Next Training Begins January 2025!
Tuition: $2999
Register by 12/1 and receive $400 off.
Register by 1/1 to receive $200 off.
Learn from some of your favorite PLAY teachers, online or in-person, on your journey to a deeper understanding of yoga. Our high quality, well-rounded program will give you a deeper understanding of yoga.
Our team of trainers, with their diverse and eclectic backgrounds will teach you to intelligently sequence your classes, as well as your own practice. With their combined experience of over 60 years of teaching yoga to thousands of students, this training is a uniquely valuable experience at an affordable price.
Enjoy complimentary classes at Peace Love and Yoga with your Teacher Training Tuition! You’ll come out of our training, feeling confident to begin your teaching journey. Change your life, have a blast and PLAY with us!
You’ll develop confidence as we study over 60 poses, learning the following for each:
Detailed Alignment
Proper alignment is one of the most important aspects of a safe practice. Using your PLAY TT manual, demonstration and discussion we will learn how to adjust poses to find proper alignment and help you get your practice to meet you where your body is on any given day. We’ll discuss common limitations for poses and learn modifications to serve the variety of students you will encounter.
Sanskrit and Philosophy
The spoken language of Sanskrit is said to invoke the same vibration as the poses being practiced. We’ll develop a foundational understanding of the language, learn the original sanskrit names for the poses in our program, and work with proper pronunciation.
Subtle Body and Specialty
Stimulating the various Chakra points and subtle energies throughout your practice happens without you knowing it! We will teach you how to properly group poses for the different Chakras and subtle energies, as well as why we need to stimulate them throughout our practice.
Teaching Methods
Becoming a teacher is one of the most rewarding experiences, and we are excited to help you begin your journey as a teacher. Throughout the program we will focus on getting comfortable in front of a group, how to cue effectively, how to sequence a class, hands-on assists and so much more!
Anatomy
Using your PLAY TT manual, text books, and our life-size skeleton we will teach anatomy from a functional perspective. Understanding the bones, muscles and joints that make up the body helps to develop a deeper understanding of the asanas and how to practice/teach them effectively.
We believe anatomy is a key tool to understanding asanas, so you will be learning anatomy throughout the entire program.
PLAY’s 200 Hour YTT is facilitated by founder Jessica McGimsey along with an elite selection of certified PLAY instructors.
Jess found yoga 10 years ago and wasn’t a fan. Yet, there was something that was drawing her to it, fueling her determination to find a form of Yoga that worked for her. She tried almost all forms, enjoying some, and feeling unsatisfied with others. After finding a heated vinyasa flow that spoke to her, the love for yoga began to grow. Since then, she has grown to appreciate all forms of yoga, and how each style benefits the body, mind and spirit in their unique ways.
200hr Modules
2/19-2/23 Yoga for Mobility and Hypermobility- Balancing Effort and Return
3/19-3/23 Art of Adjustments
5/28-6/1 Adaptive Yoga and Restorative Yoga Pt 1 | 6/25-6/29 Adaptive Yoga and Restorative Yoga Pt2
-Previously titled “Restore and Flow”-
Hear From Our Graduates
-Megan Ballard“Hello Yoga Lovers.,
My name is Megan and I am a teacher at Peace Love And Yoga in Carlsbad. I have been teaching yoga for ten years and I have completed two 200-hour teacher training certifications. I wanted to share my experience and tell you about how fabulous the program is that PLAY has developed.
I took my first certification ten years ago and have loved every second of teaching. After nine years, I noticed something was missing from my classes. I have a ton of experience in the fitness industry, but I just felt like my classes needed something else. After some thought, I decided to try the PLAY 200 hour training. This experience has changed me, not only my teaching, but also my life. They have a strong focus on alignment anatomy and the 8 limbs. You will spend your 200 hours fully immersed in all things yoga. Your practice will grow and you will find a new fire for your practice. Your body will thank you and you will have connection with so many other amazing yogis.
I loved the training so much that I have enrolled in the 300-hour program along with many other training sessions that PLAY offers. Jess, Monique and Susan are an inspiration with so much knowledge. The in-depth anatomy will help you better understand what your body is doing in each pose. The 8 limbs and philosophy focused curriculum will give you an appreciation for the yogi way of life. I have always been one to try to and what is right, but the 8 limbs really bring it all full circle.
I highly recommend this program. Whether, you want to teach or not, take the 200 hour training to change your life, your body, and become a part of a whole new yoga family.”
Play Teacher
-Andrea H.“When I first signed up for the Free Teacher Training info session I considered myself a beginner and felt excited about learning more about the Sanskrit and Anatomy. Everyone I met through the process was so inviting and kind, I felt right at home and welcomed right away. Jessica M., Monique C., and Diane N. were the BEST teachers a student can ever ask for. Honestly, I love how they give each student the individual attention they need, they are willing to help and there to answer questions. From Alignment to cueing and teaching methods. Peace love and Yoga took me to the next level of my daily practice, I learned about stimulating various chakra points and the need to stimulate them during each asana practice. Not to mention meditation and all the different breathing techniques. It truly took me to another level and I can’t help but want to learn more.
I especially loved all the students that shared this journey with me, this was an amazing experience I will cherish forever.”
200 Hour Teacher Training Graduate
“My experience with the PLAYTT was incredible! I had to dig really deep to find the courage to take this class in spite of my self-doubt and belief that I wasn’t good enough or ready enough for this program. I was scared s***less! What was I thinking! But boy, I was so wrong. This was exactly where I needed to be at this very moment in my life. I am good enough and I am smart enough and I am deserving of this journey. Each of us made huge physical, mental and emotional commitments and we honored them! There were times when I was so amped up from the training that I was sad to see the weekend end. I came home and talked about it to anyone and everyone that would listen. There were other days, I would find myself feeling down, introspective and on the verge of tears. Some days I cried from my heart being opened on those raw days. It was really interesting to watch myself and see how many things shifted within me from weekend to weekend and even from day to day. I am overflowing with gratitude for the beauty and grace our instructors and my classmates exuded. The connections that we made are lifelong and being able to see how much we have all grown is so beautiful. This experience reminds me of the song To Sir With Love. There is a line in there that says: “How do you thanks someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?” That’s exactly how I feel. Teacher training put me on the path to playing bigger in my life. To go for it, rather than passively watch life just happen. I am more confident and accepting version of myself. What shifted is I let go of fear, doubt and worry. I know there will be days when I feel those things but I am more accepting of them. I can do anything I set my mind to but more importantly, what I allow for myself.”
“I’ve never been so emotional in my entire life. The PLAY Teacher Training has brought out the good, the bad, the ugly and the beauty in me. It has opened the door to my self-confidence. Even though that road still has a lot of work on I couldn’t be more thankful for how much it has been improved. I couldn’t be more grateful to you Jess, and all the teachers at PLAY. Each and every one of you has changed my life. I have no idea where I would’ve been if I didn’t take this opportunity, I don’t even want to think about that. You made California feel like home for me. I never felt so at home here until I took my first yoga class here. Seriously, thank you all for changing my life. If it wasn’t for all of you, I wouldn’t have even considered yoga teacher training, or had the confidence to do it. I cannot be more excited to start my career. I feel really connected to prenatal yoga and even starting a family of my own. I haven’t expanded in my future goals, but also my life is starting to transform into something beautiful. Thank you, Jess. Thank you to all of you wonderful teachers. I’m so inspired.”
“Oh my goodness! This has been an incredible journey for me. I decided (my husband really) to do this program at the very last minute. And I am so happy with our decision. It has been an extremely busy last four months, but wonderful. I have been practicing the asana part of yoga for a really long time. I knew there was more to it, and I knew a little bit about it, but I really had no idea! I have learned so much and not just information to use as a yoga teacher, but in life, on and off the mat. I feel like I have transformed as a better yogi, a better mother and a better person. My asana practice has changed as I have learned the more fine alignment of postures, the anatomy of the body and how it is working in the postures, and hoe to fix some bad habits. I have started including a little meditation into my life and I feel like I am more patient and focused as a result of that. My awareness of breath, bandhas, and chakras, has shifted my reaction to things and my ability to make sense of some things in my life. The discipline to keep up with everything I have had to while doing this program has been great for me and my personality (and I’ve learned to accept that it’s ok to leave my house a little messy once in a while).”