A lot of 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings barely cover the practice of Pranayama. I felt I didn't understand pranayama until I started leading 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings ten years into my career. Once I began regularly practicing and teaching the material, I saw it's tremendous  benefit.  Pranayama, or controlled breathing, is an essential mental health tool that can help our students reduce anxiety, regulate their emotions and find balance. In this 50 Hour Module you'll learn in detail how to practice and teach pranayama - not just for yourself but for others. 

The Yoga Sutra Study course is an advanced yoga philosophy program. The first chapter of the Yoga Sutras defines yoga, the aim of practice, and the various problems that will come along the way as we work towards the state of yoga. In this course, we look at our identity separating from our thoughts, and discover the reasons why we do meditation and what we gain from meditation. In book two Patanjali explains how to attain the goal of Samadhi. This book explains the mind, suffering, and how to live a yoga lifestyle.  Patanjali explains the three paths of practice that The Bhagavad Gita teaches. Patanjali says we can use our Body/Karma/Action, our Mind/Jnana/Alignment, and our Heart/Bhakti/attitude. Book two also introduces us to the first five of the eight limbs of yoga, and gives us an opportunity to put them into practice. 

I know as a yoga teacher, when I was put on the spot to lead a meditation after about five years of teaching yoga, I still had no idea what that meant! It was a mix between a motivational talk and some deep breaths. Since then, I've gone deep into my own personal meditation practice and seen the profound effects various styles of meditation can have on one's mood. I've noticed that again, this seems to be an area that is not as deeply covered in most 200 Hour YTTS, which is why I have made it a point of focus on my 300 Hour YTT.

Chapters three and four of the sutras are more advanced. Chapter three runs from 3.1 - 3.55 . This chapter focuses on the supernatural abilities (siddhis) gained from the practice of samyama. This Module is primarily about practicing samyama, the “perfect discipline” in which the yogi directs the mind into dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (complete union) with a single object of focus. These are the final three limbs of Ashtanga (8-limbed) yoga, and they concentrate the energy of consciousness. In the last chapter we study, we'll learn about the forces of nature (gunas) and how to move past the limitations of time and space. We'll learn about yoga’s goal - a continuously unfolding process of self-knowledge and that this will lead to moksha, liberation. 

During my 200 Hour YTT I learned a lot about asanas. But, I didn't feel confident offering hands on adjustments and assists for my students for many years. This interaction between teacher and student can help a student feel seen, supported, and set apart a beginner teacher from an advanced teacher. In this module, we will spend detailed time learning and practicing hands on assists on each other.  We will focus on all pose categories including: standing open hip, closed hip, and neutral poses, forward folds, backbends, twists, inversions.

In 2019, I started building my online yoga business, The Mindful Life Practice. During that time, I developed so much knowledge about how to create a niche, reach my ideal customers, connect and build a relationship, and develop my revenue streams so that I made more money as a yoga teacher than I did as a school teacher - and I could quit my job and do this full time. This is one of the key practical skills I feel is missing from most modern yoga teacher trainings - the business side of things. In this six month online program, I will give you all the practical skills to develop your business - while meeting online with you regularly in a group setting to develop these skills.