TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS

If you run a yoga studio or teacher training program and want to offer the highest quality curriculum possible, you need an excellent teaching team. And if you’re like most studio owners I know, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed with the amount of content you need to cover in order to deliver the highest caliber training course possible. This is where I come in. Yoga is a huge subject of study, and inevitably, some of the topics are closer to your heart than others. Maybe you love asana but get lost with philosophy. Maybe you’re fanatical about anatomy, but can’t stand teaching posture clinics.

What I do is help studio owners craft powerfully rich training programs by collaborating with their existing teaching team to deliver a comprehensive course with tremendous value. Sometimes that means I join a course for 2 days. Other times it might mean we work together for months.

Here are Some Teaching Modules I Love to Teach:

• Sanskrit
• Anatomy
• History/Philosophy
• Women’s Yoga- Prenatal, Post-partum, and Menstruation

CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR TEACHERS*

If you want to keep your yoga teaching staff inspired, educated, and passionate about their teaching, then my continuing education programs could be just what you need to help your existing teachers shine like stars.

Inspired teachers are magnets and make it easy to grow and expand your community naturally. There will be lots of interaction, exercises and practice teaching! To give you an idea of how it works, here are some modules that I have developed in collaboration with studio owners in the past: the possibilities are endless.

Here are My Most Popular Continuing Education Modules:

Balanced Body- This is an alignment fundamentals workshop. We look at each joint in the body and how it works in each category of pose. This is a prerequisite for Balanced Body and Rolfing for Yogis.

Balanced Body (part II)- Body-Specific Alignment- After learning the fundamentals of alignment in our own practice, we go a step further to observe patterns in others and identify common problems.

Rolfing for Yogis- We use Rolfing principles of intrinsic/extrinsic balance, the “Line”, and core/sleeve balance to enhance our own practices. Then we learn hands-on Rolfing techniques to deepen our understanding of touch and adjustments.

Sanskrit Alphabet- In this class, we will learn the various mouth positions imperative for Sanskrit pronunciation. We will begin to identify the written alphabet, Devanagari, with the sounds. We will also introduce the transliteration. We will conclude with pronunciation of several yoga asana.

Sanskrit Alphabet continued into Chanting the Yoga Sutra In this class, we will review mouth position and we will chant the alphabet itself several times. Next we will begin to learn how to read chanting marks, as we begin to chant the yoga sutra. We will look at some of the main roots in the first 12 yoga sutra of the first chapter, Sadhana Pada.

Dynamics of Yoga Asana- Each of these classes will focus on the physical, physiological, and emotional effects of the given category of postures. For example, what are forward bends? What do they have in common with one another? When should we practice them? What are counter indications? Do they have universal effects? Then we will experience a practice designed to deepen our understanding (through experience) of this category of postures.

• Standing Poses
• Forward Bends
• Backbends
• Twists
• Inversions

Prana and Apana-

Composition of a Class- Sequencing to Samadhi Where to Begin
How to Construct an Intelligent class- brainstorming of themes

Basic sequencing principles, within the scope of Vinyasa yoga

Discussion of underlying principles of sequencing in Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga.

Posing and Counterposing- Ha-tha Yoga
What is hatha yoga? How does its meaning play out in yoga practice? What are the basic laws of counterposing? While this is related to the “sequencing”, we will look more specifically at the biomechanics- for example, we will look at questions like “which twists never follow backbends?”

Bandhas—Easy to Say, Hard to Do
Each of these classes would include lecture, asana, pranayama, and meditation designed to illuminate an genuine experience of the bandhas.

• Mula Bandha
• Uddiyana Bandha
• Jalandhara Bandha

*NOTE: Continuing education programs can be offered to teachers AND experienced students as well.