Learn to gather a room.

A Den teacher’s whole brief sits in that opening sentence, which is why the training is weighted toward practice rather than theory.

You are not here to memorise anatomy and leave with a binder. You are here to stand at the front of a room, say the thing out loud, get it wrong, and say it again better.

Worth being straight about the difference. For reformer, we think what we do is singular — and every single reformer teacher on our schedule came through this training. Yoga and spin are broader fields with a great deal of excellent teaching in them already. We are proud of those trainings and we are also not going to pretend we invented the discipline.

Each day builds the knowledge, movement skills and teaching confidence needed for the final teach-out. Nothing is held back for later.

• Day 1 · Foundations + Core Series The Den method, machine basics, spring logic, core poses, cueing and sequencing.
• Day 2 · Lower-Body Series Leg and glute sequences with spring settings, alignment and modifications.
• Day 3 · Core + Lower-Body Practice Revisit the material, practise transitions, and start teaching the sequence out loud.
• Day 4 · Upper-Body Series Arm and strap work — posture, control, timing, safe progressions.
• Day 5 · Music + Full-Class Practice Layer cueing, rhythm, countdowns, musicality and instructor presence.
• Day 6 · Final Teach-Out Teach a complete segment, get real feedback, and go through what teaching here involves.

You do not need to be a teacher, and you do not need to want to become one. Plenty of people take these to go deeper on their own practice, or because they already teach somewhere else and want another thing in their hands.

What we would ask for is some ground under you. Take a few of our classes first, or come in with a real history of group fitness somewhere else. Someone who has never been in a class like this before will spend the weekend learning what the room feels like instead of learning to teach it, and that is a waste of your money.

Spin is the one with an actual requirement: 25 Den spin classes before the start date. Everything else is on your judgement.

Teaching here afterwards is a real possibility rather than a promise — but it is worth knowing that for reformer it is the only route, and we hire out of these rooms first.

• 50-hour certifications — $2,000, or four monthly payments of $529.
• 25-hour Yin & Meditation — $900.
• 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training — $4,200. Payment plan available.

Cancel more than 30 days out and half the tuition is refunded. Inside 30 days it becomes credit toward a future training rather than disappearing.

If you are a military spouse, read this first

The SpouseWorks Scholarship (formerly MyCAA) provides eligible military spouses with up to $4,000 toward career training — licences, certifications, continuing education. Our trainings qualify.

Against a $2,000 certification that is the whole thing. Against the 200-hour it covers nearly all of it. It is open to qualifying spouses of active-duty, National Guard and reserve members across all ranks.

We do not administer this and cannot apply on your behalf — it has to go through the SpouseWorks website directly. Start there before you pay us anything.

Chelsey Lowe, E-RYT, founded The Den. She leads the Spin and Yoga Sculpt trainings, and still turns up in the others. Certified across Vinyasa, Yin, Yoga Sculpt, Spin and Pilates Sculpt, with 14+ years teaching and a background training professional and collegiate athletes.

Sarabeth Jackson leads the Yin and Meditation training, and is joining the 200-hour and the yoga sequencing work. She has lived and taught on the North Shore since 2007, started practising in 2009 and has been teaching since 2015. Her certifications run through Yoga Nidra, Ayurveda, yoga philosophy, Thai massage and Polyvagal Theory, picked up across Thailand, Florida and Hawaiʻi. She came to this from social work, and in 2018 won a Lululemon Here to Be grant for teaching in communities that do not usually get offered it.

Maddie Rice leads the Reformer Pilates Sculpt training — the first graduate of ours to do it, and the one who now runs the weekend she once sat through as a student. She spent two years too nervous to walk through the door, took the class anyway, came through the training, and now teaches on the schedule and runs the scheduling across every studio.

More about the team →

Do I have to want to teach at The Den?

No. Plenty of people take these while teaching somewhere else, or purely to go deeper on their own practice. We do hire out of them, and for reformer it is the only way in, but that is an option rather than the point.

Can I get insured afterwards?

Yes. Graduates can apply for group fitness or yoga instructor insurance with the certificate of completion, and the course materials include the links and guidance.

Is it recognised nationally?

The trainings meet CEU standards and are approved through NASM/AFAA, and carry 50 hours of Yoga Alliance CEUs. The 200-hour is Yoga Alliance registered in its own right.

What if I have never done anything like this?

Come to a few classes first. Not as a rule we enforce — as advice. You will get far more out of the weekend if the room is already familiar.

What if I have to pull out?

More than 30 days before the start, half the tuition comes back. Inside 30 days it becomes credit toward a future training.