‘Take Root’ Yoga School
at Yoga Refuge

Whether you aspire to teach yoga or simply deepen your personal practice, we welcome you to join!

Designed for heart-centered individuals looking to strengthen their connection to yoga, this 6-month foundational program will explore hatha, yin, restorative styles of yoga.
Learn pranayama, ayurveda, meditation, philosophy, anatomy, and more in this rich and well-rounded 200 hour training.

We begin fall of 2025.

This program is for you if…

  • You are eager to delve deeper into your practice and expand your knowledge of yoga.

  • You seek to participate in a collaborative experience, engaging in both self-reflection and group discourse.

  • You desire to be part of a supportive community, fostering lasting connections and mutual growth.

  • You enjoy immersing yourself in self-study (svadyaya).

  • You are ready to engage in a structured environment designed for profound learning and personal transformation.

Within the city of Brahman, which is the body, there is a heart, and within the heart there is a little house. This house has the shape of the a lotus, and within it dwells that which is to be sought after, inquired about, and realized. Even so large as the universe outside is the universe within the lotus of the heart. Within it are heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, the lightning and all the stars. Whatever is in the macrocosm is in the microcosm also.
— Chandogya Upanishad

Faculty

Danielle Clothier


Director of Yoga Refuge + Lead Trainer

Danielle’s affinity for yoga began in 2013, when she fully immersed herself in the exploration of the practice. Since then, her studies have taken many shapes, and she is grateful to all of her teachers along the way.

Today, Danielle’s teaching style is deeply informed by her reverence for restorative practices and a genuine passion for creating and holding space for others. Inspired by the power of community, she strives to cultivate a supportive environment which fosters connection.

Her guiding pillars for both teaching yoga and leading the studio are: Integrity, Accessibility, Empowerment, Community, + Co-creation. She is always reflecting back on these values and constantly examining how she shows up in this process.

Find more about Danielle here. 

Heather Smith, Lead Trainer

Heather is a highly experienced, trauma-informed yoga teacher with a penchant for sharing the therapeutic aspects of a yoga practice. With a firm belief that ‘life is practice, and practice is life’, she has a passion for learning and sharing healing modalities that can be incorporated into the practice of daily living to support us in our journey back to balance and harmony.

Heather weaves breath work, somatics, modern movement science, and stress management techniques throughout her group and private yoga sessions, workshops, trainings, and retreats to ensure that students gain experiential insight into the various tools that can be used to stabilize, nourish, and rebalance. It is her deepest intention to support you to empower yourself to cultivate transformative change first within your own internal landscape and then out into the world.

Find more about Heather here.

Richelle Ricard, LMT

Richelle is an educator, bodyworker, and movement specialist. She has been teaching yoga teachers about anatomy, kinesiology, and preventing injury in asana practice since 2008. Her own 20+ year asana practice has shown her the value of critical thought regarding alignment and execution, and brought her deeper into understanding of the "how" and "why" we practice yoga.

She hopes that together, the yoga teachers of the world can shift out of a practice of rhetoric and regurgitation, and into a closely observational style of teaching that honors the individual as well as the deeper energetics of asana practice.

Find more about Richelle here.

Kat Kocurek

Kat (she/her) has been a yoga teacher and movement instructor since 2017, when her lifelong love for embodied movement won her heart and she began to lay the foundation for a career spent helping others feel at home in their bodies. Today, Kat leads regular weekly studio classes and offers 1-on-1 instruction to students seeking deeper guidance and support.

Kat's guiding light as a teacher is based on her own personal experience with the practice of yoga—specifically, yoga's unique capacity to help practitioners cultivate a deeper connection with themselves (and the world around them) through movement, breath, and awareness. In addition to her teaching practice, Kat is a Certified Rolfer and works in this capacity to help clients move better and feel better in their bodies. 

Find more about Kat here.

Plus more guest teachers to be announced soon!

Schedule

September ‘25-March ‘26

Approximately every other weekend with holiday break

Sessions in-studio Friday 6-9pm, Saturday 12-6:30pm, Sunday 12-3:30pm
with select Tuesdays on zoom 6-8pm

Week 1
Friday 9/19/25 6-9pm
Saturday 9/20/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 9/21/25 12-3:30pm

Week 2
Tuesday 9/23/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 9/26/25 6-9pm
Saturday 9/27/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 9/28/25 12-3:30pm

Week 3
Tuesday 9/30/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 10/10/25 6-9pm
Saturday 10/11/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 10/12/25 12-3:30pm

Week 4
Tuesday 10/21/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 10/24/25 6-9pm
Saturday 10/25/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 10/26/25 12-3:30pm

Week 5
Tuesday 11/4/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 11/7/24 6-9pm
Saturday 11/8/24 12-6:30pm
Sunday 11/9/24 12-3:30pm

Week 6
Tuesday 11/18/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 11/21/25 6-9pm
Saturday 11/22/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 11/23/25 12-3:30pm

Week 7
Tuesday 12/2/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 12/5/25 6-9pm
Saturday 12/6/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 12/7/25 12-3:30pm

Week 8
Tuesday 12/9/25 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 12/12/25 6-9pm
Saturday 12/13/25 12-6:30pm
Sunday 12/14/25 12-3:30pm

Week 9
Tuesday 1/6/26 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 1/9/26 6-9pm
Saturday 1/10/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 1/11/26 12-3:30pm

Week 10
Tuesday 1/20/26 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 1/23/26 6-9pm
Saturday 1/24/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 1/25/26 12-3:30pm

Week 11
Tuesday 2/3/26 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 2/6/26 6-9pm
Saturday 2/7/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 2/8/26 12-3:30pm

Week 12
Tuesday 2/17/26 6-8pm (zoom)
Friday 2/20/26 6-9pm
Saturday 2/21/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 2/22/26 12-3:30pm

Week 13
Friday 3/6/26 6-9pm
Saturday 3/7/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 3/8/26 12-3:30pm

Week 14
Friday 3/20/26 6-9pm
Saturday 3/21/26 12-6:30pm
Sunday 3/22/26 12-3:30pm

Course Content

Modules will include:

  • Hatha Yoga

  • Restorative Yoga

  • Yin Yoga and Myofascial release

  • Intro to Vinyasa Yoga

  • Ayurveda

  • Pranayama + Meditation

  • Yoga philosophy

  • History of Yoga

  • Anatomy + Physiology

  • Subtle Body

And so much more!

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.
— Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Program Pricing/What’s Included:

$500 deposit required to hold your spot (goes towards total tuition)

Program cost:
$2950 Early Bird (before June 1st)

$3150 thereafter

(4% processing fee for credit/debit card purchases)

Payment plans and partial scholarship opportunities (including partial work-trade) are available, please reach out!

Price includes full 200 hour program, printed training manual, and unlimited yoga classes at Yoga Refuge for the duration of the program.

Integrity

〰️

Accessibility

〰️

Empowerment

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Co-creation

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Community

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Integrity 〰️ Accessibility 〰️ Empowerment 〰️ Co-creation 〰️ Community 〰️

Frequently Asked Questions

  • There are no requirements to perform certain poses to be able to join this training. It is not intended as a vigorous program, and our approach intends to incorporate accessible options for many common yoga poses. All bodies are different and we respect and celebrate that! We would recommend having at least ~one year of yoga experience, but feel free to reach out with your specific situation and we can chat about whether this program is right for you at this time.

  • It is expected that you are in attendance for all sessions to complete the program. If you know there are certain dates you will miss, please submit them in your application, and we can best determine if and how the missed content can be made up.

  • Yoga Alliance is a registry, not an accrediting board or certifying agency, although they’ve done a good job of establishing their role within the yoga community. Since they do not audit or enforce specific standards for the programs they register, Yoga Refuge has made the intentional decision to divest from Yoga Alliance. That said, we are confident that our program meets—and exceeds—the standards they set for a foundational course.

    The “RYT” designation stands for “Registered Yoga Teacher,” meaning that an individual has paid yearly dues to be included in their registry. It’s important to note that you are not required to be “Yoga Alliance registered” in order to legally teach yoga, and our collective experience suggests that very few studios require this registration for employment. We encourage you to take some time to research what this registration actually means and the broader role Yoga Alliance plays within the yoga industry. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to reach out to us!

Other inquiries? Reach out below!