Teachers Who Live the Practice

Your training is led by 13 world-renowned faculty who bring diverse backgrounds and exceptional expertise to Soul of Yoga’s learning community. Their guidance supports steady, meaningful development as you explore yoga’s philosophy, movement, and practice. You can learn more about the full faculty team in the Info Packet.

“Ryan has put so much love and care into it. You are exposed to so many different teachings and have the opportunity to learn from so many amazing teachers.”

Jessica King, graduate

Joe Barnett

Teacher in: Yin Yoga Module, Biomechanics, Ethics of Yoga

Joe Barnett, ERYT-500, brings over two decades of practice with a sustained focus on Yin Yoga and meditation. A senior student of Paul Grilley, his teaching reflects a lineage-based approach grounded in direct experience, careful observation, and clarity in how the practice is understood and guided.

Flossie Park

Teacher in: Gentle Module, Sutras, Philosophy, Subtle Bodies

Flossie Park teaches foundational philosophy and subtle body concepts alongside gentle practices that support accessibility and awareness. Her work is steady, clear, and rooted in traditional teachings.

Vishvambar Seth

Teacher in: Bhakti Yoga

Vishvambar Seth introduces the principles of Bhakti Yoga, offering context for devotion, relationship, and classical yogic teachings within the broader training.

Stacy McCarthy

Teacher in: Vinyasa Module, Asana Labs, Teaching Methodology, Professional Development

Stacy McCarthy teaches Vinyasa, asana study, and teaching methodology with a focus on structure, sequencing, and clear communication. Her work supports the development of confident and skillful teaching.

Why the program is shaped this way

The Ethos Behind the Training

Hear faculty describe the principles, learning environment, and care that shape the program.

Faculty on why the program is shaped the way it is

Watch on YouTube ↗

A foundation you can trust

Over two decades of practice, study & community

4.91/ 5Based on 363 reviewsYoga Alliance Registered Yoga School 200Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School 300Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School 500IAYT accredited yoga therapy training program — view Soul of Yoga Institute’s IAYT profile

Graduate stories

Hear It from Graduates

More than 1,550 teachers have trained here. Numbers like that are easy to print and hard to feel, so here are three graduates saying it themselves.

Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗

Student reflections

Soul of Yoga brought in the most respected and renowned teachers to present their modules. I appreciated the strong foundation in yoga anatomy that I received, as well as the grounding in yoga philosophy and traditions.

Carol Whitehurst, graduate

"My training here was absolutely life-changing! I would recommend it to anyone interested in getting a well-rounded training. You will learn so many concepts and teachings across so many levels and be able to integrate them into your daily life, as well as your personal and professional practice. I am so grateful to have found this studio. Highly recommend!!"

Jennifer Keenan

"The training at Soul of Yoga Institute changed my life. The program is so well thought out. Ryan has put so much love and care into it. You are exposed to so many different teachings. You also have the opportunity to learn from so many amazing teachers. I truly believe this program is unlike any other. I would recommend the Soul of Yoga Institute to anyone who is curious or thinking about taking a training."

Jessica King

"Truly one of the TOP yoga schools in the world! I'll be a student for life @ the Soul of Yoga. Grateful to have the most dedicated & wonderful staff + really well crafted trainings/events/practices."

Anita Elliott

Clear costs before the conversation

Tuition and Payment Options

The complete program tuition is $3,833. Choose the option that fits your finances, then use the info packet or a conversation with the team to confirm the details for your start date.

Standard tuition $3,833

Pay in full $3,683 $150 discount at enrollment

Payment plan 25% deposit Remaining balance plus 8% service fee in monthly auto-payments

Info packet offer 10% off Complete the form below and the special discount will arrive with your free info packet.

Also included:

  • 12 yoga classes
  • The Yoga Poster
  • Teaching practicum opportunities
  • Business-of-yoga development workshop

Start with the facts

Get the Free 200-Hour Training Info Packet

Review the complete curriculum, faculty, 2026–27 module dates, tuition, and payment options. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Special 10% tuition discount: Complete the form and your discount will arrive with the information packet.

  • Full schedule and course descriptions
  • All four online specialty paths
  • Tuition, discounts, and payment arrangements
  • Next steps for a discovery call, application, or enrollment

Questions or need support? Your info packet includes phone and email contact details for Admissions.

Request your information packet

  • Explore what you’ll learn.Ask about the curriculum, requirements and training path that fit your goals.
  • Find your way to study.Get guidance on available formats, upcoming dates and your schedule.
  • Plan your next step.Talk through tuition, payment options and enrollment with Admissions.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. Start with your questions. Requesting information does not commit you to enroll.

Please Enter Contact Info To Receive our 200 HR Training Information Packet

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Questions on the Path

These questions reflect what prospective students often want to understand as they consider this Yin Yoga teacher training and how it fits within the 200-hour program.

How is Yin Yoga included within the 200-hour training?

Yin Yoga is offered as a specialty within the full 200-hour teacher training program. As part of this training, you complete your foundational study while spending dedicated time working with Yin principles, longer-held poses, and the pacing that defines the practice. This structure allows the Yin Yoga teacher training to sit within a broader teaching framework, so your learning is both specific to Yin and supported by a complete foundation in teaching.

Do I need prior teaching experience?

No prior teaching experience is required. Our Yin Yoga instructor training is open to both students and those preparing for Yin Yoga teacher certification. Many participants enter with a personal practice and develop their teaching skills over time, while others use the Yin Yoga instructor course to refine an existing approach. The emphasis is on building understanding gradually through direct experience.

What will I be able to teach after completing the training?

You will be prepared to begin teaching Yin Yoga within a general class setting. This includes guiding longer-held poses, working with variation, and responding to different student experiences as they arise. As part of our Yin Yoga training, you develop the ability to pace a class, use language with restraint, and support students without over-directing their experience.

Can I attend the Yin Yoga teacher training online or in person?

Yes. This program includes 200-hour Yin Yoga teacher training online and in person certification, along with access to recorded sessions. Students can move between formats as needed, while staying aligned with the same curriculum. If you are looking for an in-person Yin Yoga teacher training course or prefer a flexible online option, the structure supports consistent participation.

What teaching skills are included in the training?

You’ll learn how to structure classes, guide students through poses, and offer variations based on individual needs. This includes developing clarity in timing, language, and observation. Within this Yin Yoga instructor course, there is a strong emphasis on how to guide without controlling, and how to hold space as students move through their own experience.

How is Yin Yoga different from Restorative Yoga?

Yin Yoga works with time and sensation to create a measurable level of intensity within a pose, while Restorative Yoga uses support to reduce sensation and allow the body to rest. This distinction is central to how our Yin Yoga training is taught. Understanding the difference is an important part of Yin Yoga teacher certification, particularly when deciding how to guide students and how long to remain in a pose.

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