RESTORATIVE YOGA TEACHER TRAINING
15 - 18 October 2026
Teaching stillness in a restless world
In this 36-hour Restorative Yoga Teacher Training for teachers, trainees and experienced practitioners, you will deepen your own practice while developing the skills and confidence to teach restorative yoga safely, creatively and accessibly.
You will explore how to set up and adapt restorative postures, work skillfully with props, and use adjustments and sequencing to support different bodies and needs.
Alongside the practical teaching skills, you will study what makes restorative yoga such a powerful practice. We will explore its effects on the nervous system and its role in supporting people experiencing stress, anxiety and physical or emotional fatigue.
The training also invites a deeper inquiry into the practice itself - how restorative yoga supports rest, awareness and the ability to listen inwardly, and how we as teachers can create the conditions for this to unfold.
Teaching Team
Joyce McMiken
MA (Distinction, Traditions of Yoga & Meditation, SOAS), restorative yoga specialist & mindfulness teacher
Ali Masterman
20+ years teaching experience, restorative yoga specialist & teacher trainer/assessor
Dr Andrew McGonigle
Former medical doctor, anatomy educator & author of The Physiology of Yoga
Suitability
This course is suitable for people at different stages of their yoga journey. Whether you are beginning as a yoga teacher, developing your existing teaching, or wanting to deepen your understanding of restorative yoga, it offers a structured space for study and practice.
It is relevant for qualified yoga teachers and teachers in training who want to build confidence and deepen their understanding of restorative yoga.
It is also open to dedicated yoga students (minimum two years of consistent practice) and health and wellbeing professionals such as therapists, counsellors and bodyworkers who want to explore restorative approaches in their work.
Please note: this training does not qualify participants to teach restorative yoga unless they already hold a recognised yoga teacher training qualification.
Course Content
• Daily restorative yoga practice and guided meditation
• Fundamental restorative āsana: set-up, modifications and adjustments
• How to sequence a restorative class and work confidently with props
• Benefits of restorative yoga and contraindications
• The history of restorative yoga
• The science behind restorative yoga and key āsana
• What restorative yoga is, and what it is not
• Teaching skills: silence, breath awareness, language, voice and creating a safe space
• Reflection, journaling and inquiry
• Q&A sessions
Course Requirements
Participants will be expected to participate in two classes and observe two classes with Ali or Joyce and write a short reflective account of their experience. Classes must be completed within four months of the course ending.
Eligibility
This course is open to all.
Some previous experience of restorative yoga is required.
Accreditation
This training qualifies for CPD with Yoga Alliance Professionals. To teach restorative yoga, participants must already hold a recognised yoga teacher training qualification. A certificate is awarded on completion of the full training.
If you miss up to one day due to illness or unforeseen circumstances, you may still be eligible for certification. In this case, a separate catch-up session will need to be arranged with Ali or Joyce, with an additional charge.
If more than one day is missed, or the final day is not completed, it will not be possible to offer a catch-up session or award a certificate.
Venue
West London Buddhist Centre, 8 Royal Oak House, 45A Porchester Rd, London W2 5DP
Dates
Thursday 15 October - Sunday 18 October 2026
Timings
9.30am – 6.00pm daily (Friday ends at 4:30pm)
Online
Friday 16 October - 6.30pm – 8.30pm Tuesday 3 November - 6pm - 7pm
Cost
£625
Payment
A £250 non-refundable deposit secures your place on the course. The remaining balance is due 8 weeks before the start of the training. If you apply after this date, full payment will be required at the time of booking. Please use the button below to register and pay your deposit.
For more information please contact
Joyce McMiken
www.findthebalance.co.uk
info@findthebalance.co.uk
Ali Masterman
www.aliyoga.co.uk
ali@masterman.org.uk
ABOUT THE TEACHERS
Taught by Joyce McMiken and Ali Masterman with guest teacher, Dr Andrew McGonigle.
Joyce McMiken
Joyce is a long-term practitioner and experienced teacher with a good understanding of anatomy and yoga philosophy. She spent many years studying in India and is a KPJAYI Authorised Ashtanga Teacher. It was during this time that she developed a keen interest in the philosophy and roots of yoga. Joyce started teaching in 2007 after taking triyoga’s first teacher training programme. She holds an MA with distinction in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and is a senior teacher in the UK, holding the highest level of certification with Yoga Alliance Professionals.
Joyce specialises in teaching Restorative Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, guides weekly meditation classes, and is a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher. Her classes and workshops are often inspired by the teachings found in traditional texts. Over the years, she has trained with many renowned teachers but believes the real learning takes place when you have a consistent practice.
In addition to teaching yoga, Joyce is a qualified BTEC Level 5 Soft Tissue and Remedial Massage therapist and has been treating people for more than 20 years.
Ali Masterman
Ali is a compassionate and insightful yoga teacher with 20 year’s experience. Her initial teacher training was at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala. Ali is a specialist in women’s health, including pre and post-natal, which corresponded with her own pregnancies, and studied with Francoise Freedman of Birthlight and Nadia Narain of triyoga. Most recently, Ali trained in Menopause Yoga with Petra Coveney and later went on to deliver the restorative yoga element of this training course. Ali is an experienced external assessor on teacher training courses; including the Menopause Training and for many years triyoga’s 200-hour Teacher Training.
During two decades of teaching, Ali has trained with many internationally renowned teachers. However, it is Restorative Yoga that really resonated the most, having studied to an advanced level with Judith Hanson Lasater and Anna Ashby who she continues to study with each year. She has trained with the British Wheel of Yoga and holds the highest level of training with Yoga Alliance Professionals. Ali teaches weekly restorative classes and works on a 1:1 basis with clients across London.
Dr Andrew McGonigle
Andrew has been studying anatomy for over twenty years, originally training to become a doctor and then moving away from Western medicine to become a yoga teacher, massage therapist and anatomy teacher. He combines his skills and experience to teach anatomy and physiology on Yoga Teacher Training courses internationally and runs his own Yoga Anatomy Online Course. His book Supporting Yoga Students with Common Injuries and Conditions: A Handbook for Yoga Teachers and Trainees was published in March 2021 and his most recent book The Physiology of Yoga was published in June 2022. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband. For more information visit: www.doctor-yogi.com Instagram: @doctoryogi Facebook: @doctoryogiandrew
LOCATION / CANCELLATION POLICY
Venue
West London Buddhist Centre, 8 Royal Oak House, 45A Porchester Rd, London W2 5DP
Cancellation Policy
All deposits are non-refundable. If you cancel your place within 8 weeks of the course starting we are unable to offer you a refund. If you need to leave the course for any reason once the course has started, we are unable to offer you a refund or defer your course place. In the unlikely event that we need to cancel the course you will be refunded 100% of all money paid.
Photography
We reserve the right to photograph or film during the course and to use these images for marketing purposes. Please let us know beforehand if you are not comfortable with this.
