In ancient times yoga schools had a rich meditation practice that has been lost in many modern traditions. Some yoga schools today turn to Buddhism for meditation if they teach it at all. This program will explore the many stages and techniques of yoga meditation. We will start with the most ancient forms from which Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain meditation have sprung. After learning these techniques we will explore how they can be incorporated into a modern practice and taught to our students. This program is for yoga teachers only.

Pranayama, the yogic science of breath control, is a powerful way for you and your students to raise energy and channel it into spiritual growth and life mastery. This program provides a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the techniques of pranayama as taught in the Tantric Hatha Yoga traditions. Practicing with the guidance of an experienced teacher, learn a variety of pranayama techniques and teaching methods. Explore the effects of combining pranayama with bandhas (locks), and experiment with ways to incorporate them into a deep spiritual practice. Increase your understanding of how to safely integrate the power of advanced breathing practices into yoga classes and develop your own style in supportive practice-teaching sessions. This program is for yoga teachers only.

Bring variety, balance, and strength to your yoga classes by learning how to teach 20 advanced asanas. During this in-depth training we will explore optimal alignment, modifications, props, assists, and variations. There are four programs in the Advanced Asana series. Each teaches 20 different asanas, and they may be taken in any order.

Advanced Asana 1 - Balancing Half Moon, Balancing Posterior Stretch, Bow, Camel, Cows Head, Crossleg great seal Crow, Eagle, Garland Posture, Gate, Inclined Plane, Lotus, Reclining Diamond, Rotated Balancing Half Moon, Seated Angle, Seated Archer , Simple Twist, Squatting bound Angle, Standing Bow, Upward Boat

Advanced Asana 2 - Balancing Seated Angle, Balancing Stick, Bent Leg Tree, Bound Hero, Bow variations, Dancer, Flamingo, Half Circle, Inverted Turtle, Kurmasana, Lateral Angle, Parvatasana, Raised on both arms posture, Reclining Stick, Rotated Jhanushirshasana, Rotated Lateral Angle, Sideways boat, Standing Angle Standing Split, Toe Stand

Advanced Asana 3 - Bridge, Energy Posture, Fish Variations, Forward Split, Hand Balancing Diamond, Head to Ground Lunge, Holding Your Leg Posture, Knot Piercing Pose, Lateral Inclined Plane, Locust, Mariachiasana, Peacock, Reclining Bound Angle, Rotated Posterior Stretch, Rotated Triangle, Sky Gazer, Straight Leg Runner's Stretch, Toe stand Variation, Upward Facing Dog, Wheel

Advanced Asana 4- Angled Shoulderstand, Balancing Pigeon, Bound Lotus, Folded Tree, Half Camel, Handstand Head to One Foot Pose, Headstand, Inverted Rabbit, Lifted Staff, Noose Posture, Pigeon Variations, Plow, Rabbit Rooster, Scorpion, Seated 4 Angle Pose, Sideways Crow, Swallow, Swing Pose

The Bhagavad Gita is a 2,500 year old Sanskrit text that offers profound insight into the deeper practices of yoga. As the seeker in the Gita metaphorically prepares for the battle of spiritual transformation, he asks his teacher a series of questions. In his answers the teacher explains the many challenges and stages of the yogic spiritual path. In this program we will explore themes from the Bhagavad Gita that are meaningful for us as modern yoga practitioners. We will use the Bhagavad Gita, by Winthrop Sargeant, as our text.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is an ancient yogic text written in the 15th century. This text describes the original "spiritual technology" that was the purpose behind the asanas, pranayamas, and meditations that have evolved into the yoga practice we have today. Learn more about why yoga is the way it is, and enrich your practice by learning more about how it was intended to unfold. Pick up pieces that have been lost along the way.

In the ancient Tantric Hatha Yoga traditions, yogis developed and practiced asanas as part of a biologically based spiritual technology. They practiced specific breathing patterns, internal focal points, and visualizations, for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences. They raised their biological energy (prana) to very high states, causing transformation in perception and experience of Self. Most ancient yoga texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, were based on these experiences of altered states of consciousness. In this program we will use Swami Kripalu's approach to asana to explore lesser-known techniques that can be used to enrich the practice of yoga.

In this experiential course we will explore the major muscles and how they relate to yoga practice. Through observation, hands-on exercises, and practice of specific asanas, you will learn the location and function of the key anatomical regions of the body and understand how they relate to asana, as well as how asana can in turn affect the body. By employing these techniques, you will become proficient at understanding and identifying imbalances in your students' practice.

Common stresses and injuries for each part of the body will be addressed. Learn how to apply asana therapeutically for specific injuries, as well as modifications (providing appropriate hands-on support and protection) to maximize the healing and strengthening that is possible from the practice of yoga. This program is for yoga teachers only.

Pranayama, the yogic science of breath control, is a powerful way for you and your students to raise energy and channel it into spiritual growth and life mastery. This program provides a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the techniques of pranayama as taught in the Tantric Hatha Yoga traditions. Practicing with the guidance of an experienced teacher, learn a variety of pranayama techniques and teaching methods. Explore the effects of combining pranayama with bandhas (locks), and experiment with ways to incorporate them into a deep spiritual practice. Increase your understanding of how to safely integrate the power of advanced breathing practices into yoga classes and develop your own style in supportive practice-teaching sessions. This program is for yoga teachers only.

In ancient times yoga schools had a rich meditation practice that has been lost in many modern traditions. Some yoga schools today turn to Buddhism for meditation if they teach it at all. This program will explore the many stages and techniques of yoga meditation. We will start with the most ancient forms from which Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain meditation have sprung. After learning these techniques we will explore how they can be incorporated into a modern practice and taught to our students. This program is for yoga teachers only.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is an ancient yogic text written in the 15th century. This text describes the original "spiritual technology" that was the purpose behind the asanas, pranayamas, and meditations that have evolved into the yoga practice we have today. Learn more about why yoga is the way it is, and enrich your practice by learning more about how it was intended to unfold. Pick up pieces that have been lost along the way.

In this experiential course we will explore the major muscles and how they relate to yoga practice. Through observation, hands-on exercises, and practice of specific asanas, you will learn the location and function of the key anatomical regions of the body and understand how they relate to asana, as well as how asana can in turn affect the body. By employing these techniques, you will become proficient at understanding and identifying imbalances in your students' practice.

Common stresses and injuries for each part of the body will be addressed. Learn how to apply asana therapeutically for specific injuries, as well as modifications (providing appropriate hands-on support and protection) to maximize the healing and strengthening that is possible from the practice of yoga. This program is for yoga teachers only.

Prerequisite: Functional anatomy and therapeutic yoga. This course will deepen your understanding and knowledge of the function and location of the muscles and joints of the body. You will learn evaluation techniques for the strength and length of each muscle and joint. This evaluation will be taught in two ways. First you will learn to evaluate each part separately. Then you will learn a more functional, integrated approach to evaluation. Through learning to "read" the student's body you will learn the tools to find imbalances as you watch their ability to move through asana practice. This ability to "read" the practice will give you a more functional understanding of what is going on in their body and how certain imbalances may lead to pain and dysfunction. The development of a personalized plan of care and personalized asana practice for your student based on this evaluation will be taught. After this course, you will be able to help students with musculoskeletal dysfunctions (for example: back pain, neck pain, arthritis, tendonitis) by finding their imbalances and helping them to find a yoga practice to restore balance as well as modify asanas as needed.

This program is designed to integrate medical knowledge with traditional yoga practices of asana, pranayama and meditation. Common medical conditions including: neurological, endocrine, cardiovascular, pulmonary, autoimmune,inflammatory, cancer, and gastrointestinal will be discussed. The physiology behind the condition as well as common treatments and the application of yoga practices to the disease will be discussed. Current research on Yoga for these conditions will be presented. The relationship of the mind to the healing process will be explored. There will be opportunity for students to inquire about any medical topics of interest.

This course will give a concentrated overview of psychology and the human condition from the ancient Yogic perspective. We will review Yogic concepts related to understanding the mind, including kosas, kleshas, samskaras, gunas. We will explore how these concepts fit into the modern psychological models of the mind and how they may be useful in understanding and treating dysfunction. Students will learn Yoga Therapy methods for managing or assisting in healing psychological difficulties, including depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress responses.

This is the last class taken in the program. Using all of the information from the seven courses you will have the opportunity to work with case studies. You will practice evaluation techniques from the medical, musculoskeletal and psychology modules. You will then develop an assessment and plan of care using what you learned in the meditation, pranayama and Hatha Yoga Pradipika courses. This will be an experiential course focused on bringing all of the information together and will include a competency check off to ensure you have developed these skills.