Study restorative yoga wherever you are.
Develop the knowledge and practical skills to plan, adapt and teach restorative practices through guided online learning and 4 live Zoom sessions with The Yoga Nerds.
27th February 2027 - Online section of the training will commence
24th & 31st July | 7th & 14th August 2027 - Zoom Live Call 4:00pm - 6:30pm GMT (London)
12th September 2027 - Completion of Certification
About the Training
This 50-hour online Restorative Yoga Teacher Training gives you time to explore restorative yoga in depth and put what you learn into practice.
You will study supported postures, the use of props, sequencing, breath, rest and the skills needed to guide others with clarity and care.
Your online course access begins on 27 February 2027. You can work through the course content during the study period, join four scheduled live Zoom calls, and submit the required assignments by 12 September 2027.
The training concludes on 12 September 2027.
Successful completion and certification depend on meeting the course requirements, including the required attendance, assignments and assessment.
Why Restorative Yoga Matters Now
We are living in a culture that rewards speed, output, stimulation, and constant engagement. Even within yoga spaces, effort is often praised more easily than stillness, and visible intensity is often mistaken for depth.
But the body does not heal through pressure alone.
The nervous system does not regulate through force.
And many students who appear functional from the outside are carrying significant fatigue, emotional overload, sleep disruption, adrenal strain, muscular holding patterns, and chronic internal activation.
Restorative yoga offers a different doorway.
It supports:
-
parasympathetic regulation
-
physical and mental recovery
-
improved sleep quality
-
nervous system down-regulation
-
breath awareness
-
emotional steadiness
-
sustainable teaching and practice
For this reason, restorative yoga is becoming increasingly important not only in yoga studios, but also in therapeutic settings, trauma-aware spaces, retreats, mental health support environments, and private teaching contexts.
What Makes This Training Different
The training draws on The Yoga Nerds’ Somāntra™ approach, which encourages you to consider the body and the experience of practice as a whole. Alongside posture and props, you will explore breath, attention, pacing and how people respond to support and rest.
The emphasis is on understanding why you make a teaching choice, so that you can adapt your approach rather than rely on a fixed sequence of postures.
A restorative forward fold using a bolster and blocks to support the body.
A supported reclining restorative yoga posture using a bolster and blanket.
A seated restorative forward fold with blankets and a bolster supporting the head and upper body.
A restorative forward fold using a bolster and blocks to support the body.
Training Format - 50 Hours Online
Course access begins: 27 February 2027
Course format: Online learning with 4 live Zoom sessions (24th & 31st July | 7th & 14th August 2027)
Assignment submission deadline: 12 September 2027
Training concludes: 12 September 2027
You have approximately 7 months of flexible learning to work through the course and complete your assignments. The 4 live Zoom sessions are 2½ hours each, providing 10 hours of scheduled live teaching within the programme.
Attendance at the scheduled live Zoom sessions forms part of the training requirements.
Please review the attendance and completion requirements before applying.
Course materials and available Zoom recordings are provided for the course access period only. Access is not lifetime access and ends when the training concludes on 12 September 2027.
Who This Training Is For
This training is suitable for:
-
yoga teachers wanting to expand their teaching in an intelligent and relevant way
-
trainees currently completing a wider yoga education
-
practitioners interested in nervous system regulation and recovery
-
therapists, bodyworkers, and facilitators who want to integrate restorative principles
-
students experiencing burnout, exhaustion, overstimulation, sleep issues, or chronic stress
-
those who want a serious, grounded study of rest
You do not need to be highly flexible or highly advanced in asana.
But you do need to be willing to slow down, pay attention, and engage sincerely with the material.
What You Will Study?
1. Foundations of Restorative Yoga You will study the principles, purpose, and function of restorative yoga, including what distinguishes it from Yin Yoga, gentle yoga, sleep practices, or general relaxation methods. We will explore why supported stillness can be profoundly effective, and why many practitioners find it deceptively challenging.
6. Meditation and Attention We will explore grounding meditation practices that support observation, inwardness, and presence. These are not taught as performance-based concentration techniques, but as ways to cultivate steadiness and reduce internal fragmentation.
2. The Science of Stress and Rest You will explore the autonomic nervous system, including sympathetic activation and parasympathetic recovery states. We will examine how chronic stress affects the body, mind, breath, digestion, sleep, immunity, mood, and muscular tone, and how restorative yoga can support regulation in a meaningful way.
7. Props, Support, and Physical Set-Up You will learn how to use bolsters, blankets, blocks, straps, walls, and chairs intelligently. This includes understanding how support changes the nervous system response, why comfort is not the same as collapse, and how to adapt poses for different bodies and needs.
3. The Vagus Nerve and Nervous System Regulation You will be introduced to the role of the vagus nerve, vagal tone, and the broader physiological mechanisms involved in safety, settling, and restoration. This section helps frame restorative yoga not as passive stretching, but as a practice that can influence systemic recovery.
8. Restorative Postures and Variations You will study a range of restorative postures and their variations, including supported backbends, forward folds, side-lying forms, inversions, hip openers, and supine shapes. Rather than memorising a list, you will learn how to understand the intention behind each set-up.
4. Breath, Pranayama, and Regulation You will study foundational pranayama and breath awareness practices relevant to restorative yoga. This includes understanding when breath can be used to support regulation, how to avoid over-efforting, and how breath influences mental and emotional states.
9. Sequencing and Class Design You will learn how to sequence restorative yoga classes with intelligence and coherence. This includes class pacing, posture selection, transitions, theming, energetic direction, and how to work with different populations and nervous system states.
5. Yoga Nidra and Guided Rest This training includes an introduction to Yoga Nidra as an essential companion practice to restorative yoga. You will explore states of awareness, guided relaxation, and how deeply supported rest can affect the nervous system, cognition, and emotional processing.
10. Teaching Language and the Art of Holding Space The way restorative yoga is taught matters. Tone, pace, silence, instructions, phrasing, and the capacity to observe without over-intervening all shape the learning environment. You will develop the skill of guiding without performing, holding without controlling, and teaching with grounded presence.
What You Will Receive
-
Access to the online course content from 27 February to 12 September 2027
-
4 live Zoom calls of 2½ hours each
-
A course manual and supporting educational resources
-
Guidance on props, postures, adaptations and sequencing
-
Opportunities to discuss your learning and practise teaching
-
Assessment of your required assignments
-
A 50-hour Restorative Yoga Teacher Training certificate upon successful completion of all applicable course requirements
Assessment and Certification
To complete the training successfully, you must engage with the required course content, meet the attendance requirements for the live sessions, complete the required practical work and submit all assignments by 12 September 2027.
Assignments will be reviewed after submission. A certificate is issued only when you have successfully met the training and assessment requirements and completed all payments due under your chosen payment arrangement.
The training concludes on 12 September 2027; the certificate can follow once submitted work has been reviewed. This avoids suggesting that everyone receives a certificate automatically on the deadline.
What You Will Need
You will need a reliable internet connection, a device that can access the course and Zoom, and a space where you can practise. Restorative props such as blankets, cushions or a bolster, and yoga blocks will be helpful. Guidance on suitable alternatives can be provided where appropriate.
Training Outcomes
By the end of the training, you should be able to:
-
Explain the foundational principles of restorative yoga
-
Set up and adapt supported postures using appropriate props
-
Plan restorative practices with thoughtful pacing and transitions
-
Discuss relevant ideas about stress and rest within your scope as a yoga teacher
-
Guide breath and attention with clear, appropriate language
-
Offer meaningful choices to students
-
Design and teach a restorative sequence with greater confidence and care
Course Fee
-
Early Bird: £495 (limited spaces) until 31st October 2026
-
Full Investment: £595
*2.5% service fee applicable to the total at checkout.
Spaces are intentionally limited to ensure depth and individual attention.
Alternate Payment Methods:- PayPal - madhurabhagwat6@gmail.com Bank Transfer Madhura Bhagwat Sort Code - 832543 Account No. - 15856419 Bank - RBS * If using PayPal or Bank Transfer, kindly make sure to email connect@theyoganerds immediately after making the transfer. Your spot will only be confirmed once we send you an email of successfully receiving your payment.
Begin your Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Online
Study flexibly from 27 February to 12 September 2027, join 4 live Zoom sessions, and submit your assignments by the end of the training.
Prefer to train in person?
Explore our 50-Hour Restorative Yoga Teacher Training in East Lothian, Scotland here...
Sat 27 FebThe Bruiser House, Steading, Longniddry EH32 0QJ, UK
About Madhura
Director of The Yoga Nerds & Move with Madhura
E-RYT 500, YACEP | Yoga Therapist | Ayurveda Consultant
Madhura Bhagwat is a yoga educator, teacher trainer, and founder of The Yoga Nerds, known for her nuanced and uncompromising approach to teaching yoga beyond the physical. With nearly two decades of experience and roots in a traditional yogic lineage, her work bridges classical philosophy with modern understanding of movement, anatomy, and the nervous system, alongside an academic background in politics, law, and business studies.
Her teaching is not about performance or aesthetics, but about awareness, integrity, and depth. Drawing from yoga philosophy, embodied wisdom arts, and subtle teachings rooted in traditions such as the Dasha Mahāvidyā, alongside fascia-informed movement, breathwork, and restorative practices, she guides students and teachers towards a more intelligent, embodied, and sustainable way of practising and teaching.
Madhura teaches internationally and is committed to preserving the essence of yoga while making it relevant to the realities of modern life, allowing space for both linear learning and non-linear, lived experience to unfold.
