I knew right away when I walked in the door that Green Lotus would play an important role in my life.

Elizabeth teaching at her Green Lotus in Annandale — Elizabeth teaching at Green Lotus in Annandale

I actively was seeking a yoga teacher-training program that felt right and offered the skills needed to teach yoga in a professional, safe, and meaningful way. What I did not know was that I would not only graduate from the RYT-200 program, but also go on to complete an additional 300 hours of training with Green Lotus, become a teacher training faculty member, and open a Green Lotus location in Annandale in 2017. (Green Lotus Annandale is now closed)

For years I held a deep desire to teach yoga. The teachers I talked to all said teacher training would change my life. Indeed, it did! Offering deeply embodied self-discovery, tools for body awareness, a comfort with a daily meditation practice, and a deepened empathy for those around me, all these tools have served me well in the last six years. As a faculty member, I now have the great privilege of seeing the course change lives in equally meaningful ways.

While these aspects of teacher training are powerful, they can be hard to quantify. My criteria were far more practical. I wanted a program that gave me the tangible tools to lead and teach a large variety of people, both safely and creatively, with skills to adapt a class or a pose based on who was in front of me. When I graduated from Green Lotus’ RYT-200 in August 2015, I was prepared to teach with proved skills and knowledge and in my authentic voice.

As I sought a teacher-training program, I found some that focused on a repeated sequence and parroting back cues that were canned. Another was all about the music, and another promised they would help students become yoga personalities. Green Lotus ‘s teacher training offers a broad and deep three-module program that builds in a thoughtful way, everything designed with your skillful success in mind.

My criteria for a worthy program included:

How to create and sequence a class
A deep understanding of the mechanics of the human body as well as yogic philosophy
How to create a safe space for students to explore internally if they wish
How to lead a safe and meaningful yoga class
How to use my authentic voice in the classroom with no need to be anyone but myself
How to create a non-judgmental, safe place for all bodies
How to recognize the needs and challenges of students and offer options and alternatives
How to spontaneously adapt a class plan to the needs of who is in front of me
How to teach from non-ego, knowing that teaching is not a performance, nor is the class about the teacher.
How to manage a class of all sizes, teaching students, not just poses.

My expectations were not only met, but also exceeded. And so will yours. In every teacher-training class, I see yoga enthusiasts become talented, well-trained teachers.

Are you looking for a teacher-training program for your own personal growth with no intention to teach? The first two modules of this program are also for you. Don’t just take my word for it. Take a Green Lotus yoga class. Attend an informational session. Walk in the doors and experience Green Lotus. You never know where your journey will take you.

Are you ready to walk the path of yoga teacher training?

Learn more

Elizabeth Bayer is a graduate of Green Lotus’s 200-hour and 300-hour yoga teacher-training programs. She is a noted lecturer, workshop leader, and author of two non-fiction books dealing with self-discovery – her 2003 memoir Wednesdays at the Fluff 'n' Fold and 2016's Yoga Expression Spirit in which she chronicles the three pillars of her life. In 2020, Elizabeth and her husband founded the Annandale Art and Textile Center, the non-profit home of the Heart of the Lakes Weavers, a vocational-weaving program employing individuals with social and developmental disabilities.

Recent Articles