Hybrid Teacher Training Course

the school

The next TTC will start in January 2025.
For info and applications: amanda@thisisyoga.org

The development of a conscious practice is the heart of our Yoga Teacher Training.

The practice and understanding of the various techniques of Hatha Yoga is the focus of the course, which includes the in-depth study of:

preparatory exercises
asanas
pranayamas
shatkarmans, bandhas, mudras
meditation techniques

The theoretical classes will enrich, structure and explain the practice, its origins, evolution, application, effects, accessibility, and safety, giving you valuable tools to guide yourself and others in a responsible and creative way. You’ll learn about:

anatomy and physiology
pedagogy, ethics, psychology
chakra theory
history and philosophy of yoga

In the journey of the training, both as student and as future teacher, the unfolding of your natural potentialities, inclinations and creativity is considered of enormous value, and will be stimulated from the very beginning.

COURSE STRUCTURE

The Training takes place over 2 years for a total of 460 class hours or 600+ teaching units / Unterrichtseinheiten.
An additional 5 to 10 hours of self-practice/study per week are suggested to take the best out of the training and gradually prepare for the mid-term and final exams, but left to your discretion.

Our Hybrid Teacher Training alternates in-presence and online learning hours, keeping a balance between the accessibility of the online format and the in-depth experience of an intensive practice during the retreats and in-person weekends.

It includes:

online training weekends
9x/year, one weekend/month, Saturday and Sunday, 9 am – 1 pm
in-person training weekends in Berlin (can also be joined online)
2x/year, one weekend/month, Saturday 10 am – 4.30 pm and Sunday 11 am – 5.30 pm
1-week retreats in Italy
1x/year in summer, an opportunity to experience the benefits of an intense yoga practice, with space for revision and application of theory, and the practice of teaching skills such as hands-on or partner excercises.
online practice sessions of 90 min
20/year, twice/month, Mon and Thu 6-7.30 pm, dedicated to the practice of teaching, practice revision, and Q&A
50+ pre-recorded theory classes
online theory Q&A sessions of 90 min
12x/year, once/month, Monday 6 – 7.30 pm, to answer all your questions and self-assess month by month the integration of the theoretical elements of the training

All online sessions will be recorded and made available to the students for revision.
During the in-person weekends, the hours dedicated to the introduction of new practices can also be joined via online streaming and will be recorded. This option will not be available during the retreats.

The school provides videos and technical info sheets for each Yoga practice included in the program. Detailed and thorough handouts are also provided for the study of the chakras, anatomy, and philosophy and history of yoga.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The program is structured into 8 modules. The first module is introductory; the next seven are each organized in relation to the 7 Chakras.

Each teaching module is a complete immersion in a specific dimension of energy, with the corresponding practices and theory. This allows the yogic experience to be easily integrated with one’s daily life and stimulates awareness and personal growth, while the progression from the 1st to the 7^th Chakra leads to an understanding and internalization of gradually more and more subtle aspects of energy, planes of knowledge, and experiences.

This structure also facilitates:
– the memorization of functions and effects of each practice
– the substitution of a practice with more accessible ones
– the creation of targeted and meaningful sequences

Each module is covered over a period of 3 months (see Calendar) and includes:

PRACTICE

Preparatory Exercises (PE)
Introduction and practice of the preparatory exercises, whose purpose and effect is to stimulate awareness of the body and movement, release tensions, warm up muscles and joints and enter into a state of listening.
Shatkarman, Bandha e Mudra (SBM)
The Shatkarman are psychophysical purification techniques, used in Hatha Yoga to eliminate physical obstacles to the practice, especially those generated by excess of Kapha element. Bandha and Mudra are extremely important practices of control and direction of the vital energy.
Asana (A)
The positions of Hatha Yoga. The program includes the practice and detailed explanation of more than 100 Asanas, together with variations to make them accessible to particular needs or physical limitations, dynamic variations, practices with a partner (limited to some postures), effects, benefits and possible contraindications.
Pranayama (P)
This term refers to Yoga breathing exercises. You will learn the fundamental techniques (abdominal, thoracic, clavicular breathing), Full Yogic Breath, Pranayamas with the use of Mantras, the classical Pranayamas, and various dynamic breathing practices specific to the Pranayoga Method®, which are aimed at promoting the deepening and a complete awareness of the breath.
Meditation: Dharana e Dhyana (DD)
Concentration is the fixation of the mind on a single object (YS III, 1)
Concentration (Dharana) is a primary and fundamental state of Yoga and is present, with different nuances, at every level of the practice. It arises spontaneously as an effect of an attention that is focused on increasingly subtle elements, thanks to the reduction of the tamasic and rajasic energies in the body and mind and the accumulation and stabilization of Prana in the Chakras.
Meditation (Dhyana), also called the ‘fourth state of mind’, is a particular psychophysical condition that allows contact between individual and cosmic consciousness. The three common states of mind – wakefulness, sleep and deep sleep – are overcome and integrated into a higher level of perception.
Different meditation techniques will be explored and experimented, both live (online and in-person) and through recordings.

THEORY

Anatomy and Physiology (pre-recorded classes + live Q&A once/month)
Within a general overview, some topics particularly relevant to the practice will be examined, such as the respiratory, osteo-muscular, and nervous systems, aimed at a detailed understanding of the effects, benefits and contraindications of the individual techniques of Yoga.
History and Philosophy (pre-recorded classes + live Q&A once/month)
A general overview of Indian Philosophy with in-depth study of some central themes, such as the classical Upanishads and the Upanishads of Yoga, Samkhya and the Yoga Sutras, the basic texts of Hatha Yoga, Tantrism and the origins of modern Yoga.
Chakra Theory (pre-recorded classes + live Q&A once/month)
The themes concerning the seven evolutionary Chakras are all explored in depth: functions and characteristics, specific somatic (parts of the body, organs and associated functions) and psychic (personality characters, ..) relations, the symbolic aspects (Yantra, divinity, animals and other symbols, dreams) and those linked to everyday life (sleep, gross and subtle nutrition), as well as the vast panorama of rebalancing practices.
Methodology, ethics, psychology and pedagogy (introductory pre-recorded classes + live practice and theory 2x/month + in-person hours)
The principles of the Pranayoga Method® are explored in detail, together with central questions of ethics of teaching and themes of Yoga pedagogy and psychology: how to relate with the students, the elements of stimulation and support, the practice of interpersonal relationships, how to bring out and stimulate the flourishing of a student’s potential.
The art of sequencing is explored and practiced in details, and will include the entire spectrum of Yoga practices, Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Deep Relaxation, Meditations and Visualizations.
The use of language as a guide to self-awareness and self-correction in the different phases of teaching, the use of repetitions to underline key aspects and the integration of language and demonstration, are other aspects of teaching explored in detail.
During the in-person hours (in Berlin and at the retreats), we will address the various facets of touch in teaching, from the practice of correction intended as an invitation, to the ethical implications of touch in the context of teaching.

You can find the detailed program of each module here.

PARTICIPATION, EXAM AND CERTIFICATE

The training is open to:

– All those who wish to become creative, responsible and competent Yoga Teachers.
– Yoga Teachers who wish to expand and integrate their knowledge with the program of our training.
– Beginner and expert practitioners who wish to deepen the theory and practice of Yoga for their own personal interest.

Admission is open to all adults in good health.

At the end of the training, subject to passing the mid-term and final exams, one obtains the 600h Certificate of Yoga Teacher, Pranayoga Method®.

The final exam includes:
– 3 Written Exams (open questions): philosophy/history of yoga, chakra theory and anatomy
– Thesis: minimum 55.000 characters + 20′ presentation of the same
– 1 sequence for a 90’ class, including 20’ of meditation or yoga nidra, and at least 1 pranayama, and 1 sequence for a 60’ pranayama-focused class, including warm up and
asanas for pranayama. One of the 2 will be presented and guided.
– 5 questions on the full program of asanas, preparatory exercises, pranayamas, bandhas. Questions will involve guiding and explaining, including benefits and contraindications, use of props, hands-on, alternatives and variations (for specific conditions or beginners), or
the creation of a short preparatory sequence.

Other assignments to be submitted during the course and necessary for obtaining the certificate are:
– Ethics and pedagogy: short essay (maximum 10.000 character) summarizing your personal thoughts/experiences about the meaning and ethic of being a teacher, the student/teacher relationships and your personal journey.
– Asana Analysis: application of the anatomy of movement
– Sequencing: redaction of at least one sequence for each chakra

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