225-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Ubud, Bali

This 225-hour yoga teacher training in Ubud, Bali, is held at Blooming Lotus Yoga Retreat in the Gianyar Regency. It is for people who want to teach yoga as a holistic and spiritual practice with meditation at its heart. The course is taught in the Shri Vidya tradition, a living Goddess tradition, alongside hatha, vinyasa, restorative and yin yoga. It is led by a women-led teaching team: lead teachers Mandy Cochrane and Via Vimala, with founder Lily Goncalves. Groups are capped at 18 students, and beginners are welcome.

What to Expect

You finish with two certificates: a 200-hour yoga certificate and a separate 25-hour meditation teacher certificate. That means learning to guide pranayama, meditation and yoga nidra as well as postures. Philosophy, pranayama and meditation carry the same weight as asana, and the aim is for you to find your own teaching voice rather than repeat a set sequence. Practice teaching starts early, with kind correction, again and again, until it feels natural.

Days are unhurried and full, opening and closing with pranayama and meditation:

- 7:00 am Pranayama and meditation
- 8:30 am Technique and asana lab
- 11:00 am Yoga class
- 12:30 pm Lunch, then time to rest or swim
- 2:30 pm Study and practice teaching, asana lab and special topics
- 5:00 pm Dinner
- 5:45 pm Philosophy or practicum
- 7:15 pm Pranayama and meditation to close the day

Mantra and kirtan are part of the course, with the whole group chanting together. You do not need a good voice; joining in is enough. There are three full days off for temples, waterfalls and ridge walks nearby. There is no business-of-yoga module. Instead you are given an honest way to invite people to your classes, and no pressure to teach until you feel called to.

Your Teachers

Mandy Cochrane is an E-RYT 500 and lead teacher at Blooming Lotus Yoga. She lives in Bali and has taught yoga for more than 12 years.

Via Vimala is a lead teacher at Blooming Lotus Yoga and also lives in Bali.

Lily Goncalves is the founder of Blooming Lotus Yoga.

The Setting

Training takes place in villas above the sacred Wos River, overlooking a Balinese water temple, in the traditional village of Mawang in Lodtunduh, about 15 minutes south of central Ubud. Singing bowls ring before classes, and Mount Batur rises in the distance. Every villa has its own plunge pool, and there is also a large spring-fed pool above the river and a healing spa.

Rooms are shared (four to a room, or a twin deluxe with balcony) or private (a private room, or a private deluxe room with a balcony over the valley). Shared rooms are women with women and men with men unless you book together. Three organic vegan meals a day on training days come from Amrita, the restaurant on site.

Fly into Denpasar (DPS). The school collects you at the airport, about an hour's drive from the villas.

Before You Go

Complete beginners are welcome, though a few months of regular classes beforehand helps you spend the weeks learning to teach rather than learning postures. You do not need to call yourself spiritual; curiosity is enough. The course is taught in English.

Included are your room, three vegan meals a day on training days, airport pickup, a Balinese massage, a beach excursion, manuals and books, and free lifetime re-attendance. Graduates can retake the training free for life and gather monthly for satsang.

Not included are meals on days off, flights, the visa on arrival, the Bali tourist levy and travel insurance, which the school recommends.