Empowered Being. Empowered Flow.
Continuing Education &
300hr / 500hr Certified Yoga Teacher Training
All students are welcome to join us in expanding your practice & teaching skills in these Continuing Education Trainings (CET). They can be taken on their own or can be taken collectively to obtain your 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification.
If you are seeking a 500-hour certification, you must complete all 6, 40-hour CET’s listed below and a 60-hour mentorship program with one of the teacher trainers. You also must have already completed a 200-hour teacher training program.
This 300hr program is a transformative training designed for you to more deeply embody yogic practices & methods. Our intention is to further awaken our personal empowerment as students, teachers, and connected / conscious human beings.
Each CET is hosted on a Thursday - Sunday from 8-5pm PST each day, with a 1 hour break at noon. You are welcome to join in-person in the LA area or virtually on zoom :)
Alignment
40 Continuing Education Units
What is alignment? In this training, you will explore greater depths of embodying alignment for yourself. You will tap more into your alignment in asana practice, in daily “off the mat” posture and movement, and alignment in consciousness.
Dates:
Philosophy & Decolonization of the Mind
40 Continuing Education Units
Self Transformation happens through the self discovery. We cover yogic texts such as The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras in a real world application. These philosophies are presented in a decolonized context and connected to your modern day yoga practice and life. Our practice is meant not only to benefit ourselves and our individual spiritual journeys, but to benefit all beings. The course includes reading, discussion, meditation & asana practice.
Dates:
Professional Development & Inner Awakening
40 Continuing Education Units
In this training module we will highlight ways to share and amplify your voice as a teacher — the voice from the inner teacher; and we will explore what teaching looks like within and beyond existing systems or networks. We will discuss ways to conduct your business as yoga teacher. We will also begin to explore the practices of Kundalini yoga — the yoga of awareness — which will help balance and fortify our nervous system; clarifying how we show up as our most authentic, radiant Selves.
Dates:
Advancing Asana
40 Continuing Education Units
In this module we will use our asana practice to more deeply explore the chakra system as well as the system of the Three Gunas, and the Five Koshas. We will work from a structural place to learn how to approach more challenging postures, as well as how to teach these postures safely and effectively. This will include workshopping specific postures, and learning how to incorporate these postures into your personal practice or instruction as desired.
Dates:
Sequencing, Cueing, & Holding Space
40 Continuing Education Units
Dive deeper into developing your own sense of intuition, intelligence, and integrity when it comes to sequencing, cueing, and holding yogic space. Enhance your capacity to facilitate a yoga space with greater confidence, ease, purpose, and joy!
Dates:
The Subtle Body and Creative Energy
40 Continuing Education Units
Become more aware of your own subtle body and practices that enhance your Self awareness. You will become more aware of yourself through the lens of the Five Koshas, the Seven Chakras, and the Three main Nadis. as you focus / contemplate upon your own Creative power & True nature.
Dates:
Tuition
Tuition payments are made by clicking the “Sign up here!” link listed for each training date above. Each CET is offered a la carte at the same tuition rate. We offer 2 discounts: early bird pricing is 15% off and graduates of The Tree’s 200-hr program receive 20% off.
Regular: $599
Early Bird: $509 (15% discount, $90 off)
200-hr YTT Tree Grads: $480 (20% discount. $120 off - can NOT be combined with early bird discount)
60-hr Mentorship Cost:
Full Tuition: $1199; Early Bird: $1020; 200-hr YTT Grads: $960
Note: The mentorship will be a commitment of 60 hours taking classes, observing classes, and discussions with your mentor and mentor group. You will also create and execute your own yoga offering with the support of your mentor.
Click the ‘PAY FULL TUITION’ button above If you would like to register for the full 500-hr Certification program up front (includes all 6 CETs and the mentorship).
About The Teachers
J. Cole Thomas II
After a successful Computer career with companies like Disney and Abbot Laboratories J decided to become a yogi. He started his yoga journey in 2007 with teachers Leeza Villagomez, Dharma Mitra, Shiva Rea, and Steve Ross to name a few. His primary practice has been in Vinyasa Flow. Like many of us, J sought out Yoga due to his desire to heal his lower back and all around ego. Through his knowledge of computers he could see how we were being programed by the society and how yoga was a way to de-program ourselves.
After 5 years of a dedicated practice, improved lower back, better attitude and multiple 200hr Teacher Trainings from The Yogaden and Just Yoga, J put out a wish to instruct people of color in his popular Soul Flow classes. In 2013 J, joined Green Tree Yoga Meditation Foundation with its founders Raja Michele and Jen Deraspe in his hometown of South Central Los Angeles. J has been an instructor, trainer and served as President of the Board for Green Tree.
Now as a worker owner of the Tree Yoga Cooperative, J is still an instructor and a co-facilitator of our unique 200 HR trainings.
He is currently completing Annie Carpenter’s 300HR Training to get his 500HR RYT with the Yoga Alliance. J leads our Decolonizing the Mind module in our new 500HR training that is designed to deepen and transform a student’s everyday experience. He also leads modules on Sequencing and Alignment. J believes that it’s through the practice of Yoga that students can become self-empowered and better the community from the inside out.
Rebecca Watson
Yoga found Rebecca in 2003, when she stumbled into a hot yoga studio on a cold New Years Day. After those first 90 minutes, she knew she needed more yoga (or whatever it was that just happened) in her life. She spent the next 3 years sampling styles, and ultimately was called to share the practice of Vinyasa. What initially began as a means to heal her old athlete’s body, transformed into a healing of heart and mind as well.
Rebecca considers herself blessed to have found teachers who connect the physical and spiritual planes within their teachings. In 2006, she obtained 200 Hour certification with Shiva Rea in Prana Vinyasa Yoga. Rebecca has since continued to study with numerous esteemed senior teachers. Her personal hatha practice is heavily influenced by the classical teachings of Dharma Mittra, and her beloved Kundalini Yoga mentor is Krishna Kaur Khalsa.
Yogic Education:
200 Hours, Prana Vinyasa with Shiva Rea
Rocket Yoga 50 Hours, 100 Hours
Awakening Yoga Immersion with Patrick Beach & Carling Harps
RYT 200 Get Loved Up Vinyasa with Koya Webb
Level 1 Kundalini Yoga 220 Hours with Krishna Kaur
2019 - Foundational AcroYoga with Jason Nemer
2020 - 200 Hours, JM Vinyasa with Jared McCann
2021 - 300/500 Hours with Erin Kelly, Steph Gongora, & Bianca Scalise
Jana Janelle Johnson
Jana Johnson is an enthusiastic yogi specializing in Meditation, Vinyasa, Yin, and Ganja Yoga styles of yoga practice in both english & spanish. Her classes tend to have a relaxing & rejuvenating feel as she sets the tone for authentically & intentionally connecting with oneself.
Jana is committed to bringing Presence, focus, intention, and value to every class she teaches. She also brings a lighthearted & friendly attitude, and a desire to harmoniously connect with students in ways that effectively enhance their personal practice. Her intention is for her students to allow the benefits garnered in the class to extend "off the mat" for positive influence in everyday life that go well beyond the formal practice.
In addition to co-leading the 300/500 hr program, Jana also co-leads The Tree’s 200-hr training and is a founding worker-owner of this cooperative.
Jana is a 500-RYT with Yoga Alliance
Yogic Education:
200 hours, Green Tree Yoga & Meditation with Raja Michelle
50 hours, Ganja Yoga with Dee Dussault
300 hours, Melanin Yoga Project with Davina Davidson
300 hours, SMARTflow with Annie Carpenter (current)
FAQ
How do I obtain a 500hr Yoga Teacher Certification? Complete a 200-hr program, take each of the 6 CETs listed above, and complete the 60-hr mentorship. You do not have to take the CETs consecutively or in any particular order and you can take as much time as you want/need in between each CET.
Who are these trainings for? All students are welcome to join any of the continuing education trainings. If you wish to be 500-hr certified, you must have already completed a 200-hr program.
Are these trainings virtual or in person? All of our 2022 trainings will be hybrid. This means you are welcome to join in person (Los Angeles area) or virtually on zoom.
What is the timeline for the 500-hr certification? Each CET is offered twice a year and the mentorship is 3-6 months. Our expectation is that most students will complete all program requirements in 1-3 years, however it may take more time and that’s ok. You do not have to take the CETs consecutively or in any particular order and you can take as much time as you want/need in between each CET.
Is the 300-hr training registered with Yoga Alliance? The Tree Yoga Cooperative is a Registered Yoga School at the 200-hr level and we are currently going through the certification process for our 300-hr program. All of the instructors for these trainings have over 500hours of Yoga Teacher Trainings and are all registered with Yoga Alliance. After completing each CET module, you have the ability to register those hours, 40 each, as Continuing Education units with Yoga Alliance.
What is the tuition for each CET & for the 300-hr program? Please refer to the tuition breakdown above.
If you have any other questions, feel free to email us here!
RELEASE OF LIABILITY WITH VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION: By taking a class, workshop, or training offered by The Tree Yoga Co-op, you acknowledge that you have read the Release of Liability Form and accept the terms for participation. Read the Release of Liability Form.