Melanie Cooper
Lead Teacher Trainer – 300 hours, Yoga Nidra, Yin, Pranayama, Yoga AnatomyLead trainer on both flagship programmes, with decades of practice and teaching experience.
Read profile →Yoga Teachers’ Circle | Saha Gatherings online
with Melanie Cooper, Jennie Wadsten SharmaA meeting of teachers to connect, reflect, and grow together. Rooted in the Sanskrit word Saha, meaning "together", these gatherings invite yoga teachers, whether newly qualified or long–practising, into a supportive circle of shared wisdom, peer reflection, and quiet professional companionship.
Overview
All Courses
An online space to share, reflect, and grow together
Saha Gatherings bring teachers from the Shala School of Yoga – and those considering joining the school – into a supportive, reflective circle. Rooted in the Sanskrit word Saha, meaning "together," each session is a low–cost, low–pressure space to connect with other teachers as fellow practitioners.
There's no formal curriculum and no specific instruction. Instead, sessions unfold through meditation, sharing, chanting, and themed discussion. The Circle meets around six times a year, on weekends and occasional bank holidays sometimes online, sometimes in studio. Book any single date or all the dates to be part of our wider yoga teacher community. The shape of each gathering responds to who's in the room and what the group brings.
Whether you're navigating your first year of teaching or have decades behind you, Saha is a place to belong in community and be reminded that the questions and challenges you are faced with are shared, and that your teaching grows in the company of others.
Who is this course for?
Shala School of Yoga graduates
Yoga teachers in their first years of teaching
Experienced teachers seeking peer community
Teachers considering training with the Shala
Anyone looking for support, perspective, and connection in their teaching life
Anyone looking for support, perspective, and connection in their teaching life
What's included?
A guided opening meditation, offered by Gingi or someone in the group
A sharing circle – a safe space to bring teaching questions and reflections
Chanting and mantra
A themed group discussion shaped by what the room brings
A closing relaxation, offered by a member of the group
Direct access to senior Shala faculty in an informal setting
Connection to a wider community of Shala–affiliated teachers
£20
Course Dates
14 October 2026
2-4:30pm
Good to know
- Book any single session as a standalone or join us for all sessions – the Circle meets around six times a year, with no commitment to attend the full year.
- Open to Shala–affiliated teachers, Shala School graduates, and teachers considering joining the school.
- Each session is co–facilitated by Gingi alongside a rotating member of the Shala faculty.
- Sessions are informal
- Select bank transfer (BACS) at checkout to help us keep course fees down by lowering card processing charges.
- Cancellation: free to transfer to another Saha date up to 24 hours before the session. Cancellations within 24 hours are non–transferable and non–refundable.
- Prefer a different payment plan? Pay your deposit and email us to arrange. Full payment must be received before the course starts.
- Select bank transfer (BACS) at checkout — it helps us keep course fees down by lowering card processing charges.
- Bursary available: one 50% bursary place is offered each year. Learn more →
- FAQs Learn more →
- T&Cs Learn more →
Book Livestream View Dates
After this training, you will be...
01
A fresh perspective with new ideas, clarity, and encouragement from peers and faculty alike
02
A community to belong to – a safe space to stay connected to your purpose, energy, and the people who share the work
03
Personal growth able to reflect, explore, and step more fully into the teacher you're becoming
04
Practical support where you can name the hurdles of teaching, dismantle self–limiting beliefs, and gather strategies from those who've walked the same ground
What Our Students Say
What our students say
"Recommended to all yoga teachers at any stage of your teaching journey, a warm and supported place to discuss your challenges, share discoveries and ideas, and pick up some inspiration to fan the flames of the yoga teaching fire within you!"
YS"I've really enjoyed coming together with other fellow teachers to learn, share and inspire each other...[the team] created a space of openness and authentic sharing in which challenges and good practices were shared. This was a new, open format for a Saha gathering and it has a good scope to get shaped and grow to what participants- the yoga-teachers' community wants. I highly recommend it! In my view, it is a much needed platform for yoga-teachers to come together to support, share and shape yoga in a world challenged with political instability and fast technological advance. What better place to do that, than the Shala?"
JB
Gather together
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Share questions
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Practise in community
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Support one another
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Reflect honestly
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Belong here
Your teachers
Jennie Wadsten Sharma
Teacher Trainer · Yoga Nidra, Theming & Sequencing · E–RYT 500 & YACEP Read profile →Gallery
Course details
- Each Saha Gathering follows a gentle rhythm rather than a fixed agenda. A typical session moves through:
- Opening meditation – offered by a member of the group to centre and ground us
- Sharing circle – space to bring what's alive in your teaching and life
- Themed discussion – a topic chosen with the group, explored together
- Closing relaxation – offered by someone from the group to gather what's emerged
- Discussion themes are shaped by the room, but recurring threads include:
- Group dynamics and holding space for students
- Imposter syndrome and self–confidence
- Balancing personal practice with the demands of teaching
- Creativity in class design and sequencing
- Boundaries, energy, and sustainable teaching
- Finding your authentic teaching voice
- Building community and collaboration
- Sessions are anchored by Gingi Lee, co–director of the Shala and founder of the Shala School of Yoga, alongside a rotating co–facilitator drawn from the senior faculty. This pairing means each gathering brings two distinct voices and bodies of experience into the room – and over the course of a year, you'll meet a cross–section of the teachers who shape the Shala School.
- Saha was created for yoga teachers who have trained with the Shala or are considering doing so. If you've trained elsewhere and are drawn to the Shala's approach, you're warmly welcome too – just drop us a line first.
- Saha isn't a CPD module or a structured training. There's no curriculum to complete, no certification at the end, and no expectation that you attend every session. It's a space for community, reflection, and peer support – the quieter, less visible work of building a teaching life.
Course Dates
Course dates & schedule
18
Sunday · Oct
2-4:30
with Melanie Cooper & Jennie Wadsten
Future Cohort
This course will run again
Can't make the dates? This training roughly ever other month either in studio or online. Register your interest and we'll let you know when bookings open.
TBC
Livestream
Interested in this course?
Not ready to book yet — or want to hear about future dates? Register your interest and we'll be in touch with everything you need to know, including when new dates are announced.
No commitment required · No spam, ever · Priority notification of new dates