Cost: $1250
Saturday August 1, 2026 at 10 AM Pacific Time
Sign up for this introductory session to learn more about Bridge to Ananda Yoga and meet the instructors.
“If you are looking for a course that incorporates spirituality and mental development beyond asanas in yoga, this is the place for you. You will be introduced to the teachings of Ananda Yoga in a very warm and professional way.”
“If you are looking for a course that incorporates spirituality and mental development beyond asanas in yoga, this is the place for you. You will be introduced to the teachings of Ananda Yoga in a very warm and professional way.”
— Maja B., 2022 Graduate, Germany
— Maja B., 2022 Graduate, Germany
Go beyond physical fitness.
Learn to guide others in yoga as a path to inner peace, energy mastery, and upliftment — using affirmations, awareness, and yogic tools rooted in the spiritual science of Raja Yoga.
Be supported by Ananda, a global community of truthseekers and disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda, dedicated to living yoga and meditation as a way of life.
As Yogananda said, “Environment is stronger than willpower.”
This training is led by Yogananda’s disciples and grounded in the living teachings of a timeless lineage of enlightened masters.
You’ll study the ancient scriptures — including the Yoga Sutras, Ashtanga Yoga, Raja Yoga, and the Bhagavad Gita — to deepen both your practice and understanding of yoga’s highest purpose.
Immerse Yourself in Spiritual Community
An effective yoga teacher needs support to walk the talk. Join your magnetism with like-minded yogis from all around the world who also want to help and uplift others.
This immersive online training is broadcasted from Ananda Village, an intentional spiritual community based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
Even though this program is online, students are able to develop a personal connection with fellow students through:
Our past graduates come from France, Canada, Sweden, Austria, and within the United States. California etc.
Learn to Teach Spiritual Yoga
This program will train you to use yoga as a tool to help yourself and others grow spiritually and find greater integration in body, mind and spirit.
Practicing and teaching Ananda Yoga will help you understand the mind, energy and body connection, and develop the energy awareness and control to uplift consciousness.
We will share with you techniques to ignite and heighten your teaching ability to utilize yoga science and your intuition to best serve your students and yourself as a whole person— body, mind and spirit:
Pursue Advanced Yoga Teacher Training
Any Yoga Alliance RYT may transfer into Ananda’s Level 2 certification (RYT 500) after completing the Bridge to Ananda Yoga program.
Level 2 certification explores the deeper aspects of Ananda Yoga®, with a focus on meditation, yoga philosophy, pranayama, asana, refinement of teaching skills, and personal spiritual growth.
Required Level 2 Courses:
Level 2 Electives:
Receive Access to All Education Material
All live classes, teaching workshops and sadhanas are recorded.
At the end of the training, Bridge students have:
The Ananda Yoga Teacher Training Review Course includes:
“Five stars to this training; I thoroughly enjoyed the teachings of Ananda Yoga. It certainly was intensive, full of great content, super helpful feedback, and I felt supported every step of the way. I recommend this training to anyone seeking a spiritual style of Yoga.”
“Five stars to this training; I thoroughly enjoyed the teachings of Ananda Yoga. It certainly was intensive, full of great content, super helpful feedback, and I felt supported every step of the way. I recommend this training to anyone seeking a spiritual style of Yoga.”
— Grace P, 2022 Graduate, AR
— Grace P, 2022 Graduate, AR
Ananda Yoga’s meaning and aim is “Union with Divine Joy.” The purpose of Ananda Yoga is to help you experience higher awareness beyond the senses and develop a deeper connection with a greater reality through the following tools:
“I always wanted to learn yoga, not just to have a healthy body, but also to grow spiritually. Here I learned how to use Yoga for my spiritual growth.”
“I always wanted to learn yoga, not just to have a healthy body, but also to grow spiritually. Here I learned how to use Yoga for my spiritual growth.”
— Andreas S., 2022 Graduate, Austria
— Andreas S., 2022 Graduate, Austria
Melody, E-RYT 500, directs the Bridge to Ananda Yoga Program and Ananda Yoga Teacher Training in-person and online.
Melody is a gifted yoga teacher and trainer, who conveys her knowledge of yoga asanas—from physical mechanics to spiritual upliftment—with a blend of graciousness, authority, and fun. Her inner life is committed and deep, and she’s able to help students experience that depth in their yoga practice.
She is a Certified Ananda Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT and a trained Prenatal Yoga Instructor. Melody has been practicing the teachings of yoga since the age of 14, and began teaching in 2006. She loves to help her students experience the depth of Ananda Yoga and Meditation.
She will be the main asana instructor for this course and will support you every step of the way in becoming a confident and inspiring yoga teacher. It is her joy to serve you!
Darshana, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, C-IAYT, became interested in meditation and found the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda in 2009. Since then, she has been applying them in her own life and sharing them with others.
Darshana has been a certified Ananda Yoga and Meditation instructor since 2012. She is an Ananda Yoga therapist and a minister. She serves with Ananda School of Yoga and Meditation as manager and certification programs coordinator. She also teaches asana, meditation and yoga philosophy online and in person at The Expanding Light Retreat.
During this program she will be your meditation and yoga philosophy instructor, helping you to integrate and bring the essence of Raja Yoga into your teaching.
Saraswati, E-RYT 500, is a Certified Ananda Yoga Therapist and has been teaching yoga since 2003. Originally from Texas, she directed and operated successful yoga studios in Dallas for over 13 years.
Saraswati has experience working with students of all levels in studio, privately and corporate settings. She loves to mentor teachers and help them discover their unique gifts while strengthening their self-reliance and positivity.
Saraswati will be a lead asana instructor for this course while encouraging and assisting you throughout this journey!
Arya Cheng, E-RYT 200 & RYT-500, is a gifted yoga and meditation teacher, and wonderful kirtan (spiritual chanting) leader. She is passionate about sharing yoga as a tool for managing stress, transformation and healing in body, mind and soul.
Her journey as a yogi started at age 14, when she attended Ananda’s Living With Spirit Program and experienced first hand the transformative effects of yoga and meditation.
Arya currently lives at Ananda Village and serves as an Ananda Yoga Instructor for the Ananda School of Yoga and Meditation and support staff for the Karma Yoga Program.
In this training, she will be a lead asana instructor and here to encourage you to shine your light!
Nayaswami Gyandev McCrod, E-RYT 500, is the Director of the Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation. Gyandev has an advanced certificate in online teaching methodology, is the Director of Ananda Yoga worldwide, and is a co-founder of Yoga Alliance.
A member of the teaching staff at the Expanding Light Retreat for more than 30 years he is well known internationally for his profound ability to share the teachings of yoga asana, meditation, yoga philosophy, and the joy that comes from living a yogic lifestyle.
Diksha, E-RYT 500, is an Ananda minister, Counselor, and Level 2 Ananda Yoga teacher, and co-directs the Ananda Meditation® Teacher Trainings in person and online.
She also directs the Spiritual Counseling Training Online course, and teaches many of the Level 2 Ananda YTT courses such as The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita and Advanced Pranayama. Diksha leads pilgrimages around the world with her husband, Gyandev. She feels that sharing the teachings of yoga is a privilege and a joy. Diksha will be teaching meditation for this course.
Tracy, E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT, received her yoga and meditation training certifications from Ananda beginning in 1993, and soon after completed massage therapy (LMT, BCTMB), personal training, and Pilates certifications.
She enjoys teaching and sharing therapy at YMCAs, schools, hospitals, and a home studio. She helps lead an Ananda Midwest Meditation Group and yearly retreats and is an Ananda minister. It was her blessing to help teach the first AYTT in India, and now assist with AYTTO. She looks forward to infusing your study of anatomy with energy and joy, experiential learning, and its many practical applications!
Barbara is a Hatha Yoga teacher, a Registered Physical Therapist and a former gymnast. She brings all of her training together in her yoga teaching and helps people enjoy using their bodies in the healthiest way possible.
Barbara teaches anatomy and physiology classes, which she makes fun, interesting, and accessible to everyone. Barbara brings compassion and sensitive awareness to her yoga teaching.
You need to have an established regular Hatha Yoga asana practice (3 days per week) for 6 months prior to the program. If you have other qualifications which makes this program suitable and would like for us to consider, please explain on the application form. Without an established personal practice, it would be premature to consider teaching. Although the program’s asanas are not overly demanding, you will be doing a lot of them and combined with a full schedule, it’s important to be prepared physically.
This is a professional-level online training, therefore you need to be an organized self-starter and able to make the time commitment outlined below. You need to be very comfortable with computers or mobile devices. (Note: we recommend that you have a laptop or desktop for this program, not an ipad or cell phone.) Although not difficult, the course is delivered through an online platform course page and you will be participating in a virtual learning experience (zoom webinars, online discussion forums, creating and submitting video clips, etc). You will also need to have access to a reliable internet connection for several livestream class assignments.
All live classes will be held on Saturday mornings from Sept 6 – Nov 22, 2025 and Jan 10 – Jan 31, 2026 and 1 Sunday morning – Nov 23, 2025.
You’re expected to participate online throughout the week at times convenient for you as well as attend live classes. This means you’ll need to make time for approximately 6-7 hours of each week which includes live and pre-recorded classes, self quizzes, video assignments, reading, practice time and participation in discussion forums.
Live Class Times:
Saturdays 6:30 AM – 8:AM and 9:00 am – 12:30 pm PST
Sunday 9:00 am – 12:30 PM
Live Class Dates:
To request a current schedule for this program, email [email protected].
Absolutely! One of the highlights of this professional training program is having instructors spend quality time giving you personalized feedback both in live sessions and in writing. We will be closely watching your progress within the course so that you can take the appropriate steps you need—as an individual—to become a confident, knowledgeable, and conscientious yoga instructor.
Our Level 1 and Level 2 programs are registered with Yoga Alliance and 200 and 500 hours. Every Ananda graduate can register with the Alliance as “Registered Yoga Teacher.” We believe that, in time, this Registry will lead to more yoga teaching opportunities for you.
More important, Ananda’s is the only training in the highly regarded yoga tradition of Paramhansa Yogananda. We’ve spent more than 25 years making our YTT into a first-rate expression of that tradition – a dynamic blend of professional training and personal growth.
Ananda Yoga is about adapting the asana to the person, not forcing the person to do something inappropriate for his or her body. In this spirit, you need to be able to do the asanas covered in this course in ways that are appropriate for your own body and health conditions.
This may mean modifying some of the asanas, perhaps significantly in some cases, but only rarely does it mean not doing any version of the asana at all. However, you will need to know how to teach all the asanas covered in this course.
Coursework that takes place during the week is self-directed learning and can be completed at times that are convenient for you. You are free to do this coursework at whatever times of day suit your schedule. We do expect you to log in and complete your weekly video assignments, quizzes, and reading assignments before live class, be ready to apply what you’ve learned and discuss any questions you may have.
Students are expected to attend 75% of the livestream classes, however, we can be flexible under extraordinary circumstances. We encourage you to reach out to the ASYM (Ananda School of Yoga and Meditation) Student Outreach Coordinator to discuss options for special circumstances with attendance requirements.
You’ll need a device (desktop or laptop) to access the course web page on a regular basis. Although it is possible, we don’t recommend completing assignments from a mobile phone because it doesn’t allow for an ideal user experience. For live webinar classes, you’ll need a device with a camera such as a laptop with a built-in camera, a webcam that you can attach to your computer, an ipad, or a mobile phone with a built-in camera so that you can be seen by your instructors and classmates. Your internet connection needs to be reliable.
When filming yourself for special assignments, your device will need to have enough space to record a maximum of 30 minutes. You will also need to upload recordings to a video platform provided within the course or YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox, Google Drive. If you’re concerned about some of the technological elements of the course, or if you’ve never done an online course, used Zoom, or made a video and posted it online, you can still be successful in this course!
The course web page is easy to use, intuitive and offers many “how to” instructions to help you. The pre-course assignment includes a special video “tour of the course”. These days, everyone knows someone who can help them with such basic technological tasks as making videos and uploading them to the web. If you think you will need such help, we recommend that you find a helper early in the course, rather than waiting until an assignment is due. All in all, please know that many “tech-challenged” people have done very well in all of our online courses.
Everyone moves through the course together, week by week, and you’ll have assignments due each week. That’s the only way to have extensive, quality interactions with classmates and build a dynamic learning community.
Yes, you are expected to attend live classes on Saturdays and one Sunday. These are interactive sessions where you receive training and guidance from instructors, practice teaching what you’re learning with your classmates and experience being part of our supportive community.
We realize it may not be possible to attend all live classes therefore, you may watch the recorded version and complete the competency self-quiz before the next scheduled weekend. In order to receive your certificate of completion, you will be required to attend 75% of the live classes and watch all recorded versions of those missed.
Exceptions can be made for those who contact our Student Outreach Coordinator.
Yes, you’ll have lots of interaction! In fact, many of the assignments require it: discussion forums, live Q&A, webinar breakout groups for practice teaching with group coaching, one-to-one practice teaching scheduled on your own time and team-teaching projects. Plentiful interaction is a best practice in online learning and this course is structured entirely around best practices. You’ll love being part of the supportive learning community that forms.
Not at all. We sincerely respect all spiritual paths, and we welcome anyone who gives that same respect to our tradition, whatever his or her path may be. Of course, you should realize that AYTT takes place in the context of Ananda’s spiritual tradition, which emphasizes the time-honored approach of yoga as a tool for the Divine Quest.
Participation involves practicing a variety of yoga techniques associated with Ananda’s tradition, such as meditation and chanting as well as asana and pranayama.
Yes. This course takes place within the tradition of Paramhansa Yogananda and his direct disciple, Swami Kriyananda. Participants should be open to learning and teaching this approach to yoga postures and yoga philosophy. Those who come from a different tradition—or no tradition at all—should register as far in advance as possible in order to learn and practice those techniques before the course begins; we will send those links to you before the course web page opens. Then your course experience will unfold much more naturally, and your teaching and personal practice will benefit much more.
Please note: We do not ask that you discontinue your current yoga practices if they are different; we simply ask that you do the practices that are required for this program.
Refund Policy: If you cancel 14 days or more before the start of the program, your payment will be refunded, less a $150 processing fee. If you cancel within 14 days of the start of the program, then 50% of your payment will be refunded, and the remainder will be forfeited. If you cancel more than 14 days after the start of the program, the full program cost will be forfeited.
“From this course I learned lots of ways to bring more joy to my practice and my teaching of yoga asana, plus many more ideas on how to teach a range of students, online and in person, and to keep my own practice interesting and challenging.”
“From this course I learned lots of ways to bring more joy to my practice and my teaching of yoga asana, plus many more ideas on how to teach a range of students, online and in person, and to keep my own practice interesting and challenging.”
— Denise R., 2022 Graduate, CA
— Denise R., 2022 Graduate, CA
Eligibility: For all certified 200-hr yoga teachers
Format: Bridge to Ananda Yoga students share classes with Level 1 AYTT students for the first module of Ananda Yoga Teacher Training.
In addition, Bridge students will have specialized classes and assignments. Final assessment is to teach an Ananda-style virtual yoga class and receive feedback from the instructors.
All live classes will be held on 13 Saturdays from 6:30 AM to 12:30 PM Pacific time, from Sept 6, 2025 until Dec 13, 2025 (except Nov 29 and Dec 6) and 2 Sundays from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM (Nov 16 and 23, 2025).
You are expected to complete assignments online throughout the week at times convenient for you and attend live classes on the weekends.
This means each week, you’ll need to make time for approximately 6-7 hours/week for live classes, workshops and sadhanas asynchronous assignments which includes:
Students are required to be present for all mandatory classes and 60% of livestream classes to receive a letter of completion.
| Saturday | |
| 6:30 – 8:30 am | Sadhana |
| 9:00 am – 12:00 pm | Standing Poses 2 Asana Class |
| 12:00 – 12:30 pm | Yogic Science of Affirmation |
Dates: Sept 5 – Dec 12, 2026
Tuition: $1,250
Optional in-person component: Oct 21-28, 2026 (7 nights)
Accommodations: $157 /night (standard shared) or $218/night (standard private)
Haven’t taken yoga teacher training yet? Apply today for Ananda Yoga Teacher Training.
