Independent 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training
An intimate 200-hour training with Ilias Kousis and Charlie Speller | Two residential modules in South West France | 2027
For people who want to teach from an embodied, honest place, and for those who want to understand and connect with their own body more deeply, even if teaching is not their goal.
Through yoga, we explore the nervous system, functional anatomy, breath, alignment, sequencing, respectful hands-on skills, one-to-one and online teaching, and ceremony.
Join the waitlist before 29 September 2026 for access to the founding tuition of €2,900. If you are ready to commit, you can secure your place and lock in that price now with a €500 non-refundable deposit.
How this training is different
Technique matters. So does the person standing in front of you.
We are building this training around a simple question: can you feel, see and respond well enough to teach the person who is actually in the room?
You will learn anatomy, alignment, sequencing and teaching methodology. But you will also learn to listen, work with the nervous system, recognise individual variation, and teach from a voice that is yours rather than borrowed.
We prioritise teaching from integrity and authenticity: feeling connected to your craft and rooted in what is true from moment to moment. You will not graduate as “just another yoga teacher”. This work is designed to help you discover and honour your uniqueness, in your teaching and beyond.
The aim is not performance. It is the capacity to teach a simple, powerful class with intelligence, presence and care.
What you will learn
This is the through-line of the full 200 hours.
Method, anatomy and practice become useful when they change how you feel, see and respond.
Develop a direct relationship with breath, sensation, alignment and the nervous system. Refine your own practice so that your teaching begins in lived experience rather than theory.
Read individual variation with more intelligence. Work with pain, injury, pregnancy and different bodies; use consent-based hands-on support when appropriate.
Build coherent sequences, cue clearly and teach groups, private clients, online and hybrid classes without losing your own voice.
The 200-hour journey
Two residential modules, guided preparation, integration between modules and continued support.
The rhythm matters: experience, practise, apply, receive feedback, return deeper. Six weeks after Module 2, a 3-hour Teaching Launch Clinic supports the transition into real-world teaching; this is additional to the counted 200 hours.
A six-week orientation period with live meetings, selected reading and media, and personal preparation before we meet in France.
Ten in-person teaching days in Southern France, 29 May–7 June 2027: learn to feel, learn to see and begin to teach.
A four-day anatomy component led by Nataliya, supported by preparatory recordings and homework. The work moves from anatomy, physiology and biomechanics into fascia, hypermobility, common pathologies, individual variation and myofascial lines across the spine and trunk, pelvis and lower limbs, shoulders and upper limbs. Live sessions translate that knowledge into safer, more adaptable teaching. The integration term also includes a Digital Teaching Lab, online practicum, peer feedback and mentoring.
Ten further in-person teaching days in Southern France, 11–20 September 2027: teach for an effect, teach the person, teach as yourself and teach in the world.
Small by design
Maximum 12 participants.
Small numbers allow repeated teaching practice, individual feedback, direct access to us and enough time to work with the gifts and blind spots each trainee brings. We would rather run an intimate, demanding training well than inflate the group for appearance.
The curriculum
The strands are woven through the full training rather than treated as isolated subjects.
The work connects embodied practice, anatomy, nervous-system understanding, teaching craft and the realities of building a sustainable professional life.
Sensation, breath, strength, range, pain-free movement and intentional progression.
Applied anatomy, physiology and biomechanics through the lens of biotensegrity: bones, joints, muscles, fascia, hypermobility and common pathologies across the spine, pelvis, lower limbs, shoulders and arms, together with respiratory and nervous-system relevance to yoga teaching.
Breath as practice, regulation, attention and a practical teaching tool.
Clear language, purposeful class arcs, observation, feedback and repeated teaching.
One-to-one work, Zoom setup, sound, framing, online safety and teaching beyond the studio.
Consent, boundaries, purpose, authentic voice, simple business foundations and earning without abandoning your values.
By the end
The training is built around observable teaching capacity, not passive attendance.
You will practise teaching repeatedly, receive direct feedback and return to the work with more skill. Completion depends on participation, preparation and demonstrated growth across the full training journey.
Design and teach a simple, purposeful all-level class with an intelligible arc, precise cues, useful options and a clear intended effect. You will practise shorter teaching pieces before assembling them into longer work.
Observe breath, effort, alignment, nervous-system state and individual variation. Offer intelligent options for pain, injury, pregnancy and different capacities within your scope, and use hands-on support only with consent and clear purpose.
Lead group, private and digital work without borrowing another teacher’s persona. Speak clearly, make choices under pressure, receive feedback without collapsing or becoming defensive, and begin building a professional practice you can sustain.
Where we will train
Escala, Occitanie | French Hautes-Pyrénées
Our preferred venue is a seven-bedroom, four-bathroom farmhouse in Escala with wide mountain views, gardens, a pool, a hot tub and the simple dedicated practice room shown here. The house can host up to fifteen people, which can accommodate a maximum cohort of twelve alongside the teaching team. It is quiet, spacious and deliberately removed from ordinary routines. The venue remains provisional until the agreement and room allocation are confirmed. Accommodation, meals, mat capacity and travel guidance will be published before applications open.
The practical shape
Seven teaching hours, with enough space to eat, rest and integrate.
The exact rhythm may shift with the material and the group. Each day will move between personal practice, skilled observation, teaching methodology and the courage to teach what you are learning.
Morning: breath, meditation or ceremony, and embodied practice. Late morning: alignment, anatomy, sequencing or teaching methodology. A proper lunch and integration break. Afternoon: practice teaching, observation, feedback, hands-on skills and group work. Closing: reflection, questions and preparation for the next day.
The independent 200-hour curriculum; twenty residential teaching days; six weeks of preparation with live orientation and selected reading or media; anatomy, digital teaching and practicum between modules; learning resources; repeated teaching feedback; the post-training Teaching Launch Clinic; and a Certificate of Completion after all requirements are met.
Accommodation, food, travel, local transfers and personal insurance are separate.
It is possible to join without the residential option; however, we highly recommend it. We will share the exact costs for full-board accommodation as soon as they are available. As a ballpark estimate, food and accommodation for the full 20 nights will be approximately €2,000.
Co-directed in practice
Two co-directors. One shared responsibility for the whole training.
We teach, observe and mentor together. You will work directly with both of us across the residential modules, practicum and integration period.
Your teaching team
Ilias and Charlie co-direct the training. Nataliya leads the anatomy component.
The faculty structure is deliberately compact, so responsibility, feedback and mentoring stay personal.
Ilias is a Forrest Yoga Guardian, Energy Medicine practitioner and certified Breath Coach with an academic background in geology and climate science. His teaching is direct, detailed and deeply embodied. He specialises in intelligent sequencing, nervous-system-aware practice, precise cueing and respectful hands-on support. In this training he leads embodied practice, sequencing, cueing, breathwork, ceremony, private and digital teaching, and teaching practicum.
Charlie is a Forrest Yoga Guardian, bodyworker, body coach and pelvic-health educator. Her work connects biomechanics, biochemistry, nervous-system regulation, sensation and pelvic function. She is known for breaking complex information into teaching people can actually use, with curiosity, compassion, humour and truth. In this training she leads individual variation, hands-on skills, applied biomechanics, ceremony, mentoring and professional development.
Forrest Yoga Guardian in Training
Nataliya is a certified Forrest Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga teacher, an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher and a teacher educator with a master’s degree in Sport and Physical Education. Her 20-hour anatomy work for 200-hour trainings makes muscles, bones, joints and connective tissue practical through visual learning, demonstrations and movement on the mat. In this training she leads applied anatomy, alignment, individual variation and the bridge from knowledge to safer, more adaptable teaching.
What is currently planned
A transparent first look at the dates, group, tuition and practical structure.
MODULE 1
29 May–7 June 2027. Ten in-person teaching days in Southern France.
PRE-TRAINING PREPARATION
Six weeks of guided preparation before Module 1, including live orientation meetings and a selected reading and media list.
BETWEEN THE MODULES
A structured integration period including a four-day anatomy component led by Nataliya, preparatory recordings and homework, a Digital Teaching Lab, online practicum, peer feedback and mentoring.
MODULE 2
11–20 September 2027. Ten in-person teaching days in Southern France.
POST-TRAINING SUPPORT
A complimentary three-hour Teaching Launch Clinic six weeks after Module 2, with Q&A and support for beginning to teach. This is additional to the counted 200 hours.
TRAVEL
Arrive the day before and depart the day after each residential module.
COHORT
Maximum 12 participants.
TUITION
Founding / early price (waitlist only): €2,900
Community: €3,150
Sustainer: €3,300
Supporter: €3,450
Waitlist pricing closes when the training is publicly released on 29 September 2026.
You can secure your place and lock in the founding price now with a €500 non-refundable deposit. Accommodation and food are priced separately. The remaining-balance deadline, instalment options and further enrolment requirements are being finalised and will be shared before applications open.
Who this is for
This will be an active apprenticeship, not a passive course.
You do not need to arrive with a finished teaching voice. You do need curiosity, commitment and a willingness to practise being seen.
You want rigorous embodied study, direct feedback, a small cohort and the courage to discover how you actually teach.
You mainly want a fast certificate, a catalogue of poses to repeat, or a passive course with little practice teaching and feedback.
Full engagement in both residential modules; the six-week preparation; anatomy, digital teaching and practicum between modules; personal practice, reflection, peer work and repeated teaching. You must be willing to give and receive honest feedback, and to take responsibility for completing the work.
From previous teacher trainings
These words come from trainees in earlier foundation teacher trainings co-led by Ilias and Charlie. The 2027 programme is independent and newly designed, but the relationship, rigour and care behind the teaching are not new.
Thank you for all your sincere support (and pushing) and for being wise and open to see when to do what. I think, and feel, that you have been bringing us safely through this deep journey. It’s been joyful to see how respectfully you work together. I am so grateful for all your care and support.
Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
I think you pulled this course together in a very good way. You cooperate really well, as if you’ve been doing this a lot of times. You know I’m not into singing, and not so much into the ceremony part, but I feel that you respect that.
Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
I felt like the whole training was a well-thought-through theatre play or opera, but in real life. In the middle I was confused, but in the end you see how everything has its inner logic. The two of you, Charlie and Ilias, have literally been magicians as directors of this opera.
Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
Questions worth answering early
We will keep this section updated as the venue and application process are finalised.
No. You need a consistent personal practice, curiosity and a readiness to learn. You do not need acrobatics or a polished teaching voice. Existing teachers are welcome, as are committed practitioners preparing to teach. We will assess mutual fit through a conversation before accepting a place.
No. This is an independent 200-hour teacher training designed by Ilias and Charlie. It is not registered or accredited by Yoga Alliance, it is not an official Forrest Yoga training, and it does not confer RYT status. Trainees who complete all requirements will receive a Certificate of Completion from the training.
Both ten-day residential modules and the structured preparation, integration and teaching practicum are essential parts of the training. Consistent attendance, personal practice, anatomy homework, peer work, practice teaching and feedback are expected. Final completion requirements will be listed in full before applications open; the certificate is issued only after those requirements are met.
Tuition includes the independent 200-hour curriculum, twenty residential teaching days, six weeks of preparation, the structured between-module programme, learning resources, repeated feedback and the post-training Teaching Launch Clinic.
Founding / early price (waitlist only): €2,900
Community: €3,150
Sustainer: €3,300
Supporter: €3,450
Waitlist pricing closes when the training is publicly released on 29 September 2026. You can secure your place and lock in the founding price now with a €500 non-refundable deposit.
Accommodation, food, travel, local transfers and personal insurance are separate. It is possible to join without the residential option, although we highly recommend it. Full-board accommodation and food are currently estimated at approximately €2,000 for the full 20 nights; exact costs will be confirmed when available. The remaining-balance deadline, instalment options and further enrolment requirements are being finalised and will be shared before applications open.
Possibly. The training values adaptation, individual variation and consent, but it is not medical treatment. Please disclose relevant injuries, health conditions or pregnancy during the application conversation so we can discuss the demands honestly. Some situations may require guidance or clearance from your clinician, and we cannot promise that the training will be the right fit for every body at every moment.
The preferred residential venue is near Escala in Occitanie, in the French Hautes-Pyrénées. Module 1 runs 29 May–7 June 2027 and Module 2 runs 11–20 September 2027, with seven teaching hours per day. Plan to arrive the day before and leave the day after each module. The venue, room and meal options, and travel guidance will be confirmed before applications open.
Join the waitlist before 29 September 2026 to receive the founding tuition of €2,900. You can reserve your place and lock in that price now with a €500 non-refundable deposit. The remaining-balance deadline, instalment options and further enrolment requirements are being finalised. Guided preparation starts six weeks before Module 1.