3 week 200 hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in Portugal

About The Retreat

2025 Dates

12th April – 2nd May

A yoga teacher training true to the essence of vinyasa with a fresh and open minded perspective. This is an immersion into a transformational personal physical practice.

It’s a hands-on catapult into skillful vinyasa teaching and the business of being a teacher. It’s a tool kit that will help you find your voice and your calling as a yoga teacher.

We stay true to the core of modern vinyasa. This means we don’t provide answers and we never ask you to memorise a sequence or a script. In fact we won’t even give you a sequence. Instead we will focus on the foundational knowledge you need in order to create your own sequences and scripts with confidence. You will learn the craft of teaching vinyasa.

Yoga Alliance Approved

Our training follows and greatly exceeds the outline of Yoga Alliance and will earn you a 200 hr Yoga Teacher Certificate. But above all, it will mark the beginning of your new life as a skilled, articulate, creative and inspirational Vinyasa Teacher.

From day one we will guide you in deepening your practice and fine tuning the skills you’ll need to be an empowered and empowering yoga teacher. Your own personal practice and choices, on and off the mat, make up the foundation of your offerings as a teacher.

Exploring the refinement of body, movement, breath, energy flow and clarity of mind is the base of our training.

Be prepared to push your mental and physical boundaries throughout these intensive three weeks. Be prepared for major shifts, changes and transitions – again, some of the key components of vinyasa flow yoga.

What You Will Learn

How to observe and respond to people, their bodies and their potential
How to deepen your own practice and apply the wisdom from your journey to guiding others
Logic in asana structure and alignment, working from the base and up, from the inside and out
How to assist physical poses with confidence and encouragement
How to communicate from the core of your being and your heart, with an articulate and powerful voice
The art of intelligently designing, theming and sequencing classes that are fun, graceful, inspirational and boosting for all levels
How to relate and apply ancient yogic philosophy to a contemporary dynamic yoga practice
How to build your yoga business and brand as a yoga teacher

Intensive Training Format

We offer this course as a 20 day all inclusive intensive with additional preparation time before training begins. The intensive format allows you to fully dedicate yourself to a transformational practice and journey.

We believe the personal immersion is a key component in becoming a yoga teacher. You will need to be prepared to work hard in this training.

SMALL GROUPS: Group size for our trainings is limited to 16 students, making the student-teacher ratio 8:1. This is unusual and guarantees individual attention and a high quality teacher training.

WE DON’T LEAVE YOU HANGING: We have a solid worldwide network and will continue to offer insight and mentorship for an unlimited time after the teacher training has ended.

EXCELLENT GUEST FACULTY: We believe in a strong, diverse team and always invite inspiring and experienced guest teachers for added perspectives.

EDUCATING TEACHERS: Many teacher trainings are set up to welcome anyone who wants to know more about yoga and to advance their personal practice. While you will get all this, True North Vinyasa is dedicated to educating teachers, not advanced yogis. We do a lot of actual teaching from day one and we work under the assumption that you want to be a yoga teacher.

BEYOND TEACHING: Being a yoga teacher is competitive. We give you a strong skill set to become an amazing teacher, but we are also dedicated to sending you off with solid knowledge of how to build your brand, run your business and succeed financially. We devote much more time to this than most teacher trainings.

Venue

We believe in the power of beautiful surroundings and good nourishing food. For our trainings we carefully pick amazing venues. You will be staying in an aesthetically stimulating small retreat centre just a 15 minute walk from the Atlantic coast outside of Ericeira, Portugal.

The venue is exclusive to our group and we love it for the wonderful hosts, fantastic food and attention to detail. Our venue is close to Lisbon and its international airport (45 minutes).

This beautiful gem of a venue is run by our friends Jelle and Justin, with amazing care and attention to detail – and a true dedication to fantastic service and food.

Casa Paço D’ilhas is located on a hilltop overlooking the Atlantic Ocean not far from Ericeira, a small fisherman’s village turned world-class surf destination.

This place – originally a farm that was turned into a guesthouse by its previous artist owner – is full of soul and history, vintage furniture, rustic wooden floors and beautiful fireplaces. Casa Palheiro, Casa Celeiro and

Casa Acores are just a few names of the unique charming rooms at Casa Paço D’Ilhas Guesthouse. Some of them are full little houses in the garden and some are rooms in the main building. All rooms are decorated with their own unique style and colors and are shared for 2-4 people with shared bathrooms. Some single rooms are available, make sure to let us know early if you wish to book these.

During our three week intensive training, the entire venue is just for us. We’ll take full advantage of the sweet dining area with a fireplace and the lounge with its veranda for theory and group work.

The indoor yoga shala has lots of light and is beautifully situated in the garden where we can also use two outdoor yoga decks/terraces (we always try to move around to different places depending on the task of the day and the weather). In addition, the garden has two swimming pools, a veggie garden, plenty of areas to hang out and hide out, and a lovely fire pit.

The kitchen team at Casa Paço D’ilhas are absolutely amazing. For breakfast, you can expect colourful smoothie bowls, overnight oats, homemade granola, roasted nuts, nut butters, superfood and fresh fruit. Lunches and dinners are abundant and flavourful fusion dishes inspired by the staff and owners’ travels around the world.

The nearest beach is called Praia de Ribeira D’ilhas and is a 10 min walk away from Casa Paço D’ilhas. Apart from this beach there are another 10 stunning beaches nearby. Ericeira village is about 7 min drive and a 40 min walk from the guesthouse. It’s easy to take beautiful walks and runs during time off.

Your Teacher Trainers

True North Vinyasa is a strong team of two main teachers. Together we have 20 years of combined teaching experience and over 30 years of combined practice.

We are ready to share our knowledge of studio ownership, organising fully booked retreats, sequencing memorable classes and designing unique, sold-out workshops. But we are also ready to share our mistakes (yes, we’ve made them too) and lessons learnt the hard way from the business of yoga.

Lisa Andersson Rhodiner (SWE)
Lisa Andersson Rhodiner (SWE) is a full-time Vinyasa Flow teacher with 9 years of experience and 1000+ hours of completed trainings. Since graduating from her first teacher training in Bali she’s been teaching yoga around the world offering classes and workshops at world-renowned yoga studios in magic locations like Bali and Sri Lanka, as well as teaching at international yoga festivals in Europe and Asia.

Lisa is the co-founder of INSPIRO YOGA and TRUE NORTH VINYASA, offering international yoga retreats and Vinyasa Flow teacher trainings in Portugal and Sweden.

An entrepreneur at heart and a passionate healthy food and sustainable lifestyle advocate, Lisa has co-founded multiple forward-thinking lifestyle projects. Art of Life Yoga & Raw Food Retreats in Bali, Pop Up Yoga & Brunch Ericeira, Yogalito Teachers Academy and Find Your Flow Immersions are just a few.

Lisa’s teaches steadily paced, deep and strong Vinyasa Flow. Her classes are well composed symphonies of playful sequences, encouraging hands-on adjustments, inspiring tunes, ancient pranayama techniques, stillness and loving kindness.

Sometimes you’ll hear her share a poem, invite free flowing movement and other times her classes are more structured and giving more space for silence. As much as you’re invited to play and challenge yourself, absorbing the heat – she’ll always encourage you to listen to your body and be true to yourself and your practice.

Apart from Vinyasa Flow Lisa also teaches deep-stretching Yin and relaxing Restorative yoga.

Elin Jensen (SWE)
Elin is a vinyasa teacher (E-RYT 500) based in the seaside town of Båstad, southern Sweden. Elin teaches at her studio YOGALITO (co-owned with Sara Kristensen) in Båstad, as well as at retreats, workshops and trainings in Sweden and beyond.

She also teaches online here. Elin’s vinyasa yoga is strong, steadily paced, mindfully sequenced and designed to prepare each individual body and mind to safely take on new challenges with a playful edge. She thrives off of the privilege to guide into full bloom what every yogi already has: a powerful body with infinite possibilities.

Elin balances yoga with family life (Californian husband and two children) and a parallel career as a Branding and Marketing Consultant.

She has been teaching yoga since 2007 and has logged thousands of hours of yoga teacher trainings, workshops and education. In addition to teaching yoga, Elin is passionate about raising the level of professionalism, quality and skill amongst yoga teachers.

She has created the workshop concept Branding & Marketing for Yoga Teachers, and has a strong interest in pedagogics, communications, leadership and psychology in relation to the craft of teaching yoga.

This yoga teacher training is for you if:

You love the freedom and creativity of modern vinyasa flow
You would like to be a confident and skillful yoga teacher, true to yourself
You are ready to dedicate three super intensive weeks to developing yourself, your practice and your knowledge base
You are inspired by beautiful surroundings and attention to detail
You like the idea of spending three weeks on the rugged coast of Portugal
You would like to be a yoga leader – not just an instructor

PRE-REQUISITES

At least two years of regular dynamic yoga practice
Familiarity with Vinyasa Yoga
Familiarity with Ashtanga Yoga
Ability to communicate in English*
Required reading and some preparatory work before training begins

* Clear verbal communication and a varied, inspirational way with words are essential parts of your success as a yoga teacher. While our training is in English, we are aware that you may not teach in English. We will encourage you to work in your language whenever possible but we can only offer effective support in English, Swedish and Spanish.

Curriculum Overview

Week 1, Find your Flow
Our private retreat center is located in the Portuguese countryside, with lots of garden space and 2 pools. We leave the outside world behind and immerse fully into daily rituals and a physical practice, developing trust in the process and within the group. You’ll start practicing the art of teaching, shifting from being a student to becoming aware of the teacher’s perspective. We begin to open the door to all the different topics in the course.

Week 2 | Find your Voice
We focus increasingly on the teacher’s skill set and toolbox. You are gradually introduced to sequencing, alignment, cueing, assisting, anatomy, breathwork, history and philosophy. You’ll start to connect the dotted lines between ancient teachings and modern yoga. We add layer upon layer of knowledge, working with the flow of the group, the weather, guest teachers and individual needs. We begin to explore your identity as a human and yoga teacher.

Week 3 | Find your True North
We invite you to fully step into the role of a yoga teacher. With the daily rituals and routines in place, we continue fine-tuning skills and exploring your authentic way to sequence and teach vinyasa flow. You are introduced to leadership and self care, the business of yoga as well as how to build a yoga teacher brand and how to market yourself. The course finishes with a written Demonstration of Understanding as well as a practical one where you get to teach your own class.

Daily Schedule

The daily schedule will vary somewhat. We try to work outside as much as possible. There is no day off, but we do schedule self studies for two full days.

Investment

SQUEEZE IN RATE, €3900
Shared queen size bed (160 cm) with private bathroom. Can only be booked when a couple or two good friends book together.

STANDARD RATE, €5400
Twin bed (90 cm) in shared house with bathroom (with 2–3 others) or twin bed in room with shared bathroom (with 1–3 others)

NOOK RATE, €5800
Wider bed (140–160 cm) in a shared house with bathroom (with 2–3 others). No door to your space, but some privacy in loft/nook.

PRIVATE ROOM RATE, €6100–6400
Wider bed (140–160 cm) in a private room with private bathroom.

Inclusions

200 hr Yoga Alliance Certified Course
True North Vinyasa teacher’s manual
20 nights of accommodations at Casa Paço D’Ilhas
Three amazing vegetarian meals per day
Access to mentorship and TNV community after training

Not included

Travel costs and required reading material (no more than €100). Optional private photo shoot (€120), extra drinks, snacks, massages etc. onsite.

FAQ:s

Q: I don’t think I want to be a yoga teacher but just learn more about yoga, is this course for me?
A: Our course emphasises teaching more than most other YTT:s. We practice teaching from day 1. You are required to teach a final vinyasa class to your friends in the group. We usually put it like this: If your heart isn’t set on teaching yoga, we have to ask that you pretend that it is for the duration of the course.

Q: I’m already a yoga teacher but would like to learn more about vinyasa. Is this course for me?
A: We are specialised in vinyasa sequencing and the art of teaching well, finding your voice and getting started as a yoga teacher. If this is what you are looking for we will welcome you to participate, whether you already took a teacher training, are already teaching regularly or brand new to teaching. In almost every course we have at least one participant who is already a yoga teacher.

Q: I’m worried that my yoga practice is not advanced enough. What level do you expect from trainees?
A: In short, we ask that your personal yoga practice is advanced enough so that you understand the unimportance of acrobatics in yoga. Our daily morning practice is a dynamic vinyasa practice, as are the asana workshops throughout the training. It’s a physically demanding practice. This doesn’t mean that you should already know all the challenging poses! Part of our course is dedicated to advancing your practice, whatever that means for you and from whatever point you start. More often than not, no participant in a group of trainees shows up with that perfect handstand!

Q: Will I learn about pranayama?
A: Breath work is included in our daily morning practice to some degree (of course – it’s yoga). We introduce the science of breath, common pranayama practices and we go through how to teach basic pranayama and breath awareness to a group of students. In-depth more advanced pranayama and how to teach it we believe should come at a later stage for a yoga teacher.

Q: Will I get to study the spiritual practices and the ancient philosophy of yoga?
A: No teacher training would be complete without an introduction to the rich history and philosophy of yoga. We study the history of ancient and modern yoga, and we introduce and discuss philosophy and touch on the ancient texts with the help of an amazing guest teacher, Joana. We tend to steer the discussions in the direction of making this content relatable and relevant as a teacher of modern yoga today. As a teacher training on the 200 hour level, our aim is to open the door to these topics, to demystify and to clear out any misconceptions as well as honor the roots of the topic we guide as teachers.

Q: Is there an exam? What happens if I fail the exam?
A: There are two Demonstrations of Understanding. One is written and one is practical. It’s not a pass or fail type of thing (this is not university and teaching yoga is not a license). They are there as an indication of how well we have managed to get the most important content across. Any misunderstandings are cleared during the last days of training. The practicum means that you will teach a final class to our group and be observed by one of us. Again, the idea and goal is productive feedback, not pass or fail.

Q: I have to do some other work during the training, can I skip a lecture or a class here and there?
A: The format of these certified trainings are face-to-face and based on a certain amount of hours of contact. This means we require 100% attendance. Any hours missed must be made up for and might be subject to an additional cost for you in order to become certified.

Q: Will I be able to go surfing/see a friend/go be a tourist on my days off?
A: There are no days off. There are 2 self study days about one and two weeks into training respectively. On these days, after the morning practice, you will have a variety of homework (about 5-8 hours worth) but you can distribute the day as you like as long as you get the job done.

Q:What methodology do you apply?
A: We use a variety of methods suited for adult learning. You’ll come across some (but very few) lectures. Instead we focus on experiential learning (doing something), discussions, learning by teaching others, positive and encouraging feedback and contextualising content.

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