Yoga Nidra · Perugia, Italy
Residential retreat format of the Total Yoga Nidra Teacher & Facilitator Training by Uma Dinsmore-Tuli PhD and Nirlipta Tuli MA. Held in Perugia, Italy. IAYT-accredited professional development.
The Total Yoga Nidra Teacher and Facilitator Training, in-person residential format, is run by Yoga Nidra Network under Uma Dinsmore-Tuli PhD and Nirlipta Tuli MA at a residential venue in Perugia, Italy. The training carries the same Total Yoga Nidra approach as the network's twelve-week online format and the same IAYT APD recognition (Approved Professional Development from the International Association of Yoga Therapists), delivered as an intensive residential retreat rather than as weekly online sessions. The Perugia format suits practitioners who want immersive in-person training with a defined start and end rather than the longer online cadence. Residential immersion provides the kind of practice saturation that distance-learning formats can't easily replicate: shared meals, group practice sessions across the day, sustained personal reflection time, and direct face-to-face contact with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, Nirlipta Tuli, and the assembled cohort. Like the online version, the curriculum draws on multiple Yoga Nidra lineages: the Bihar School of Yoga (Swami Satyananda), the Himalayan Institute (Swami Rama), the iRest protocol (Richard Miller), the Amrit method (Yogi Amrit Desai and Kamini Desai), and earlier tantric and Vedantic sources. Total Yoga Nidra teaches the underlying principles common across these traditions rather than a single fixed protocol, equipping graduates to facilitate Yoga Nidra flexibly across populations and contexts. Perugia itself, as the venue, supports the immersion. Italy's Umbrian region is geographically and culturally well-suited to residential retreats, with quiet rural infrastructure that draws practitioners from across Europe and beyond. Cohort size is moderate, designed for direct teacher contact and sustained group practice. Travel and accommodation costs are practitioner-borne; the residential format means the program isn't accessible to practitioners unable to travel, which is why Yoga Nidra Network offers the parallel online format for distance students.
Same Total Yoga Nidra curriculum as the online format. Foundational Yoga Nidra theory (tantric and Vedantic sources, the Bihar School protocol, the Himalayan Institute approach, the iRest method, the Amrit framework, and underlying principles common across lineages including systematic body rotation, sankalpa, paired opposites, breath awareness, visualization, and meditative absorption). Facilitation pedagogy covers voice cadence and modulation, working with groups versus one-to-one, adapting session length, and integrating Yoga Nidra into yoga teaching, therapy practice, women's-health work, sleep support, and trauma-informed contexts. The residential format adds intensive immersion not available in the online cadence: sustained group practice across days, extended personal practice time, immersive engagement with the underlying practice principles, and the kind of practitioner formation that comes from sharing the retreat container with the cohort and teachers.
Delivery is fully residential at Perugia, Italy. Days combine teaching sessions, group Yoga Nidra practice, personal practice time, peer practicum, and shared meals. Cohort size is moderate, allowing direct contact with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, Nirlipta Tuli, and senior co-teachers. The intensive format compresses the same curriculum as the twelve-week online version into a residential retreat container, which suits practitioners who can travel and prefer immersive learning to extended weekly engagement.
Graduates receive Total Yoga Nidra Teacher and Facilitator Training certification from Yoga Nidra Network, IAYT-accredited as APD. The credential qualifies graduates to facilitate Yoga Nidra in yoga teaching, therapy practice, women's health, sleep support, trauma-informed work, and community contexts. The credential is identical in scope to the online format graduates' credential.
Open to practitioners with at least some prior Yoga Nidra experience as participants. No specific yoga teacher credential is required, though many candidates come from yoga teaching backgrounds. Practitioners must be able to travel to Italy for the residential retreat dates. Specific prerequisites and application processes are listed on Yoga Nidra Network's site for each cohort.
Compared with the Yoga Nidra Network online format, the Perugia retreat is more immersive and shorter in duration but requires travel. Compared with Amrit Yoga Institute's online I AM certification, this is multi-lineage and residential rather than single-method on-demand. Compared with iRest Yoga Nidra training, Total Yoga Nidra covers iRest as one of several lineages rather than focusing exclusively on the Richard Miller protocol. Compared with weekend Yoga Nidra certificates, this is a substantively longer immersion with senior teacher contact.
| Location | Perugia, Italy |
| Country | Italy |
| Tradition | Yoga Nidra |
| Format | In-person |
| Training hours | 36 |
| Duration | Intensive retreat |
| Accreditation | IAYT APD |