RESTORATIVE YOGA TEACHER TRAINING

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JP Centre Yoga

670 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA, USA

Boston, MA

Program Instances

Hybrid

Dates: TBD

100 hours • TBD

Boston, MA, US

Led by

Daniel Max

CYT-L3

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Purpose

WHO IS THIS TRAINING FOR?

This training is for anyone looking to immerse themselves in restorative yoga, with an interest in teaching restorative poses to others. A previous yoga teacher training certificate is helpful but not required, as the elements of this training can be applied to all kinds of healing professions. You are also welcome to take this training to deepen your personal practice.

What to expect

Over the course of 25 training hours, you will:

Experience, explore, and study foundational restorative yoga postures (asana), breathing practices (pranayama), and meditation tools (dhyana).
Practice guiding others in restorative yoga postures, including physical set-up, prop arrangement, and meditative cues.
Develop an understanding of how to hold a safer, more welcoming space for every body with a trauma-informed approach for more effective nervous system soothing.
Study your personal relationship to stillness, productivity, rest, and grind culture, to inform intentions in your own life, and what you bring to the world.

Style/Lineage

Dive deep into the yoga of meditative rest, supported stillness, and nervous system soothing. In this training, Alex and Brenna will equip you with tools to hold profoundly healing space - for yourself and others. We offer these tools of self care, so that we can show up more fully in the world and contribute to collective care.

Core competencies

By the end of this program, graduates will be able to…

Teaching Skills	Examine how common posture combinations—such as supported fish followed by reclined twist—create complementary physical and energetic effects. Examine how over-cueing, rushed transitions, or directive language can disrupt the stillness needed for restorative yoga and undermine students' rest. Examine how the reclined tree pose serves as a belly-down alternative for certain students and identify other examples of how thoughtful modifications maintain class inclusivity.
Anatomy, Physiology, Biomechanics	Develop a prop setup guide for at least five restorative postures that includes multiple options and accounts for a wide range of body types and needs. Identify the anatomical structures—including joints, connective tissue, and the fascia—that are most affected by long-held restorative postures. Examine how posture family sequencing—such as moving from belly-down to on-back to twist—affects the student's physical and energetic experience of the class.
Practice Skills	Examine how the transition into savasana—including timing, pacing, and language—affects the student's ability to settle into the final resting pose. Design a short on-back restorative sequence that transitions smoothly between two or three poses using complementary shapes and minimal prop reconfiguration. Assess a supported backbend setup for its degree of support, neck safety, and appropriateness for a student with specific back or shoulder considerations. Assess a student's restorative twist setup for completeness of support, alignment of the spine, and whether the pose is sensation-neutral as intended. Assess a child's pose or forward fold setup for adequacy of support, head and neck alignment, and whether the student appears fully at ease in the pose. Set up and guide students into legs-up-the-wall and supported bridge with clear prop instructions and options for students who need gentler variations. Identify the setup for lateral side bends over a bolster, figure-4 stretch, and other hip-opening shapes used in this restorative training.
Yoga History & Theory	Assess whether a restorative yoga class stays true to its core principles of supported rest, sensation-neutrality, and absence of muscular effort. Examine how the progressive settling that happens in long-held restorative poses relates to the student's experience of moving through the koshas. Assess a restorative class environment and sequence for how well it creates the conditions needed for genuine nervous system downregulation. Assess the appropriateness of a pranayama practice for a restorative class by considering its pacing, complexity, and effect on the nervous system.
Lifestyle & Ethics	Examine how a teacher's own relationship with stillness and rest shapes the quality of the space they create for students in a restorative class. Develop a set of community agreements and inclusive teaching practices for a restorative yoga space that prioritize dignity, safety, and equitable access. Integrate regular self-care practices—including restorative postures, pranayama, and reflective journaling—into a sustainable teaching lifestyle.
Business Skills	Explain how the slower, more accessible nature of restorative yoga opens the practice to populations who may not access faster, more physical yoga styles. Identify the primary formats through which restorative yoga can be offered—including studio classes, private sessions, workshops, and online offerings. Identify the continuing education and specialty workshop formats most suited to deepening students’ engagement with restorative yoga.