200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training & Mountain Immersion
The Journey Inward · Spring/Summer 2027
Embark on a transformative journey with our 200-hour yoga teacher training in Denver at Karma Yoga Center. Led by studio owner and lead teacher Katrina Gustafson, the training connects you to both the spiritual and practical teachings of yoga, focusing on mind, body, and spirit. Whether you are called to become a certified yoga teacher or simply wish to deepen your physical, mental, and spiritual practice, this training is open to all seekers.
The training begins with a 3-Day Retreat-Style Mountain Immersion, which we regularly hold at Rockledge Retreat Center and Smokebrush Farms in Manitou Springs, at the foot of Tava (Pikes Peak). Lodging and food are included in your tuition. Open your heart and discover your unique spiritual path, and learn to embody it fully through the teachings of yoga.
अथ योगानुशासनम्
Atha yoga anushasanam
“Now begins the exposition of yoga.”
Patanjali, Yoga Sutra 1.1
The Mountain Retreat: Rockledge Retreat Center & Smokebrush Farms
Your training opens in the mountains. We regularly gather at Rockledge Retreat Center and Smokebrush Farms in Manitou Springs, a historic retreat setting of red rock, pine, and mountain air at the foot of Tava (Pikes Peak), about an hour south of Denver.
Over three days you will settle into community with your fellow trainees and teachers through morning sadhana, asana, ceremony, and time in nature. It is a spiritual kickstart to your journey before we continue the training at Karma Yoga Center in Denver. Lodging and meals are included in your tuition.
Your Training Home: Karma Yoga Center
After the mountain retreat, the training continues at our 5,000 square-foot studio at 1760 S. Broadway in Denver. Lectures, discussion, and study take place in the YTT Room, and asana, practicum, and practice teaching happen in the Main Studio.
Throughout your training you are part of the whole Karma Yoga Center community, with a community room to gather between sessions, a meditation space, the Soma Spa, and heArt & Soul art classes. Just outside, South Broadway is a vibrant local neighborhood with coffee shops and restaurants within walking distance for lunch breaks.
General Schedule
The Spring/Summer 2027 training runs from March to August and opens with a 3-Day Mountain Immersion at Rockledge Retreat Center and Smokebrush Farms in Manitou Springs. The schedule includes two 7-Day trainings and four weekends.
- Week 1Mar 26 – Apr 13-Day Mountain Retreat at Rockledge Retreat Center: Mar 26–28 · Karma Yoga Center: Mar 29 – Apr 1
- Weekend 1Apr 23–25
- Weekend 2May 21–23
- Weekend 3June 25–27
- Weekend 4July 23–25
- Week 2Aug 13–19Final week and practicum
7-Day Trainings: Fridays 6–8pm, Saturdays & Sundays 9am–5pm, Monday–Thursday 10:30am–4pm.
Weekend Trainings: Friday 6–8pm, Saturday & Sunday 9am–5pm.
Students may miss up to 3 days total throughout the training for personal needs.
A Day in the Training
A general outline of how a training day flows. Specific days may vary in start and end times.
- 9 or 10amSadhana & Group Check-InPranayama, mantra, meditation & discussion
- 10:30amYoga Class
- 11:30amLunch Break
- 12:30pmInteractive Lecture, Teaching & Group Discussion
- 3 or 4pmPracticumPractice teaching
Tuition & Payment
Early Bird$2,700
Paid in full by the first day of training, March 26, 2027. Includes the $432 non-refundable deposit.
Regular & Payment Plans$2,970
Includes the $432 non-refundable deposit. Monthly payment plans available.
Deposit to Register$432
Non-refundable. Holds your place and is applied toward your tuition.
Credit card payments include an additional 3% processing fee. There are no fees for Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check payments; call or email us to pay by these methods. Yoga teacher training manuals and books are not included in tuition and run about $54.
Monthly Payment Plans
Monthly payment plans are available throughout the training and are flexible and tailored to your needs. Installments paid before the start of the training total $2,700; after the start they total $2,970. All payment plans are paid in full by the end of the training.
Contact Katrina to discuss your options at 303-709-0535 or love@karmayogacenter.com with the subject “YTT Payment Plan.”
Cancellation Policy
All $432 deposits are non-refundable. Cancellations within the first week of the training forfeit 1/3 of your tuition. Cancellations after Week 1 forfeit the full paid amount, with the option to re-apply for a future training.
Included With Your Training
- 4-Month Unlimited Yoga Membership: in-studio and online classes ($504 value)
- 10% off all merchandise
- 10% off all workshops
- 20% off energy & healing sessions
- 20% off astrology readings (relationship readings & birth chart)
Questions About the Training?
Katrina is happy to talk with you about the program, payment plans, and whether this training is the right fit for your path.
What You’ll Learn
Our 200-hour teacher training covers a wide range of subjects exploring mind, body, and spirit. You will learn to integrate this knowledge into your own life and into the lives of your future students, clients, colleagues, and loved ones. Along with your certification, you will receive a booster shot for your soul: a life-altering immersion that awakens you to the essence of who you are, so you can step into your potential and help others do the same.
Yoga Philosophy, Spirituality & Lifestyle
- Yoga as a holistic approach to healing, nourishing, and evolving mind, body, and spirit
- How to be a good human
- Karma & Dharma
- Conscious living: a yogic lifestyle in the 21st century
- Setting intention and purpose: Sankalpa
- Philosophies and limbs of the yoga path
- History: past-to-present timeline of yoga
- Classical and modern texts including the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Upanishads
Pranayama, Meditation, Mantra & Devotion
- Daily sadhana practices
- Pranayama (breathwork) and meditation
- Mantra, mudras, nada (sound yoga), and chanting
- Intro to the deities and finding your Ishvara Devata (archetype)
- Bhakti, the art of love and devotion: ceremony, puja, ritual, darshan, aarti, kirtan, prayer, and altars
Subtle Body, Ayurveda & Anatomy
- Physical anatomy
- Subtle body anatomy: chakras, astral body, gunas, koshas, kundalini
- Ayurveda: holistic healing, healthy diet, and medicine from yogic philosophy
Asana & Teaching Methodology
- Asana (poses)
- Theming and sequencing a class
- Assisting your class: alignment, adjustments, and props
- Intro to Restorative, Yin, Yoga Nidra, and Prenatal Yoga
- Practice, practice, practice
Astrology & Personal Empowerment
- Understanding your Soul Contract and Soul’s Purpose
- Astrology & cosmology
- Stepping into your personal power, Shakti, to reach your potential
- Seva project (service)
Professional Development
- Sangha: creating community
- Marketing and self-promotion
- Ethics of being a yoga teacher
Teaching & Learning Style
You will be supported throughout your training by the teaching staff and community at Karma Yoga Center. Creating a loving community in all we do is our core mission, and we know that being and feeling supported is key to your success and transformation. You will learn through:
- Hands-on teaching practicums
- Group participation
- Individual work
- Lecture
- Speaking & sharing your journey
- Writing
- Reading
- Observing
- Private consultations
- Assisting
- Presenting
Final Practicum
In the last week of training, you will teach a final 30-minute class to your fellow trainees and the lead teachers. The class is themed around a “yogic book” of your choosing that you read for the first time during the training, with elements of the book woven into your dharma talk and threaded through the class. For example, you might share a few passages from Thich Nhat Hanh and how his teaching on knowing your emotions has supported your growth.
Before the Final Practicum, you will teach a version of your class to two different peers in the training, who will review it using the same standards your lead teachers use. These peer classes can be taught at the studio during off-hours or anywhere you choose.
Certification Requirements
Alongside the training dates, a few requirements complete your certificate. They do not need to be finished by the end of the training; you can complete them in your own time. Once all are met, you will receive your 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Certification.
- Take 10 classes at Karma Yoga Center, in studio (your 4-month unlimited membership is included in tuition)
- Teach 10 one-hour classes, in your living room, at work, or with family, friends, or co-workers
- Observe 10 classes at Karma Yoga Center
- Complete 4 hours of Seva (community service)
- Read 1 “yogic book” and present it as part of your Final Practicum
Your Faculty
Katrina Marie Gustafson
The mermaid of the mountains, Katrina Marie seeks the heights of the peaks and the depths of the oceans in her practice. Through the wisdom of the heart, her purpose is to help guide others to open their own. She has studied in the temples of India, the pyramids of Mexico, and in the crucible of modern life. She finds the sacred in the rhythm of the seasons, the stars, and every second of life.
As the owner and founder of Karma Yoga Center in Denver, she brings the Bhakti from all wisdom traditions to her yoga classes: singing, chanting, dancing, and journeys into the heart. Katrina fills every yoga session with love. She weaves in the teachings of her yoga mentor Saul David Raye and the cosmic knowings from the lineage of Evolutionary Astrology. She shares her life journey with her half-side husband Michael Shankara and her two boys, Max and Bo.
Lisa Theis
Lisa’s journey with yoga began 18 years ago in a Bikram studio in San Francisco. What began as a physical and mental challenge to simply stay in the room quickly became a deep and healing connection for her body, mind, and spirit, and eventually a life’s passion and calling.
Though she has had many influential teachers, she is a dedicated student of Yogarupa Rod Stryker and follows the lineage of Para Yoga and Sri Vidya. Her classes provide space for each person to explore the effect of yoga in their own way and, while rooted in the methodologies of Para Yoga, are an amalgamation of all her teachers’ influences. Each class includes pranayama, the energetics of asana, mantra, visualization and intentional focus, and meditation.
Michael Shankara
Michael Shankara is a yoga teacher, Mayan shaman and priest, astrologer, and sacred geometer with over thirteen years of active teaching and community leadership. He is the author of I Am the Snake ~ In Lak’Ech (iamthesnake.com). He apprenticed with Dr. Don Miguel Angel Vergara, a revered Mayan Elder, Wisdom Keeper, Mayan Priest, and former cultural director of the sacred Chichén Itzá Pyramids, studying intensively in Mexico since 2013 at sacred sites, pyramids, cenotes, caves, jungle initiations, and remote indigenous villages.
Integrating shamanic and yogic training across multiple lineages, Michael offers transformative experiences through sacred geometry, sound healing, crystal healing, energy work, and astrology. With over a decade of study in Western, Mayan, Greek, Vedic, Native American, and Chinese astrology, he brings a rare depth of cross-traditional knowledge to his teaching. Together with his partner Katrina Gustafson, Michael co-owns and operates Karma Yoga Center in Denver, now in its new 5,000 square-foot home at 1760 S. Broadway, offering classes, workshops, 200 and 300-Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings, healing services, and annual sacred site retreats.
Beth Sanchez
Foremost in her aspiration is to serve students in a way that supports their birthright to enjoy purpose, insight, well-being, and the cultivation of inherent goodness. Gurupriya Beth’s classes are deeply inspired by her core teachers, Engaged Buddhism founder Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh and Ayurveda Master Teacher and Practitioner Alakananda Ma. She is also invigorated by the Advaita teachings of Adyashanti and Rupert Spira, and the vision of philosopher and sacred activist Charles Eisenstein. Tias Little, Richard Freeman, and countless others continue to inspire her understanding of yoga asana, dharma, and related practices.
Gurupriya Beth has been teaching yoga since 2000, and her style has been described as mindful hatha/vinyasa with anatomical depth, nourishing adjustments, contemplative support, and invitations to sing, sigh, and giggle.
Anne Hart
Anne is an experienced yoga teacher (E-RYT 500) and seasoned yoga therapist (C-IAYT) who has logged over 1,500 hours working with students individually since 2001, and well over 3,000 hours teaching classes for all levels, including special populations such as cancer patients. Known as “ANNE-atomy,” she teaches anatomy in several Denver YTT programs, inspiring students with images that correlate the human body to animals, art, and architecture, followed by an asana practice exploring those same structures experientially.
She has made 25+ field trips to cadaver labs, assisted Thomas Myers (“Anatomy Trains”) and Todd Garcia in a 5-day Fascial Dissection Course, and helped edit “Yoga of the Subtle Body” by Tias Little and “Yoga + Cancer” by Lorien Neargarder. Her intention is to ignite a passion in her students for the beauty and complexity of the body.
Begin Your Journey Inward
Join us as we explore the depths of yoga and awaken to our true potential. Questions or payment plans? Contact Katrina at 303-709-0535 or love@karmayogacenter.com.
Early bird pricing of $2,700 when paid in full by March 26, 2027.