EMPOWER your
Yoga Teaching
+ Life
in Chicago!
A yoga conference for teachers and students!
TBD Sept 2023 | Chicago, IL
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled due to low attendance. Sign up for our email list to learn about our next events.
Want to feel more confident in your yoga teaching and business?
Teaching yoga is one of the most rewarding jobs, especially since it allows you to have a flexible schedule {pun intended!} and impact and transform people’s lives.
Here’s the bad news: it can be really hard to STAND OUT as a yoga teacher and GROW YOUR BUSINESS. That means teaching memorable classes, creating a yoga experience that feels safe and inclusive for everyone all while discovering new opportunities and ways to generate income.
Yeah, there’s a lot that goes into teaching yoga (unless you’re okay with small class sizes).
But before you invest in another yoga teacher training or hire a yoga mentor, I have a proposal for you….
Join the YOGA TEACHER CONF – EMPOWER
Affordable workshops and a community just for Yoga Teachers!
Start or Grow Your Yoga Business
You know there’s a way to grow your business and make money teaching yoga but you just don’t know where to start or how to do it.
Our business classes will help you see what is possible, discover new ways to generate income and create a sustainable yoga business.
You’ll leave with a specific game plan that you can execute immediately!
Stand Out As A Yoga Teacher
Create yoga experiences that people want to come back for over & over again, even if you are new to teaching or don’t feel like you have found your voice as a teacher.
Our teaching skills classes will help you learn new creative sequences and tools to help re-inspire your teaching and stand out from the crowd!
Self-Care & Personal Practice
Your personal practice is often the first thing that disappears as a yoga teacher. Reconnect with your Self to inspire your students on a deeper level.
You won’t just learn about self-care, you’ll practice self-care at the Haji Healing Outpost. Join our brave space of fellow yoga teachers and connect deeply with your personal practice and feel accepted just as you are.
At the Yoga Teacher Conf I found people to help support and guide me as I try to figure out how to transition out of corporate life (project management) into that of yoga and wellness.
Deb Long
200-RYT
Your Yoga Teacher Journey Never Ends
As yoga teachers we give so much of ourselves and our energy to others and our own energy gets depleted. We end up burned out, overwhelmed, and not able to put much into our classes.
Invest in your own self-care and feel empowered to create more impact in your student’s lives.
Schedule
Yoga Teacher Conf – EMPOWER
The only conference just for yoga teachers
These were all of the classes from our 2022 conference. This will give you a good idea of what you can expect in 2023!
Friday
Room 1:Self-Care
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Registration Opens
4:00PM - 5:00PM
Opening Yoga Class
with Crystal Gray & Allison Rissel
5:00PM - 6:45PM
Catered Welcome Social
7:00PM - 8:30PM
with Amy Zellmer
Room 2:Teaching Skills
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Registration Opens
4:00PM - 5:00PM
Opening Yoga Class
with Crystal Gray & Allison Rissel
5:00PM - 6:45PM
Catered Welcome Social
7:00PM - 8:30PM
with Kali Om
Room 3:Business for Teachers
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Registration Opens
4:00PM - 5:00PM
Opening Yoga Class
with Crystal Gray & Allison Rissel
5:00PM - 6:45PM
Catered Welcome Social
7:00PM - 8:30PM
with Aya-Nikole Cook
Saturday
Room 1:Self-Care
8:30AM - 10:30AM
with Kalpana Nimkar
11:00AM - 12:30PM
12:30PM - 1:30PM
Lunch on Your Own
2:00PM - 4:00PM
4:30PM - 6:00PM
7:00PM - 8:30PM
Ten Gates to Heaven Essence of Sound Bath
with Jimmy Chan
Room 2:Teaching Skills
8:30AM - 10:30AM
with Crystal Gray
11:00AM - 12:30PM
with Swami Yatidharmananda
12:30PM - 1:30PM
Lunch on Your Own
2:00PM - 4:00PM
with Hansa Knox Johnson
4:30PM - 6:00PM
with Nancy Gerstein
7:00PM - 8:30PM
Ten Gates to Heaven Essence of Sound Bath
with Jimmy Chan
Room 3:Business for Teachers
8:30AM - 10:30AM
with Nicole Sopko
11:00AM - 12:30PM
with Jen Pansa Rohr
12:30PM - 1:30PM
Lunch on Your Own
2:00PM - 4:00PM
with Rebecca Sebastian
4:30PM - 6:00PM
with Ashton August
7:00PM - 8:30PM
Ten Gates to Heaven Essence of Sound Bath
with Jimmy Chan
Sunday
Room 1:Self-Care
8:00AM - 10:00AM
with Leticia Apablaza
10:30AM - 12:30PM
with Swati Mhaske
12:30PM - 1:00PM
Closing Ceremony
Room 2:Teaching Skills
8:00AM - 10:00AM
with Emily Ridout
10:30AM - 12:30PM
with Tami Galbreath
12:30PM - 1:00PM
Closing Ceremony
Room 3:Business for Teachers
8:00AM - 10:00AM
with Dr. Stacie CC Graham
10:30AM - 12:30PM
with Ashton August
12:30PM - 1:00PM
Closing Ceremony
*Class available for Yoga Alliance CEU’s Note: class times are subject to change.
Schedule
Yoga Teacher Conf – EMPOWER
The only conference just for yoga teachers
These were all of the classes from our 2022 conference. This will give you a good idea of what you can expect in 2023!
Friday
Friday: 2:00PM - 4:00PM
Registration Opens
Friday: 4:00PM - 5:00PM
Opening Class
Friday: 5:00PM - 6:45PM
Catered Welcome Social
Friday: 7:00PM - 8:30PM
Empower Yourself to Overcome Imposter Syndrome
"Self-Care"
Living Your Yoga According to the 8 Limbs
"Teaching Skills"
WE HEAL TOGETHER :: Building and Sustaining Community Healing Spaces
"Business for Teachers"
Saturday
Saturday: 8:30AM - 10:30AM
"Self Care Class"
Hands On Adjustments & Modifications
"Teaching Skills Class"
Considerate Conduct for Yoga Teachers
"Business for Teachers Class"
Saturday: 11:00AM - 12:30PM
Practice Self-Care at the Haji Healing Outpost
Bliss Within: A Retreat on Yoga Nidra
"Teaching Skills Class"
The Art of Private Yoga
"Business for Teachers Class"
Saturday: 12:30PM - 1:30PM
Lunch Break
Saturday: 2:00PM - 4:00PM
Practice Self-Care at the Haji Healing Outpost
Asana Metaphor for Life
"Teaching Skills Class"
Leadership for Yoga Teachers
"Business for Teachers Class"
Saturday: 4:30PM - 6:00PM
Practice Self-Care at the Haji Healing Outpost
The Heart of Yoga: Teaching Pranayama
"Teaching Skills Class"
Uplevel Your Online Yoga Teaching
"Business for Teachers Class"
Saturday: 7:00PM - 8:30PM
Ten Gates to Heaven Essence of Sound Bath
Sunday
Sunday: 8:00AM - 10:00AM
"Business for Teachers Class"
Celebrate Your Wins
"Self Care Class"
AstroYoga Flow: Align Your Practice with Cosmic Order
"Teaching Skills Class"
Sunday: 10:30AM - 12:30PM
"Business for Teachers Class"
Ayurveda for Self Care
"Self Care Class"
Restorative Yoga with Just Your Blanket
"Teaching Skills Class"
Sunday: 12:30PM - 1:00PM
Closing Ceremony
*Class is available for Yoga Alliance CEU’s
Note: class times are subject to change.
The Yoga Teacher Conf is an inspiring and uplifting experience – completely worth your time and money to connect with other yoga students and teachers, and continue to grow on your personal path.
The Haji Healing Outpost
We don’t want you to just learn about self-care, we want you to PRACTICE self-care.
On Saturday, indulge in a variety of self-care practices to help nurture you as a teacher.
Community Shamonic Reiki
If you have been feeling sluggish, run down, blocked and burdened or otherwise in need of a pick me up, this is for you.
Candle Dressing Station
Infuse a candle with prayer adding herbs & crystals. Take it home and burn it as a prayer for 4 days.
Acupuncture
Recline in our zero gravity chairs as practitioners place up to five small, sterilized disposable needles into specific sites on each ear. The NADA protocol helps restore your nervous system so you can relax and let the healing begin.
Self-Care Station
Indulge in a variety of self–care tools like self massage, coloring, foam rollers, blankets, rest, tea and more.
Haji Healing Salon
All services provided by the practitioners from Haji Healing Salon, a sanctuary space on the south side of Chicago activated by our tribe of teachers, healers, mystics and the community we serve. Learn more at www.HajiHealing.com
Cost: $33 for unlimited Saturday services
Your Speakers Include…
Crystal Gray
Crystal Gray, E-RYT 500, is a yoga teacher for yoga teachers. She specializes in leading yoga teacher trainings and retreats. Crystal is the founder of the Yoga Goddess Academy whose mission is to help yoga teachers learn how to empower students through yoga and make it as accessible as possible.
Besides teaching yoga, her and her family live on their 20 acre organic vegetable farm outside of Chicago, Illinois.
Swati Mhaske
Swati is an Ayurveda Physician with a Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery from India with honors and also holds a Masters in Pharmaceutical Medicine from India. She is the founder at HemaVeda Ayurveda at Crystal Lake IL, where Swati practices Ayurveda and Panchakarma.
Aya-Nikole Cook
As a wellness professional Aya has made a name for herself, while creating expansive practice space and employment opportunities for over 50 healers since 2015 at the Haji Healing Salon in Chicago. Aya has been featured on the cover of Yoga Chicago and on the pages of Voyage Chicago, The Red Eye, Southside Weekly, Block Club Chicago and the Hyde Park Herald. She’s been a guest on multiple podcasts, interviewed by Jen White for WBEZ, featured on channel 5 NBC news and contributed to the new book YOGA AS RESISTANCE by Dr Stacie C.C. Graham. In 2022 Aya was named a Black Creativity Innovator by The Museum of Science and Industry for her innovative wellness practice with Haji Healing Salon.
Kalpana Nimkar
Kalpana Nimkar, PhD is a retired corporate professional with a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry. She is also a certified yoga teacher, wellbeing coach, reiki practitioner and Ayurvedic wellness counselor.
Nicole Sopko
Gopi Om (Nicole Sopko) practices and teaches yoga with a firm but gentle insistence on respect for this indigenous tradition. Her classes are for anyone who wants to learn about yoga as a complete, traditional system. She welcomes people from all backgrounds to learn how these time-tested practices and their philosophy can be integrated into modern life.
Gopi is the Vice President of Upton’s Naturals, the President of the Board of the PBFA, and a student at Hindu University of America.
Hansa Knox
IAYT Yoga Therapist, past president of Yoga Alliance, board member of the Standards and Accreditation Committees for IAYT and lead trainer of the PranaYoga & Ayurveda Mandala yoga teacher and yoga therapy program. She has been training teachers since 1998.
Meet Your Hosts
Allison Rissel
Allison is passionate about helping yoga teachers become professional and powerful leaders. She is the founder of the Yoga Teacher Conf, the ONLY conference just for yoga teachers. The Yoga Teacher Conf helps elevate, educate and inspire yoga teachers around the globe through affordable continuing education, community support and connection.
Allison is a C-IAYT yoga therapist with over 2,000 hours of formal yoga training and has been teaching since 2006 so she’s very familiar with yoga teacher burnout. Allison is an extroverted optimist and she loves hiking, skiing and connecting in nature with her husband, Sean.
Crystal Gray
Crystal Gray, E-RYT 500, is a yoga teacher for yoga teachers. She specializes in leading yoga teacher trainings and retreats. Crystal is the founder of the Yoga Goddess Academy whose mission is to help yoga teachers learn how to empower students through yoga and make it as accessible as possible.
Besides teaching yoga, her and her family live on their 20 acre organic vegetable farm outside of Chicago, Illinois.
This conference is for you if you:
- Desire to learn more about yoga but you’re not sure who to learn from
- Want to help your students
- Want bigger yoga classes
- LOVE talking about yoga!
- Want to meet other teachers who are super passionate about yoga.
This conference is NOT for you if:
- You’re unwilling to do the work yourself
- Not open-minded to new styles or teachers.
- Only asana focused.
- Believe there’s only one right way to practice or teach.
- Believe you have nothing new to learn
Have additional questions?
Find your answers in our FAQ’s
What is the Yoga Teacher Conf?
The Yoga Teacher Conf elevates, educates and inspires yoga teachers around the globe through affordable continuing education, community support and connection. We offer in-person and virtual conferences. We are a community that vibrates and resonates with the collective energy of co-creating, of support, of increasing and attracting knowledge, deeper learning, and abundance.
Who is the Yoga Teacher Conf for?
The Yoga Teacher Conf is for all yoga teachers, yoga therapists and studio owners who love to teach yoga and inspire their students on a transformational journey. We invite all yoga professionals to join us and be inspired in their personal, professional and spiritual growth. If you love learning about yoga and desire to be a better teacher then join our community!
I’m not a yoga teacher. Can I still attend?
Of course! If you have a willingness to learn and be a part of a community of yogi’s we invite you to join us. However, all sessions are specifically designed for yoga teachers. We recommend that you have a strong personal practice in order to get the most out of the conference.
When is the next Yoga Teacher Conf?
Currently, all conferences are paused. Sign up for our email newsletter to learn when our next event is happening!
Are tickets refundable or transferable?
Tickets are non-refundable or transferable.
If you are unable to attend the Conf due to a positive COVID test, we will refund your ticket minus 5% for processing fees.
Refunds will be given within 7 days of the end of the Conf.
What if I want to purchase a ticket for someone else?
You can purchase a ticket for them. In the “Additional Information” section on the check-out page, please list their name and email address so they get access to all conference materials.
Where can I stay?
Book a room at the Conf venue for only $119/night: The Renaissance Chicago North Shore Hotel.
Click here to book or call: (847) 498-6500
This rate only applies to those who book before September 9, 2022.
Is this conference in-person or virtual?
This is an in-person conference at the Renaissance Chicago North Shore Hotel.
Where is the conference located?
The conference is located at the Renaissance Chicago North Shore.
933 Skokie Blvd
Northbrook, IL 60062
Will any classes be offered virtually?
At this time we are not planning on offering any virtual classes. You can access some of our other on-demand conferences!
What is your COVID policy?
In accordance with county, city & state health mandates, as of May 13, we are NOT requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. We will also not require masks.
I still have questions!
Send us an email to info@yogateacherconference.com and we’ll get back to you within three business days.