RYS-300 Immersion Program

The 300 immersion is a very comprehensive program that strives to offer an integrated yoga education.  Attendees will be putting in long days filled with new, expanded information, but we tend to do a review of core yoga material that a teacher should know from their 200 to assure each student feels truly grounded in basics and feels confident and well trained as an advanced yoga teacher. Student led morning classes allow participants to practice teaching and get feedback to strengthen their communication and sequencing skills, while also making it possible to teach new subjects or creative class ideas.  Please, no worries if it has been awhile since you did your first yoga training or if you feel your first training wasn’t as comprehensive as you hoped. We will revisit the basics when necessary as we move to advanced concepts in meditation, alignment, and philosophy as well as introducing new material.   

The program is designed to complete yoga alliance requirements in this 22 days. Aerial Yoga Certification is schedule on the last two days so students who have taken this course with us in the past (this is offered in our RYS-200) or those who opt out of this elective subject matter can finish early. Students choosing not to participate in Aerial will be assigned an alternate project to make up these final 16 hours. 

Students are responsible to get their own books, but since many are flying in, we only require the Yoga Sutra book at training. Please note that you will return home with an additional large course manual, an art journal and a yoga journal.  You will need room for in your luggage for these items when you return home.  

The RYS-300 Course at Heartwood has a concentration in Yoga Therapy and also serves as the foundation program for students in the C-IAYT 800 hour yoga therapy program. This coursework covers the required competencies for a graduate to become RYT-500 certified, but can also be applied to IAYT's competencies for those who choose to continue on for a yoga therapy certification. (Note: There is additional homework and reading assigned to those on the Yoga Therapy track.) 

Transfer credits: Occasionally, students who studied a subject elsewhere, such as their having taken a yin training previously, explain to us that they already "know all that" and they want to skip portions of the program. Please understand that we cannot transfer hours from other facilities into this immersion format. The information we offer builds from one day to the next for an integrated overall understanding. We advise the student to simply attend our version of the training as a review and to see what new material might be included so they can be credited those hours for completion of the RYT-300. The only other option is to opt out of that unit, but in this case the student must return another time to take an alternate course from our modular program selections, and they will not graduate until they have met the required number of requisites.

Usually the residencies fill early. The beds are full size, comfortable and have lovely decor. Students don’t spend much time in the dorms, other than to sleep. The yoga center is open 24-7 and has a holistic library with couches, a lobby with internet, and a full service kitchen so if you want to get a snack or find privacy to study, relax or just be, the center is only a few feet from the dorm space. The grounds are inviting too with a fire pit you can visit at night, a garden and an art room making it possible to wander with a cup of tea, find a place to land to reflect or to be engaged in a mindful project. Laundry facilities are available too.    

Heartwood has a limited amount of lodging made available for out of town guests which is available on a first come first serve basis. (We do not charge for these accommodations. They are offered as a convenience and to keep destination yoga training affordable.)  Our accommodations, if you are need to stay with us, are dorm style, with 4 or 5 people to a room with a shared bathroom. Men stay in a separate space. We also have and an RV offering two private spaces for a small surcharge. Please note we have space only for 10 dorm spaces each session, and 3 private spaces, which are in a residency trailer with a king or queen private room (for a small surcharge). 

Usually the residencies fill early. The beds are full size, comfortable and have lovely décor. Students don’t spend much time in the dorms, other than to sleep. The yoga center is open 24-7 and has a holistic library with couches, a lobby with internet, and a full service kitchen so if you want to get a snack or find privacy to study, relax or just be, the center is only a few feet from the dorm space. The grounds are inviting too with a fire pit you can visit at night, a garden and an art room making it possible to wander with a cup of tea, find a place to land to reflect or to be engaged in a mindful project. Laundry facilities are available too.    

When our dorms fill, students have an option to stay in a private room with bath at the home nearby air B & B style for only 20.00 a night.  Local residents and people with family or friends in the area often participate in the program, yet stay in their own accommodations. We do not offer a discount in these cases, because lodging is not factored into our pricing and is only offered as a convenience for out of town guests.  Nothing is missed, nor do students feel in any way disengaged, by staying off the property. After long days of study, people usually retire seeking alone time anyway.

There is no accommodation on Heartwood grounds available before arrival day or after departure day, so if your travel plans expand beyond the training dates, you will need to look into the hotels nearby for any additional lodging.  

We start on arrival day (typically a Friday unless a holiday such as July 4 has forced us to move the start day to a Monday) with an orientation at 6pm where we get acquainted, go over the syllabus, assign dorms to those staying with us and tour the Heartwood facility. We begin the formal training the next morning at 7:30 am. Students should arrive between 12noon and 6pm or if they are not staying on site and can't make orientation, can arrive at 7:30 am on Monday.  No lodging is available before the scheduled arrival day, (please refer to the link to nearby hotels for those who need a night's accommodation due to the travel arrangements they have made.)  Students who do not arrive by 6:00pm for the orientation on arrival day would need to get a hotel room for the first night if their travel arrangements did not make it possible to arrive by 6:00 pm, as we are not available to greet or take care of late guests and the gate will be closed.

We offer free airport transfers on the schedule arrival day two times a day at 12:00 noon or 4:30 pm from the Tampa Airport. Additional times for pickup can often be arranged from the Sarasota Airport. If you rather rent a car or Uber to Heartwood instead of waiting for our free service, you are welcome to do so. The Tampa airport is a one hour drive, and the Sarasota airport is a 38 minute drive. Our free return airport transfer is the day after training at 9:00 am. Flights leaving at noon or later will be fine with this arrangement. Otherwise, students will need to take an Uber or catch a ride with one of their tribe members (and often, after spending a few weeks together and forming trusting friendships, this is the case.) Checkout of the dorms are Heartwood is at 10:00 am.

We strive to make your visit as convenient as possible, but as a small, private educational facility (rather than a large resort or hotel) we must adhere to the procedures explained here.