"Kindling the Flame" 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program

1. To graduate, trainees must complete a combination of immersions, workshops, and satsangs adding up to at least 270 hours, and upon completion, share their Capstone Reflection Assignment, a self-evaluation reviewed by our team encompassing reflections and insights on the most significant learnings through the “Kindling The Flame” 300 hour Teacher Training journey. 
2. To help accumulate more hours quickly and efficiently, we highly recommended attending some 50 hour immersions. Upon completion, you will receive a certificate and be eligible to register with the Yoga Alliance. 
3. You will receive a graduation packet which includes the Asheville Yoga Center “Rekindling The Flame” 300 Hour Teacher Training Certificate and Yoga Alliance registration instructions.

Once you have: 

1. Completed and documented 270 hours of modules 
2. Submitted your Capstone Reflection Assignment for review by the teacher team
3. Completed all tuition payments

You will receive a graduation packet which includes the Asheville Yoga Center “Rekindling The Flame” 300 Hour Teacher Training Certificate and Yoga Alliance registration instructions.

Our courses average 10–45 people per event. All of our instructors give ample Q&A time — as well as small peer group teaching time — so you leave each course with the confidence to apply what you have learned.

You will be sent a tracking document upon registration to keep a record of your credits.

To track your credits yourself, your account should be current in our system (Union). If you have any past credits prior to February 2025, you can contact programs@youryoga.com to retrieve this information for you.

The “Kindling the Flame” 300 Hour Teacher Training Program and Yoga Alliance

The Asheville Yoga Center (AYC) 300 Hour YTT Program follows Yoga Alliance’s Standards for a RYS 300 Hour Registered Yoga School. AYC has been registered with Yoga Alliance since July 1st, 2001. 

A RYS 300-hour advanced training is designed to build upon and deepen the trainee’s understanding of the fundamental concepts of the practice and teaching of yoga that are generally taught at the RYS 200-hour level. A RYS 300-hour advanced training prepares its trainees to teach principles and techniques of yoga that are more advanced, more detailed, and/or subtler, and the training enables them to teach with greater skill than could reasonably be expected of a RYT 200.

Topics for registered teacher trainings must be relevant to the five Educational Categories as defined below. Registered schools must provide a minimum number of hours of study for each category, and must also provide additional hours of study relevant to these categories, which may be distributed according to the school’s chosen emphasis.

Of the 300 hours, 270 hours must be Contact Hours. A Contact Hour must take place in the physical, online real-time, or online pre-recorded presence of a faculty member.

A RYS with an advanced 300-hour training (RYS 300) must incorporate training hours in the following Educational Categories for the 300-hour training. 80 of the 270 Contact Hours are assigned to the specific Educational Categories:

• Techniques, Training and Practice: 50 Hours

• Teaching Methodology: 5 Hours

• Anatomy and Physiology: 15 Hours

• Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle and Ethics for Yoga Teachers: 30 Hours

After each of your trainings at AYC, you will receive a Post-Training Email that denotes how many hours you received in each of these educational categories. This hourly breakdown will look like this:

Asheville Yoga Center Advanced Studies Hours by Educational Category 

• Techniques, Training & Practice: # hrs
• Teaching Methodology:  # hrs
• Anatomy & Physiology: # hrs
• Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle & Ethics: # hrs
• total contact hours: # hrs
• non contact hours: # hrs 

Finally, after completing your 270 Contact Hours you will complete a Capstone Reflection Assignment that has been crafted by the AYC Instruction Team. Once you have completed this assignment and it has been reviewed by our team, you will be free to register with Yoga Alliance as an RYT 500 Instructor. As part of the application, Yoga Alliance also requires documentation of at least 100 hours of teaching experience since completing training with a RYS 200 or 300 school.

Please feel free to contact programs@youryoga.com with any further questions regarding this process.

“Kindling The Flame” Capstone Reflection Assignment

Assignment Description:

The “Kindling The Flame” Capstone Reflection Assignment is an opportunity to reflect upon, crystalize, and give voice to your journey through Asheville Yoga Center’s “Kindling the Flame” 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. Through a written or audio/video format, we encourage you to look back upon the training modules you participated in, the cumulative journey, and delve into your personal experiences, lessons learned, challenges faced, gifts and goals you’re carrying with you moving forward. 

Submission Format:

Participants may choose to submit reflections in a written essay format (approximately 1500 words) or create an audio/video (not exceeding 10 minutes) sharing their experiences. Submissions should be heartfelt, authentic, and showcase personal growth and introspection gained through the training. You’ll also be invited to share a summary of your Capstone Reflection at one of our seasonal ZOOM Satsangs as well. 

Instructions:

Introduction: Begin by introducing yourself and briefly outlining your initial expectations before embarking on the Kindling The Flame 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training journey.

Transformational Moments: Describe significant moments or experiences during the training that deeply impacted you. These could be related to personal and professional goals, breakthroughs in your practice and/or teaching, the process moments of self-discovery, or realizations about your relationship to yoga and teaching styles and modalities. 

Challenges and Growth: Reflect on the challenges faced during the training, whether they were physical, mental, emotional, or other. Discuss how you managed these challenges and any personal growth along the way.

Teaching Insights: Share insights gained into the art of teaching yoga. Discuss specific teaching techniques, philosophies, concentrations, or methodologies you learned and how you plan to incorporate them into your own teaching practice. 

Teacher, Community Connection & Inspiration: Reflect on the sense of community and connection with teachers and fellow participants in the 300 hour modules. Who do you want to remember and why? Discuss how these relationships enriched your learning experience and contributed to your personal growth.

Self-Discovery: Explore how the training deepened your understanding of yourself, both as a yoga practitioner and as an individual. Discuss any newfound self-awareness, confidence, or mindfulness cultivated during the training.

Impact on Daily Life: Describe how the teachings and practices from the training have influenced your daily life outside of the yoga studio. Discuss any changes in your habits, mindset, or overall well-being.

Conclusion: Summarize your overall experience and the most valuable lessons you will carry forward as a yoga teacher. Reflect on how the “Kindling The Flame” Training has shaped your perspective on yoga and life. Share your goals for applying what you’ve learned moving forward. 

Assessment Criteria:

Submissions will be evaluated based on the depth of reflection, clarity of expression, honesty, and the ability to connect personal experiences with the teachings of the Kindling The Flame program.

Yes! Every month, we host Satsangs – these are 1 hr sessions held via zoom featuring one of our teachers from our faculty. Satsang is the meeting of the two: coming together in truth. These monthly online gatherings offer us space to reconnect with what’s most authentic and true in us, and collectively explore a variety of topics. It is a space for 200-hour alumni and current 300-hour students and alumni to stay connected to practice, learning, and one another.

Some of our graduates have gone on to open studios, run their own 200hr yoga teacher training Our graduates have gone on to open their own studios, lead local and international retreats, and run their own 200-hour and 300-hour yoga teacher training programs.

What’s most beautiful is not just what they’re doing, but how they’re doing it: sharing with authenticity, integrity, and a genuine love for sharing yoga in ways that ripple outward into their communities.

A 500 RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher 500) is a credential issued through Yoga Alliance. It means a teacher has completed 500 total hours of yoga teacher training at Yoga Alliance accredited schools.

Most teachers complete this in two stages:

• First, a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training
• Then, an additional 300-hour advanced training

When you complete both (200 + 300 hours) and register with Yoga Alliance, you are eligible to hold the RYT-500 designation.

Our 300-hour “Kindling the Flame” Advanced Yoga Teacher Training is designed specifically for graduates of a Yoga Alliance accredited 200-hour program. Once you complete our 300-hour training and register your combined hours with Yoga Alliance, you may upgrade your credential to RYT-500.

If you’re unsure whether your 200-hour training qualifies, you can search your school in the Yoga Alliance directory to confirm its status.

Graduates often go on to:

• Lead workshops or specialty classes
  
• Mentor newer teachers
  
• Facilitate teacher trainings
  
• Develop niche offerings (prenatal, trauma-informed, therapeutic yoga, etc.)
  
• Step into leadership roles within studios

Many teachers also report a shift that is less external and more internal: greater confidence, clarity, and alignment in how they teach and lead.