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Santosha Yoga Institute: Online Yoga Business Course

Course program

The Online Yoga Business Course by Santosha Yoga Institute is a self-paced training for yoga teachers and soulful entrepreneurs who want to build a sustainable practice. Taught by Mel Dolan, it blends practical business strategy with energetic and spiritual grounding, treating the business itself as part of the teacher’s path of service.

This course is for yoga teachers, healers, and soulful entrepreneurs who want to grow a business that aligns with their values, as well as for those exploring whether teaching could become their work. No prior business experience is required, and the page describes the program as suitable for anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of yoga business — newer teachers and established practitioners alike.

The curriculum is organised into nine modules. Module 1, Who You Are as a Teacher, focuses on gaining clarity on your uniqueness, defining your offerings, and using a Financial Blueprint template to set prices and connect with ideal clients. Module 2, Setting Up for Success, lays the foundation for thriving as a teacher, coach, mentor, or guide. Module 3, Taking Your Business Online, explores the energetics and pragmatics of moving into the online space. Module 4, Teaching From Integrity, looks at integrity’s magnetic effect on business and how to embody what you want for students.

Module 5, Spread the Word and Service, covers authentic marketing from a place of heart-led service. Module 6, Energy Hygiene, introduces Kundalini-based practices that support a sustainable business. Module 7, Mastering Abundance Mindset, offers tools to move from scarcity to abundance and reprogram limiting beliefs. Module 8, Planning and Hosting Retreats, walks through hosting retreats, working with venues, self-sufficient retreats, and one-on-one retreats. Module 9, Online Courses and Programs, covers creating transformative online journeys.

The course is led by Mel Dolan, a Liberation Coach, Healer, and Teacher based in Tulum, Mexico who left a career in finance in 2016 to build a globally operating yoga and healing practice. She holds Kundalini Yoga, Hatha and Vinyasa, and Yin Yoga teaching certifications, along with Havening trauma-informed practice, Contact Beyond Contact healing dance, Reiki, and Integrative Nutrition health coach credentials.

The course is delivered as fully self-paced online learning, combining video lectures with live online mentoring and support. Santosha says the nine modules can be completed in five intensive days or stretched out part-time for those who need more time. Students learn from home and progress through the material at their own speed.

Graduates receive Santosha Yoga Institute’s 25 Hour Elevate Your Soulful Business Certificate. Because Santosha is a registered Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP), the course also counts as 25 hours of Continuing Education Units toward an existing RYT-200 or RYT-500 registration. For Yoga Alliance International students it counts as 50 hours along the Yoga Teaching pathway.

Meet your teacher

Mel Dolan

Mel Dolan is a Liberation Coach, Healer, and Teacher based in Tulum, Mexico. A former finance consultant who left the corporate world in 2016, she now leads yoga, healing, and business mentorship across in-person and online programs spanning Bali, Morocco, and Portugal.

Read more about Mel
Mel Dolan

Host reviews

  • Lyn Russell

    I held my workshop on Saturday afternoon. It was a practice run through with my husband to see how the format went and how I went! I absolutely loved it, and so did my husband. Overall, doing the practice run through was great as I now feel confident to advertise and run the workshop for a small group of people! Thank you so much for sharing all of your experience, knowledge and wisdom. I would never have had the confidence or the knowledge to pursue this without you.

  • Elisa Santamaria

    The online material was so thorough and informative that I never felt I was lost or missing something. Learning via online was easy with Santosha because their online platform was well organized. It took the doubt of online learning completely away. The teachers were also amazing! My experience of training with Santosha gave me a whole different understanding of yoga. The mental, spiritual, meditative side of yoga was so beneficial to my life and especially in these crazy times we are in currently.

  • Héloïse Lambert

    I never thought I could feel such a strong sense of community, love and passion through my laptop! The courses are well organized and very complete. I have learned so much. The challenging part for me was to deconstruct what I had learned in my own yoga practice, in order to teach in a safe way for my future students. My life has been turned upside down with the COVID crisis. This training not only gave me new future perspectives, it also helped me go through a difficult time and listen to myself. I can only recommend!

  • Melanie Ceveri

    I'm so grateful that this opportunity came up and I was able to learn from the most wonderful and knowledgeable instructors from around the world. There is so much to learn and I have been fully supported both during the course and ongoing. I've come away with such amazement at what I learnt as yoga is really so much more than I thought. I'm so happy to have found answers and I want to share my love for yoga with all.

  • Katie McDonagh, Australia

    The Santosha 200hr YTT course is the kindest, most loving and most caring thing I have ever invested in for myself. I had been interested in becoming a yoga teacher for a long time and this course was more incredible than I could have ever imagined. It truly is a ‘yoga experience filled with love.

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