Meditation & Pranayama 100 Hour Advanced YTT

Module 1: Pranayama for Mental Wellbeing

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.

Curriculum:

• The Dosas & How they apply to mental Health
• The Gunas & How they apply to mental health
• 8 limbs pranayama philosophy
• Energy & Subtle Body Anatomy
• Breath Teaching Restrictions & Cautions
• Healthy & Restricted Breathing
• Natural, Effortless Breathing
• Basic Breath Training
• Allignments of Sitting Asanas
• Prana Vidya (Knowledge of prana)
• Preparation for Pranayama (30 Mins):
• Khumbhaka
• Nadi Shodhana
• Samavritti
• Bhastrika
• Durga Pranayama
• Uujayi
• Surya Bhedana
• Sheetali
• Chandra Bhedana
• Brahmari
• Viloma

Module 2: Meditation for Mental Wellbeing

A daily meditation practice can have significant benefits for mental and physical health. But what are the most effective types of meditation? It’s different for everyone. There are literally hundreds of meditation techniques, encompassing practices from different traditions, spiritual disciplines and religions. There’s not a universally agreed upon “best” style of meditation. Because meditation is not often deeply taught on 200 hour yoga teacher trainings, a lot yoga teachers finish the program and aren’t fully confident leading a meditation on their own. And that’s why I developed this 50 hour course in meditation techniques. It can either be completed over 24 weeks online, or as part of our intensive advanced teacher training in Bali.

In the online version, you’ll be exposed to one meditation technique per week, with one 2 hour lecture each week which will introduce you to the technique and its benefits. Then, during the week, you’ll practice the technique daily, and journal about your experience. If you do this training in person, you’ll be exposed to and practice a new technique every day. Not only will you leave this training with sixteen new meditation scripts that you can use, you’ll also be well versed in the benefits, side effects, and cautions of each practice. Using what we know about mental health, you can support a client in providing them a meditation technique which will match their current mental health state. At the end of the training, you’ll be asked to lead a 2 hour workshop for the community on one style of meditation, showcasing everything you have learned.

Curriculum:

1. Meditation History & Philosophy & Context within Yoga - and Mindfulness Based Practices
2. Mental Health from a Science Perspective & External Focus Based Practices (Trataka)
3. The Structure of the Mind According to Patanjali & Thought Awareness Practice
4. Sutras on Meditation and Body Scan for Progressive Relaxation (Anxiety)
5. Sutra 1.33 on Animosity and Compassion Based Practices (Metta) for cultivating positive emotions
6. Mantra Chanting Meditation Practices (External)
7. Mantra Based Meditation (Internal)
8. Yoga Nidra & The Gunas
9. Visualization for Cultivating Calm (Anxiety)
10. Visualization for Cultivating a Hopeful Future - Future Self (Depression)
11. Visualizations for Difficult Emotions
12. Reiki Self Healing for Chakra Balance & Alignment
13. RAIN Meditation for accepting emotions (Buddhist Technique)
14. Manifestation Practices to Visualize your Future