Yoga I.S is a yoga studio and a 200 and500  hour teacher training school designed to educate teachers and students alike in the practice of Yoga. The creator of Yoga I.S., Lauren Eirk, has spent her life teaching and studying in the health, fitness, and yoga communities, learning from some of the top minds of our time. Yoga I.S. came about through her journey, which included battling an eating disorder as a teen, over-exercising and sustaining many injuries while making a living as a group fitness instructor in college, and taking up yoga as a way to heal herself.

Lauren discovered that although yoga in itself is a tool to keep the body-mind strong and healthy, it can also be used incorrectly. Lauren ended up having two knee surgeries that resulted from being adjusted in poses and trying to get her body into the positions required for the type of yoga she was practicing. This lead her to begin an intense journey of studying anatomy and biomechanics, two topics that are not talked about in great depth in the yoga world. Lauren had to learn how to heal herself through understanding how joints work, how muscles create tension, and how the nervous system and mind create the ultimate outcome of any exercise regimen.

Throughout her travels teaching yoga, Lauren has asked people how yoga has changed their life. It is interesting how everyone has a story. People have said that when they started practicing yoga, their lives completely transformed. Some changed their career path, some altered their diet, some healed chronic and repetitive injuries, some became yoga teachers, some signifigantly lowered their stress levels and got off their medication, some gave up exercise regimens that were breaking them down, and some ended up diving into the practice of meditation.

Lauren realized how important it was to create a program for yoga practitioners, as well as health and fitness professionals to benefit from the methods handed down by the master teachers' methods. Yoga I.S. blends ancient teachings to explain the research of today's scientific world, with a comprehensive educational program about anatomy, neurophysiology, joint mechanics, resistance training, pranayama, biomechanical teaching methodology, evidence validating meditation as a form of stress management, student intake, the business of yoga, and ultimately how to help make Yoga IS graduates top in their field of expertise.

Yoga IS 200, 300, and 500 hour program is for the serious yoga student.  The information you will get from Yoga IS is bar-none the most advanced, cutting edge information anywhere.  We ask the questions of why? how? and when? in the process of analyzing all traditional yoga techniques.  Many Yoga Schools teach methods that can be learned from books that were published years ago.  We at Yoga IS respect ancient traditions, but our goal is to empower our students to understand whether or not these techniques and methods are appropriate for certain students and structures and for what goals. At Yoga IS, we will teach you how to work one on one with students in a personal training or therapeudic setting. Yoga IS is the only yoga school that incorporates the revolutionary techniques of Muscle Activation Techniques™, Heart Math®, and Yoga Mechanix™.  We will teach you how to use yoga techniques in fitness, rehabilitation, and medical settings to greatly increase your income potential with yoga and enable you to help more people!

With your registration, you will be given a username and password to access our Yoga IS School Site.  Here, we will be communicating with you outside of the classroom.  Your assigned homework will be sumitted here.  Videos, blogs, documents, and articles will be uploaded to your site to supplement what you will be learning in class.  This school site will keep track of the points you earn for assignments, such as papers, group class analyzations, meditation assignments, U-Tube video scripts, and reactions to articles, electronic information, and research about various Yoga information out there.  Optional testing is available on this site for those who wish to achieve Yoga IS certifications and Yoga IS Mastery outside of being registered with Yoga Alliance.  No other school offers this online school program!  After your courses are completed, you are forever connected to Yoga IS and everyone who is a student at Yoga IS, using our own social media profile and online chatroom!

Lauren Eirk, Donna O'Bryan, and Jenny Willis Eubank bring decades of teaching experience to the Yoga IS studio.  Lauren, currently finishing her Masters of Science, is a Mastery level Muscle Activation Techniques Specialist and Resistance Training Specialist.  Donna, MEd, is a certified HeartMath Practitioner and Integrative Yoga Therapist.  Jenny, MS, holds a masters in Exercise Physiology and is a classical ballet dancer for the Louisville Ballet. 

All three of these women have had years of experience in fitness centers, hospitals, rehab centers, wellness centers, schools, and yoga studios.  They are all personal trainers and group fitness instructors in addition to yoga teachers.  Together, they will bring you the most up-to-date, biomechanical information on yoga, pilates, and meditation to help you be the best you can be!

A career that helps people while supporting yourself and enjoying what you do is a blessing.  Sharing the gift of Yoga is what Yoga IS is all about.  With the education you will get from this program, you will be at the top of your profession.  Yoga IS will give you the skills to teach classes in a variety of settings and class types for a wide variety of students, give you the ability to attract clients who wish to personal train with yoga, offer therapeudic alternatives to clients with specific issues, successfully run your yoga business, and be on the cutting edge of information in the health and fitness industry.  Want to command more for what you do?  Be the best at it!  Yoga IS will give you VALUE. 

The answer is YES.  We suggest that before you sign up for the 200 hour teacher training course, that you have taken classes in a few settings for several months.  That way, you will be familiar with what we are describing in the lectures, practical demonstrations, and yoga practices.  It will help you to participate fully and get the most out of the course. 

Go into the training with a goal in mind.  This course will teach you a lot of information about anatomy as well.  Having some education in this area will help you to learn the topics discussed.  Please feel free to contact Yoga IS with any questions or reservations you may have about the Yoga IS coursework.

The answer is YES! 
Here are some examples:

For those who are Yoga Practitioners : Maybe you have no interest in getting in front of a group or individual and teaching them yoga, but you have been practicing yoga for a while and want to learn more about it. Your experiences as a yoga student will add so much to our training. Going through this education will help you to get so much more out of your practice than you ever thought possible. Ever wonder why we get tight? Why you can never seem to stretch those hamstrings? Why you have been dealing with chronic injuries in your practice? Have you found a teacher that can help you?

Yoga IS will help you get the answers you need to achieve the results you can expect from your body. You will be able to filter out the teachers you want to take from and the kinds of practices you need for your body by filling your mind with the best information currently out there in the yoga world. You never know! After you finish, you may find yourself on a brand new career path!

For those wanting to teach yoga as a profession: Yoga IS will help you learn the ins-and-outs of teaching to both indiviuals and groups. You will be able to retain students long-term, as they will recognize your level of expertise and knowlege in helping them to achieve their life-long goals. Doing what you love and being the best you can be is the key to happiness and great success. You will walk away learning to THINK, not just learning any one method. Be able to come of with hundreds of yoga routines and progressions for your students, with a plethora of tools in your toolbag to use. You will stand out as one of the leading instructors at your studio, and be able to teach this great practice in many different settings. 

For those who are group fitness instructors: this education will make you much better able to deal with a group dynamic. When someone walks into your class with a pre-existing injury or other health concern, your Yoga I.S. education will give you so many new exercises, cues, progressive routines, and methods than you ever thought possible. You will have so many tools to add to your repertoire, and will be shown how to incorporate yoga into your classes to reach a wider variety of people, improve student retention, and be able to work in a variety of settings. 

For personal trainers: you will now be able to know how your clients' bodies are being affected by their existing yoga practice, and be able to help them achieve positive results. You will be able to directly apply the knowlege of anatomy, joint mechanics, neurophysiology and range of motion to your training sessions to create thousands of exercises, modifications, and cues. After completing the Yoga IS education, you will see how the practice of yoga can be incorporated into your client sessions. Think the best way to start an exercise program is to start walking? Still practicing the sit and reach technique as a way to assess clients? Yoga IS will progress your training in ways you never imagined. 

For health professionals , such as physical therapists, massage therapists, chiropractors, physicians, etc: You have patients that already come to you tellling you that they practice yoga. May health professionals even prescribe yoga. Have you taken the time to learn about it? Yoga is the most healthy thing many of your patients could be doing, but when practicing yoga incorrectly with improper progression, it can lead to injury and stress, which can un-do what you are doing to help them.

This happens more than you realize. Wouldn't it be great to be able to help your clients with alternative methods like yoga to retain patients and help them to greatly improve their health? Yoga IS will give you new eyes for evaluating range of motion, biomechanics, anatomy, client intake, stress management, and exercise prescription by informing you about research and methods that go beyond what is required for your health career. Be able to help a wider variety of people, get better results, and refine information required for your practice.  

Some schools are about a specific style of yoga, and you learn their method.  What happens when someone comes in to work with you and they cannot physically handle this method?  What if you go to a training and learn a specific sequence of postures.  What happens when you have taught this sequence for six months and your students stop coming because they are no longer inspired and are bored?  What if a student come in and just had back surgery, tells your their doctor presribed yoga, and you have a room full of people expecting a tough practice? 

The list goes on and on.... The word ahimsa means "non-violence" and the hippocratic oath tells medical professionals to "do no harm"  Yoga IS will teach you how to THINK by giving you the information you need to see inside the body and assessing mind-body health of your students using techniques based on science, not opinion or memorization.  Yoga "IS" defined as a healing modality, an oasis for spirituality, and an avenue for living your live with the best intention possible!

Anatomy is poorly taught in most education environments. Yoga Alliance only requires 20 hours of anatomy to become certified, but at Yoga IS we feel it is the most important thing to know.  How can we teach Hatha Yoga without a solid understanding of the body we are trying to affect.  We will give you a solid education in anatomy and joint mechanics to empower you as a yoga teacher, therapist, or personal trainer. It is great to have a background and some exposure to anatomy prior to attending our courses, but not required. We will help you learn anatomy better than you will learn from a university!

The books that we use are listed on the shopping cart.  We advise that you purchase and generally review prior to taking the course.  There are three Kapandji books, Joint Structure and Function, and Theime Guide to Anatomy.

Unless your anatomy and biomechanics education was very thorough, we recommend starting at the 200 hour level before going into the 300 hour coursework, even if you are already a 200 hour teacher. The information you will recieve from our 200 hour program is not available anywhere.  It is an investment, but you will not be sorry! 

Included in each certification or teacher training elective registration is a non refundable $100 deposit.

If you cancel more than 14 days prior to the event, you will receive a refund less the $100 deposit.

If canceling less than 14 days prior to the event, a credit less the non refundable deposit will be issued and credit given to you that may be used toward any future Yoga I.S® training or certification.

If you have to withdrawl from the course for any reason during the course, there will be no refunds given.  Make sure you can commit to this course

No.  But it is recommended that you do, since this is very in-depth information and you may have new eyes for viewing it once completing the 200 hour course and five weekends of the 300 hour course.  If you choose not to repeat these three Jump Start weekends, you will have to pay the price set forth for the Part I and Part III portions of the 300 hour trainings separately.

Yes, if you have not already paid for the courses in the 300 or 500 level bundle discount fees.  Taking the MAT courses separately is more expensive than taking them with the Part I and Part III coursework or the entire 500 hour courses, due to the discounts offered by Yoga IS.  If you suspect this may happen, please register for Part I, Part III courses separately.  You will not be able to register for the 300 hour or 500 hour course bundle discounts.  For more information, contact Yoga IS.

At Yoga IS, we will be adding more courses as sites come available outside of Louisville.  There will also be more than one 200 hour course available in Louisville a year.  If you need to miss a weekend, you can asked to be transferred to another course in or outside of Louisville.  Make sure to contact us so that we can assist you.

To be able to jump right into our 300 hour, we advise that you take our 300 hour entrance exam that covers 200 hour origins of flexibility, anatomy of cervical, trunk & spine, upper extremity, and lower extremity structure, and basic biomechanics.  A passing grade of 80% means that you are ready for the 300 hour. If you cannot answer these questions, you will have a hard time with the 300 hour coursework.  We believe it is not about getting a certificate, but being the best you can be.  Yoga IS professionals are not average Yoga teachers.  They are the most respected and capable of working with the most complicated students.   Therefore, you will be able to greatly increase your income level as a professional and help more people.