Immerse Yourself in a Life-changing Experience!
The main requirement for this teacher training is a deep commitment to YOU!
As the premier Yoga Teacher Training in the South Sound, we offer a comprehensive Yoga Teacher Training program led by the most experienced instructors in the area. Our curriculum is balanced and comprehensive for teachers and experienced practitioners. Students of all levels are encouraged to use this yoga teacher training to continue a journey of personal exploration and connection to enhance a current yoga practice and/or become a yoga teacher.
One training, two paths. We are the only studio in the area to acknowledge the need for two separate learning paths. One path, 200 hours, is for the aspiring yoga teacher who wants to find their voice and one day lead a class. The other path for the experienced practitioner who wants to deepen their knowledge and practice of Yoga in an immersion setting, but doesn’t want to learn the elements of teaching a class.
Whether your goal is to teach or explore the depths of your yoga practice, Tuladhara’s Yoga Teacher training will be an incredible and soulful experience that will be inspiring, challenging, and transformative!
Training Options Designed to Fit Your Goals and Busy Schedule
Our part-time 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program is the best choice if you have commitments to work, family, and other activities during your course of study. Our curriculum offers structure for an ideal learning environment, but also flexibility to meet your busy scheduling needs. We are a MYCAA approved school and also offer partial scholarships and work-trade options as well.
Questions?
Not sure which training is right for you? Book your free no obligation 30 minute discovery call or attend one of our Information Sessions to see if Yoga Teacher Training or the Yoga Immersion is right for you!
Experience Matters – Meet Our Faculty!
We are proud that we are the home of the most experienced, knowledgeable and diverse staff in the South Sound. Our instructors come from different lineages of yoga and collaborate to share their knowledge in a profound and meaningful way. In addition to our teaching staff, we invite guest teachers who are experts in their field to teach topics like Sanskrit, Trauma informed Yoga and Sound Healing to enrich the experience of our students.
Alicia Barrett - E-RYT500
Training Director/ Lead Instructor
Alicia Barrett is someone that has benefited from the transformational and healing power of yoga and wants to share her passion with her community. Her path to Yoga has not been a traditional one. She received her BA from Western Washington University in 1998. She soon after fell into her first business role working as Regional leader a smaller retail chain. In 2004 she left that role and went to work for a large Fortune 50 retail company in an executive role where she held many positions including a position leading international expansion efforts in Vancouver, BC. She was known for great business results, the ability to develop talent through great coaching, and building great teams through promoting inclusion and team work. Although her Yoga practice had always been a big part of her life, she felt that something was missing and decided, in 2014, to pursue her 200 hour Yoga Alliance accredited teacher training certificate through Semperviva Yoga and in 2017 received her 500 hour advanced certification. She has had the fortune to train with well known teachers such as Sean Corn, Sienna Sherman, Michael Stone, Max Strom, Rolph Gates, Bernie Clark, Tina James and many others.
Story Gilmore, E-RYT200
Assistant Lead Faculty
Before I had a consistent yoga practice, I would find myself coming back to the mat again and again when I needed sanctuary. With life struggles happening and emotions swirling, my yoga mat and the many studios I found myself in became the way and the places I did the hard work, the healing. I came to yoga when I needed it in a very reactionary way. I used the physical practice and release of the yoga asana to heal the hurt and get to a point of, “ok, I’m good,” then moved on again and away from my mat until the next emotional battleground. Eventually the cycle became tiring and I had the thought, “Why do I have to keep starting over? Why does the sense of peace and contentment keep slipping away?” I sought my teacher training experience as a way to deepen my own practice and understand more of what yoga offers. There is always more to learn, but having been exposed to more depth and seeing the benefits of yoga play out in so many different ways I knew immediately I wanted to teach and to share what I’ve learned. Yoga offers a way and a place to hit pause- to expand the space between what occurs and how we proceed. Through teaching, I hope to help others find space to pause.
Kathleen Brooks, E-RYT 500
PRONOUNS: SHE/HER/HERS
Assistant lead faculty
I discovered yoga 20 years ago and began more serious study with my teachers Amy Petty and Noah Mazé 12 years ago. Yoga asana, pranayama, meditation, and yogic philosophy have enriched my life in ways I could never have imagined. I have experienced yoga as a powerful tool for self transformation, and it’s a joy to share my experience and knowledge with people of all levels and backgrounds.
My classes are fun, challenging and inclusive. I break down challenging poses to make them accessible to all students through thoughtful sequencing and precise cues that lead toward a peak pose. We strengthen and stretch the areas needed for a pose, allowing students to discover poses they may not have found accessible before. I highlight the qualities required to embody different poses, and I offer opportunities for self study and reflection to help students find the transformation they are seeking, on and off the mat.
Kathleen completed her 300HR training advanced training with Noah Maze.
Shan Maher, E-RYT200
E-RYT 200 HR | SUP YOGA CERTIFIED
PRONOUNS: SHE/HER/HERS
Shannen first found yoga five years ago while going through a difficult time in college. Her therapist had recommended that she take a class and she was hooked right away. Shannen started karma yogi-ing at the studio and a year later found herself in the midst of a 200 HR training. She knew yoga would forever be apart of my life but had no idea the incredible journey she was about to embark on.
Yoga has taken her to places in which mentally and physically didn’t know were possible. It changed the course of her life and has shown her how to lead with love and a grateful heart.
Shannen’s classes are intuitive based movement practices that offer a dynamic way to not only stretch/strengthen but also discover the hidden pockets of space within the body that we have yet to tap into. She is obsessed with transitions and like to encourages her students that the breath is the boss of our practice. Every movement we make is breath led. The deeper we tune into the breath, the more we can explore and create more space within.
Kristi Fischer, BSPE, NSCA, E-RYT500, RCYT
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
I have been involved in the health and wellness industry most of my life. In 1994 I graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education and began working as a personal trainer. That is something I continued to do through the years and I have maintained a certification through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
My yoga journey began in the late 1990’s when I found Bikram yoga, and I continued to practice that along with Vinyasa style classes for many years. After having my boys (who are now 11 and 12), my focus switched to children’s fitness, where I taught Boot Camp for Kids, Healthy Kids in the Kitchen and Girls of Strength classes here in Gig Harbor. I also taught preschool for a few years and during my last year of teaching in 2017 I got certified with Kidding Around Yoga as a children’s yoga instructor. That fall I decided not to go back into the classroom so I could focus on teaching kids yoga. In December 2018 I finished my 200 RYT with Expand Yoga and in 2019 I got my 95-hr RCYT. I taught adult Vinyasa classes at Santosha Yoga here in Gig Harbor and have worked with many of the schools in the Peninsula School District teaching yoga during PE. I also work with Harbor Montessori School teaching Yoga and Mindfulness enrichment blocks. Currently I also work for Kidding Around Yoga as the Licensee Director as well as a trainer. We teach 2-day trainings for those interested in becoming certified to teach kids yoga. I am also part of a small team who lead professional development workshops for educators who want to include yoga, meditation and mindfulness into their classrooms.
Michelle Walendowski, PT, DPT, PYTC, RYT200
ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY
Michelle was introduced to yoga in 1995, immediately fell in love with the practice, and began teaching in 1997. She considers herself a perpetual student with a deep love of learning and a reverence for the body-mind-spirit connection. As a physical therapist and former professional dancer, her teaching incorporates extensive knowledge of anatomy & rehabilitative science along with unique insight into the subtleties of human
movement. Michelle encourages individual exploration and supports each person in finding their optimal balance of effort & ease. She believes in the transformative power of showing up on the mat – and in life – with a beginner’s mind and an open heart. Michelle has a Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of Puget Sound, a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Temple University, a Professional Diploma in Dance Studies from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from University of California, Davis. She received her 200 hour Yoga Certification through Yoga Arts and is currently a Professional Yoga Therapist Candidate through the Living Well Institute.
Devon Watson, E-RYT500
In both her personal practice and her teaching Devon uses asana, breath, and loving awareness as tools to invite light and ease back into the dark, challenging places of the mind and body. She believes yoga is the path back to our most natural state, a method of returning to the divine being that is, and always has been, You.
Why Choose Us? Listen to what our students have to say!
There are a lot of programs out there, why chose Tuladhara? First, we have years of experience in learning and teaching, making our teachers some of the most dynamic, knowledgeable, and experienced teachers in the area. Our teaching staff is diverse with knowledge stemming from many different lineages of Yoga and your training will reflect that diversity. We believe in the power of this process and invest fully in its integrity. It is not just our goal to train you to “teach” a class, but to help you understand the depth of the practice and to be able to tailor it to your future students if that is the path you decide to take.
