The Living Well 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training

The Living Well 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training is a hybrid yoga teacher training for aspiring teachers and devoted practitioners, built around two residential intensives at Riad Dharma in Essaouira, Morocco, with live online study between them. It is curated and led by Emily Gilchrist, supported by Guy Donahaye, David Keil and Aimee Warren, and is designed to support a pathway to Yoga Alliance registration. The teaching is rooted in Ashtanga Yoga and bhakti, and taught in English.

What to Expect

The training begins with a one-week residential intensive at Riad Dharma, a foundation week for establishing your practice, the philosophy and a sense of community with a small group. From there the work moves online for several weeks, then returns to Morocco for a concluding residential week of teaching practice, integration and graduation.

Between the two residencies, the weekly rhythm is steady:

- Eight live Sunday yoga philosophy classes with Guy Donahaye, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm UK time.
- Weekly self-paced study: recorded anatomy teachings and assignments with David Keil, completed alongside the live programme.
- Monday morning online yoga, chanting, meditation and check-ins, from 7:00 to 8:30 am UK time, with task reminders. These pause during the in-person intensive weeks.
- A focused online weekend intensive to consolidate learning and prepare for final assessments.
- Mentoring throughout.

Across the training you work with asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra, philosophy, anatomy, teaching methodology, subtle-body practices and the art of holding space for others. You practise sequencing, cueing and adapting, learn when hands-on adjustments may be appropriate and when verbal cues serve better, and gain experience through teaching practice, feedback and reflection.

Your Teachers

Emily Gilchrist is the lead teacher, with over 20 years of yoga teaching, retreat facilitation and healing experience. She guides students with warmth and a long devotion to yoga as a path.

Guy Donahaye brings over 30 years of Ashtanga Yoga teaching, deep study in India and advanced certification from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He leads the live philosophy classes and draws on his understanding of pranayama, meditation and the subtle art of practice.

Aimee Warren is a yoga teacher, sound practitioner and devotional singer. She brings bhakti into the training through movement, mantra, breath and the voice.

David Keil is an internationally respected yoga anatomy teacher, known for a clear, accessible approach that helps students understand the body with confidence and practical wisdom.

The Setting

Both residential intensives take place at Riad Dharma in Essaouira, on the coast of the Marrakesh-Safi region of Morocco. The week-long format gives the opening and closing stretches of the training an immersive, retreat-like quality.

Before You Go

This training suits people who already practise yoga and want to understand its roots, as well as those drawn toward teaching. You may join to deepen your own practice without being sure you will teach, and prior teaching experience is not listed as a requirement. The programme is taught in English.

The fee covers the opening in-person intensive, the live online philosophy classes, the recorded anatomy teachings, the Monday morning online practice, the online weekend intensive, the final in-person intensive with teaching practice, integration and graduation, and mentoring throughout. A free discovery call with the organizer is available if you want to talk it through before committing.