50HR SOMATIC YOGA TEACHER TRAINING · SRI LANKA
The science behind trusting the process
Trust the process is one of the most repeated phrases in yoga, and one of the least explained. This training explains why we change, what it has to do with our nervous system, and how we bring it into our yoga classes. Learn to facilitate somatic depth for your students in a process oriented, trauma safe, nervous system led approach built on your own presence as an embodied teacher. 30 hours in person on the farm plus 20 hours online integration and mentorship.
The approach
What this training is built on
Everything in the training serves one belief and three shifts.
The belief
The soma, our body, psyche and energy, is a self organising system that grows under the right conditions. A teacher's most valuable offering is a space compassionate and steady enough for students to feel that for themselves.
From correction to process
Adjustment and correction give way to process and self agency, with authority returned to the practitioner. This carries yoga's own values, the Yamas and Niyamas, forward into what we now understand about how a human system changes and heals.
Compassion and steadiness together
Endless compassion and a steady spine, rooted in the spiritual tradition of yoga and in a belief in the goodness of human nature.
The teacher's own capacity
The training widens the teacher's nervous system capacity, so that holding space replenishes them, and their own body becomes a resonance field where people can feel safe and bring their whole self.
Who this is for
For those who want to offer more than a movement class
This training is an invitation to go deeper into your presence as a teacher and refine your style so it truly meets your students where they are. We go into the felt body, into the senses, into the intelligence of a body that already knows how to organise itself and is waiting for the right conditions.
Elena will take you through the rhythms of the nervous system, clean and open cueing, trauma safe teaching, and the particular skill of holding a room where process can happen, so your students go home feeling genuinely met and held, somewhat more whole.
For certified yoga teachers of any style. A 200hr YTT is required.
The curriculum
Five modules
The training runs as five modules across the four days, each carrying one theme and one yogic root, moving from understanding, to the felt body, to the craft of facilitation, to responsible care, to the teacher's own presence. Each day opens with guided practice led by Elena, followed by short lectures, experiments, small group teaching practice and discussion.
Module 1: The Intelligent Body
Yogic root: Ishvara Pranidhana, basic trust
Soma, self organisation, the nervous system, and the shift from correction to process. You leave with a lens.
Module 2: Sense and Connect
Yogic root: Pratyahara and Svadhyaya, sense withdrawal and self study
The senses, interoception, felt sensing and the breath. The felt body as the classroom of practice.
Module 3: Let Go and Let Flow
Yogic root: Asteya and Aparigraha, non stealing and non grasping
The craft of process oriented teaching: the rhythm of a class, freedom, clean and open cueing, letting the practice land, and the authority of the student.
Module 4: Trauma Safe Teaching and Ethical Boundaries
Yogic root: Ahimsa, non harm
Resource centred, trauma safe teaching and holding: how overwhelm shows up, scope of practice, presence, language and co regulation.
Module 5: The Embodied Facilitator
Yogic root: Satya, truthfulness
The teacher's own presence, voice and truth, the readiness for self reflection, community, and an open ending.
Outcomes
What you will take away
- A felt understanding of the nervous system and self organisation, so that "trust the process" becomes something you can explain to a student and recognise in your own body.
- Variety in your sequencing, led by the natural flow of the soma, with tools to anchor students safely in the here and now without interrupting their pace.
- Clean, open cueing and a feel for the natural rise and fall of a class, so students keep authorship of their own experience.
- The confidence to hold vulnerability with clear boundaries, including where yoga ends and therapy begins, and how to support an overwhelmed student without calling them out.
- Language around the somatic process and nervous system that you can weave into your classes as gentle psychoeducation.
- A presence you can teach from, carried through voice, pace, silence and body language, hands off and yet steady.
- A living relationship with the Yamas and Niyamas, carried as values you can feel in your own body.
Why this one
Why this training
Many yoga trainings offer drills, sequences and anatomy, and many trauma informed trainings offer ways to adapt a class for a specific group. This one asks what happens in a teacher's own nervous system when they stop performing expertise and start trusting the flow.
It is rooted in the spiritual tradition of yoga and in a belief in the goodness of human nature. Nervous system research, complex systems theory and the physiology of breath show why this trust is warranted, and the Yamas and Niyamas show where it has always been rooted. It is a shift from correcting towards facilitating, from teaching to holding space, without conflating our classes with the work of trauma therapists.
Your teacher
Who leads this training
Elena Orth
Somatic coach, yoga teacher and facilitator
Elena has spent more than a decade teaching and practising yoga, from Ashtanga Vinyasa and Rocket to Yin, and has trained in Shiatsu, Reiki, Somatic Coaching and Organic Intelligence, focusing on nervous system attuned process work and integrative post trauma growth. Her lived experiment of freeing her life of rigid systems, paired with thousands of hours facilitating transformational processes, has carved out a deep trust in our body's capacity to self organise under the right conditions, and a love of our human nature and its potential to grow.
Integration
After the training
The final day closes the in person week as an open ending, because it is through ongoing practice and process that these principles become something a teacher embodies. The remaining 20 hours carry the training into real teaching and form the requirements for the certificate.
Self study
Work through the training manual at your own pace.
Teaching journals
A set number of teaching journals, each with a reflection shared with Elena.
One integration call
A closing group call, where you receive your certificate.
A pathway into ongoing mentorship
An optional 6 to 12 month online group container to continue the nervous system capacity work the training begins, based on Organic Intelligence. Being shaped with the first cohort.
Optional add on workshop: Touch, Meridians and Elements. An introduction to conscious touch in movement classes, and the bridge between the meridians familiar from Yin yoga, the elements, and nervous system principles.
Upcoming dates
Choose your cohort
One new cohort, 1 to 4 March 2027 at Senses Sri Lanka. 30 hours in person over 4 days on the farm, plus 20 hours online. Early bird pricing goes to the first three to sign up.
Somatic Yoga Teacher Training
Sri Lanka · 4 days + 20hr online · Early bird available€ 675Early birdReserve
Have any question? Book a free call and speak to Elena directly.
Tuition
€ 675
€ 765
Early bird, first 3 sign-ups of each training
50 hours, 30 in person and 20 online
What is included
- Lunch on the 4 training days
Not included
- Accommodation
- Other meals
- Flights and visa
For certified yoga teachers of any style, 200hr YTT required. Accommodation is available nearby.
Payment plans available on request. Email us at hello@sensescollective.co or message us on WhatsApp.
Reviewed on Google
What people say about being here
“Some places don't just host you, they hold you. Senses Sri Lanka did exactly that from the very first moment. As a Sri Lankan, stepping into this space felt like coming home in the most unexpected way. The fact that they offer discounts and donation-based options for locals means this kind of healing is genuinely accessible to us too, not just for visitors passing through.”
“I attended lots of classes and ecstatic dance at Senses while I stayed in Sri Lanka. It's a beautiful venue in the middle of nature, and the instructors and facilitation are wonderful. I am also a facilitator and yoga teacher, so I am particular about teachers and spaces, but was really impressed with what is offered at Senses. And the owners are lovely and very welcoming! Highly recommend.”
“A truly intentional sanctuary tucked away in the jungle. The shala at Senses is one of the most tranquil spaces I've experienced, perfect for deepening your wellness practice. It's rare to find a spot that balances professional wellness offerings with such raw, natural serenity. Highly recommend for anyone seeking a genuine reset.”
Trust the process, and learn why it works
One cohort, 1 to 4 March 2027 at Senses Sri Lanka, with Elena Orth.