Deepen Your Yoga Practice

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

Why is it so difficult to rest—even when we're exhausted?

In this episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren explores one of the greatest challenges of modern life: learning how to truly rest.

Many of us have been conditioned to believe that our worth is tied to our productivity. We fill every quiet moment, struggle to slow down, and often wait until burnout forces us to stop. Yoga offers another way.

Drawing from yoga philosophy, nervous system science, and the wisdom of the three gunas, Lauren explores why rest can feel so uncomfortable, how chronic hypervigilance keeps us trapped in "doing," and why true rest is a practice—not something we have to earn.

This episode is an invitation to reconnect with your inherent worth, cultivate greater balance, and discover the profound practice of simply being.

If this episode resonated with you, consider sharing it with someone who may need permission to slow down.

If you'd like to deepen your understanding of yoga philosophy, nervous system regulation, meditation, and embodied practice, learn more about our classes and teacher trainings at True Love Yoga.

https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/

Listen to more episodes of Deepen Your Yoga Practice:

https://deepen-your-practice.castos.com/

Why do some days feel calm and clear while others feel anxious, restless, or completely unmotivated?

According to yoga philosophy, these shifting experiences aren't random—they're expressions of the three gunas, the fundamental qualities of nature described in the ancient Samkhya tradition.

In this episode, Lauren explores one of yoga's most practical philosophical frameworks and explains how the gunas can help us better understand our energy, emotions, motivation, and patterns without judgment.

Rather than seeing ourselves as "lazy," "anxious," or "unproductive," the gunas invite us to view our inner experience as changing weather patterns that can be observed with awareness and responded to skillfully.

You'll learn how cultivating awareness—not perfection—can transform the way you relate to yourself.

If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to hear from you! Leave a review, share this episode with a friend, or send me a message about which yoga philosophy topics you'd like to explore next.

If you're ready to dive even deeper into yoga philosophy, anatomy, meditation, and teaching, learn more about our 200-hour and 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training programs at True Love Yoga.

https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/

Listen to more episodes:

https://deepen-your-practice.castos.com/

In this very special 100th episode of Deepen Your Yoga Practice, Lauren Leduc reflects on the heart of yoga after years of conversations exploring philosophy, anatomy, nervous system science, meditation, ethics, spirituality, teacher training, and more.

To celebrate this milestone, Lauren asked True Love Yoga teachers and 300-hour trainees one simple question:

“What is something you wish your students knew?”

The answers were deeply aligned and beautifully human.

In this episode, Lauren explores themes of belonging, self-acceptance, autonomy, breath, nervous system awareness, compassion, and the reminder that yoga is not about becoming perfect — it’s about becoming more honest, aware, and connected while fully inside your humanity.

This episode is a love letter to students, teachers, community, and the evolving practice of yoga itself.

Learn more about Lauren, classes, trainings, and retreats at:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/

Listen to more episodes of Deepen Your Yoga Practice:
https://deepen-your-practice.castos.com/

In this episode, Lauren sits down with Dr. Auburn Ellis—an E-RYT 500, educator, and founder of Soul Yoga Fest KC—to explore the roots and power of Kemetic Yoga, breathwork, and inclusive practice.

Together, they unpack how yoga evolves across a lifetime, how cultural lineage shapes practice, and how breath becomes a source of true internal power—on and off the mat.

Dr. Auburn shares her journey from Chicago Public Schools teacher to yoga educator, her deep connection to Kemetic Yoga (rooted in ancient Egyptian traditions), and how her work bridges movement, history, art, and community care.

This conversation is both grounding and expansive—inviting us to deepen our practice through awareness, curiosity, and connection.

Breath & Internal Power: A Kemetic Yoga Workshop

July 18 | 2:00–3:30 PM
True Love Yoga (In-Person + Virtual)
1.5 CE Hours (Yoga Alliance Eligible)

In this 90-minute experience, you’ll explore:

✨ Beginner-friendly | All levels welcome

Sign up:
https://www.trueloveyogakc.com/

This episode invites you to ask:

Listen + explore more:
https://deepen-your-practice.castos.com/