Our 500-hour professional program is taught as 10 - 4.5 day courses after our 200-hour Basic Training has been successfully completed. We will also accept students into the program who are graduates of any Yoga Alliance approved 200-hour yoga teacher training.

There is no application procedure or fees to start our 500-hour program, and students do not need to take the courses in any specific order. After completing an approved 200-hour yoga teacher training, you may take the 10 courses as we rotate through them at Crofton Yoga and other locations. After finishing each course you will receive a letter of completion. When you have completed your 10 courses you may register with us as a Pranakriya Professional Level Yoga Teacher. There is a $50 registration fee to review your letters and issue your certificate. With this certificate you may register with the Yoga Alliance as a 500-hour graduate of a Registered Yoga School.

We welcome teachers and students from other traditions who wish to take courses in our training for personal enrichment or CEUs. Many of our courses are appropriate for student practitioners. Some involve practice teach exercises or discussions on teaching methodology and participation in these courses is restricted to graduates of a Yoga Alliance approved yoga teacher training.

Our training programs start at 6:00 p.m. on Friday or Wednesday, and end on Tuesday or Sunday at 5:00 p.m.. The total training time per program is 35 hours.

All contact hours are with Yoganand Michael Carroll, ERYT-500, or other approved Pranakriya program directors. The Advanced Anatomy and Therapeutic Yoga for Pranakriya Yoga Teachers program is taught by a licensed physical therapist.

Program Titles:

Program descriptions:

1. Teaching Meditation for Yoga Teachers

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.

2. Advanced Pranayama for Yoga Teachers

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.

3-6. Advanced Asana Series 1-4

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

7. Understanding the Bhagavad Gita

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.

8. Understanding the Hatha Yoga Pradipika

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.

9. Spiritual Doorways: Swami Kripalu’s Approach to Asana

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.

10. Advanced Anatomy and Therapeutic Yoga for Yoga Teachers

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.

11. Prenatal Yoga Teacher Certification for Yoga Teachers
(this program is sponsored by Pranakriya Yoga)

This training is designed for yoga teachers, midwives, massage therapists or anyone interested in learning how to help pregnant women enhance their experience during pregnancy, child birth and beyond. This course is part of the Pranakriya Yoga school which is registered with the Yoga Alliance.

In this course students will learn about the anatomy of the growing fetus and how this produces changes in the mother’s body during each trimester of pregnancy: including fetal development, physiological changes in the mothers body, hormonal changes in the mother’s body as well as possible body responses to these changes. Appropriate asana, pranayam and meditation will be covered for each of the trimesters , including the 4th trimester after birth. Time will also be spent on pregnancy discomforts during each stage and ways to help alleviate these discomforts.

Each day will begin with a prenatal yoga class where participants will be provided a “belly” in a different stage of pregnancy to work with in their own body, thus giving participants a real experience of practicing prenatal yoga. In addition, the course will also cover diet, tips for labor and delivery, partner prenatal yoga and baby and me yoga. This course aims to explore the various ways we as practitioners can serve our prenatal clients.

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