The Yoga Tree- Level 1 training

Established 2026

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The Yoga Tree Seattle

4250 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103, USA

Seattle, WA

Program Instances

Hybrid

Dates: TBD

200 hours • TBD

Seattle, WA, US

Led by

Susanne Hutchinson

CYT-L2

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Purpose

Throughout the course of your studies, you will be attending Modules and group classes with our talented instructors. Each of them brings years of experience in their varied backgrounds of study and expertise as well as personal passion to ensure a well- rounded and thorough educational experience. We will also have guest instructors to deepen your understanding and education.

What to expect

You will gain an in-depth understanding of:

Techniques, Training and Practice - Asana, Pranayama, Meditation, Introduction to Sanskrit and Mantras, and Mudras. You will have guided practice of techniques and learn how to teach and practice techniques safely and correctly.
Teaching Methodology – Learn to address specific needs of individuals and special populations. Understand principles of demonstration, observation, and the art of assisting. Understand the learning process, qualities of a teacher, teaching styles and your dominant teaching style. Understand the business aspects of yoga. Understand use of language and voice.
Anatomy and Physiology – Understand the physical body and bodily systems and the energy body/chakras. Learn the benefits and contraindications of the asanas and healthy movement patterns.
Philosophy, Lifestyle and Ethics for Yoga Teachers – Study yoga philosophies and traditional texts – the 200 Hour program will focus primarily on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Learn the principles of Ayurveda, the sister science of yoga. Create a 40 day personal practice. Learn ethics for yoga teachers including student- teacher relationships, community and the value of teaching yoga as a service.

Style/Lineage

In addition to our long-running and much-respected 200hr Yoga Teacher Training Program, we also offer stand-alone special-interest trainings to enhance and support your journey as a yoga teacher or enthusiastic student. All of our trainings are led by passionate and dedicated instructors with decades of experience in their respective areas.

Additional Information

Core competencies

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

Teaching Skills	Develop a set of cueing phrases and prop options for a chosen posture, formulating language that invites rather than commands. Construct an original themed class integrating movement, breath, and stillness, formulating a lesson plan suited to a chosen population and theme. Assess a sequence originally designed for general students for its safety and suitability for a prenatal student, justifying which elements require adjustment and differentiate a modification appropriate for an early-stage prenatal student from one appropriate for a later-stage student.
Anatomy, Physiology, Biomechanics	Apply anatomical location terms to describe the relationship between two points on the body, using a specific pair of joints as the example. Explain the difference between a concentric and an eccentric muscle contraction, describing what happens to the muscle in each case. Construct a sequence that safely engages the core while moving the spine through multiple directions, formulating an order that builds stability before mobility. Formulate an alignment cue for a standing posture grounded in foot, knee, and hip anatomy, constructing language that supports joint safety. Formulate an alignment cue for a weight-bearing posture grounded in shoulder and wrist anatomy, constructing language that supports joint safety.
Business Skills	Apply a self-assessment process to identify which teaching opportunities best suit a new instructor's strengths, using personal interests as a guiding factor. Explain how consistency in class offerings supports long-term student retention, describing the relationship between reliability and trust. Apply virtual-teaching considerations to plan a class delivered over video conferencing, using clear verbal description as the primary guiding tool.
Lifestyle & Ethics	Assess a described teaching interaction for potential ethical concerns, justifying whether a boundary was upheld or crossed. Apply a chosen ethical principle to a personal daily situation, using the principle as the guiding lens for a reflective response. Apply Ayurvedic daily-living principles to design a simple personal routine, using consistency as the guiding structure. Assess a described teaching interaction for whether student agency and consent were genuinely respected, justifying the assessment with specific details.
Practice Skills	Develop a sustainable personal practice routine, formulating a structure that balances asana, breathwork, and reflection suited to one's own life. Construct a practice sequence that progresses through several posture categories, formulating transitions that build safely toward a chosen peak posture. Differentiate a calming breath technique from an energizing breath technique, examining how each affects the nervous system differently. Practice teaching a chosen mudra with clear cueing, sustaining the gesture for the duration of the demonstration. Develop a guided meditation script suited to a chosen technique, formulating language that supports the intended quality of attention. Teach a yin or restorative posture with full prop support, sustaining clear cueing for prop placement and settling time.
Yoga History & Theory	Apply a specific concept from the Yoga Sutras to interpret a personal experience, using the concept as the guiding framework. Differentiate the attributes of one energy center from those of an adjacent center, examining what distinguishes their symbolic themes. Differentiate a practice aimed at the physical layer from a practice aimed at the mental layer, examining what distinguishes each intended effect.

AYC allows each school to state and evaluate the competencies each student acquires. Students rate how well the program delivered them.

Program Emphasis

Evaluation methods

Program evaluations

Oral Exam
Solo Project Or Presentation
Written Exam
Written Submission
Direct Observation
Graded Skill Demonstration

Students will be evaluated through a combination of written/oral submissions, skills demonstrations, solo projects, and direct observations

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Program Faculty

Featured Faculty

Susanne Hutchinson

I have been teaching since 2010 with the intent to share the practices in a way that feels welcoming, safe, and accessible to all bodies, regardless of age, shape, or ability. Above all, I want students to know they are already perfect, whole, and complete just as they are.

yogatree.com

Seattle, WA, US