Summer/Fall 2025 Yoga Teacher Training Program
Become a yoga teacher and transform your life in the process.
Are you ready to deepen your practice and share the gift of yoga with others? Asheville Community Yoga’s 250-hour Yoga Teacher Training is a transformative journey designed to empower you as both a student and a teacher.
This in-person program offers a supportive and immersive experience, blending self-discovery with the art of guiding others. Whether you’re looking to refine your personal practice or step into the role of a teacher, this training will give you the tools, knowledge, and confidence to do so.
What Sets Our Training Apart
Our 250-hour program balances personal exploration with practical teaching skills, helping you:
- Deepen your connection to yoga through asana, pranayama, meditation, philosophy, Bhakti (devotion), and service
- Gain confidence through the dual lenses of yoga theory and practice, learning to safely and effectively teach Yoga to a room of varying bodies, abilities, and levels
- Learn to teach a wide range of styles, from gentle to vinyasa
- Understand anatomy, alignment, and the energetic principles behind the postures
- Learn not only the alignment and technique of yoga postures but also the heart and soul of the practice
- Integrate ancient wisdom with modern science for a well-rounded approach
Through this training, you’ll not only refine your own practice but also develop the expertise to inspire and lead others. Our curriculum is rooted in both self-discovery and service—two essential pillars of yoga.
Why Choose Asheville Community Yoga?
With a 4.9-out-of-5-star rating on the Yoga Alliance website, our graduates leave with more than just a certification—they step into the world as skilled, confident, and heart-centered teachers. The faculty believe, and graduates confirm, that the extra 50 hours in our program make the difference between carrying the knowledge solely in your head and truly integrating it, resulting in the ability to communicate and guide others as a clear and confident embodied teacher.
Guided by experienced and passionate instructors, who are informed equally by ancient texts and modern science, this training creates a safe, inclusive, and uplifting environment. Spread across seven weekends over five months, the program allows for integration and deep learning, giving you time to absorb the wisdom and apply the teachings in real-life practice.
Join us and take the next step on your yoga journey. This is more than just a teacher training—it’s a life-changing experience that will shape your practice, your teaching, and your path forward.
Registration
Asheville Community Yoga offers our Yoga Teacher Training program on a tiered pricing basis. Please see the “Tuition” section below for further details on how the pricing structure is set to support the entire community.
There are two steps to complete your registration in the program:
1. Select your price point and if you wish to pay in full or on a payment plan. Use the links below to complete your payment.
2. After payment you’ll be prompted to sign up on our online course platform. Once you open the course the first step will link you to a registration form which you’ll need to complete in order to be officially registered for the program.
Shortly after registering you’ll receive an email from Amber, Teacher Training Director, regarding more details about the logistics of the program. If you are applying for a scholarship please see below for further details.
Community Rate: $1,845
- Pay in Full
- 3 month payment plan ($615 per month)
- 6 month payment plan ($307.50 per month)
Sustainer Rate: $2,245
- Pay in Full
- 3 month payment plan ($748.33 per month)
- 6 month payment plan ($374.17 per month)
Supporter Rate: $2,545
- Pay in Full
- 3 month payment plan ($848.33 per month)
- 6 month payment plan ($424.17 per month)
Tuition Details:
At Asheville Community Yoga, we believe that diverse groups of people with different backgrounds and experiences make for a richer learning experience and open us to a broader understanding of the world we share. This broader understanding is an essential quality of a yoga teacher. To achieve this goal, we have tried our best to set up a tiered pricing system that hopefully makes this training accessible to a wide and diverse range of people.
Our three distinct tiers are…
$1845 / Community Rate: Discounted spaces for those in our community who represent marginalized populations and have and/or have limited access to financial resources.
$2245 / Sustainer Rate: This rate pays for you and allows for Asheville Community Yoga to run operations in a way that is truly sustainable. Those registering at this level may be eligible for a partial scholarship. See details below.
$2545 / Supporter Rate: This is an opportunity for those who have more access to resources to pay it forward and support others on their Yoga journey.
Achieving accessibility for all is dependent on leveraging privilege in our community. If you can afford a price point above $1795, please consider paying more for the benefit of all.
Payment plans are available for every pricing option.
Refund Policy: We understand that life happens and unforeseen circumstances come up. If life offers up an unexpected event and you need to withdraw from the program:
-
- A full refund (with the exception of a $50 registration fee) will be reimbursed if you need to withdraw up to one month prior to your program start date.
- If you need to withdraw less than one month prior to your program start date, 50% of what you’ve paid will be refunded.
- No refunds will be given after the start of your program.
Schedule
Dates:
August 29th – 31st
September 12th – 14th
September 26th – 28th
October 10th – 12th
October 24th – 26th
November 14th – 16th
December 5th – 7th
Times:
Friday 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Saturday 8:00am-12:00pm, 1:15-4:30pm
Sunday 8:00-am-12:00pm, 1:15-3:30pm
Location
Asheville Community Yoga
8 Brookdale Road
Asheville, NC 28804
There is ample parking behind the building.
Yoga Teacher Training Curriculum
Informed by both modern science and ancient texts, the Asheville Community Yoga 250-hour teacher training comprises asana, pranayama, meditation and kirtan. Through the dual lenses of theory and practice, we will delve into methods for safely and effectively teaching asanas to a room of different bodies, abilities and levels in styles ranging from gentle to vinyasa. Providing the tools to explore yourself and educate others, our program fosters an insightful examination and clear articulation of the art and science of yoga through traditional and evidence-based perspectives.
Click here to view our full cirriculum
Required Reading
Any translation of The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
“Anatomy of Yoga” by Dr. Abigail Ellsworth
Teaching Yoga by Donna Farhi
The Bhagavad Gita translated by Stephen Mitchell
Skill in Action by Michelle Cassandra Johnson
Back Care Basics by Mary Pullig Schatz
30 Essential Poses by Judith Lasater
Relax and Renew by Judith Hanson Lasater
Yoga: Mind, Body, Spirit by Donna Farhi
Living Your Yoga by Judith Lasater
Yogabody by Judith Lasater
Requirements for Graduation
Attendance each day
Fulfilling reading and writing requirements
Attending yoga classes
Student teaching at least five classes
Observing at least five classes
Research paper or equivalent research project
Teaching a class to the group at the end of the course
Scholarships
Asheville Community Yoga always seeks to grow and diversify our teacher roster in efforts to uphold our mission of accessible yoga. We know how important it is to feel a sense of safety and belonging when seeking guidance from trained facilitators in any endeavor, especially those pertaining to healing and self discovery. For this reason, we wish to train a diverse group of folks in the art and skill of teaching yoga so all others, regardless of their backgrounds and paths in life, feel safe to come as they are to the practice of yoga.
To meet this goal, we offer two distinct scholarships: “The Ryan Tibbs Memorial Scholarship” for those in active recovery from addiction, and “The Ambassador Scholarship” for those who identify as an underserved demographic within our society.
Criteria
Each scholarship has its own unique criteria that applicants must meet for consideration. Please be sure to read the details of each thoroughly before applying.
In addition, all scholarship applicants must also meet the following criteria:
- Must be an active participant of Asheville Community Yoga for a minimum of one year (attending classes regularly, participating in volunteer opportunities, and/or engaging with community events offered through the studio)
- Must possess a desire to share the practice of yoga with others.
- Must be able to attend every weekend of the program (We understand that unforeseen circumstances and emergencies may arise and that’s ok.)
- Must demonstrate the need for financial assistance (To further meet our mission of accessibility, these scholarships are only offered to those who truly need financial support. As a non-profit, we aim to leverage access to resources to achieve greater equity within our community. If you have access to financial resources, we ask that you please see our equitable tiered pricing scale for other price point options.)
Submission Deadlines
We will accept the first 5 scholarship essays for each scholarship offering (10 total applicants).
Essays must be submitted by July 29th, 2025.
Email amber@ashevillecommunityyoga.org to submit your essay for consideration
Click here to learn more about the Ryan Tibbs Scholarship
Click here to learn more about the Ambassador Scholarship
Teacher Training Staff
Teacher Training Staff
Michael Greenfield
Michael has been in the practicing school of yoga for almost 30 years. He began teaching yoga in 2003 and has been dedicated to serving others in the area of Yoga & relationship work. Igniting passion & demonstrating love are Michael’s two favorite subjects.
Michael is the founder & executive director of Asheville Community Yoga. He was rated in the top 3 yoga teachers in WNC for four years in a row, winning the “Best Yoga Teacher in WNC” Mountain Express award in 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Asheville Community Yoga won the “Best Yoga Studio” award in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Michael is also the director of the Asheville Community Yoga Teacher Training Programs. Michael invites you to discover the depth of your integrity and your capacity to serve from the heart.
Kelly Gilmore
Kelly Gilmore is a dedicated, down to earth student and teacher of yoga, a massage therapist, a voice for animals and lover of nature. She began her studies 12 years ago with a certification in Vinyasa Flow Yoga from White Lotus Foundation. Soon after Kelly was introduced to Anusara Yoga and completed a 200RYT with Sarajoy Marsh in 2005. Around the same time, she moved to WNC and enrolled in the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga. Having several trainings in therapeutic yoga, clinical massage and her 500 RYT in Yoga Therapy with Subtle Yoga, she embraces the opportunity to serve the community and share from her life experiences on and off the mat.
Amber Acheson
Amber considers herself a humble student of life. She strives to open herself to life’s lessons, embracing every opportunity to learn and experience something new with a soft and gentle heart. Amber has been dedicated to the path of yoga since 2009. In 2010 she had the opportunity to travel extensively through Southeast Asia, China, Nepal and Northern India practicing and studying the art/science of yoga. While in India she completed her 200RYT. Amber graduated from Subtle Yoga’s Therapeutic Yoga 500RYT in the spring of 2013. Amber serves as Asheville Community Yoga’s Teacher Training Director.
Ramesh Bjonnes
Ramesh Bjonnes was born in Norway and lived for nearly three years in India and Nepal learning directly from the masters of Tantric yoga. Bjonnes is co-founder of the Prama Institute (www.pramainstitute.org), a holistic retreat center outside Asheville, NC. He has written extensively on Tantra, yoga, culture and sustainability, and his articles have appeared in books and numerous magazines and newspapers in Europe and the US. He wrote the books, Sacred Body, Sacred Spirit: A Personal Guide to the Wisdom of Yoga and Tantra and Tantra: The Yoga of Love and Awakening. He lives in an eco-village near Marshall, Madison County. Ramesh teaches the Yoga Sutras and meditation modules in our trainings.
Testimonials
“In the teacher training at Asheville Community Yoga, I finally found my true self and a real community. All the knowledge and skills I learned in training were extremely beneficial for my mental state, while my spirit was also transformed through the center I found within myself. The teacher training taught me to always be aware of my breath in life, for it will steady my thoughts and emotions and always be there to guide me.” -KA
“This has been the most important education of my life. I have learned so much about myself and the process of removing the veils that cloak our true nature. We can change the world with yoga!” -SM
“I was skeptical when our teachers told us that when we left, we wouldn’t be the same. Still, they encouraged us to give everything we had as an offering, to let it go, leave nothing behind. And, I decided to do just that. You get from it most certainly what you put in. There are so many opportunities to open up, let go and be humbled.” -RM
“This weekend was absolutely amazing, uplifting, wondrous and down right breathtaking. I feel so fully loved and accepted for who I am. It is pretty rare these days to have such strong connections with this many people, but after what we have all just experienced, I am convinced that this group will only continue to stay in each other’s lives.” -GH
“When I decided to enroll in the yoga teacher training program at Asheville Community Yoga, my intention was to deepen my practice and possibly teach yoga (if all went well with the training). What I was not anticipating was to experience such a profound sense of love and acceptance of myself. … I am extremely grateful for connections made with the instructors, special guests and especially with my cohort of yoga teacher trainees who I now consider part of my extended family. I am so thankful for having committed myself to the gift of this experience. I now look forward to sharing this practice of love with others.” -JW
Places to Stay During Your Training
Need a Stepping Stone Before You Become a Yoga Teacher? We Also Offer a Yoga Immersion!
For those who have read through all of the above and are feeling like the training is something you’d like to do in the future but may need a little more time and experience to familiarize yourself with Yoga and build a stronger foundation, consider our Yoga Immersion Program. Many use the Immersion Program as a stepping stone for our 250 Hour Yoga Teacher Training and those who have feel they gained more from the Training by taking the Immersion prior. Discounts are available towards our Yoga Teacher Training for all who complete the Immersion Program first.
Stay tuned to learn more about upcoming Immersion Program offerings.