ABOUT THE SHALA SCHOOL OF YOGA
Introduction to the Shala school of yoga
The Shala School of Yoga offers yoga teacher training and professional development to a broad range of caregiving professionals including
- yoga teachers
- school teachers
- life coaches
- healthcare professionals
- corporate well-being and HR managers
- nurses & doctors
- counsellors
- holistic therapists
- midwives and doulas and more
Our aim is to support and empower caregivers from all arenas with essential knowledge and tools to help you to help others. Some of our offerings are also suitable to those looking for opportunities for personal development and growth.
Our trainings and courses are rooted in: yoga, meditation & mindfulness, pranayama & breathwork, holistic health.
Yoga in its myriad forms is an invaluable holistic wellness tool that goes way beyond physical fitness. It is instead an ancient discipline designed to bring balance and harmony to physical, mental and emotional aspects of our lives and it can have profound and long-lasting benefits.
Our yoga teacher trainings and CPD courses craft and intertwine traditional methods with a more contemporary approach, providing a non-dogmatic comprehensive immersion into the vast subject of yoga. We explore many aspects of the art and science of yoga, from the physical practices of asana, pranayama, meditation, and anatomy to the mental, philosophical and spiritual nature of the practice. We are a registered yoga school (200-RYS and 300-RYS) accredited by Yoga Alliance (US).
OUR BACKGROUND
Established in the late 1990s, the Shala was one of the first yoga centres in London. For over two decades, The Shala has served a wide community in London and built a strong reputation for high quality authentic yoga teaching. In 2016, The Shala School of Yoga, our sister organisation, was set up to enable our most experienced Senior teachers to pass on their considerable knowledge through more in-depth courses and trainings. These courses have been primarily designed for yoga teachers and other healthcare, wellbeing and caregiving professionals.
Since 2016, we have had nearly 1,000 students come through the Shala School of Yoga. Some have graduated from our 200-hour yoga teacher training programme as certified yoga teachers, others have gone on to gain advanced certification as 500-hour registered teachers from our 300-hour yoga teacher training programme, many others have attended our broad range of stand-alone CPD courses.

OUR TEACHING FACULTY
The Shala School of Yoga brings together an exceptionally experienced and gifted team of Senior teachers. Our lead teachers on the 200 and 300 hour programmes are Gingi Lee, Melanie Cooper and Kath Roberts, all of whom have a profound depth of knowledge plus over 25 years of teaching experience. Our faculty also includes the following teachers who have been teaching for many years and are experts in their own specific fields:
Dr Matthew Clark, Norman Blair, Jennie Wadsten, Adelene Cheong, Martin Aylward, Daniel Simpson, Dina Coen, David Behrens, Barrie Risman, Richard Holryd, Ayala Homossany, Alexa Dean and Anne Malone.
our students
Our students fall into three main categories
- Anyone seeking personal development
- Yoga Teachers & Trainee Teachers
- Healthcare, Wellbeing & Caregiving Professionals


anyone seeking personal development
Many students begin their educational journey with us by deepening their connection to yoga on our workshops and shorter courses. Some also embark on our 65-hour Foundation course or on our 200-hour programme for personal rather than professional reasons. Often this turns into an unexpected passion for teaching but that need not be the end goal for those who join our courses with personal growth as their objective. Most students have found our 200-hour programme a hugely transformational experience on a personal level whether they are looking to teach or not.
yoga teachers & trainee teachers
Many students join our yoga teacher training courses specifically to qualify as a yoga teacher from our 200-hour programme, or to uplevel their yoga teaching skills on our 300-hour yoga teacher training programme. The Shala School of Yoga has very much become a home for developing teachers. We engender continuous learning, evolution and growth, which we encourage as a life-long process and commitment.
Our modular based approach allows you the flexibility to choose your own individual unique path of learning.


healthcare, wellbeing, holistic & caregiving professionals
We run modular courses ranging from half day to week-long trainings and courses, which are ideal as CPDs for professionals who work with supporting others in a wide range of capacities. This can range from school teachers, life coaches and therapists to wellbeing coordinators, healthcare professionals, doctors, counsellors and doulas. Depending on the length of the course, we offer certifications for CPD purposes, most of which are accredited by the Yoga Alliance.
our mission
We are committed to supporting and empowering you to evolve and deepen your knowledge of yoga, meditation, mindfulness, breathwork and holistic health. Our entire programme is devised to ensure continued growth and evolution happens at a pace that is sustainable and attainable. Our courses will challenge, refuel and inspire you, deepening your knowledge, increasing your confidence and nurturing and supporting you on your professional path, be that as a yoga teacher, a healthcare or well being professional or a holistic therapist.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, our focus continues to be on how we can continue to support people to sustainably support others – (as well as themselves in their caregiving roles). Our team have years and years of experience and our aim is for their knowledge to reach further and wider and ultimately have more impact.
As this new era is upon us, we are taking time specifically to consider two factors. Firstly, how we can support the mental health crisis as it unfolds during and after the pandemic. Secondly, how we can continue to create much needed connection, sustainability and peer on peer support within our professional community.

our mission
We are committed to supporting and empowering you to evolve and deepen your knowledge of yoga, meditation, mindfulness, breathwork and holistic health. Our entire programme is devised to ensure continued growth and evolution happens at a pace that is sustainable and attainable. Our courses will challenge, refuel and inspire you, deepening your knowledge, increasing your confidence and nurturing and supporting you on your professional path, be that as a yoga teacher, a healthcare or well being professional or a holistic therapist.
In the wake of the Covid pandemic, our focus continues to be on how we can continue to support people to sustainably support others – (as well as themselves in their caregiving roles). Our team have years and years of experience and our aim is for their knowledge to reach further and wider and ultimately have more impact.
As this new era is upon us, we are taking time specifically to consider two factors. Firstly, how we can support the mental health crisis as it unfolds during and after the pandemic. Secondly, how we can continue to create much needed connection, sustainability and peer on peer support within our professional community.
BLENDED LEARNING
Wherever possible, we widely encourage in person learning in our London studio, though we have also embraced the advantages of the new era and make the most of the flexibility and convenience of online learning, wherever we feel it is appropriate. Our overall programme represents a broad approach, with in studio, livestream, on demand and blended options offering a variety of learning styles.
facebook community
We have a by invitation Facebook community page which is a forum open only to those studying with us. The group has been set up in order to facilitate sharing of knowledge, ongoing support and connection within our professional community. If you would like to join the group and have not yet been invited, please log on to our Facebook Community page and request to join.
The Shala School of Yoga Teacher Training 200 Hour Programme
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