Program includes free unlimited yoga classes at Dragonfly during the months of the program, and a day retreat at Green Gulch Farm near Muir Beach.
2025 Schedule
The Teacher Training Program meets on the following weekends in 2025:
FRIDAYS: 6:30 – 9:00 PM
SATURDAYS: 12:00 – 8:00 PM
SUNDAYS: 12:45 – 4:45 PM
with a one-hour dinner break.
Program Dates 2025
Weekend 1: March 21, 22, 23
Weekend 2: April 11, 12, 13
Weekend 3: May 2, 3, 4
Weekend 4: May 23, 24, 25
Weekend 5: June 20, 21, 22
Weekend 6: July 11, 12, 13
Weekend 7: August 2, 3, 4
Weekend 8: August 22, 23, 24
Weekend 9: September 12, 13, 14
Weekend 10: October 3, 4, 5
Weekend 11: October 24, 25, 26
Weekend 12: November 14, 15, 16
Dragonfly Yoga is committed to providing an encouraging space for upcoming teachers to build their teaching skills, find their voice, and gain confidence in a supportive environment in our beautiful, spacious studio. Space is limited, ensuring that participants receive plenty of personal attention. We are proud and humbled that so many of our graduates are now employed as respected yoga instructors throughout the Tri Valley, and beyond.
Includes:
• Foundational Asana
Learn yoga postures in detail with a focus on alignment, variations and modifications
• Offering Verbal and Hands-on adjustments
• Sequencing for vinyasa yoga classes:
Learn the energetic and biomechanical principles of vinyasa yoga; intelligent sequencing
•Trauma-informed teaching
• Pranayama Methods
• Meditation Methods
• Anatomy & Physiology
• Understanding the Subtle Body
• History of Yoga
• Intro to Sanskrit
•Yoga Philosophy
Lessons from the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, Upanishads, & Bhagavad Gita
• Ayurveda
Introduction to:
Restorative Yoga
Yin Yoga
Prenatal Yoga
Yoga Therapeutics
• Ethics & the Business of Yoga
• Free yoga classes during the months of training
• The Dragonfly Training Manual, Asana Guide, and all handouts are included in the price of tuition.
Core Teachers:
Laurie Johnson Gallagher, Director
Samantha Okumura, Director
Suzanna Spring, Director
Winter Brown
Teresa Gonzalez
and guest instructors
TUITION:
Early signup $3300 before January 1st, 2025 $3500 after January 1st, 2025
A Monthly Payment Plan option is available:
$500/month for 7 months.
(We also offer individual, flexible payment plans to fit your life; to inquire, please email us at
Returning Teachers’ Discount: Teachers who have previously taken our 200-hour Teacher Training Program and are interested in repeating the program to refresh skills, and/or 200-hour teachers who have been certified elsewhere and wish to enroll in our Program, may do so at a reduced price of $1800.
REQUIREMENTS TO RECEIVE A 200-HOUR TEACHING CERTIFICATE:
• Attend all hours of the program
• Attend 4 public classes each with Laurie, Samantha and Suzanna (12 total classes)
• Observe 2 classes each with Laurie, Samantha and Suzanna (6 observations total)
• Complete the reading and homework assignments
• Complete your Teacher Training payments.
READING LIST:
• Asana – A Mindful Guide for Vinyasa Yoga Teachers, by Laurie Gallagher – provided for you
• Dragonfly TTP Manual and Asana Guide – provided for you
• Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation, by Sharon Salzberg
• The Science of Yoga, by Ann Swanson
• The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali: A New Translation, by Patanjali & Chip Hartranft
• Upanishads, Eknath Easwaran translation
• Bhagavad Gita, Eknath Easwaran or Stephen Mitchell translation
LAURIE JOHNSON GALLAGHER, E-RYT 500, YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider) Laurie’s classes are a unique blend of athleticism, mindfulness, and soul. She is known for her down-to-earth approach to yoga with an emphasis on functional movement. Fascinated by the rigor and discipline of Ashtanga Yoga, Laurie originally studied with Clayton Horton and was certified to teach yoga in 2003. She later completed an additional 350 hours of training through YogaWorks and has had the privilege of studying with many inspired yoga teachers – including Annie Carpenter, Lakshmi Norwood, Laura Camp, Maty Ezrati, Melanie Greene, Melanie Salvatore-August, Mynx Inatsugu, and Rusty Wells. Laurie is proud to have served the Livermore yoga community through her previous work as Co-Founder and Co-Owner of Cosmic Dog Yoga and Dragonfly Yoga + Wellness. She founded the teacher training program at CDY and has been an ongoing, integral part of developing teacher training curriculum and program materials, helping to certify many of the yoga teachers in the Tri-Valley area and beyond. Laurie has experience as a Personal Trainer, Group Exercise Instructor, Fitness Program Manager, Yoga Teacher Training Director, and Yoga Studio Co-Owner. She is the author of ASANA – A Mindful Guide for Vinyasa Flow Teachers and is enthusiastic in her continuing efforts to educate and support yoga teachers.
SAMANTHA OKUMURA, E-RYT500
Samantha Okumura holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Integrative Physiology, and is a 500-Hour yoga instructor with over nine years of experience teaching group and private classes. She believes that yoga is a powerful tool for healing physical and emotional trauma, and her classes prioritize intelligent sequencing, alignment, and the subtle aspects of the practice to help students build a sustainable and strong self-care practice. Samantha has taught vinyasa, hatha, and restorative yoga classes in the Bay Area and Las Vegas, specializing in adaptive yoga for neurological injuries and disorders as well as pain management. She has co-facilitated and written curriculum for Yoga Teacher Trainings for the last four years with her team at Solstice Yoga, and is passionate about bringing diversity, accessibility and inclusivity into the wellness space.
SUZANNA SPRING, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Owner of Dragonfly Yoga + Wellness, Suzanna has studied both Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga traditions. She holds a certification in Prana Flow yoga from Shiva Rea’s Samudra School, as well as a certification in Yin yoga from Dina Amsterdam, through the lineage of Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley. Suzanna has completed initiation into Neelakantha meditation with tantric scholar Paul Muller Ortega, and continues to study with Shiva Rea, Jason Crandell, Annie Carpenter, and Tias Little. Suzanna is registered as a Yoga Alliance E-RYT500 and a YACEP, and has taught yoga and meditation at yoga studios in the east Bay, and in the Polytrauma Unit at the VA-PAHCS, where she worked with military veterans healing a variety of health issues. An accomplished musician and world traveler; teacher of challenging, rhythmic vinyasa flow and a meditative, breath-centered yin practice; Suzanna leads yoga retreats nationally and internationally.
WINTER BROWN, Ph.D., E-RYT800, RPYT, C-IAYT, YACEP A lifelong learner, Winter is a Director of Dragonfly’s 200-hour and 300-hour Yoga Teacher Certification Programs, and our Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training. She combines movement, breath, and mindfulness to empower the healer within students. Winter also holds an 800-hour certification in Yoga Therapeutics, and offers group classes and private instruction.She strives to create classes that are inclusive, trauma-sensitive, and empowering for her students.
Cancellation Policy
Once registered, if you cancel before 90 days prior to the start of the training, the amount you have paid minus a $500 processing fee will be refunded. Once registered, if you cancel between 90 and 60 days prior to the start of the training, 60% of the training fee will be refunded. If you cancel between 59 and 30 days prior to start of the training, 40% of the training fee will be refunded. If you cancel within 30 days of the training, no money will be refunded.
Studio Cancellation Policy: In the event that Dragonfly Yoga + Wellness cancels the training for any reason, students who have paid their deposit or paid the entire enrollment fee will receive a full refund, or can apply their deposit or entire enrollment fee to a future training.