Deepen the way you understand your body. Learn to teach from there.
An intimate, independent 200-hour yoga teacher training with Ilias Kousis and Charlie Speller, taught through two residential modules in South West France in 2027.
This training is for people who want to teach from an embodied, honest place, and for those who want to understand and connect with their own body more deeply, even if teaching is not their goal.
Through yoga, we explore the nervous system, functional anatomy, breath, alignment, sequencing, respectful hands-on skills, one-to-one and online teaching, and ceremony.
Module 1: 29 May–7 June 2027
Module 2: 11–20 September 2027
Ready to commit? Pay the €500 non-refundable deposit to reserve your place. Still deciding? Join the waitlist for updates.
Not another collection of memorised sequences
Technique matters. So does the person standing in front of you.
We are building this training around a simple question: can you feel, see and respond well enough to teach the person who is actually in the room?
You will learn anatomy, alignment, sequencing and teaching methodology. You will also learn to listen, work with the nervous system, recognise individual variation, and teach from a voice that is yours rather than borrowed.
We prioritise teaching from integrity and authenticity: feeling connected to your craft and rooted in what is true from moment to moment. You will not graduate as “just another yoga teacher”. This work is designed to help you discover and honour your uniqueness, in your teaching and beyond.
Three capacities that hold everything else
Learn to feel
Develop a direct relationship with breath, sensation, alignment and the nervous system. Refine your own practice so that your teaching begins in lived experience rather than theory.
Learn to see
Read individual variation with more intelligence. Work with pain, injury, pregnancy and different bodies; use consent-based hands-on support when appropriate.
Learn to teach
Build coherent sequences, cue clearly and teach groups, private clients, online and hybrid classes without losing your own voice.
The 200-hour journey
The rhythm matters: experience, practise, apply, receive feedback, return deeper.
Prepare | 20 hours
A six-week orientation period with live meetings, selected reading and media, and personal preparation before we meet in France.
Module 1 | 70 hours
29 May–7 June 2027. Ten in-person teaching days in Southern France: learn to feel, learn to see and begin to teach.
Between the modules | 40 hours
An online, four-day anatomy component led by Nataliya, supported by preparatory recordings and homework. The work moves from anatomy, physiology and biomechanics into fascia, hypermobility, common pathologies, individual variation and myofascial lines across the spine and trunk, pelvis and lower limbs, shoulders and upper limbs. Live sessions translate that knowledge into safer, more adaptable teaching.
Module 2 | 70 hours
11–20 September 2027. Ten further in-person teaching days in Southern France: teach for an effect, teach the person, teach as yourself and teach in the world.
After the training
Six weeks after Module 2, a complimentary three-hour Teaching Launch Clinic supports the transition into real-world teaching. This is additional to the counted 200 hours.
Small by design
Maximum 12 participants.
Small numbers allow repeated teaching practice, individual feedback, direct access to us and enough time to work with the gifts and blind spots each trainee brings. We would rather run an intimate, demanding training well than inflate the group for appearance.
More than postures. More than classroom performance.
The curriculum strands are woven through the full training rather than treated as isolated subjects.
Embodied practice and alignment: sensation, breath, strength, range, pain-free movement and intentional progression.
Anatomy and the nervous system: applied anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, fascia, hypermobility, individual variation and common pathologies.
Pranayama, meditation and subtle awareness: breath as practice, regulation, attention and a practical teaching tool.
Cueing, sequencing and practicum: clear language, purposeful class arcs, observation, feedback and repeated teaching.
Private, digital and hybrid teaching: one-to-one work, Zoom setup, sound, framing, online safety and teaching beyond the studio.
Ethics, ceremony and sustainable work: consent, boundaries, purpose, authentic voice, business foundations and earning without abandoning your values.
What a residential day holds
Seven teaching hours, with enough space to eat, rest and integrate. Each day moves between ceremony and/or meditation, physical practice, skilled observation, teaching methodology and the courage to teach what you are learning.
A typical day: morning breath, meditation or ceremony and embodied practice; late-morning alignment, anatomy, sequencing or teaching methodology; a proper lunch and integration break; afternoon practice teaching, observation, feedback, hands-on skills and group work; closing reflection and preparation for the next day.
An intimate residential setting in Southern France
Our preferred venue is a farmhouse in Escala, Occitanie, in the French Hautes-Pyrénées, with wide mountain views, gardens, a pool, a hot tub and a dedicated practice room. The venue remains provisional until the agreement and room allocation are confirmed. Nearest airports to all potential venues are Lourdes and Toulouse.
Accommodation, food, travel, local transfers and personal insurance are separate.
It is possible to join without the residential option; however, we highly recommend it. Exact full-board accommodation costs will be shared as soon as they are available. As a ballpark estimate, food and accommodation for the full 20 nights will be approximately €2,000.
Your teaching team
Ilias Kousis | Co-Director
Ilias is a Forrest Yoga Guardian, Energy Medicine practitioner and certified Breath Coach with an academic background in geology and climate science. His teaching is direct, detailed and deeply embodied. He specialises in intelligent sequencing, nervous-system-aware practice, precise cueing and respectful hands-on support.
In this training he leads embodied practice, sequencing, cueing, breathwork, ceremony, private and digital teaching, and teaching practicum.
Charlie Speller | Co-Director
Charlie is a Forrest Yoga Guardian, bodyworker, body coach, pelvic-health educator and doula. Her work connects biomechanics, biochemistry, nervous-system regulation, sensation, pelvic function and ceremonial practice. She is known for breaking complex information into teaching people can actually use, with curiosity, compassion, humour and truth. In this training she leads individual variation, hands-on skills, applied biomechanics, ceremony, mentoring and professional development.
Nataliya | Anatomy Faculty
Nataliya is a Forrest Yoga Guardian in Training and a certified Vinyasa Yoga teacher, an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher and a teacher educator with a master’s degree in Sport and Physical Education. Her 20-hour anatomy work for 200-hour trainings makes muscles, bones, joints and connective tissue practical through visual learning, demonstrations and movement on the mat. In this training she leads applied anatomy, alignment, individual variation and the bridge from knowledge to safer, more adaptable teaching.
By the end
The training is experiential and not built on passive attendance. You will practise teaching repeatedly, receive direct feedback and return to the work with more skill.
Teach a coherent class: design and teach a purposeful all-level class with an intelligible arc, precise cues, useful options and a clear intended effect.
See and adapt: observe breath, effort, alignment, nervous-system state and individual variation; offer intelligent options within your scope.
Teach as yourself: lead group, private and digital work without borrowing another teacher’s persona.
Tuition and securing your place
Founding / early price for waitlist members: €2,900
Community: €3,150
Sustainer: €3,300
Supporter: €3,450
You can secure your place and lock in the applicable tuition with a €500 non-refundable deposit. Accommodation and food are priced separately. The remaining-balance deadline, instalment options and further enrolment requirements are being finalised and will be shared before enrolment is completed.
Secure your place with the €500 deposit
From previous teacher trainings
“Thank you for all your sincere support (and pushing) and for being wise and open to see when to do what. I think, and feel, that you have been bringing us safely through this deep journey. It’s been joyful to see how respectfully you work together. I am so grateful for all your care and support.”
Anne | Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
“I think you pulled this course together in a very good way. You cooperate really well, as if you’ve been doing this a lot of times. You know I’m not into singing, and not so much into the ceremony part, but I feel that you respect that.”
Anders | Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
“I felt like the whole training was a well-thought-through theatre play or opera, but in real life. In the middle I was confused, but in the end you see how everything has its inner logic. The two of you, Charlie and Ilias, have literally been magicians as directors of this opera.”
Sarah | Foundation Teacher Training, Oslo 2022–2023
Questions worth answering early
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No. You need curiosity, commitment, a willingness to practise being seen and readiness to engage fully with the work.
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No. This is an independent 200-hour teacher training. It is not registered with Yoga Alliance or Forrest Yoga.
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Please contact us before enrolling so we can have an honest conversation about your needs, scope and whether the training is suitable for you.
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Full engagement in both residential modules; the six-week preparation; anatomy, digital teaching and practicum between modules; personal practice, reflection, peer work and repeated teaching. You must be willing to give and receive honest feedback and take responsibility for completing the work.
Come for depth, practice and honest feedback
This is an active apprenticeship, not a passive course. You do not need to arrive with a finished teaching voice. You do need curiosity, commitment and a willingness to practise being seen.