Restorative Yoga Teacher Training

Step into a week of deep study, rest, and restoration in Northern Portugal, where teacher training meets the spaciousness of a retreat. This immersive experience is designed to expand your understanding of restorative yoga while giving you time to integrate, replenish, and reconnect with the wisdom of rest. Surrounded by natural beauty, you will explore practices that support nervous system recalibration and the body’s own healing processes.

We would be delighted to support you on this journey. Ready to apply?

About Restorative Yoga

In a world that moves quickly and asks a great deal of us, restorative yoga offers a gentle invitation to slow down, soften, and find ease through supported postures and restful awareness.

As the body settles into each shape, the practice helps guide the nervous system away from chronic stress and toward a deeper state of relaxation, integration, and healing. This shift from the sympathetic “fight, flight, or freeze” response into the parasympathetic “rest and digest” state supports not only the physical body, but also emotional and mental well-being.

Because stress affects everyone in different ways, restorative yoga has become a valuable practice for all levels and experience types. It can be especially supportive for those navigating burnout, chronic stress, fatigue, chronic pain, generalized anxiety, digestive concerns, immune challenges, or recovery from serious injury.

Although it may appear simple, restorative yoga can be profoundly challenging. Many people who move easily through vigorous vinyasa classes find it difficult to fully release into stillness. The role of the restorative yoga teacher is to create the right conditions for ease, reminding students that rest is a skill, not just the absence of effort, and that it can be cultivated with patience, support, and care.

Benefits of Restorative Yoga

• Reduces stress and anxiety by calming the mind and encouraging relaxation
• Supports nervous system health through activation of the parasympathetic response
• Improves sleep quality and may help with insomnia
• Releases muscle tension without strain or exertion
• Supports immune function by reducing stress load
• Increases mindfulness and self-awareness through slower, more present practice
• Can assist with pain management by helping the body and mind reset
• Encourages mental clarity and emotional balance for everyday life

About The Restorative Teacher Training

This in-depth training is designed to immerse you in the art of guiding students toward deep rest and renewal. You will gain both the knowledge and practical experience needed to confidently share the benefits of restorative yoga.

The curriculum covers the full scope of restorative yoga, from its philosophical roots and intentions to its effects on the nervous system and overall well-being. A self-authored manual offers detailed guidance on more than 32 restorative postures, giving you a wide range of adaptable options for different needs. Each asana will be reviewed together, with space for questions and refinement in an interactive setting.

A central focus of the training is learning how to hold emotionally safe space. Through calming atmosphere, mindful communication, intentional sequencing, and thematic development, you will build the subtle skills needed to support this practice with confidence and sensitivity.

This training is open to certified teachers seeking continuing education as well as dedicated students who want to deepen their personal practice. Whether you hope to share restorative yoga with others or explore greater balance within yourself, you are warmly welcome.

By the end of the training, you will feel prepared to integrate restorative techniques into your current teaching or design full-length restorative yoga sessions and workshops.

Our Course Curriculum Includes:

• The intent, benefits, and method of restorative yoga
• Using props and creating a restorative environment
• The ancient origins and intentions of yoga
• The modern therapeutic development of restorative yoga
• The science of stress and the sympathetic nervous system
• The physiology of rest and the parasympathetic response
• The vagus nerve and enteric nervous system
• Anatomical overview of key joints and muscles
• Detailed tutorials for 32+ restorative poses and variations
• Propping techniques and adaptable strategies
• Subtle energetics and pranayama for rest
• Sequencing principles and class frameworks
• Developing themes and effective teaching language
• Case studies and therapeutic applications
• Holding safe and supportive space

Who is this Training / Retreat for?

Whether you want to share restorative yoga with your community or cultivate more equilibrium in your own nervous system, this immersion is open to you.

• Certified Yoga Teachers | Deepen your studies, expand your teaching repertoire, and refine your skills with the tools to lead restorative yoga classes and workshops. You will receive course materials, class structures, and strategies for supporting both group dynamics and individual needs. You will also learn how to adapt the practice for different settings, with more or fewer props. By attending all course hours, you will complete the program with confidence, clarity, and certification in restorative yoga.
• Those Beginning their Teaching Journeys | If you are new to teacher training but drawn to restorative yoga, this is a strong and supportive place to begin. The course offers a solid foundation for learning and growth. Complete all scheduled hours to earn your first certificate and begin guiding others in the art of rest.
• Students Deepening their Self-Practice | If you love restorative yoga and are looking for a reflective pause in a retreat-like setting, this immersion offers a beautiful opportunity to step outside daily routine and rest and recover. You may join all course sessions and learn how to bring restorative yoga into your everyday life. Certification is available for those attending all course hours, though teaching professionally is entirely your choice.

Why Take This Immersion?

• Pause the pace of life and immerse yourself in restorative yoga
• Nourish yourself in a retreat setting while learning sustainable self-care
• Expand your understanding of restorative practices and prop work
• Explore the science and subtleties of the nervous system in yoga
• Develop the skill of holding space through sequencing, language, and theming
• Grow as a teacher with greater versatility and confidence
• Share the wisdom of rest with your students and community

About Your Guide

Eva Maxine Hamilton

Eva Maxine Hamilton is the Director of Source Yoga and Lead Yoga Teacher Trainer. A Canadian yoga educator, she specializes in slow, supported, and soulful yin yoga and restorative yoga. She completed her first yoga training at 17 and has taught full time since 2008. After owning a studio in Canada for many years, she began traveling and teaching internationally.

Her gentle approach is supported by deep knowledge of anatomy, functional movement, the mind-body connection, and the human nervous system. Before becoming a yoga teacher, Eva studied religious studies at university and developed a strong understanding of philosophy and mysticism.

She specializes in applied anatomy, yoga philosophy, teaching methodology, posture clinics and alignment, injury prevention, myofascial release, and more. Eva has completed over 1000 hours of yoga study and is registered as a Yoga Alliance YACEP continuing education provider.

Her intention is to create a supportive and nourishing space for self-exploration, with emphasis on internal experience, self-empathy, kindness, and curiosity on and off the mat.

As a teacher trainer, her goal is to elevate the standard of yoga teacher trainings and support the development of knowledgeable, confident, and compassionate teachers who embody what they teach and share it in their communities.

Welcome to the Source

Set within a beautifully restored 400-year-old Quinta, also known as Quinta do Outeiro, this retreat blends history, nature, and modern comfort. Located in the village of Cidadelhe, it overlooks rolling hills and is surrounded by grape vines and olive trees.

Wander through the vineyards, pick lemons or oranges from the gardens, enjoy meals by the fire in the medieval dining room, and practice beneath the starry constellations painted on the yoga room ceiling. Rest in hammocks, relax by the plunge pool, and then retreat to your shared or private room.

Seven years of love and labour have gone into creating this space. It is a place to slow down, reconnect, and rest deeply in a setting that feels both unique and welcoming.

Rooms + Rates | Where You'll Rest

Guest rooms are inspired by the plants and produce grown in the gardens, with views over the vines and surrounding landscape. Depending on the retreat or training, nine bedrooms may be available, including private and shared accommodation.

Romã | Pomegranate Dorm Room

Cozy 4-person room with bunkbeds, privacy partitions, reading lights, charging points, and an en-suite bathroom.

€1400 per person (early bird)
€1500 per person (after June 1st, 2027)

Figo | Fig Triple Room

Overlooking the fig tree, this triple room includes three single beds, an ensuite bathroom, and storage space.

€1500 per person (early bird)
€1600 per person (after June 1st, 2027)

Double Rooms | Limão or Laranja

Sunny double rooms with two single beds, custom handcrafted headboards, and an ensuite bathroom.

€1600 per person (early bird)
€1700 per person (after June 1st, 2027)

Azeitona or Uva | Private Rooms

Private rooms with an antique double bed, a window reading nook, and your own ensuite bathroom.

€1800 per person (early bird)
€1900 per person (after June 1st, 2027)

Flor de Protea | Deluxe Private Room

A romantic room with high ceilings, an antique four-poster double bed, and a bespoke bathroom with tile mural.

€2000 per person (early bird)
€2100 per person (after June 1st, 2027)

Training Investment

Prices range from €1400 to €2100, based on room choice. Rates increase by €100 after June 1st, 2027. Your training/retreat package includes:

• Course tuition with comprehensive instruction and guidance
• Seven nights of accommodation in cozy guest rooms with private en-suite bathrooms
• Three delicious daily meals made fresh with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients
• Fruit, tea, coffee, and water throughout the day
• Access to Source Retreat amenities, including the plunge pool and outdoor spaces
• A fully equipped yoga studio with all the props needed for practice
• A full-color printed manual and course materials