Deepen Your Yoga Practice

Have you ever wondered if you might be ready for yoga teacher training?

Maybe you've fallen in love with your practice and feel a quiet calling to share it. Maybe your favorite teacher has encouraged you to take the leap. Or perhaps you simply want to deepen your understanding of yoga, even if you never plan to teach a class.

In this special replay of episode 9 of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren explores what it really means to be ready for yoga teacher training—and why readiness has very little to do with how flexible you are, how long you've practiced, or whether you can do a handstand.

Drawing from her own journey as a yoga teacher and teacher trainer, Lauren shares the questions, qualities, and considerations that can help you decide whether this next step is right for you.

In this episode, you'll explore:

Understanding your personal why for pursuing yoga teacher training

Committing to your own practice, both on and off the mat

Developing a passion for lifelong learning and svādhyāya (self-study)

The importance of compassion, emotional intelligence, and holding space for others

The realities of teaching yoga beyond the Instagram highlights

Navigating imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and the fear of not being "good enough"

Finding your authentic teaching voice and personal style

The transformative power of mentorship and community

Why yoga teacher training can be meaningful even if you never intend to teach professionally

Lauren also reflects on her own experience entering yoga teacher training with plenty of fear and uncertainty—and how listening to that persistent inner calling ultimately changed the direction of her life.

2027 Yoga Teacher Training enrollment opens November 11!

True Love Yoga's 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training is designed to build a strong foundation in yoga philosophy, anatomy, asana, sequencing, meditation, pranayama, and compassionate, trauma-aware teaching.

Whether your goal is to become a confident yoga teacher or simply deepen your personal practice, this training offers an opportunity for meaningful growth, community, and self-discovery.

Learn more: https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Note: This episode was originally recorded in 2024. Some dates and program details mentioned in the original recording have changed. Visit the website for current information about our 2027 training.

Have you ever wondered how the chakras, koshas, gunas, vayus, nadis, and five elements all fit together? Are they parts of one unified system, or are they different ways of understanding the human experience?

This week on Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren is doing something a little different: sharing an actual recording from inside True Love Yoga's inaugural 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training.

Inspired by a thoughtful question from one of her students, this mini-lecture explores the historical development of yoga's philosophical and subtle-body systems, revealing how ideas that emerged across centuries eventually became woven together in modern yoga.

From early Vedic thought and the Upanishads to Sāṃkhya philosophy, Patañjali's Yoga Sūtras, Tantra, and Haṭha Yoga, Lauren traces the evolution of these frameworks and explains why understanding their distinct origins matters.

In this episode, you'll explore:

The guṇas: Sattva, rajas, and tamas as qualities of nature and experience

The five elements: The building blocks of manifestation in Sāṃkhya cosmology

The kośas: Five layers or sheaths of embodied experience

The vāyus: Five directional expressions of prāṇa

The nāḍīs: Subtle pathways through which prāṇa is understood to flow

The chakras: Transformational centers developed within Tantric traditions

How these systems became integrated through later Haṭha Yoga and modern yoga

Practical ways to use these frameworks for sequencing, cueing, meditation, theming, and trauma-aware teaching

Rather than treating these concepts as a single ancient map or rigid hierarchy, Lauren invites us to appreciate them as different lenses through which we can explore the same human experience.

Plus, a peek inside True Love Yoga's 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training!

Applications are open for the 2027 program, a year-long hybrid training designed for yoga teachers who want to deepen their knowledge, refine their teaching, and continue growing as students of yoga.

Explore the program: https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Because the more we learn about yoga, the more we discover there is to explore.

Pregnancy and postpartum change far more than the physical body. They transform our relationship with movement, identity, strength, and what it means to care for ourselves. Yet so much of the conversation around this season still centers on restrictions, recovery timelines, and the pressure to "bounce back."

What if we approached it differently?

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren welcomes back Melody Butler, E-RYT 500, YACEP, RPYT teacher trainer, functional movement educator, trauma-aware yoga educator, and creator of Mom Bod Yoga.

Together, they explore what it really means to support people through pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond—and why perinatal yoga is so much more than modifying poses to accommodate a growing belly.

They discuss:

Why postpartum recovery doesn't end at six or twelve weeks

Moving beyond bounce-back culture toward strength, self-acceptance, and care

How pregnancy and postpartum affect the whole person—not just anatomy

Why yoga teachers often feel unprepared to support pregnant students

The importance of core and pelvic floor awareness, nervous system support, and trauma-aware teaching

How yoga philosophy can support the emotional and identity shifts of parenthood

Why movement should be about nurturing ourselves rather than fixing ourselves

Lauren and Melody also announce True Love Yoga's new 85-Hour Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training, launching in 2027 with Melody as lead facilitator.

This five-month hybrid or fully virtual program explores perinatal anatomy and physiology, functional movement, core and pelvic floor health, yoga philosophy, pranayama, meditation, trauma-aware teaching, and intelligent adaptations for pregnancy and postpartum.

Designed for yoga teachers, fitness professionals, doulas, birth workers, and other professionals who support people through this extraordinary season, the training offers a comprehensive foundation for compassionate, knowledgeable perinatal movement education.

2027 Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training

March–August 2027

Hybrid or fully virtual participation

Tuition: $2,000

Early enrollment: $300 off through January 15

Payment plans and limited $500 BIPOC scholarships available

Applications are now open!

Explore the training and apply: https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Connect with Melody: Melody Butler Yoga

Because pregnancy and postpartum aren't problems to fix. They're extraordinary transitions that deserve knowledgeable, compassionate support.

As the light changes, temperatures drop, and leaves begin to fall, nature makes one thing very clear: we are entering a new season.

And yet, we often expect ourselves to operate exactly the same way all year long.

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren explores autumn through the lens of yoga and its sister science, Ayurveda. Traditionally associated with vata dosha and the qualities of air and space, autumn can feel cool, dry, light, mobile, and changeable—qualities we may notice reflected in our bodies and minds, too.

Rather than completely changing your routine, what if your practice simply responded to the season?

Lauren shares approachable ways to bring more warmth, steadiness, rhythm, and nourishment into your yoga practice and daily life—from slower transitions and grounding postures to restorative practices, warming foods, consistent routines, and simple sensory rituals.

You'll also explore autumn as an invitation to turn inward and consider:

What am I ready to release?
What do I want to carry forward into this season?

Lauren also shares an invitation to Vairāgya: Release & Return, an autumn practice at True Love Yoga on October 18 featuring myofascial release, Yin Yoga, breathwork, reflection, and Yoga Nidra.

You don't have to overhaul your life when the seasons change. Maybe you simply become a little warmer, a little slower, a little more grounded—and a little more willing to listen.

After a month away—and her first real break from the podcast in more than two years—Lauren is back for episode 108, an auspicious number in the yoga tradition.

And a lot has changed.

In this personal episode, Lauren shares what’s been unfolding behind the scenes: celebrating 11 years of True Love Yoga, graduating the ninth 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training class, moving through the final months of TLY’s first 300-hour training, watching Abhyāsa evolve from an experiment into a beloved weekly practice, and unexpectedly becoming the owner of a women’s athletic club.

With BarBelle Athletic Club in the middle of its messy, exciting birth, Lauren reflects on what yoga looks like when life is anything but calm.

Through abhyāsa (consistent practice), vairāgya (non-attachment), sthira and sukha (effort and ease), and aparigraha (non-grasping), she explores how yoga can help us navigate uncertainty—not by making change disappear, but by changing the way we meet it.

This episode is an invitation to consider:

What is changing in your life right now?
What helps you stay rooted when things feel uncertain?
And what might it look like to keep showing up without needing to control exactly how everything unfolds?

Because your practice doesn’t have to make the wind stop. It can teach you how to stand inside it.

You completed your 200-hour yoga teacher training. Maybe you've been teaching for years—or perhaps your certification has been sitting quietly while you wondered what comes next.

So…is a 300-hour yoga teacher training right for you?

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren Leduc takes you inside True Love Yoga's 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training and explores what advanced study actually looks like.

Unlike a foundational 200-hour training, a 300-hour isn't simply about accumulating more information. It's about refinement: developing discernment, finding your authentic teaching voice, understanding the why behind what you teach, and becoming a more confident, responsive, knowledgeable, and compassionate teacher.

Lauren shares what students actually study, how the year-long program works, what makes True Love Yoga's approach unique, and answers some of the most common questions prospective students ask.

Whether you're actively considering advanced training or simply curious about what comes after 200 hours, this episode offers a clear look at the next layer of yoga education.

A 200-hour training provides a foundation for teaching yoga safely and effectively.

A 300-hour training asks a different set of questions.

Who are you as a teacher?

Why do you teach what you teach?

How do you respond when a student or situation doesn't fit the script?

What do you uniquely have to offer?

Advanced training moves beyond simply following the map and develops the discernment to navigate when there isn't one.

Students explore advanced cueing, voice, presence, reading the room, energetic awareness, adaptive teaching, trauma awareness, and responsive teaching.

The goal isn't to create teachers who sound like Lauren. It's to help each student uncover and trust their own voice.

Advanced doesn't always mean physically difficult.

Students explore intelligent progressions, arm balances, inversions, backbends, modifications, chair adaptations, hands-on assists, therapeutic applications, advanced vinyasa sequencing, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, myofascial release, and Yoga Nidra.

The Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, chakras, subtle anatomy, ethics, and other philosophical teachings aren't treated as separate academic subjects.

They're integrated into sequencing, anatomy, asana, workshops, retreats, teaching decisions, and leadership.

Advanced teachers also need practical tools to build sustainable careers.

Students explore branding, marketing, pricing, private sessions, workshops, retreats, legal considerations, financial literacy, podcasting, public speaking, community building, and sustainable professional development.

Throughout it all, students clarify their unique value, whom they want to serve, and how to communicate their work authentically.

One of the biggest shifts Lauren sees in 300-hour students is moving from performance toward presence.

Students become less concerned with getting everything "right" and more grounded in who they are.

The goal is to cultivate teachers who are confident without losing humility—and who can be leaders while remaining lifelong students.

The 2027 program runs January–December and is divided into three three-month learning phases with integration breaks between them:

January–March: Learning Phase One
April: Integration Break
May–July: Learning Phase Two
August: Integration Break
September–November: Learning Phase Three
December: Graduation

Students receive:

Most students should plan for approximately 3–5 hours of study per week, although the flexible format allows students to integrate the training around careers, parenting, and other responsibilities.

No. Teaching can give you opportunities to immediately integrate what you're learning, but active teaching is not required.

Absolutely. The program offers tools that extend far beyond teaching yoga.

Yes. It's a substantial training, but its flexible structure is intentionally designed for people with full lives.

You don't need to.

This is an advanced training because it helps you develop advanced knowledge and skills—not because you're expected to arrive having mastered them.

That's completely fine. As long as you've completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training, you're eligible.

Enrollment for True Love Yoga's 2027 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training opens September 1.

The program begins January 2027 and is open to graduates of any 200-hour yoga teacher training.

Start with our free guide:

Is a 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Right for You?

Download the guide, explore the full curriculum, learn about the program, and join the interest list here:

https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Enroll by November 11 to receive $1,000 off tuition with early enrollment pricing.

Learn More And Enroll Now

Many yoga teachers finish their 200-hour training wondering, "What's next?"

In this heartfelt conversation, Lauren sits down with Annalyssa Broderson, a 200-hour graduate of True Love Yoga's 2020 training and current student in the studio's inaugural 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training.

Together they discuss how yoga evolves over a lifetime, what happens after teacher training, and why continuing to study often brings more questions than answers.

Annalyssa shares her journey from runner to therapist to yoga teacher, how yoga has supported her work with eating disorder recovery and mental health, and how returning to advanced study has helped her integrate movement, philosophy, mindfulness, and professional purpose.

Whether you're a yoga teacher, considering teacher training, or simply someone who loves learning, this episode is a reminder that yoga isn't something we master—it's a relationship that continues to unfold.

In this episode you'll learn:

• How Annalyssa fell in love with yoga
• What yoga teacher training was like during 2020
• The biggest differences between a 200-hour and 300-hour training
• Why advanced yoga isn't about advanced poses
• The role curiosity plays in lifelong practice
• How yoga supports therapists, helpers, and caregivers
• What students can expect from Annalyssa's Friday Hatha Flow classes
• Why community makes continued education so powerful

Enrollment opens September 1, 2026 for our January 2027 cohort.

✨ Download our free guide:
"Is a 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Right for You?"

Learn more, join the interest list, and download the guide:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Early enrollment pricing includes $1,000 off tuition through November 11.

Learn more:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Connect with Annalyssa:
Instagram: @wildemberkc

What does it mean to truly know yoga?

When Lauren began her first 200-hour yoga teacher training, she imagined she might finish with a firm grasp on the practice. Instead, the opposite happened: yoga became bigger, the questions became deeper, and the path of learning expanded.

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren explores the beginner’s mind and the paradox of mastery. The more we learn about yoga, the more we begin to recognize how much remains unknown.

She discusses why certificates do not automatically equal wisdom, why advanced yoga is about much more than advanced postures, and how lifelong study can cultivate humility, curiosity, discernment, and openness.

This episode is an invitation to release the pressure to arrive and embrace yoga as an unfolding relationship—one that continues to reveal new layers through movement, anatomy, philosophy, meditation, teaching, service, and life itself.

Enrollment for the next True Love Yoga 300-hour teacher training opens September 1.

This program is designed for 200-hour graduates who want more than another certificate. It offers a place to ask deeper questions, refine teaching skills, expand knowledge, and continue growing within a thoughtful community of dedicated teachers and practitioners.

The training is open to graduates of any 200-hour yoga teacher training program.

Learn more:

https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/yoga-teacher-training/

Why do yogis practice arm balances and inversions? Are these postures ancient traditions, modern inventions, or simply social media-worthy poses?

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren Leduc explores the fascinating history and deeper purpose of arm balances and inversions in modern yoga. While many of these postures became popular through the influence of gymnastics and physical culture in the 20th century, their value extends far beyond the physical challenge.

Lauren discusses how balancing on our hands teaches resilience, patience, body awareness, and self-study. Rather than focusing on mastering impressive shapes, these postures invite us to develop a growth mindset, cultivate courage, and discover the joy of play.

Whether you've been practicing inversions for years or your feet have never left the floor, this episode offers a fresh perspective on why the process matters far more than the pose itself.

Abhyāsa Posture Clinic: Balances, Arm Balances & Inversions

Sunday, August 16
12:30–2:30 PM
True Love Yoga

We'll spend two hours exploring balancing postures, arm balances, and inversions through intelligent progressions that help you build strength, confidence, body awareness, and stability—regardless of your experience level.

✨ $30
✨ TLY Members save $5 with code WORKSHOP
✨ Free for current Yoga Teacher Trainees

Learn more:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/

What if letting go isn't about caring less—but about seeing more clearly?

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren Leduc explores vairāgya, one of yoga's most profound teachings. Often translated as non-attachment, vairāgya is frequently misunderstood as detachment or indifference. In reality, it offers a compassionate path toward freedom, acceptance, and inner spaciousness.

Drawing from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Lauren explains how abhyāsa (steady practice) and vairāgya (letting go) work together to create balance in both yoga and everyday life. Through stories, philosophy, and practical tools—including yin yoga, myofascial release, calming breathwork, and nervous system regulation—this episode offers a timely invitation to soften your grip, especially during the busy, overstimulating days of late summer.

Whether you're carrying physical tension, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, or simply feeling mentally cluttered, this conversation will help you create space for clarity, peace, and renewal.

Vairāgya: Cool, Clear & Restore Workshop
True Love Yoga
Sunday, August 9
12:30–2:00 PM

An afternoon of:

True Love Yoga members receive $5 off with code WORKSHOP.

Learn more:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com