200-HR
YOGA TEACHER TRAINING
@UVM
Welcome!
Yoga Day
A celebration of this year’s YTT graduates with a free day of yoga. This event is open to the public!
Sunday, April 13th
Campus Rec Hub
9:30-10:30am (Grace, Madi, Kaitlyn)
10:45-11:45am (Mary Jane, Liv T., Liv G.)
12 -1pm (Emma, Ziggy)
1pm-1:45pm (Q&A session about the YTT)*
*Get a free Campus Rec mug for attending
2-3pm (Brooke, Ingrid, Ruthie)
3:15-4:15pm (Jill, Haykui, Skunk)
4:30-5:30pm (Amanda, Drew, Sami)
- Sign-up for the First See the Good 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training@UVM and deepen your knowledge of the yoga philosophy and practice.
- Learn about the power of positivity, the chakras and yoga sutras, anatomy, and physical alignment
- Learn to teach professionally with a theme
- Learn how to make yoga more relevant in everyday life
- Enjoy a supportive community and make friends for life
- Be part of a supportive community that will transform your practice and help you take on the distinguished role of a yoga teacher.
- The First See the Good YTT program is open everyone – students, UVM faculty and staff, and the greater Burlington community.
- Earn your Yoga Alliance 200-Hour yoga teaching certificate among like-minded people from all walks of life.
- Our August-March schedule fits perfectly within the academic year. With two five-day intensives, three three-day intensives, and three Saturday sessions, this training schedule also works well for professionals.
- The reasonably priced tuition, along with grant and scholarship opportunities, makes the training more accessible to college students and the community at-large.
- Set up an in-person or online interview with John McConnell, director of the YTT, to learn more and see if it’s a good fit for you.
Ready to Apply?
Take the first step and fill out a YTT Application. You be contacted by John McConnell, director of the YTT, to set up a conversation to talk about the training.
John McConnell is one of the sweetest souls I know. He is so encouraging, and cares so much about the success of each and every one of his students. All of the intensives are so fun, and he infuses our time together with music, laughter, and vulnerability. The UVM YTT space has to be one of my favorite places on campus, and I made so many lifelong friends there.
Why Choose First See The Good YTT?
The First See the Good YTT program is unique. Starting on the very first day, you’ll practice seeing the good in yourself and others. Our study and discussion of a wide variety of yogic texts will help you create a solid foundation of yoga principles and yoga philosophy in your teaching and in your everyday life.
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Study with world-renowned guest teachers.
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Learn to teach in your own voice and your own style.
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Enjoy teaching opportunities on the UVM campus or in your community, including your own 6-week series.
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Get Yoga-Alliance certified while pursuing your academic degree.
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Learn in a great studio on the UVM Campus.
- Open to everyone, all ages, both students and non-students.
- Get financial aid through student loans or grants with VSAC.
- Past graduates participate in mentoring sessions to assist current students.
Ready to Apply?
Take the first step and fill out a YTT Application. You be contacted by John McConnell, director of the YTT, to set up a conversation to talk about the training.
This is an outstanding training program — well-conceived, great teacher and assistant teachers, diverse guest teachers.
Training Dates
All dates are coordinated with the UVM academic calendar.
Please bring: yoga mat, personal journal, pen/pencil, and any required readings for each session.
Students are required to attend all sessions. If a student misses a training session and wants to be considered for certification, they must submit an alternative learning plan, in writing, of how they will make up the hours missed. This appeal process is for rare and emergency circumstances and is limited to one per student. This appeal must be submitted to the Yoga School Director within 48 hours of the missed training time, and time needs to be made-up within 2 weeks of the training. Make up hours are twice the number of hours missed. All costs associated for the proposed alternative learning plan must be paid by the student.
Only those who attend all weekend trainings and/or have completed the alternative learning plan are eligible for a certificate of completion. While the hours might be made up, the experience of these weekend sessions cannot be made up. Therefore, attendance is required.
2025
MAY 11th (1-5pm)
Attendance over Zoom allowed with approval.
Meet, Practice, Connect
AUG 20-23rd (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
AUG 24th (8am-12pm)
5-Day Intensive (Early Fall Arrival)
SEPT 13th (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
Saturday Training
OCT 10th-12th (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
3-Day Intensive (Indigenous People’s Day Weekend)
NOV 15th (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
Saturday Training
TBD (9am-12pm)
Anatomy Lecture / Cadaver Lab
2026
JAN 7th-10th(8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
JAN 11th(8am-12pm)
5-Day Intensive (Early Spring Arrival)
JAN 31st (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
Saturday Training
FEB 14th-16th (8am-12pm / 2-6pm)
3-Day Intensive (President’s Day Weekend)
MAR 28th (8am-12pm / 2-9pm)
MAR 29th (8am-6pm)
Final Weekend/Yoga Day
Ready to Apply?
Take the first step and fill out a YTT Application. You be contacted by John McConnell, director of the YTT, to set up a conversation to talk about the training.
UVM YTT was an amazing experience which balanced yoga philosophy, physical practice and meditation. John and Jane were extremely knowledgable as instructors and it was evident from the very beginning how much they cared about the students and how much they loved sharing their passion for yoga. Taking this training was one of the best things I ever did for myself!
Requirements
Prerequisites:
A regular physical yoga practice of at least two times per week for one year prior to the training.
A sincere dedication and passion to evolving their yoga practice. Please note the more involved a student becomes in the yoga community, the more they will benefit from the program.
Expectations:
Ours is a respectful, inclusive community where everyone feels safe, welcomed, and valued in a judgment free environment. All belong here.
Students are expected to display a beginner’s mind, an interest in learning, and aspirations to transform and evolve. Students must adhere to the group’s co-created community guidelines.
Attend All Sessions:
The First See the Good Yoga Teacher Training program is experiential. Students are required to attend all sessions. If a student misses a training session and wants to be considered for certification, they must submit an alternative learning plan, in writing, of how they will make up the hours missed. This appeal process is for rare and emergency circumstances and is limited to one per student. This appeal must be submitted to the Yoga School Director within 48 hours of the missed training time. All costs associated for the proposed alternative learning plan must be paid by the student.
Only those who attend all weekend trainings and/or have completed the alternative learning plan are eligible for a certificate of completion. While the hours might be made up, the experience of these weekend sessions cannot be made up.
Monthly Responsibilities:
We expect students to continue their personal yoga and meditation practice. Assignments will include, but are not limited to: journal writing, reading/writing, drawing, practice teaching in small groups outside the teacher training on and off-campus, class observation, weekly class attendance with John (class fee included as part of the teacher training tuition) through Campus Recreation Fitness Programs.
Teach 6-week Yoga Series:
One of the aspects of this unique program is the opportunity for students to practice teach a 6-week yoga series within the UVM community. Arrangements are made between host organizations and the student to work out the best schedule. Assistance is provided to find appropriate hosts for every student in the program.
Required Reading:
- The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sri Swami SatchidanandaOR The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Edwin Bryant
- Exquisite Love, William Mahony
- The Key Poses of Yoga, Ray Long
- The Key Muscles of Yoga, Ray Long
- Bhagavad Gita, a New Translation, Stephen MitchellOR Bhagavad Gita, A Walkthrough for Westerners, Jack Hawley
- Chakra Yoga, Anodea Judith
- Radiance Sutras, Lorin Roche
Reading of Interest:
- Meditation For The Love of It Sally Kempton
- Light On Yoga BKS Iyengar
- The Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice Deborah Adele
- Light On Pranayama BKS Iyengar
Ready to Apply?
Take the first step and fill out a YTT Application. You be contacted by John McConnell, director of the YTT, to set up a conversation to talk about the training.
Fabulous, thorough care in instructing us to be mindful, careful, attentive, caring, knowledgeable yoga instructors.
Curriculum
Our Yoga Teacher Training follows the Elevated RYS 200 Standards from Yoga Alliance for Registered Yoga Schools. We chose this path early to continue to show our commitment to bringing unity, integrity, inquiry, equity, and seva (service) to our students and community.
- Internationally renowned guest lecturers
- Mentored practicum; 6-week yoga series on the UVM Campus
- Teaching with a theme in order to give your yoga classes focus and depth
- Yoga philosophy
- Yoga anatomy & physiology
- Opportunity to observe and work with a cadaver
- Teaching methods – demonstration, observation, and assisting
- Creating a positive student experience
- Learning precise language to create the deepest impact on your students
- Creative sequencing
- Cues which educate the mind, body, and spirit
- Appropriate yoga adjustments
- Having fun!
Ready to Apply?
Take the first step and fill out a YTT Application. You be contacted by John McConnell, director of the YTT, to set up a conversation to talk about the training.
John McConnell creates a community built on mutual support and respect that encourages every student along their individual path to become a teacher. Essential skills, such as confidence and acute awareness of mind and body, are cultivated through the discussion and practice of philosophical, historical, and physical foundations of yoga. We all left feeling ready to take our next steps in yoga, and feeling that we matter.
Cost & Registration
- REGISTRATION DATES
OPENS: DEC 2, 2024
CLOSES: MAY 10, 2025 - TUITION COSTS*
STUDENT TUITION: $2550
FACULTY STAFF TUITION: $2850
COMMUNITY TUITION: $3000
* 25% non-refundable deposit due at registration.
* Remaining non-refundable balance due August 1st, 2025.
To start the registration process, please fill out a YTT Application. You will then be contacted by John McConnell for an in-person or video interview to discuss the program and answer questions.
After the interview, John will contact you to let you know if the program fits you, and you fit the program. If so, you will be able to make a 25% deposit to hold your spot in the YTT. The remaining balance is due on or before August 1st, 2025.
FINANCIAL AID:
Vermont has an “Advancement Grant” specifically designed to help pay all or part of the cost for training courses like the First See The Good Yoga Teacher Training @ UVM. Please click here for more information.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED.
First See The Good supports two half-full scholarships a year to UVM students. Preference is given to participants who would like to teach at UVM after the training. We close the application process at 30 entries. The application period is 12/2/2024-2/17/2025.
- Please apply by clicking here to fill out an application
- The scholarship recipients will be awarded no later than March 28, 2025, via email.
CANCELATION & PAYMENT POLICY:
- If a participant decides to withdraw from the training, any payments made will not be refunded.
- If the student has a medical condition that makes it impossible to complete the training, the student may appeal for a partial refund. The refund may include the tuition less the cost of each weekend the student completed in the training and the 25% nonrefundable deposit. In order to be refunded, the student must submit a physician’s written statement to John McConnell.
- Students may not attend the training if they have an unpaid balance.
- Payment ensures you can participate in the program, but under no circumstance does payment ensure certification. All certifications are merit-based only, and graduation is the sole decision of the director and co-director.
- First See The Good reserves the right to remove any students from this program, without a refund, if they do not meet the program expectations and community guidelines. Program removal is the the sole decision of the director and co-director.
- We reserves the right to cancel the training before the beginning of the August session if there is low enrollment. A full refund will be given.
- Enrollment is first come, first served, and contingent upon available spaces.
This teacher training is awesome. John McConnell is a fantastic teacher and person. He had us practice teaching in the very first class, and even though I was nervous, it totally prepared me to start teaching once the training was over. The required readings are books I still use today to guide my classes and my life. The interactions with fellow trainees were memorable and beautiful. Though the training is mostly made up of undergraduate students at UVM, I took it as a 24-year old and still loved it. There was one middle-aged woman in my training and she had a great time, as well.
Faculty
John McConnell, E-RYT 500
Director
John McConnell has been the director of UVM Campus Recreation Yoga Teacher Training since it’s inception in 2012. John teaches yoga classes, retreats, and workshops internationally and through his personal online studio. He has studied yoga since 1999 and began teaching in 2002. John’s teaching style is light-hearted and supportive. He loves to help students not only develop in their yoga practice, but also grow as positive contributors to society.
John believes the practice of yoga unveils the innate goodness in all of us. His physically challenging classes help students push their limits and deepen their experience and understanding of themselves and the world around them.
C. Jane Taylor, E-RYT 200
Co-Director
When I first practiced yoga almost 20 years ago, I was delighted by the workout. These days, I am even more delighted by the work-in. Yoga has become a tool for me to find patience and clarity. With it, I am better equipped to see the beauty that exists all around me.
I am RYT-200 Yoga Alliance certified (a happy graduate of UVM’s YTT 2013) and have been teaching yoga and assisting yoga programs since 2005. I love to encourage my students to explore yoga as a vehicle to experience their own inner awesome.
When I am not on my mat, I walk my dog Dewey, ride a motorcycle, kayak, and paddle a SUP.
Dr. Dana Taussig, PhD
Anatomy Lecturer
Dr. Dana Taussig began practicing yoga in college and completed a 200hr training with the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA in 2009. Though she initially attended Yoga Teacher Training as a way to insure safety in and deepen her personal practice, that exposure to the art of teaching movement led Dana to pursue a career in physical therapy. She graduated from the University of Vermont with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in 2014 and completed her Certificate of Achievement in Pelvic Physical Therapy through the American Physical Therapy Association’s Academy of Pelvic Health in 2017.
While Dana doesn’t teach yoga classes often these days, yoga is an integral part of the movement vocabulary that she uses with her patients. She loves introducing anatomy to yoga teachers through the lens of a physical therapist, and with the intention of making the information as practical and accessible as possible.
Guest Lecturers
Barrie Risman
Barrie Risman is an internationally-recognized yoga teacher, public speaker, and author. Her best-selling book, Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice, is a guide for teachers and continuing students to deepen, expand, and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives. Widely regarded as a teacher’s teacher, she’s the creator of online classes, courses, and trainings that fuel the inner journey of yogis around the globe.
Barrie is well known for her ability to convey the essence of the wisdom teachings of yoga with exceptional clarity, insight, and relevance to students of all levels and from all walks of life. As unpretentious and down-to-earth as she is wise and inspiring, Barrie teaches with a remarkable combination of rigor and challenge balanced with sensitivity, humor, and compassion.
Les Morgan
Les Morgan is the author of Croaking Frogs: A Guide to Sanskrit Metrics and Figures of Speech (2011), and Translating the Bhagavadgita: A Workbook for Sanskrit Students (2017). His Study Guide to the Bhagavadgita: With Practical Concordance (2017) is a companion volume to Ram Karan Sharma’s Bhagavadgita, which he edited. Other current projects include a translation of the Ga?esa Sahasranama and preparation of a study guide for the Sa?khyakarika of Isvarak???a.
Since 2005 he has been collaborating with R. K. Sharma to produce a concordance of poetic images in the Mahabharata and Ramaya?a and has co-presented with R. K. Sharma on that project at the University of California and at the 15th World Sanskrit Conference in New Delhi (2012).
Lorin Roche, PhD
Lorin Roche, PhD, has been practicing meditation since 1968. He holds a doctorate from the University of California for his work on the subjective experience of meditation. He is the author of six books, including The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight and Meditation Made Easy. He coauthored Meditation Secrets for Women and Meditation 24/7 with his wife, Camille Maurine. Lorin is the co-founder of Instinctive Meditation, a system based on his research and teaching approach designed to match a person’s individual nature to their meditation practice.
Anodea Judith, PhD
Anodea Judith PhD has been called a “prophet for our time.” A globally recognized teacher, speaker, healer, and writer on the intersection of personal and collective awakening, her passion for the realization of our potential matches her concern for humanity’s impending crises—her fervent wish that we “wake up in time.”
She holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Psychology and Health, is a Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (500 hour E-RYT), and therapist with lifelong studies in somatic psychology, mythology, history, sociology, systems theory, and mystic spirituality.
She is best known for her groundbreaking work reviving the chakra system of ancient yoga, and its profound correlation to human psychology, cultural evolution, and the downward process of manifestation.
Her best-selling books have gained worldwide recognition with over a million books in print in 25 languages, and won several awards.
William K. Mahony, PhD
Over the years, Bill’s teaching style has repeatedly been described as personable and respectful of students and participants at whatever level of familiarity they bring to the material.
His work with in-person and remote groups is oriented toward his own explications of what the original texts are saying and, importantly, includes sustained group discussion and short periods of meditation. When possible, he enjoys integrating his discussions of philosophy with asana practice led by skilled local yoga teachers.
Bill bases his teaching on important Sanskrit texts in his translation that can inspire contemporary yogis in their larger lives. With his guidance, participants reflect together on teachings from various spiritual and philosophical traditions from India, primarily the Vedanta, Classical Yoga, Nondual Tantra, and Bhakti traditions.