Anantbodh Yoga Teacher Training Program in Haridwar, India

Welcome – Namaste!

Welcome to the Anantbodh Yoga Teacher Training Program in India. This course promises to be full of adventure and transformation, learning and inspiration. First of all, allow me to congratulate you taking this step towards bringing yoga into the heart of your lifestyle and on continuing the journey of sharing this invaluable art with others. As a teacher and as a sadhaka (disciplined practitioner), you are embarking on a path of bliss and karma yoga in which your greatest gift to others is the example of a life lived in harmony and truth, dedicated to eliciting the highest potential in all.

Course Outline and Schedule:

This course will start on 27th October 2014 to 3rd December 2014 in Haridwar. We will observe Mauna, meaning total silence from 9PM to 9AM or until after breakfast, with the exception of instruction in meditation and asana or cleansing techniques. This allows us to keep the mind calm and relaxed, and to open up to the energetic relationship with others and with the universe. Please do take this quiet time for yourself and avoid disturbing your neighbors – we ask this very seriously.

5:20-5:50

Meditation in the Hall (sometimes guided, sometimes self)

6:00-7:45

Yoga Class in the  Hall

8:00

Breakfast

8:30

Agni Hotra or Havan (Fire puja)

9:00-10:25

Yoga Philosophy session

10:45-12:00

Techniques class

12:00-12:30

Lunch

12:30-2:30

Personal Time

2:30-4:00

Methodology, Contemplations or Anatomy session

4:10-6:00

Techniques or Practicum class

6:00-7:00

Dinner and Tea

7:00-8:30

Kiirtan, Group sharing or Transformational experiences    (Tuesdays and Thursdays)

10:00

Lights Out (Silence starts at 9:00)

Saturdays schedule generally finishes at noon. Field trips will be scheduled on Saturdays and could be all day depending on the destination. On Sundays there will be no classes, only meals and karma yoga (helping out around the ashram for an hour).

Regarding attendance and assessment:

Attendance at all of the sessions is mandatory. Please be on time for all classes! If a trainee misses more than one or two segments of the course due to illness or non-participation, he/she will not be eligible for certification according to the standards of the Yoga Alliance.  We reserve the right to certify only students who pass the practicum for safe teaching, and demonstrate an ability to facilitate and communicate effectively with a group in a class setting.  In the case that you do not receive the certificate directly after the course, we have a mentorship program with the aim to help students achieve certification.

Regarding assignments:

There will be three evaluation methods during the course. The first is a one hour test. The test is intended to give you and the trainers an idea of whether you are spending enough time reviewing the concepts learned in the course, or whether you need to increase the intensity of your study and class participation. The second assignment is a 30-minute presentation in which you lead the group through an experience based on the model: safety, experience, integration.   The presentations will be in the early fifth week of the program.  The third aspect is the practicum.  Completion of the written assignment given after registration is also required.

Test Date:

Regarding the practicum:

In the final three-weeks of the course, you will begin teaching your peers and other residents/class participants a 70 minute class with a partner. You will get thorough feedback from your peers and from the trainers. There will be three rounds, one per week.  The choice of class styles to present is as follows:

Round One:     Sanatan Dhara 1, 2 or gentle/restorative class

Round Two:     Sanatan Dhara gentle/restorative, Prenatal or Hatha-Raja

Round Three:  Sanatan Dhara Prenatal, Hatha-Raja, Classical Kundalini or Dynamic Flow

Regarding the Ashram:

·       Please walk silently and meditatively in the halls to keep the ashram atmosphere.

·       Please wear your white clothes as much as possible around the ashram.

·       Explore the greeting of others with ‘Namaste’ or ‘Namaskar’ keeping hands in the mudra, and holding the ideation that your two souls are connected regardless of whether you feel connected through the personality.

·       By tuning in one can feel the energy blessing of an ashram site. For this reason, it is desirable to spend periods of time exclusively in the ashram. We recommend that you explore all that the ashram has to offer on weekdays and enjoy outside only on weekends.

Regarding teaching and learning:

We hope that you will enjoy the course, and feel that we are all working together as colleagues and as a yoga community in the scholarly study, esoteric practice and propagation of yoga. If you have any concerns related to the course, please come to one of the facilitators right away so that we can address them or help you work with what is arising.

We ask that you:

·       Review your notes (~1-2 hours per day) and do all readings and activities assigned for homework;

·       DO NOT force the poses because you are in teacher training or for any reason;

·       Sit in class in the cross-legged, lotus, Vajrasana, Gomukasana poses. If you need to sit with the back to a wall and/or use pillows or bolsters, please do. According to yogic culture, the feet are never pointed straight out towards the speaker or teacher at the front of the room; however, if absolutely necessary, you may do so.

·       Wear comfortable clothing with layers as you may feel hot during asana class and cool when sitting. Out of respect for others’ cultures, please ensure that tops and waistlines are not too low cut (i.e. not showing undergarments or cleavage).

·       Participate fully in pair work and group work discussions, as well as asking questions at the end of lectures. We teach through a student-centered philosophy according to which one learns most effectively by negotiating meaning through discussion. In this system, teachers are on a journey as well (a process-, not product-oriented journey towards increased consciousness), and simply act as facilitators of learning and discussion. Guru means dispeller of darkness. A teacher may be able to trigger you to engage with yoga and sadhana and to continue to peel away the layers of the ego and of social conditioning, but the universal guru is that guiding light within, that innate connection with Universal Consciousness or Truth which we all have access to. Therefore the student is not a passive follower, but actively engaged in and responsible for his/her own contemplation, integration of the teachings that resonate, and sadhana;

·       Listen respectfully to classmates and teachers and give all the chance to speak. Please understand that we are all teachers as well as learners, and learners as well as teachers; therefore it is immensely valuable to open ourselves to learning from others as well as expressing our own thoughts;

·       Keep an open mind in terms of the yoga philosophy. As an esoteric philosophy, yoga is not intended to be taken dogmatically, and aspirants may interpret and practice according to their understanding and experience of the scriptures and teachings. That said, it is always useful to consider new perspectives, diverse class-styles of yoga, and different philosophical paths of yoga, with the understanding that yoga means union, and that there is union in apparently different schools: “The paths are many but Truth is one”. The paths share more similarities than differences;

·       Take this opportunity throughout the course to explore the yogic understanding of life, human interaction, and right living. Please recognize the importance of approaching others (teachers and students) in the course with openness and respect, acknowledging their strengths as well as their shortcomings, and encouraging them in their personal and spiritual development.

·       SMILE!                                              

·                                            AUM NAMO NARAYANAYA