What is an Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher?

Let's answer a question that continues to surface inside our sangha and from the those exploring the Yoga + Ayurveda Integration Pathway

Hi beautiful community 🧘🏻‍♀️

Let’s answer a question that continues to surface inside our sangha and from those exploring the Yoga and Ayurveda Integration Pathway.

What is an Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher?

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher is a yoga professional who understands not only how to guide asana, breath, and meditation, but also how to support seasonal living, daily rhythm, and constitutional awareness through the lens of Ayurveda.

This is not about diagnosing.

It is not about prescribing.

It is not about replacing licensed professionals.

It is about integration.

Yoga gives us the inner map.

Ayurveda gives us the outer rhythm.

Together, they create a framework for intelligent, compassionate teaching that honors both the individual and the season.

Yoga as the Inner Science

In Yoga and Ayurveda by David Frawley, we are reminded that yoga and Ayurveda were never meant to be separate systems. Yoga refines awareness. Ayurveda refines lifestyle.

Within our own curriculum, this integration is further supported by the authored works of Michelle Rae Sobi:

The Yoga Teacher by Michelle Rae Sobi

Hatha Salutations by Michelle Rae Sobi

Yoga Snippets by Michelle Rae Sobi

A Glimpse of Yoga — 2026 Edition by Michelle Rae Sobi

A Glimpse of Yoga — Workbook Companion by Michelle Rae Sobi

Integrated Yoga Pathway: The Workbook by Michelle Rae Sobi

These texts anchor professional identity, contemplative philosophy, functional movement literacy, reflective integration, and applied teaching methodology within the Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher pathway.

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher understands that:

• Asana influences the doshas

• Pranayama regulates internal climate

• Meditation steadies the nervous system

• Lifestyle choices influence resilience

They understand how sequencing impacts energy. How repetition builds stability. How subtle cues influence safety and agency.

This teacher does not teach one-size-fits-all classes. Instead, they observe patterns. They notice when a student may benefit from grounding. Or cooling. Or gentle stimulation.

They teach with discernment.

Ayurveda as Seasonal Intelligence

Ayurveda recognizes three primary constitutional patterns:

Vata

Pitta

Kapha

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher understands how these qualities show up in movement, breath, energy levels, and even classroom tone.

Instead of pushing intensity year round, they might:

• Emphasize grounding and warmth in autumn

• Offer cooling practices in peak summer

• Encourage activation and circulation in late winter

This is grandmother wisdom.

This is common sense.

This is accessible for the masses.

Tea as Everyday Integration

Tea becomes one of the most practical bridges between philosophy and daily life. Not as medicine. Not as prescription. But as seasonal ritual.

A warm cup of rooibos in autumn.

Cooling hibiscus in summer.

Ginger and cinnamon when the wind shifts.

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher may host sangha circles with tea, teach students how to notice how they feel after sipping something warming or cooling, and encourage curiosity over compliance.

This is gentle lifestyle awareness.

This is embodied learning.

Trauma-Informed Through an Ayurvedic Lens

Trauma-informed teaching is not a separate add-on. It is the foundation.

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher understands that nervous systems vary. That pace matters. That choice matters. That language matters.

Instead of labeling a student as Vata, Pitta, or Kapha, we speak in qualities. Grounding. Cooling. Uplifting. Stabilizing.

We offer options.

We normalize rest.

We regulate through breath before we intensify through movement.

Ayurveda gives language to patterns. Trauma-informed care ensures we use that language with humility and safety.

Professional Scope and Integrity

At Edge Yoga School, our Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher training is built on clear scope of practice and professional ethics. We integrate functional anatomy foundations inspired by Leslie Kaminoff while maintaining Yoga Alliance-aligned standards in Teaching Methodology, Anatomy and Physiology, Yoga Philosophy, Practicum, and Professional Essentials.

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher:

• Educates, not diagnoses

• Suggests, not prescribes

• Observes patterns without labeling people

• Encourages students to seek licensed care when appropriate

This pathway honors boundaries while deepening skill.

What Makes This Different

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher does not simply add tea to a workshop and call it integration.

They understand:

• How digestion influences energy

• How sleep rhythms affect nervous system regulation

• How breath patterns shift emotional state

• How subtle body awareness supports embodied teaching

They can design a dosha-informed class.

They can host a seasonal sangha.

They can guide a capstone project that integrates philosophy, anatomy, and lifestyle into real-world teaching.

This is applied learning.

This is embodied mentorship.

Who Is This For

This training is for teachers who want depth without dogma.

For professionals who want structure without rigidity.

For women building sustainable careers in wellness.

It is for those who want to say:

I understand yoga beyond postures.

I understand lifestyle beyond trends.

I understand how to support students without stepping outside my scope.

An Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher is not a clinician.

They are a guide.

A translator.

A seasonal anchor.

And perhaps most importantly, they model integration in their own lives.

With warmth and steady rhythm,

Michelle Rae Sobi

Edge Yoga School 🧘🏻‍♀️

MORE