Yoga
Teacher Training Curriculum
Hatha Yoga Training
Hatha Yoga is the
backbone of Yoga culture and of whole living. Ha means
sun and Tha means moon which is the art of balancing
these subtle life energies. We all know the importance
of having a strong, healthy, vital body that energizes
and frees the mind to explore its own depths. The Training
curriculum ensures the participant will understand Yoga’s
“roots” and precisely how the asanas work
to produce remarkable results in maintaining health,
youth and longevity. You will learn about performing
asanas correctly and how to instruct and adjust others.
You will learn pranayama, the power of breath, how to
instruct and the mistakes to avoid. We assist you with
developing your own personal practice and in developing
your teaching presentation. There are practice teaching
and small group feedback-practice sessions. Participants
learn several Yoga forms as well as The Flow Series,
an empowering vinyasa Yoga sequence which combines asana,
pranayama and meditation.
Our approach evolves out of years of study, personal
practice and experience with thousands of students.
It is a synthesis of our insights and discoveries and
includes what we consider to be the best from leading
forms of Hatha Yoga practiced today. We use Iyengar's
precision and alignment, classical Yoga's traditional
wisdom, Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois' vinyasa,
Joel Kramer's lines of energy and edges and Ujjayi breath
Yoga. Not bound to any specific form, you will be encouraged
to learn to use what is appropriate for you and your
students and to develop a teaching style that is sensitive
and evolving.
Yoga Curriculum
- Origins of Yoga
- How Yoga works
- How to prolong vitality with Yoga
- How each asana affects the body’s systems
- Pranayama—Yoga breathing and vital energy
- How to instruct intelligently and correctly
- Restructuring the body through precision and alignment
- Dealing with problem cases and injuries
- Awakening and listening to the body’s intelligence
- The ten bodily systems
- Body mechanics
- Internal Yogic cleansing techniques
- Combining asana, pranayama and meditation
- Classical, Iyengar, and Flowing Hatha Yoga
- Developing a personal practice
Diet, Nutrition and Health
We teach the basic
principles applicable to everyone and the essential
elements of optimum nutrition leading to health, energy
and longevity.
Nutrition Curriculum
- What is an optimum health diet?
- What are healing and therapeutic diets?
- Holistic health and healing
- Vegetarian diet and superior nutrition
- Finding the right foods for your body
Meditation and Yoga
Meditation has
been called the heart of Yoga. Meditation transforms
the quality of one’s life and is the beginning
of wisdom. Meditation is not a mechanical, repetitive
action, but the awakening of attention, perception and
insight in all areas of life. True meditation brings
about freedom and awareness which can never be the result
of mechanized practice of “techniques.”
One who has discovered meditation in action has tremendous
mental and creative power. In the In-Depth Training
we will have the opportunity to discover together the
nature of meditation as well as explore some of the
many different systems in proliferation today. “Meditation
cannot be taught, but meditation can be learned”.
Meditation Curriculum
- Meditation that is not mechanical practice
- The nature of thought and the place of knowledge
- Nature, relationship, silence and inquiry
- Facts, fads, fallacies about meditation
- Finding the sacred in life
- Meditation as all of life
Other Course Topics
To insure a broad
foundation and understanding of the physical, mental
and spiritual dimensions of Yoga the following important
subjects will be discussed:
- India: Birthplace of Yoga
- Important Sanskrit terms
- Chakras—a practical, scientific presentation
of the mystical
- Major Yoga systems: Bhakti, Raja, Karma, Jnana,
Tantra, Kundalini
- Yoga philosophy and essential principles
- Hints, Aids and Inspiration for a lifelong practice
Right Livelihood and the Yoga Teacher
Many participants
in our In-Depth Training choose to earn their living
while teaching and practicing Yoga. Yoga has traditionally
been noncommercial yet Yoga teachers must support themselves.
There are many ways of attaining this balance—earning
a living without sacrificing the spirit. We share together
from over thirty year’s experience of creating
and operating two of the most successful Yoga institutes,
the White Lotus Retreat in Santa Barbara and the Center
for Yoga in Los Angeles. We also discuss creating classes,
courses and workshops without having a physical center.
White Lotus is one of the pioneering organizations that
inspired the expanding Yoga movement today. Many of
our graduates have established successful centers or
class programs all over the world.
Teacher’s Curriculum
- How to begin instructing
- Yoga, an expression or profession?
- Formulation of curriculum
- Class themes and formats
- Setting up classes, seminars and courses
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Our training is open to all levels of students. It is an exciting, transformational experience with daily classes, Fire Circlelegendary vegetarian cuisine, outings, music, ceremony and a time of learning and celebration. Participants from around the world share that the training has been one of the greatest gifts they have ever given themselves.
