Private 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training

The daily 90 minute asana practice. We will alternate each day between vinyasa flow, and detailed and focused alignment peak pose sequences. 

You will be provided many opportunities to practice teach to your peers throughout the course. We actually start doing this on the first day of training. This is essential to prepare you to teach with confidence by the end of the training.

We’ll discuss fine details of over 40 poses. We’ll demonstrate the shape, provide basic and deepening instructional cues, explain common misalignments and contraindications, identify anatomic and energetic focus of the pose.

This in depth review of yoga poses, and systematic study process will provide you the foundation to teach any pose to your students

This is an icebreaker session at the beginning of the course that allows students to get to know each other through a fun session of partner poses and acro yoga. This process helps contribute to group function and teamwork. 

What is this thing that we call yoga, and how did it come to be? This entertaining lecture details the development of asana through discussion of modern masters like T. Krishnmacharya, B.K.S. Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Swami Sivananda, and more. You’ll trace the path of your yoga lineage all the way to this course.

The Yamas are yoga’s guiding principles of living ethically in the world. They inform us of how to behave outwardly.

We’ll discuss these principles in a way that allows them to be understood, practical and applicable to our practice and daily lives.

Yamas
Ahimsa – Non Violence
Satya – Truthfulness
Asteya – Non Stealing
Brahmacharya – Celibacy, or Moderation
Aparigraha – Non Hoarding

The Niyamas are another set of yoga’s guiding principles of living ethically in the world. They inform us of how we perceive the world around us internally.

We’ll discuss these principles in a way that allows them to be understood, practical and applicable to our practice and daily lives.

Niyamas
Soucha – Purity
Santosha – Contentment
Tapas – Self Discipline
Svadhyaya – Self Study
Ishvara Pranidhana – Surrender to a Higher Power

The first thing that most new yoga teachers do is teach yoga poses to others. It’s essential to have an understanding of anatomy in order to understand ranges of motion, and physical limitations. We feel that it is essential to teach anatomy in a way that is directly applicable and related to the yoga poses that you’ll often be teaching.

We streamline our anatomy sessions in order to focus on specific regions of the body:

Anatomy – Core
Anatomy – Respiration, Fascia, & Bandhas
Anatomy – Hips, Pelvic Girdle, & Thighs
Anatomy – Shoulder & Upper Arms
Anatomy – Spine, Ribs, Arms & Legs
Anatomy – The Trunk

Demonstrations are useful for teaching complex poses, or for situations when verbal instructions aren’t having the desired effect on your students. Demonstrations are another tool in your “toolbox” that will enable you to teach with clarity and precision. We’ll provide to you a solid system to maximize the efficiency of your demonstrations and improve their effectiveness in helping your students to understand their poses.

This workshop details how to create a peak pose sequence around a specific anatomic function of the body.

The peak pose sequence is designed to build incrementally towards a pose or a range of motion of the body. Pose actions are taught in more familiar poses and movements, and then the same actions are related to more complex variations.

In this workshop we’ll use a morning asana class as a case study to understand this sequencing methodology. We’ll break the morning sequence apart and then reconstruct it. This reverse engineering of a peak pose sequence will bring a lot of clarity to how you would approach your own sequencing.

As a group, we’ll create another peak pose sequence to fully understand the method, and then you’ll be given assignments to create your own peak pose sequence.

Feedback and guidance will be provided for the sequence that you create.

There is an energetic force (prana) that permeates everything  in the known universe. When we become aware of this energy, it transforms the way we view our practice, and our relationships with others. We become aware that even the laws of karma occur through prana. 

Chakras receive, assimilate, and transmit life force energy. Understanding how chakras are affected by yoga poses and by your breath will enable you to discover and awaken your energy within, to tap into, open, and utilize the powers, emotions, and qualities associated with these energy centers.

In Pranayama Theory, we’ll explore the yoga of breath control and its relationship to the mind (our intellect as well as our ego). We’ll examine how prana flows through the body; and what poses, postures, mudras, and breathing techniques are required for an optimal practice.

This course provides a starting point for this topic that will allow you to bring this into your practice as well as your students’.

Extensive pranayama practice and yoga kriyas are taught in our 300 Hour Teacher Training Course.

Some days of the training you will have an afternoon gentle hatha yoga class. This class is a thoughtful approach to pose work with attention to basic alignment and therapeutic principles. Observation of breath and mindfulness are an integral part of the class. 

You will be provided some time during the course to complete sequencing and reading assignments, and to practice teach your practicum sequence to a peer.

Following our discussion of the first 4 Limbs of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: Yamas, Niyamas, Asana, and Pranayama.

We’ll similarly relate the last 4 Limbs of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali in a way that is understandable, practical, and useful.

Pratyahara – Withdrawal from the material world, or sensory transcendence.
Dharana – Concentration on a single point, time, or place.
Dhyana – Meditation or contemplation; the uninterrupted flow of concentration.
Samadhi – The union of self with the object of meditation; the transcendence of self.

Receive insights for teaching with subtle, gentle grace, and learn to use props and aspects of Yin to bring a calm and tranquil experience to your asana classes.

Over an hour of practice of classical pranayama including: Conscious Breathing, Yogic Breath, Ujjayi, Kapalabhati, Surya Bheti, Swana, Nadi Shodanam, and Bhramari. 

A lecture on creating unique, entertaining, interesting, and exhilarating vinyasa sequences. 

Learn to develop and structure a vinyasa yoga class with various considerations for: form vs flow; the use of vinyasa to change from one side to the other, the use of vinyasa to notate changes within sections of the sequence; sequence vinyasa classes with consideration for range of motion, anatomy, and energy.

We’ll take a look at the numerous possibilities that we have each day to skip our yoga practices, and instead develop a strategy for staying consistent in our practice.

Sometimes we are so rigid in what our idea of a practice should be, that we easily talk ourselves out of practice. We’ll redefine what the scope of our practice can look like

We’ll teach you how to listen to your own intuitions to create your ideal practice, and serve your needs for any given day.

Adjusting helps you to be a better teacher and to understand student’s bodies as well as the intricacies of alignment.

Our method uses “Directional Touch” in a way that is consensual, supportive, and illuminating to your students.

We’ll go through an extensive list of poses and show you how to adjust for them in a way that is respectful, less risky, and just as effective in helping your students to understand their bodies.

The Bhagavad Gita is the quintessential yogic text that helps you learn to navigate life’s challenges and follow a yogic path. You’ll be required to read this text for your training, and we’ll discuss it in a group to bring clarity to these ancient teachings. 

We attempt to approach this topic in a non-dogmatic way, and relate the information in a way that can be practically applied to modern life.

Music
Many yoga studios require you to play music with your classes. This lecture draws from the direct experience of your teachers in order to highlight best practices and considerations for using music in your own classes.

Themes
Themes allow you to teach more than asana in your classes, and connect the practice back to the philosophies and traditions. We’ll provide you a system for interjecting small ideas into your classes, and for eventually expanding the scope of what you teach.

My business of yoga lecture is more thorough and practical than what other teachers can offer. I have personally worked as a freelance teacher hustling for classes and privates, I have worked at small boutique studios as well as commercial gyms and hot yoga studios, I have owned my own yoga and fitness studio, I have been the program manager at a mid sized resort with a team of people all working to bring my programs to life.

I can give you information about my direct experience in setting up the marketing for my programs, give you accurate expectations of your career trajectory, and give you actionable advice on landing your first teaching gigs, students, and clients.

Many of us have friends and family who desperately need to reconnect with their bodies, but have difficulty finding classes that are suitable for them. 

We’ll cover strategies for modifying yoga poses for a great variety of body types and individuals who might struggle in a regular drop in class.

An introduction to Ayurveda philosophy, doshas (constitutions), diet, lifestyle, energy systems and application methods.

As this is a yoga teacher training, each student will teach a a 90 minute asana class during the course and demonstrate their understanding of the course material. This course has a strong focus on teaching methodology, and students will be well prepared for this practicum. 

Each student practicum will be subject to teacher and peer review. Teacher reviews will contain objective standards derived from the content covered in the teaching methodology lectures. Students will be evaluated on such topics as: vocal technique, demonstration, adjustments, sequence, observation, time management, and additional criteria.

A discussion about dealing tactfully and respectfully to a number of situations that you might come across as a yoga teacher, and how adhering to Yamas and Niyamas can help guide your choices and decisions.