Rooted in Ayurveda
Ayurveda isn’t treated as an optional add-on. It runs through the training so you learn to teach the whole person, not just the pose.
Yoga Alliance–Accredited Pathway
The Gaja Online 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training
Your complete online pathway to becoming an RYT-500 yoga teacher—combining Gaja's Yoga Alliance–registered 200-Hour Foundational (RYS 200) and 300-Hour Advanced (RYS 300) trainings into one connected learning journey. Fully online, with weekly live mentorship and self-paced study, for aspiring teachers who want their full 500 hours with one faculty. Enroll once, then schedule each phase around your life.
This is yoga for a lifetime—not fancy tricks.
A different kind of yoga education
Built for the teacher you’re becoming.
Personalized for every body
You’ll learn to adapt sequencing, cueing, pace, and practice for different bodies, ages, abilities, and lived experiences.
Yoga for a lifetime
This isn’t about chasing impressive shapes. Learn to create practices your students can return to through every season of life.
Depth with real rigor
Study anatomy, Ayurveda, philosophy, and practice with experienced teachers, medical expertise, and respected yogic scholarship.
Two trainings. One certified pathway.
Your entire 500-hour journey, connected from the start.
Most 500-hour paths ask you to make the same decision twice: complete one training, then start over searching for the next. Gaja brings both phases together with one faculty, one philosophy, and one connected approach to teaching.
Foundational
200
Yoga & Breathwork Teacher Training
Your entry point into confident, embodied teaching. Build a foundation in alignment, breathwork, sequencing, philosophy, teaching methodology, and the business of yoga.
Advanced
300
Advanced Yoga Teacher Training
Deepen your teaching through advanced sequencing, Ayurveda, anatomy, philosophy, subtle-body study, and elective specialization shaped around the teacher you want to become.
Enroll in the complete pathway now, then move through each phase on your timeline. You don’t have to complete the two trainings back-to-back.
Apply nowHow you’ll learn
Yoga education that meets you where you are.
You don’t need an advanced practice or a particular kind of body to begin. What matters is a willingness to learn deeply, practice honestly, and grow into your own way of teaching.
01
Accessibility
Begin from where you are. No advanced flexibility or prior teaching experience is required for the foundational phase of the pathway.
02
Personalization
Learn to adapt pose, breath, pace, and sequence to the person in front of you rather than forcing every student into one prescribed version of the practice.
03
Longevity
Build practices that can evolve through changing bodies, responsibilities, injuries, age, and life circumstances— yoga meant to last for decades.
04
Depth
Go beyond a library of prerecorded lessons with live mentorship, teaching feedback, rigorous study, and faculty grounded in both enduring wisdom traditions and modern application.
The goal isn’t to produce teachers who all look or sound the same. It’s to help you develop the knowledge and discernment to teach the people actually in front of you.
Program snapshot
See how the two phases fit together.
Your 500-hour pathway combines two distinct stages of training. Start by building a strong teaching foundation, then move into advanced study, specialization, and deeper professional development.
Phase one
200-Hour Foundational
Phase two
300-Hour Advanced
Format
Fully online with weekly live mentorship and self-paced study
24-week core training plus one year to complete electives
Weekly commitment
Approximately 6–10 hours
Approximately 4–6 hours during core training
Learning experience
Live mentorship, personal practice, teaching methodology, and practice teaching
Live webinars, Sadhana Labs, advanced study, feedback, and elective specialization
Prerequisite
None
Completed Yoga Alliance–registered 200-hour training
Accreditation
Yoga Alliance RYS 200 training
Yoga Alliance–accredited advanced training
One enrollment connects the full pathway. Complete your foundational training first, then schedule your advanced phase when the timing is right for you—you do not have to move through both trainings back-to-back.
What you’ll walk away with
More than hours. A deeper way of teaching.
By the end of both phases, you won’t simply have completed advanced training requirements. You’ll have developed a more adaptable, informed, and distinctly personal approach to teaching yoga.
500
hours of learning, practice, feedback, and professional growth
A pathway toward your RYT-500 credential through Yoga Alliance after completing both training phases and applicable registration requirements.
Confident, adaptive sequencing skills for different bodies, populations, levels of experience, and teaching environments.
An Ayurvedic lens for personalization, helping you think beyond one-size-fits-all approaches to movement and practice.
A richer understanding of yoga philosophy, breathwork, anatomy, and the subtle body grounded in both traditional wisdom and modern application.
The tools to teach yoga as a sustainable lifelong practice rather than a pursuit of advanced poses alone.
An opportunity to specialize your advanced training through elective study aligned with the kind of teacher you want to become.
Real teaching experience and live feedback through practicum, mentoring, and applied teaching practice.
Practical foundations for the business of teaching—including workshops, retreats, marketing, and building sustainable offerings.
Ongoing access to your learning resources, including program materials, recordings, templates, and community spaces.
Your faculty
Learn from teachers who bring the whole practice together.
Your 500-hour journey is guided by faculty across yoga, Ayurveda, anatomy, breathwork, meditation, and teaching methodology. The goal is continuity—not a collection of disconnected experts.
Director of Yoga Programs
Sarah Platt-Finger
Sarah leads both the foundational and advanced phases, creating continuity of philosophy, teaching methodology, and mentorship across your entire 500-hour journey.
Medical Officer
Dr. Sheila Patel
Brings medical expertise and Ayurvedic wisdom into anatomy, personalization, and whole-person well-being.
Meditation Officer
Roger Gabriel
Contributes expertise in meditation, breathwork, yogic wisdom, and the inner dimensions of practice.
Lead Yoga Trainer
Melanie Salvatore-August
Supports advanced teaching methodology, embodied learning, practice, feedback, and classroom application.
50+
Alongside your core faculty, you’ll learn with a dedicated team of yoga mentors bringing more than 50 years of combined teaching experience. You’re not completing 500 hours alone behind a screen.
Personalize your journey
Your advanced training doesn’t have to look like everyone else’s.
Your foundational training gives you a common language and a strong teaching base. As you move into the 300-hour phase, you gain room to shape part of your education around your interests, students, and professional direction.
75+
elective hours
Go deeper in the areas that make sense for the teacher you are becoming.
Elective track
Yin Yoga
50 hours
Certification
Gaja Meditation
100 hours
Certification
Gaja Ayurvedic Health
100 hours
Elective track
Kids Yoga
30 hours
Elective track
Jyotish / Vedic Astrology
30 hours
Elective track
Sound Healing
30 hours
One faculty, start to finish
Continue with the people and philosophy you already know instead of beginning again with an entirely different school.
Built around real life
You have a full year to complete your advanced elective study, giving you room to fit deeper education around work and life.
A path with direction
Every phase contributes toward the larger 500-hour pathway rather than leaving you to piece together unrelated trainings later.
Your investment
Commit to the full path. Save 15%.
Enrolling in the complete 500-hour pathway gives you both Gaja yoga teacher trainings at a reduced bundle tuition while still giving you the flexibility to complete each phase on the timeline that works for your life.
If purchased separately
$9,370
Standard combined tuition when you enroll in each certification individually.
200-Hour Foundational Training
$3,595
300-Hour Advanced Training
$5,775
Individual program tuition shown for comparison.
Your 500-hour pathway tuition
$7,965Save $1,405
Enroll once in the complete pathway and receive both the 200-hour foundational training and 300-hour advanced training at the bundled tuition.
✓
Both training phases included
✓
One connected 500-hour pathway
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Your advanced phase reserved
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Flexible timing between trainings
Bundling doesn’t mean completing all 500 hours at once. Enroll in the full pathway now, complete your foundational training, and move into the advanced phase when the timing is right for you.
Frequently asked questions
A few things you may be wondering.
A 500-hour pathway is a meaningful commitment—but it doesn’t mean putting the rest of your life on hold. Here’s how the training works in practice.
Do I have to complete the 200-hour and 300-hour trainings back-to-back?
No. Bundling the trainings means you’re enrolling in one connected 500-hour pathway—it does not mean completing all 500 hours consecutively.
You’ll complete the foundational phase first and can then schedule your advanced training around the timing that works for you.
Do I need yoga teaching experience before I begin?
No prior teaching experience is required to begin the 200-hour foundational training. You also don’t need advanced flexibility or the ability to perform complex poses.
The 300-hour phase is advanced teacher training, so you’ll complete your registered 200-hour training before moving into it.
How does this pathway relate to RYT-500 registration?
The pathway combines Gaja’s Yoga Alliance–registered foundational training with its advanced teacher training. Completing the applicable training requirements across both phases provides the educational pathway toward RYT-500 registration with Yoga Alliance.
Yoga Alliance registration is a separate process completed directly with Yoga Alliance and is subject to its registration requirements.
How much time should I plan for each week?
During the 200-hour foundational phase, plan for approximately 6–10 hours per week.
During the 300-hour core training, the weekly commitment is approximately 4–6 hours, with additional elective study completed more flexibly over time.
Can I complete the training while working full time?
Yes. The pathway is designed to combine live learning with flexible online study so you can build your training around an existing work and life schedule.
Session recordings and the extended window for advanced elective coursework provide additional flexibility when you can’t complete everything on a single fixed schedule.
How do the advanced electives work?
During the advanced phase, you complete at least 75 hours of elective study from available specialization options such as Yin Yoga, Meditation, Ayurvedic Health, Kids Yoga, Jyotish, and Sound Healing.
You have up to one year from the beginning of your advanced training to complete those elective requirements.
What’s included when I enroll in the 500-hour bundle?
Your enrollment includes both the 200-hour foundational training and 300-hour advanced training as part of one connected pathway, including the learning materials, recordings, mentorship, and resources associated with each phase.
Bundling also reduces the combined tuition by 15%, saving you $1,405 compared with purchasing the two trainings separately.
What will I find in the syllabus?
The syllabus gives you a closer look at the learning journey, curriculum, faculty, advanced elective options, training expectations, and accreditation pathway so you can review the details before making your decision.
Ready to take a closer look at the full 500-hour journey?
Download the syllabusYour complete yoga teacher pathway
Your 500 hours start with one decision.
Two trainings. One faculty. One connected journey from your first foundations as a teacher through advanced study and specialization. Build the kind of yoga practice—and teaching practice—that can grow with you for a lifetime.
200 + 300
One connected pathway
15% savings
When you enroll in the bundle
Flexible timing
Move through each phase around your life
Enroll in the complete 500-hour pathway now and schedule each training phase when you’re ready.