SUNRA YOGA TEACHERS TRAINING COURSES
Q: What makes our course different to other training courses?
A: Small groups, personalised instruction, lots of teaching practice, highly qualified & experienced instructors, personal development (group therapy)
Barbara Gordon has been teaching yoga for nearly 40 years. Born in Scotland, she started her yoga studies in London and from there went to The Sivananda Ashram in Val Morin, Canada where she studied with Swami Vishnudevananda in the Sivananda style of teaching yoga. Sivananda is a soft gentle style of yoga with emphasis on breathing and relaxation.
Barbara then returned to London and set up the Sivananda Centre. Since then she has taught over half a million people yoga over the years and trained many of London's now leading teachers. She teaches yoga and runs courses all over the world and has certified over 250 yoga teachers.
The course is open to anyone who wishes to study yoga in depth, whether or not you want to become a teacher and regardless of previous experience. The main requirement is an open heart and a willingness to learn this ancient art. Some people refer to it as “boot camp” which is not far from the truth! This is not to say that students will not be able to fully enjoy the beautiful locations, but this is in no way shape or form or by any stretch of the imagination “a holiday”. You will live, eat, breathe, dream, think YOGA, which is why, by the end of it, you will have had a life changing experience that can only result in you becoming a “better person” with a realistic experience of yoga life in its entirety.
The course will tell you if you want to teach and most people who have done it go on to do so very successfully. To name but a few, Katy Appleton who was teacher to Gerri Halliwell & Sarah Ferguson, David Olton who specializes in yoga ballet fusion, Nell Lindsell of Yoga Bugs, Maria Santangelo & Nigel Guilderson.
Course Content
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| Graduation Ceremony |
The course includes extensive study of the asanas (postures), in the Sivananda tradition. Sivananda is a style of Hatha yoga, which is the physical aspect of yoga.
You will have two asana classes a day, one for your personal practice and development and one teaching you how to teach. Each asana of the twelve in the Sivananda system will be broken down, dissected & and practiced until it becomes an intrinsic part of your psyche.
You will also have a great deal of teaching practice under supervision and by the end of the course you will have taught two full classes. The emphasis of the course is that you have an in depth knowledge of the asanas and how to teach them safely. Most people find the course life changing due to the intensity of it. This is not just about learning yoga but deeply learning about yourself. There is great emphasis on how to teach safely and a great amount of repetition so you fully understand the fundamentals of teaching yoga asanas and to give you plenty of opportunity to ask as many questions as you need.
The course will also include personal development/healing workshops, chanting (the yoga of devotion), anatomy & physiology, applied anatomy & physiology which explains how this relates to the practice of asanas and yoga philosophy. You will also be learning and practicing at length meditation and pranayama (breathing exercises).
There will be at least one day of “Mouna”, which means silence. Often people are afraid of silence, in as much as we can’t sit still for very long, most people are unable to be alone in silence - usually one creates some sort of distraction, for example, radio, computer, tv, reading, phone…..etc! Mouna is a traditional yoga practice which enables you to face your inner self, again something people mostly never do. To be a good yoga teacher you have to be able to look at yourself & face your demons.
Yoga Philosophy:
This is a life long study in itself & we can only give you an overview in the limited time we have. However, again, if you cannot look at yourself & you know nothing about the philosophy, how do you expect to become a teacher? We therefore make sure that you at least have a basic understanding of the underlying nature of the philosophy of yoga, including Vedanta, Gita, Upanishads & Patanjali who wrote the original yoga scriptures.
Meditation:
There is a huge misconception in the West that yoga is just about attaining the body perfect. What use is a perfect body if the mind is polluted? A quote by my revered teacher, Swami Vishnudevananda: “The asanas are the kindergarten of yoga”. This ultimately enables you to be able to sit for very long periods of time without moving, for meditation. Most people in the West can’t sit still for more than five minutes, let alone still the mind for a split second! The ultimate goal of all yoga practice is meditation, leading to the highest state of conciousness (Samadhi), self knowledge/enlightenment.
The hardest challenge for the Western mind to achieve – as mentioned earlier, is to sit still or be alone in silence. This is why, especially in the West, they turn to alcohol abuse & become addicts of many descriptions. The answer to all human problems can be eliminated through training the mind & mastering meditation, which, I hasten to add, can take many many years of practice.
Pranayama:
You will be learning & practicing in great detail Pranayama, which is an intrinsic essential component of Hatha yoga. Breath is life, therefore the study of Pranayama gives you more life, better concentration, more energy & can help with sleeplessness. Not only does it feed the brain, every cell & tissue of the body is revitalized & reenergized.
Please read the following schedule carefully so you realise exactly what you’re embarking on:
Yoga Teacher Training Course Daily Schedule:
6.30am |
Meditation and Chanting |
8.00am |
Teaching class |
10.00am |
Brunch |
2.00pm |
Lecture |
4.00pm |
Pranayama Asanas (Personal Practice) |
6.00pm |
Dinner |
8.00pm |
Meditation & Chanting |
There will be two free days during the course.
Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden. If you smoke cigarettes it is requested you try to keep it to a minimum and do it away from the group.
We are looking for a love & passion for the subject and students will be assessed throughout the course as well as taking a two hour written exam. If you have satisfied the examiners at the end of the course, you will receive a Sunra Teaching Diploma, recognized by Yoga Alliance. If however we feel you are not quite ready yet to teach you will receive a diploma stating you have completed the course & need further time/study to become a teacher.
Teacher Training Course, Red Sea, Egypt, March 10-31 2011
Cost 2000GBP
