200-Hour Teacher Training
We have been training yoga teachers in NYC for over a decade.
10 Weekends: February 16th - May 4th, 2025
FREE Class & Information Session: Sunday, January 26th, 2pm-3:30pm
The Program
We offer a small, intimate program so that you can receive an unparalleled teacher training experience.
Our unique blend of 9 intensive in-studio weekends in NYC plus a long weekend retreat in Upstate New York provides
exceptional and rich immersion into the deep practice and philosophy of yoga.
Interested in learning more? Set up a call with Director of Teacher Training Andrea Lodico.
The Yoga Common Teacher Training is a highly regarded 200-hour Yoga Alliance registered teacher certification program. Our grads call their experience at TYC transformative and inspiring.
Unfolding over 10 weekends, our training is designed for busy professionals and career changers who want the rigor of a personalized and intensive yoga teacher training program, while maintaining their current work and personal lives.
Unique to TYC’s teacher training, the program includes a long-weekend retreat at Lifebridge Sanctuary in Upstate NY, which has been home to our teacher training retreats for more than 15 years. The retreat provides students with space and time to immerse themselves in the program and training community with shared practice in Lifebridge’s practice space that boasts dazzling views of the Catskills, delicious vegetarian meals, and time to wander the 95-acre property.
You may nurture a desire to teach or want to deepen your practice (or both!) — at whatever point you may be in your yoga journey, you’ll be welcomed into a community that invites study, discovery, and transformation. Our training will support you in honing your personal practice as well as give you the knowledge and tools you need to be a successful yoga instructor.
Here’s what our graduates say…
“Doing the 200-hour teacher training at The Yoga Common was one of the best decisions of my life. The program is very thoughtfully designed to provide the students with the learning of all aspects of yoga practice and teaching.”
—Jenny Lee, TT Graduate
“I had a great experience at The Yoga Common and I've found that the rigorous intensive training covered a lot of ground making me more prepared for my future as a yoga instructor. The mentors are incredibly supportive and I forged lasting connections with new yogi colleagues as a result of the program.”
— Sherylynn Sealy, TT Graduate
“An incredibly positive, life-changing experience. Through a combination of classes, recorded videos, and at-home assignments, I gained a well-rounded background on the history, practice, and special considerations of teaching yoga, as well as a greater understanding of myself...”
— Margot Zuckerman, TT Graduate
Join Us for a Life Changing Experience.
The Yoga Common 200-Hour Teacher Training will change your life…
Rooted in deep learning and abundant practice teaching, our program will enrich your understanding of yoga asana, philosophy, ethics, anatomy, meditation, subtle body, pranayama, sequencing, inclusive and accessible teaching approaches, as well as your own personal practice.
At The Yoga Common, we don’t just teach you how to teach, we also give you a chance to build a toolkit of self-discovery, allowing you to live your life with a spirit of abundance, both physically and spiritually. We invite you to join us on this powerful journey of self-inquiry and possibility.
Dive in for 10 weekends and emerge inspired with new insight, a supportive community of friends and mentors, and with the skills to confidently teach.
2025 Schedule
February 16th - May 4th, 2025: 10 Weekends
9 In-Studio Weekends + Long Weekend Retreat
Opening Ceremony & Orientation: Sunday, February 16th, 2pm-4pm
In-Studio Weekends: February 22nd-23rd, March 1st-2nd, March 8th-9th, March 15th-16th, March 22nd-23rd, March 29th-30th, April 4th-5th, April 25th-26th, May 3rd & 4th
Saturdays, 1pm-7pm & Sundays, 1pm-7pm
Retreat at Lifebridge Sanctuary, Rosendale, NY: Thursday, April 10th - Sunday, April 13th
FREE Class & Information Session
Sunday, January 26th, 2pm-3:30pm
*Attendance at all training weekends is ideal and preferred, but flexibility is provided for up to two weekend absences pre-approved at the time of application or due to illness or emergency.
What’s Included
9 Immersive In-Studio Weekend Sessions in NYC
4-day Retreat at Lifebridge Sanctuary in the Hudson Valley, including accommodations and delicious vegetarian meals. *Ground transportation to/from not included.
Unlimited Membership at The Yoga Common: Free In-Studio, Livestream, & On-Demand classes for the program’s duration.
One-on-One Mentorship with our skilled teaching faculty.
Program Materials: including a comprehensive digital TYC 200-Hour Teacher Training Manual.
The Curriculum
History & Philosophy of Yoga: Understand yoga’s roots and how to integrate the practice’s deeper meaning into your teaching.
Meditation & Pranayama: The power of meditation and breathwork and how to incorporate these practices into your life and teaching.
Asana & Alignment: Extensive study and breakdown of yoga postures.
Sequencing: Craft intelligent & safe classes, rooted in TYC’s Signature Flow.
Physical Anatomy: In-depth exploration of embodied anatomy and the physiology of movement as it applies to the yoga practice.
Subtle Body: Introduction to energetic anatomy, the Chakras, and the Koshas.
Sanskrit Immersion: A deep dive into the history of Sanskrit and oral traditions, as well as an exploration of the philosophical underpinnings and language analysis.
Inclusive Teaching: Learn how to create accessible and more sustainable practices for all types of students with a focus on inclusivity.
Restorative & Yoga Nidra: Gain insight on the value and importance of rest and how to support your students and yourself with these vital practices.
The Art & Business of Teaching: Practical tools to support your students and build a business.
Our Faculty
Andrea Lodico
Director of Teacher Training & Faculty
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Andrea Lodico is a New York-based yoga teacher. She found yoga through dance, beginning a new journey of movement and discovery. Since 2004, yoga has been a source of joy and calm within the hustle of life in NYC. In her teaching, she hopes to share the passion and peace she feels on the mat and provide students with an environment in which they uncover new insight, vibrant presence, and strength. Andrea infuses her classes with playfulness and dynamic sequencing in which students move through asana from a strong foundation of alignment. A vigorous and lighthearted practice works to encourage mindfulness of breathing and somatic awareness. Andrea is filled with gratitude for her teachers and the community that yoga has brought into her life, having completed a 200-hour certification at mang’Oh yoga in 2014 with Erica Whalen and her 500-hour training in 2017 at Boston Yoga School in Boston, MA under the mentorship of Ame Wren and Kevin Courtney. She received a 75-hour certification through Kula Yoga Project & The Sacred Fig with Nikki Vilella and Anton Brandt in September 2019.
In addition to teaching yoga, Andrea is an arts administrator, working with choreographers and dance companies to bolster infrastructure and guide change and strategic planning. Over the last decade, Andrea’s creative and strategic vision, along with her commitment to collaboration and innovation, has distinguished her as a leader in the dance field.
Danielle Figgie
Faculty & Mentor
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Love at first sight – that is how Danielle’s relationship with yoga began. She has been practicing since 2002, and like any truly great relationship, the connection has only gotten stronger over time. After spending five years in a very fast-paced corporate job, Danielle decided to turn her passion for yoga into a profession and became a Registered Yoga Teacher, certified at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center.
She wholeheartedly believes that happiness is a choice. And for her, yoga is happiness. In her teachings, Danielle incorporates asana flow with pranayama and meditative techniques. The goal, first and foremost, is to move in harmony with your breath, while tapping into a deeper awareness of your self to provide a balance that will bring you to a peaceful, happy place.
Marcus Berardino
Faculty & Mentor
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Marcus found the practice of yoga in the 1990s after moving to New York. With a desire to be fit and healthy, but mostly to temper his new life in the unfamiliar fast lane of the big city, Marcus began exploring this ancient method of calming the mind at the local “sacred” YMCA. Following brief periods exploring several methods such as Ashtanga and Iyengar yogas, he decided to combine his professional skills as a NY State Licensed Massage Therapist with his deepening yogic discipline and completed his first of two yoga teacher certifications through Laughing Lotus, and his second training with Tias Little at Prajna Yoga. Marcus’s classes combine vigorous and inventive asana sequencing, along with breath awareness, yoga theory, alignment, humor, and lots of heart to invoke a sense of joy and celebration of one’s body and life. In 2012, during his time as a Health Coach in a Brooklyn medical practice, Marcus teamed up to develop 'Body Lab,' a yoga therapy workshop. Here, he used yoga, massage, and breathing techniques to assist patients in recovering from physical and mental challenges. These holistic practices continue to be an integral part of his healing approach today. In addition to teaching private and public classes locally, he’s taught yoga retreats around the globe in destinations such as upstate New York, Colorado, Vermont, India and Turkey. He’s been involved with several yoga teacher training programs with Prema Yoga Brooklyn. Life motto: Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever - Gandhi www.marcusberardino.com
Gloria Koo
Faculty & Mentor
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Gloria infuses artistry and musicality into her classes with creative choreography and uplifting playlists that range from traditionally classical to cutting edge hip-hop; inspired by years of formal dance and music training. Her classes are non-intimidating, challenging and fun!
She credits the Mang'Oh Community for providing the solid foundation upon which her personal practice is based, and for inspiring her to become a certified instructor.
She is trained in the Hatha/Vinyasa style of yoga for adults, children and teens, having also studied at the Karma Kids Yoga School in New York City. She also has a certification in Mindful, Trauma-Informed Yoga from the Yoga Medicine Teacher Training Program.
She has studied the practice of yoga in studios all over the country, and was a devoted Jivamukti Yoga practitioner for over a decade.
She is currently pursuing a 500-hour certification through MangOh Yoga’s 300- hour advanced teacher training program, and is proud to call Mang’Oh Yoga Studio her home.
She wholeheartedly believes that happiness is a choice. And for her, yoga is happiness. In her teachings, Danielle incorporates asana flow with pranayama and meditative techniques. The goal, first and foremost, is to move in harmony with your breath, while tapping into a deeper awareness of your self to provide a balance that will bring you to a peaceful, happy place.
Chintamani Kansas
Inclusive Teaching
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Chintamani discovered yoga on a whim and quickly realized how powerful, yet simple, yoga can be to help bring balance and healing. Yoga helped Chintamani overcome trauma and redirect her life towards health and wellbeing. She quickly realized yoga was a gift that needed to be shared with everyone.
Chintamani teaches classic and specialty yoga, and is a longtime Teacher Trainer in the mang’Oh 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. She continues to study yoga, yoga for injuries and other healing modalities, including Anatomy, Pilates and Mindfulness Meditation.
Chintamani’s classes blend mindfulness, alignment and joyful movement; encouraging safety and skillfulness, as well as freedom and expression. Chintamani’s mission is to get us all to move, breathe, find our joy, and feel connected and smart.
David Ito
Faculty & Mentor
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David’s journey in yoga started over 20 years ago. Being a former gymnast and of Japanese descent, he was immediately attracted by yoga’s vigorous yet meditative approach. During his decade long work as a relief worker for the Red Cross and the UN in Africa, Middle East, and South Asia he worked in terrible conditions, war, and natural disasters. Many elements of yoga – breath work, meditation and asana- helped him towards managing emotional and physical hardship.
However, such working conditions came with a price – PTSD, malaria, anemia, and Degenerative Disc Disease. His back pain was so bad he could not get out of bed in the morning. Eventually David decided it was time to recover and heal. That’s when a solid yoga practice and the will to become a yoga teacher emerged.
David is now a yoga teacher, a healer (Reiki Master) and certified in Thai Massage. In class, he focuses on balancing body and mind and strongly cues for proper alignment and safety.
David wishes to share his passion for yoga with his students and to encourage them to expand yoga practice beyond asana and help set a path towards healing and strengthening body, mind and spirit.
Julia Bembenek
Sanskrit Immersion
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Julia Bembenek is a philosopher, scholar, and yogi based in Los Angeles, California. Drawing together the functional, spiritual, and communal aspects of the yoga practice and philosophy, as well as forging connections to diverse belief systems, Julia offers practices that encourage self-inquiry and exploration and aims to create a space where the most serious and most silly manifestations of the Universal can coexist. She holds her Masters in Eastern Classics from St. John's College and a 200-RYT certification from Namaste Highland Park.
Russell Brant
Curriculum Advisor & Faculty
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Russ Brant has had the privilege of successfully completing not one but two 200-hour Teacher’s Training programs at The Yoga Common, in 2013 and 2021, and completed his 500-hour certification through The Yoga Common’s 300-hour advanced teacher training program in 2023. Each experience was unforgettably transformative in its own special way.
In his group classes, Russ offers a creative vinyasa meditative flow that emphasizes natural, graceful movements and whole-body awareness based on his study of vinyasa yoga, qigong/tai chi, and physical theater. He believes the study and practice of the philosophical and ethical principles of yoga are as important to health and well-being as the physical.
Russ has taught yoga and meditation at studios in the Washington, DC area and New York. He has called The City home for over thirty years, where he lives with his Bodhisattva and the third incarnation of their cat, Sweet Demon.
TUITION & APPLICATION
Regular Application Deadline: January 15th
REGULAR TUITION: $3,900 plus:
RETREAT INVESTMENT: $1,050 for shared accommodations (total training cost: $4,950)
RETREAT INVESTMENT: $1,450 for private accommodations (total training cost: $5,350)
*Private accommodations very limited. Early application is encouraged if private accommodations are desired. They will be filled on a first come, first served basis.
Retreat Investment includes: comfortable accommodations for three nights, delicious vegetarian meals with snacks, coffee, and tea available throughout the day, access to Lifebridge Sanctuary’s expansive property, daily yoga and training sessions.
SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
As part of The Yoga Common’s commitment to diversity and inclusion and the accessibility of our training programs, we are offering one full scholarship for our 2025 200-Hour Teacher Training to a BIPOC trainee. TYC also offers a range of partial scholarships and payment plans to students in financial need.
If interested in our scholarship opportunities, please fill out both the general application at the link above and the scholarship application below. Scholarship applications will also include a call with Andrea Lodico, Director of Teacher Training.
SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE: 12/15. Please contact Andrea with any questions at andrea@yogacommonstudio.com.
2025 SCHEDULE
February 16th - May 4th, 2025: 9 In-Studio Weekends + Long Weekend Retreat
Opening Ceremony & Orientation: Sunday, February 16th, 2pm-4pm
In-Studio Weekends: February 22nd-23rd, March 1st-2nd, March 8th-9th, March 15th-16th, March 22nd-23rd, March 29th-30th, April 4th-5th, April 25th-26th, May 3rd & 4th
Saturdays, 1pm-7pm & Sundays, 1pm-7pm
Retreat at Lifebridge Sanctuary, Rosendale, NY: Thursday, April 10th - Sunday, April 13th
*Attendance at all training weekends is ideal and preferred, but flexibility is provided for up to two weekend absences pre-approved at the time of application or due to illness or emergency.
The Yoga Common does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, or physical or mental ability. All are welcome.
Book a 20-minute consultation with Andrea Lodico, our Director of Teacher Training, to discuss the program in detail and see if it is right for you! Here’s your opportunity to ask any questions you have, get all of the details, and hear about how the program can personally benefit you.
Schedule a Free Consultation
“Experiencing The Yoga Common teacher training was not only intense and rewarding, but I made lifelong friends, learned yoga inside and out, and felt it was life-changing. I recommend this course to anyone who is passionate about yoga. A wonderful gift to give to oneself.”
- Lauren McCulloch, Teacher Training Graduate