500hr Yoga Teacher Training Program

The 500 hour, Advanced Teacher Training Program, offers an additional 300 hours designed to further your study after graduation from the 200 hour program and build upon the foundational training. At completion of the program, trainees can register at the 500 Hour level with Yoga Alliance.

This training allows teachers to develop their creativity and intuition in the teaching process as well as further their knowledge of the physical and spiritual aspects of yoga. The goal of the training is to facilitate the development of exceptional yoga teachers capable of applying their wealth of knowledge of the physical, theoretical and experiential aspects of Yoga and Ayurveda to effortlessly and confidently take students into the journey of their practice. Through the invaluable training of the internal practices of yoga, pranayama and meditation you will have the tools to grow as a yogi and the training to share that amazing journey and inspire others. Special guest teacher, Master Yogi Jnana Nanda Bharati, will join us for specific aspects of the training and transport us to experience yoga as the ancient seers intended it to be.

Building upon the 200 hour training asanas, we will delve into more complex and advanced poses, not only deepening our practice, but also the understanding of the poses from the inside out. Teachers will intensify their own personal practice through the introduction of more challenging poses in the various categories such as standing, seated, back bends, forward bends, hip openers, inversions, spinal twists, bandhas, and arm balances. We will learn how to both work towards and achieve these advanced poses safely and with awareness.

Practice in Sequencing

With individual attention and customized feedback, you will be guided and supported to enhance your teaching abilities and find your inner voice as a teacher. Your teaching skills will be expanded into the ability to teach various class levels and create sequencing that leads to a more advanced practice or a greater internal awareness. You will also learn how to incorporate extensive and yoga specific anatomical knowledge to deepen the practice and develop sequences are both creative and harmonious.

By sparking your creativity and intuition you will be guided through developing new class sequences for all levels of practice- from beginning to advanced, and understand how to build a class so that advanced poses can be introduced safely to take your students to the next level of their practice.

Private Lessons

You will learn how to create customized sequences for private lessons and gain experience creating an individualized class sequence on the spot. You will further learn how to work with injuries and specific conditions and learn how to apply Ayurvedic principles to private lesson development and class design.

Workshop Development

As your depth of knowledge and experience of yoga expands, a great way to share this with your students and assist them in furthering their practice is to offer workshops. A workshop allows you to take a specific topic in the yoga practice and develop it further. In this segment you will have the opportunity to learn how to create workshops in all their aspects including choosing a topic, lecture and asana sequencing and promotion. You will have a special project of creating your own workshop and presenting it to the group.

The ability to provide safe and accurate hands-on adjustments is both a science and an art form. Through the anatomy and physiology module of this training, you will gain greater knowledge of the muscles and joints involved with the various poses. To actually provide great adjustments you also need to establish a sensitivity to the student’s body and be able to ascertain when a joint or muscle has been taken to its limit. You will develop this awareness in the training through continuous practice giving adjustments to your fellow teachers and receiving their feedback. This kind of visceral knowledge of the body, its muscles, joints and ranges of motion provides a much deeper understanding of the poses and the flow of yoga sequences and awakens a profound connection to the practice and teaching of yoga.

We will delve deep into the anatomy of yoga poses and break down each of the advanced poses in terms of their muscular-skeletal structure. You will learn how to achieve advanced poses by understanding which muscles need to be lengthened and which strengthened, what the preparatory poses are and how to systematically and safely prepare the class for advanced poses through intelligent sequencing. You will learn the benefits of poses as well as how to structure a yoga practice to aid with specific conditions or injuries. This portion of the training will allow you to work in groups with your fellow teachers and present detailed research on particular poses.

Anatomy Research Paper

You will have the opportunity to choose a condition or injury that you are interested in and prepare a research paper of how yoga and Ayurveda can benefit the condition.

The advanced 500 hour program offers greater immersion into the traditional and more internal studies of yoga. The Vedic Studies aspects of the training will provide foundational training in the internal sciences of yoga and offer you the tools to increase your inner strength, develop your intuition and grow spiritually.

As part of the internal and traditional studies of yoga, you will learn the basics of Sanskrit and a variety of Chants and Mantras both for use in your personal practice and in your teaching. You will further learn specific Pranayama (breathing) and Meditation techniques to further your yogic training. Through a daily practice of mantra, pranayama and meditation, you will begin to experience a transformation of mind and spirit and the freedom and inner strength that follows an authentic yoga practice

There are few experiences in life that open the doors to our inner heart. The art and science of Yoga is uniquely designed to pave the pathway to the inner world and grant us the tools for self-knowing and self-realization. Throughout the Teacher Training and Advanced Yoga Studies Program, you will be taught the practices and self awareness necessary to experience the true teachings of yoga as they have been preserved and passed down through the centuries. You will in turn experience the innate happiness, strength and purpose that can only be born out of self knowing. We can strive to be exceptional yoga teachers only if we walk our talk and inspire our students out of the wealth of our own experience and dedication to the practices of yoga.