Begin Your Yoga Journey Here...
Want to learn to teach yoga?
Skip down to the 200 Hour YTT section.
Want to learn more about yoga, but not interested in teaching yoga?
Check out the NOT-A-YTT program.
NOT-A-YTT Program
The purpose of a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) is to certify you as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT). Meaning these trainings are designed for those who want to teach yoga. If you don’t actually want to teach yoga, YTT programs can eat up a lot of your time with curriculum on how-to-teach. NOT-A-YTT cuts out the how-to-teach curriculum, allowing you to fully immerse and focus on personal integration rather than teaching aptitude.
The unique nature of this program is that you choose your adventure. Either a 7-day or the full 14-day immersion specifically for practitioners. Not to lead a class, but to understand why we practice and what’s actually happening when we do. No certifications. No tests. No pressure to perform. Just a rich dive into the world of yoga and all the fun in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
Over the course of the program, you’ll move through daily practices, engage in lessons that explore the philosophy and history behind the practice, learn breathing techniques, and start to build a personal practice that feels like yours. You’ll also have space — real space — to relax, connect, and just be.
You’ll leave with a transformed understanding of your practice and feel empowered to build a yoga practice that feels authentic to you.
What’s Included:
- 50-Hour (7-day) or 100-Hour (14-day) program
- 3 hours of daily asana practice split into AM and PM classes
- 4 hours of daily lectures and practicum
- Training manual and journal
- 62 hours of actual chill time per week (yes, we planned for that)
- Kirtan, community circles, and more
*This program is not accredited, you will not receive a certificate to teach recognized by Yoga Alliance.
Asana Week
May 29 – June 5
Lead Trainer: Cap
Asana Week is where we come back to the body. Seven days learning yoga and immersed in the lifestyle. We’ve created a living laboratory for you to safely understand your physical practice from the inside out. You’ll explore history, philosophy, and learn the foundational pillars of yoga. This training will help you build towards a practice that is authentically yours. Our curriculum is structured, but there’s room to breathe, rest, and catch sunset at the beach. Gentle reminder: this is NOT a YTT!! You are always in choice and you go as deep as you want. This is the week you stop wondering about what “chataruanga” means and where the hell your foot is supposed to be. This program was designed to take you from unsure to confident, and leave you feeling empowered. One week, seven days, the pacific coast, a new BFF or three, and a practice that finally makes sense.
Energy Week
June 5-12
Lead Trainer: Sophie
Energy Week is where the practice goes inward. Building on the physical foundation of Asana Week, this second week moves into the more subtle dimensions of yoga. We’ve created a living laboratory to get familiar with the deeper states of yoga through various meditation and breathwork practices. You’ll explore the energetic body, ceremonial sound, sacred silence, and history and philosophies that are often forgotten in standard yoga trainings. This week is packed with parts of yoga that most studios barely touch, but we are going there, because this is NOT a YTT!! This is the week where yoga stops being something you do and becomes something you live.
200 Hour Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Trainings
All Costa Dulce School of Yoga 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings follow a Hatha/Vinyasa practice, and are registered with Yoga Alliance. Yoga Alliance curriculum requirements focus on 4 main categories: (1) Techniques, Training, and Practice; (2) Anatomy and Physiology; (3) Yoga Humainities; and (4) Professional Essentials; with a minimum of 10 hours active practice teaching. These courses are designed to give you foundational knowledge to begin your yoga teaching career. Although there are no requisites to join, an existing yoga practice is recommended. All training sessions will cover the same requirements, but specific curriculum and methodology will slightly vary trainer to trainer – choose between 4 sessions with different teaching teams below.
What’s Included:
- 50-Hour Pre-Work
- 150-Hour Onsite Intensive
- Tuition & Certification
- Manual
- Jungle Walk
- Town Trip
- Cacao Ceremony
- Sweat Lodge
- (1) 60min massage
- Accommodations
- Meals (pre-breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner)
- Donation to Vital Actions, supporting Wildlife and Environmental Restoration
- Access to mats and props for practice, no need to bring your own
What’s NOT Included:
- Flights
- Transportation (available, but pricing is not included)
- Travel Insurance
- 6:00AM – 9:00AM Morning silence
- 7:30AM – 9:00AM Pranayama, Asana, Meditation
- 9:00AM -10:00AM Breakfast
- 10:00AM – 12:00PM Theory & Philosophy Workshop
- 12:00PM – 2:00PM Lunch
- 2:00Pm – 5:00PM Asana Lab
- 5:00PM – 7:00PM Sunset + Dinner Break
- 7:30PM – 8:30PM Evening Class or Group Study
Vajra Luz
May 1 - May 15
Vajra brings 25 years of dedicated yoga and meditation practice, including five years as a renunciant monk in a traditional ashram. Centered on breathwork and meditation as gateways to stillness, clarity, and resilience, she weaves these tools into Haṭha-Vinyāsa, Yin, and Restorative yoga to foster nervous system balance and holistic well-being. Her grounded, heart-centered teaching draws from deep personal experience and timeless wisdom, offering an integrated path of inner transformation.
Chel Rogerson
July 3-17
This former marketing executive turned minimalist – extensively studied Ayurveda, Kriya Yoga, and mindfulness, teaching yoga since 2013 and traveling the world to deepen her practice and volunteer. Landing in Sayulita in 2017, she continues to teach Haṭha, Vinyasa, Gentle, and Power Yoga, blending energy work and meditation to help others find joy, balance, and transformation.
Maria Wada
Aug 28 - Sept 11
Maria Wada is a yoga and meditation teacher from Japan and a former professional dancer based in Los Angeles. After a decade performing with artists like Madonna, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift, she found her way back to herself through yoga. She has completed 200-hour and 300-hour Vinyasa trainings and has studied Rocket yoga, Yin yoga, and active consciousness meditation with Punnu Wasu. Her inclusive classes invite students to move with intention and feel welcome, weaving in yogic philosophy to ease suffering and reconnect with inner wisdom.
Beth Hartman
Sept 18 - Oct 2
Beth Hartman has spent more than a decade exploring the intersection of ancient wisdom, modern science, and human transformation. A yoga teacher since 2012 and founder of Heat Yoga Studio & Spa in Iowa, she guides students beyond the physical practice into the deeper teachings — the Yoga Sutras, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, and contemplative philosophy — that inspired it.
Her curiosity extends into meditation, sound healing, Reiki, and intuitive practices, all as different languages pointing toward the same truth: greater awareness, compassion, and connection. Blending humor with grounded philosophy, Beth invites students to discover that yoga isn’t something we do — it’s a way of living and awakening to who we already are.
500 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
Complete Foundational and Advanced Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training
July 3 – August 7
For aspiring teachers ready to go all in on yoga as a career or deep study – combine the 200 & 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings
This 5 week program is an intensive but achievable immersion, taking you from the foundations of teaching to advanced skills. You’ll graduate with both 200-hour and 300-hour certifications, qualifying you to teach anywhere, lead teacher trainings, and keep deepening your own practice.
Your training will begin with the 200 Hour YTT information shared above, and then you’ll move directly into the 300 Hour YTT curriculum described below.
Costa Dulce School of Yoga’s 300 Hour Yoga Teacher is registered with Yoga Alliance and is intended to advance your knowledge and application as a yoga teacher. Yoga Alliance 300 YTT curriculum requirements focuses on 5 main categories: Techniques, Training, and Practice; Anatomy and Physiology; Yoga Humanities; Teaching Methodology; and Professional Essentials; plus a minimum of 30 hours active practice teachings.
Curriculum Overview:
- Advanced asana analysis, variations, and sequencing progressions
- Hands-on adjustments, verbal cuing, and prop usage
- Advanced pranayama and deep meditation
- Study of the yoga masters
- Subtle body energy systems: Mantra, Mudra, Chakras
- Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation)
- Applied anatomy and biomechanics, with injury prevention
- Working with special populations (pregnancy, seniors, etc.)
- Nervous system regulation and the stress response
- Yoga philosophy, history, and Sanskrit
- Teaching practicum with peer feedback and mentorship
- Capstone project to build workshops, retreats, trainings, digital media, or community programs tailored to your goals
What’s Included:
- 125-Hours Self-Paced Pre-Work
- includes reading, audio meditations, videos, podcasts, and capstone project preparation
- Tuition & Certification
- Manual
- Jungle Walk
- Town Trip
- Cacao Ceremony
- Sweat Lodge
- (1) 60min massage
- Accommodations
- Meals (pre-breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner)
- Donation to Vital Actions, supporting Wildlife and Environmental Restoration
- Access to mats and props for practice, no need to bring your own
What’s NOT Included:
- Flights
- Transportation (available, but pricing is not included)
- Travel Insurance
Your 500 Hour YTT Team
Chel
Lead Trainer
Chel has been teaching yoga since 2013, and teaching group fitness and dance since 2009. She’s also a meditation teacher, mindset coach and energy worker, offering healing sessions infusing yoga nidra, chakra balancing, sound healing and Reiki.
Once an executive working for Fortune 500 companies, she changed the course of her life by embracing mindfulness and choosing to become a “corporate drop out.”
A time of self discovery led her to yoga teacher training with South Okanagan Yoga Academy, studying under Mugs McConnell who greatly inspires her. She also studies the lessons of Paramahansa Yogananda, and other great masters.
She completed her 500-hour training with specialization in Ayurveda at Alpha Omega Yoga. She’s also traveled around the world solo to practice meditation in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar.
Her favorite yoga styles to teach are Hatha, Vinyasa, Gentle/Beginner and Power Yoga. Her specialties include meditation, yoga nidra and sound healing.
Chel has been living in Sayulita, Mexico since 2017 and often visits back to her home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Amber Starr
Assistant
Amber Starr is a movement educator, women’s retreat facilitator, and holistic health practitioner who blends modern mobility science with ancient embodiment practices to guide others back home to themselves.
Over the past decade, she has worked as a Mobility and Internal Strength Specialist within the Functional Range Systems (FRC, FRA, FRSISM), supporting clients through chronic pain, strength training, and nervous system regulation. Her path began with yoga teacher training over nine years ago — a heart-opening journey that awakened her passion for self-discovery, healing, and sharing that light with others.
After following her heart to Mexico for love and adventure, Amber now leads international women’s retreats through AHOM Holistic Health, creating spaces of empowerment, embodiment, and authentic connection.
Amber holds certifications in Yoga (300hr), Functional Range Systems, Animal Flow, Sacred Facilitation, Reiki I & II, and Herbalism, along with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture. Outside of teaching, she’s a passionate herbalist, nature lover, and former women’s bodybuilding division champion — always exploring the balance of strength, softness, and soul.
Alejo Desiderio
Assistant
Alejo is a true nature lover. He became a certified yoga teacher (200hr) in 2024 and blends his passion for nature and yoga to specialize in Forest Therapy. He started an eco-tour hiking company in 2020 and educates travelers and families about the ecosystem, wildlife and ahimsa (the yogic yama of nonviolence).
He’s a Certified Biodecoding Therapist, offering a holistic therapy that decodes the body’s biological symptoms to understand and resolve the emotional causes of illness and generational trauma. He also is a certified Reiki Master.
A competitive athlete and pickleball player, he is committed to his own training as well as coaching advanced pickleball. He is dedicated to a physical practice of strength and mobility.
Alejo’s favorite styles of yoga to teach are gentle yoga, meditation, Hatha and yoga for mobility. He enjoys teaching a wide range of students from athletes to beginners and seniors.Originally from Argentina, he lives in Sayulita, Mexico, with his wife, Lead YTT Trainer Chel Rogerson.
Want to chat before you sign up?
Send a note along and we’ll be in touch as soon as possible