200-Hour Teacher Training

July 2024 – December 2024

Led by jean-jacques gabriel

photo by Mochi Robinson

In this Yoga Alliance Certified, 200-hour yoga teacher training, participants will develop and expand their personal yoga, meditation, and pranayama practice. We will ignite and nourish self-inquiry and support the creation of new mental, muscular and spiritual patterns to live more free lives. Integrating these new patterns within, participants then practice effective teaching techniques, revise our teaching, and grow confident in teaching voices. We, students and faculty alike, work together to create a radically inclusive culture of yoga in support of healing and liberation.

The training is led by jean-jacques gabriel, E-RYT 500, and supported by amazing teachers. It starts July 2024 and ends mid-December 2024. It begins with a 3-day-long weekend (Friday – Sunday) followed by 11 weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). All days run from 9:00am – 12:30pm and 2:00pm – 6:00pm.

Applications for enrollment and scholarships open Feb 1, 2024. Scholarship applications close April 15th, and applications for enrollment close July 1st, but please keep in mind the training usually reaches capacity before then.

 

PROGRAM DATES

Weekends :
July 12, 13, 14
July 20, 21
Aug 10, 11
Aug 24, 25
Sept 7, 8
Sept 21, 22
Oct 5, 6
Oct 19, 20
Nov 9, 10
Nov 23, 24
Dec 7, 8
Dec 14, 15

AREAS OF STUDY

Postures / Asanas 

    • Focusing on accessibility for all bodies
    • Practicing and teaching poses within all categories 

Pranayama & Meditation  

    • Practicing and teaching different breathing techniques 
    • Discussing effects on anatomy & body systems 
    • Exploring different modalities of meditation
    • Using meditation and journaling as tools for self-inquiry

Anatomy, Biomechanics & Physiology 

    • Studying bones, joints, and major muscles 
    • Embodying joint movement, stabilization, and alignment 
    • Discussing how yoga affects body systems and relates to trauma
    • Using asana & Thai Massage to feel anatomy deeply

History, Philosophy, & Decolonization 

    • Discussing decoloniality as a practice 
    • Exploring key texts, lineages and schools
    • Connecting personal to social liberation 

Teaching Techniques  

    • Cultivating clear and effective language 
    • Leading two public community classes
    • Balancing and refining verbal and physical assists 

Introductions to: 

    • Ayurveda 
    • Prenatal yoga
    • Kemetic/Egyptian Yoga 
    • Kids Yoga 
    • Chair Yoga 
    • AcroYoga

Next Steps 

    • Teaching positions and Yoga Alliance 
    • Upholding ethics, managing liability, & marketing 

ADDITIONAL TEACHERS

Sheena Sood
Nicole Taylor
Anisha Chirmule
Hawah Kassat
Katie Capano
Morgan Andrews
Kari Thompson

 

 

TUITION, APPLICATION, & SCHOLARSHIPS

Tuition

Full Tuition: $2900

Tuition with Studio 34 Scholarship: $2,000 (4-9 awarded)

Tuition with Ana B. Hernandez Scholarship: $0 (1 awarded)

 

Payment plans are available. Please contact ytt@studio34yoga.com with payment questions.

 

Scholarships

The Ana B. Hernandez Memorial Scholarship is a full scholarship for our Studio 34 Teacher Training and is in honor and celebration of our beloved Ana. Ana was a dear friend, artist, drummer, dancer, community member, amazing cook, big-hearted, generous, easy-to-laugh inspiration. As Ana neared the end of her time with us, she became one of the studio’s most important teachers. She was grace embodied.

 

We are happy to offer the Studio 34 Scholarship to make the 200-hour yoga training more financially accessible to those who could otherwise not afford it. We are especially excited to extend this discount to practitioners who are committed to teaching to all bodies and bringing yoga into their diverse communities.

 

Application 

To apply for enrollment, please copy and paste the following questions in an email and answer each in one paragraph:

  • How has yoga impacted your life?
  • Why do you want to be a yoga teacher?
  • What are your goals, plans, and dreams for yourself as a yoga teacher?

To apply for the Scholarships, please answer the above questions, and also answer the following. In addition to answering the questions below, applicants will need to complete a 10-15 minute phone or video interview during the week of April 15th-22nd.

  • What communities would you serve with your teaching?
  • Please describe your financial needs.

Email your one-page response to ytt@studio34yoga.com to apply, by April 15th for scholarships and by July 1st for enrollment.

 

TEACHING TEAM:

 

jean-jacques gabriel is a Haitian born father, artist, yoga teacher, yoga teacher trainer, and bodyworker. He’s been teaching yoga since 2006, practicing Thai Massage since 2007, and teaching AcroYoga since 2008. He has taught in prisons, public schools, nonprofits, businesses, yoga studios, and large festivals. jean-jacques draws and paints portraits and line art, and co-designed a clothing line called “The Embodied Collection” with Philadelphia Printworks. He currently leads the 200hr yoga teacher training at Studio 34 Yoga in West Philly.

 

 

 

Georgiana Drain’s life radically shifted after she began practicing yoga at Studio 34. She noticed a newfound energetic freedom within her soul, and signed up for the studio’s 2018 Yoga Teacher Training with the intention of deepening her personal practice. As time passed and Georgiana’s passion for yoga intensified, so did her desire to share the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of the discipline. Since then, she has offered a transformative practice of courageous love to children and adults in her Philadelphia community. Georgiana encourages students to connect to their divine power and universal wisdom through self-love and awareness.

 

 

 

Sheena Sood, PhD (she/her) is a Philadelphia-based activist, educator, sociologist, and healing justice visionary of South Asian descent and southern roots. Sheena has studied yoga, Ayurvedic Kundalini Massage therapy, Reiki, and sound healing traditions at Kailash Tribal School of Yoga and Holistic Healing in Mcleodganj, India (YTT – 200hr, AYTTC – 500hr). Sheena enjoys teaching gentle vinyasa or hatha practices infused with embodied liberatory philosophy. Recently, she launched Yoga Warrior Tales, an adventure-based mindfulness program for kids. Currently, Sheena serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Muhlenberg College in the Sociology and Anthropology Department, where she teaches introductory and advanced sociology courses covering social and cultural movements. Her current research project “Omwashing Yoga: Weaponized Spirituality in India, Israel and the US” scrutinizes the application of yoga and mindfulness around the globe, particularly by far-right governments who use yoga to advance their colonial and ethnonationalist agendas. Rather than propagate narratives that glorify yoga’s ancient past, Sheena works to curate healing justice offerings through frameworks that recognize yoga’s oppressive layers and its liberatory potential; she envisions a futuristic yoga that centers collective freedom and embodies political action by centering humanity, all living beings, and Mother Earth. Sheena is grateful to call Philly home and to be in relationship with healers, artists, cultural workers, and grassroots groups that work to abolish the carceral state and free all political prisoners. Visit www.sheenashining.com to learn more about her passions and values and to connect for a deeper yoga experience!

 

Nicole Taylor fell in love with teaching yoga in 2008 and never looked back! She is a 500-hour certified yoga and meditation teacher, and a NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor. Nicole’s purpose is to embody and create sacred spaces for joy, healing, and transformation. She teaches through the lens of Ayurveda and yoga in the Himalayan Tradition. Her class provides an internalizing experience with an emphasis on bringing stability to the body, drawing awareness to the breath, quieting the mind, and experiencing the higher self.

 

 

 

After a long relationship with dance, Anisha came to yoga in 2010 and reveled in its benefits – physical and mental. She dove into completing a 200 hour Ashtanga-Vinyasa based teacher training followed by an additional 200-hour Anusara/Alignment-based training in Philadelphia in 2014 and hasn’t looked back since. Throughout different points of life, the practice of yoga on and off the mat has been a common denominator. The line between teacher and student blends in the classes she offers, as Anisha loves the shared experience of discovering new potential and understanding of one another. While teaching classes, Anisha hopes students leave with a new understanding of their own capacities and maybe a laugh throughout the process! She is so thankful for the yoga community in Philadelphia, as well as, at Studio 34 for fostering the ability to make yoga accessible for every person.

 

HawaH (Hawah Kasat) is an artist, author, educator, community organizer, and yogi. Hawah has been teaching yoga & mindfulness for almost 20 years and holds certifications in both Jivamukti and Sivananda Yoga traditions. He is a Vipassana Meditation practitioner and also trains in Shaolin, Tai Chi, and Baguazhang styles of Kung Fu. Hawah has authored 5 books, produced 4 documentary films, and 2 musical CDs. He is the creator/ editor of “The Poetry of Yoga” book anthology (published by White Cloud Press) that features Grammy award-winning musicians and master yoga teachers, and his latest collaborative documentary film project, “Fly By Light,” has received wide acclaim and awards, while touring international film festivals. In the year 2000, Hawah co-founded One Common Unity (OCU), an award-winning non-profit organization that heals cycles of violence and trauma through social-emotional literacy, conflict transformation, mindfulness, music, and arts programming. For more information visit: www.Hawah.Us and www.OneCommonUnity.org.

 

A nurse-midwife and family nurse practitioner, Katie has been teaching yoga since 2005 and practicing medicine since 2004. Whether catching babies in Sonoma county, directing a cholera response team with Doctors without Borders, providing wound care for needle exchange participants, or teaching yoga at Wanderlust, Katie will meet you exactly where you are.

Katie’s teaching focuses on interpersonal communication and personal transformation. She uses an integrated lens of Eastern & Western medicine to simplify complex concepts for any level of understanding. Katie thanks Kundalini yoga for teaching her discipline, Thai Massage for teaching her patience, Prajna yoga for teaching her humility and Western Medicine for teaching her anatomy. Katie is also a daily meditator in the Zen Buddhist tradition and an associate professor for the schools of Medicine and Nursing at the University of Nevada, Reno. She mentors students regularly. Katie bows deeply to her teachers: Tias & Surya Little, Jack Kornfield, Elizabeth Greathouse, Kay Ryan, and the thousands of patients, students and colleagues she’s worked with along the way.

 

 

As a little kid, Morgan Andrews practiced holding his breath in the bathtub, did headstands on his mom’s couch, and developed meditative relaxation techniques to fall asleep without ever hearing the word “yoga”. Years later he took up yoga poses and eye exercises as part of a regimen for visual rehabilitation and eliminating chronic pain. When this this self-led daily practice changed his life, Morgan began a perpetual study of yoga, movement, and anatomy with numerous teachers, including Ana Forrest, Zhenja La Rosa, Nicole Bindler, and Darren Rhodes. He started teaching at Studio 34 in 2009 and attends at least two trainings per year to explore yoga both as a teacher and as a student. Morgan also has extensive experience with vegan nutrition, natural vision therapy, and anti-oppression work through Theatre of the Oppressed, having trained with Augusto Boal at TOPLAB and Jana Sanskriti in West Bengal. His work at Studio 34 is a mixture of all these disciplines, rooted in commitment to community and a vibrant sense of humor.

 

Kari uses breath as the central rhythm from which all movement stems, encouraging each student to find their unique flow. Kari pauses at each key pose allowing time to explore proper alignment, a deeper stretch, and more subtle sensations. Kari began practicing yoga at Studio 34 to work on posture, never guessing that it would change their whole way of thinking, feeling, and perceiving the world. The simple act of moving their awareness out of their mind onto the bones, muscles, breath, and deeper inside made them experience life in so many new ways. Finding a deep sense of stable happiness, Kari knows that every practice will produce a smile. Kari was moved to help others find the treasures inside themselves and pursued teacher training at Studio 34. Kari looks forward to all the places this journey will take them.

 

 

For more information email: ytt@studio34yoga.com