23 Days 200-Hour Hatha / Raja Yoga Teacher Training with Swamiji in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

The daily schedule

• 06:30 - 07:45 Meditation walk
• 08:00 - 10:00 Integrated yoga and meditation session (with walk-ins)
• 10:15 - 11:00 Breakfast
• 11:00 - 13;00 Theory class
• 13:15 - 14:00 Break
• 16:00 - 17:45 Integrated session (TTC trainees only)
• 18:00 - 19;00 Satsang/ mantra chanting
• 19:15 - 20:00 Dinner
• 20:00 - 21:00 Sharing circle (alternative days)

Certifications

Students who complete their training are eligible to register with Yoga Alliance as Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT®).

The yoga teacher training course

The yoga teacher training program is aimed at developing a confident and competent yoga teacher with comprehensive knowledge of the subject with command over theory and practice.

To that end, Pushkar Meditation Temple imparts comprehensive knowledge and training including theory, technique, and practice; and in turn, adequately prepares students with the ability to teach all aspects of yoga as prescribed by sage Patanjali based on ancient Indian yoga philosophy.

The course not only meets but exceeds the standards and requirements set by Yoga Alliance for a Registered Yoga School (RYS). Pushkar Meditation Temple is the only Yoga Alliance registered school in Pushkar. It is a unique wellness institution where yoga and meditation are practiced, taught, and researched as complementary disciplines and spiritual sciences. The practice and teaching are based on the ancient Raja Yoga/Ashtanga yoga system of sage Patanjali, the father of yoga.

Pushkar Meditation Temple offers the most comprehensive and practical yoga teaching the course in India with equal emphasis on Bahir (outer) and Antar (inner) yoga or meditation.

As the students in each batch are very few, it is like private coaching with everyone getting individual attention and space for an immersion course. No wonder, the course is getting raving reviews and is being rated and touted as the best in India. The carefully crafted course and syllabus go way beyond the syllabus prescribed by Yoga Alliance. There is equal emphasis on learning and teaching.

What differentiates a teacher trained at Pushkar Meditation Temple is the confidence and competence that the course imparts to each trainee. Most of the students start teaching and training immediately on completion of the course.

About the instructor

Swamiji has thousands of hours of yoga teaching experience spanning over four decades. He has nurtured Pushkar Meditation Temple into a yoga teacher training institution in holy Pushkar as a baby. Obviously he is passionate about it.

Swamiji believes that yoga is a science that can help us overcome our afflictions (kleshas) which are the course of all suffering. Therefore the path of yoga is the path of happiness/wellness -physical and mental.

About the course

The course is broadly divided into five sections:

• 1. Techniques, training, and practice (120 hours)

The minimum contact hours is 75 hours with 50 hours minimum contact with the lead trainer(s). The topics in this category include Yama, naiyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, Dharana, dhyana, samadhi, mudra, bandha, kriya, shatkarma, mantra, meditation, and other traditional and modern yoga techniques.

These hours are divided between the guided practice of the techniques themselves and analytical training in how to teach the practice with correct techniques. Both areas receive equal emphasis.

• 2. Teaching methodology (30 hours)

The minimum contact hours is 15 hours with 10 hours minimum contact with the lead trainer(s). The topics in this category include communication skills such as group dynamics, time management, and the establishment of priorities and boundaries; how to address the specific needs of individuals and special populations, to the degree possible in a group setting; principles of demonstration, observation, assisting and correcting; teaching styles; qualities of a teacher; the student learning process; and business aspects of teaching yoga including marketing and legal.

• 3. Anatomy and physiology (24 hours)

The minimum contact hours is 10 hours with 0 hours of minimum contact with the lead trainer(s). The topics in this category could include the psychic physiology of yoga with three bodies and five sheaths; five kinds of breath and five kinds of breathing; gunas such as sat, raj, and tam, and vikaras such as kapha, pitta, and vata; kundalini, chakras, sushumna, ida, and pingala; difference between human physical anatomy and physiology such as bodily systems, organs, and others as well as energy anatomy and psychic physiology including kundalini, chakras, nadis, and more; pranic or psychic healing techniques.

• 4. Yoga philosophy, lifestyle, and ethics for yoga teachers (30 hours)

The minimum contact hours is 20 hours. The topics in this category include the study of yoga philosophies and traditional texts such as the Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Bhagavad Gita, Yogopanishada, and other scriptures, yoga lifestyle, such as the precept of non-violence or ahimsa, and the concepts of dharma and karma; ethics for yoga teachers, such as those involving teacher-student relationships and community; understanding the value of teaching yoga as a service and being of service to others or seva; and a minimum of two hours would be spent on ethics for yoga teachers.

• 5. Practicum or practice teaching

The minimum contact hours is five hours with five hours of minimum contact with the lead trainer(s). The topics in this category include a minimum of five hours of actual practice teaching as the lead instructor but this does not include assisting, observing, or giving feedback; receiving and giving feedback; observing others teaching; and assisting students while someone else is teaching.

Summary of the training hours

The total hours for yoga teacher training is 208 hours. The total minimum contact hours is 180 hours and the total minimum contact hours with the lead trainer(s) is 65 hours.

The activities during training

• Clean Pushkar drive
• Interaction with local school children
• Indian culture experience

Yoga teacher training unique features

• It provides trainees invaluable experience in conducting a daily two-hour session with attendees other than co-trainees in an ashram on the holy Sarovar right through the course
• All students participate in the daily meditation walk or parikrama with the master around the holy Sarovar
• Experience Diksha or initiation and dikshant or convocation ceremonies as per Vedas
• Experience daily evening Satsang or soulful mantra chanting
• Hands-on practice teaching or practicum in a local school
• Offers a mutually evolved after-training career path or Roadmap based on Aura (energy flows), Doshas and astrological chart
• Opportunity to participate in socially relevant projects in holy Pushkar, one of them being “Litter Free Pushkar”
• Opportunity to be absorbed as trainee or co-teacher
• Opportunity for internship
• Sharing the roof with the master and other batch mates in Pushkar Meditation Temple’s Yoga Home, a place especially energized with Veda mantras and rituals

Highlights

• An authentic course that sends you back with mastery over more than 140 asanas, all-important pranayamas, five kinds of mudras, and bandhas
• Knowledge and practice of Shatkarma (yogic detox) are fundamental to the course
• The trainees literally live the yamas and niaymas, the foundation of yogic life, during their 23-day stay in the Temple
• The mediation walk every morning and evening satsang (soulful mantra chanting) give trainees a taste of Japa and Mantra yoga leading to meditation
• The 2-hour theory class every day helps clarify the yogic philosophy as prescribed by sage Patanjali. All your questions are answered
• The 2-hour integrated practice session of yoga + meditation twice every day gives you enough practice to teach correctly and with confidence
• One-hour sharing on alternate days further cements your knowledge and teaching methodology
• Two practicums (mid-session and final) that each trainee conducts independently boosts your confidence and acts as a mirror
• The Roadmap session, unique to TTC with Swamiji, not only guides you on how to use the training but also how to become more successful in life
• Many of the above features are possible just because our every batch has a maximum of six trainees in Pushkar and in the Himalayas
• The course is conducted in holy Pushkar from September to February and in the Himalayas in March, April and May every year. The course starts on the 1st of every month and concludes on 21st
• Following the course, there is one week Inner Yoga Immersion (IYI) that helps deepen and refine your yoga and meditation practice. IYI begins on 23rd and concludes on the 29th of every month (from September to May)

The daily training schedule (subject to change):

Day 1

• 05:45 - 06:45 Meditation walk
• 06:45 - 09:00 Diksha, introduction, registration, consultation
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
• 10:00 - 12:00 Theory (course introduction)
• 12:00 - 16:00 Lunch/rest
• 16:00 - 18:00 Teacher training course, integrated practice session
• 18:00 - 19:00 Satsang (soulful mantra chanting)
• 19:00 - 20:30 Dinner/break
• 20:30 - 21:30 Self-study
• 21:30 - 22:00 Meditation/prayer

Day 2 to 19

• 05:45 - 06:45 Meditation walk
• 07:00 - 09:00 Integrated morning session
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
• 10:00 - 12:00 Theory and practice
• 12:00 - 15:00 Lunch/rest
• 15:00 - 16:00 Self study
• 16:00 - 18:00 Teacher training course, integrated practice session
• 18:00 - 19:00 Satsang (soulful mantra chanting)
• 19:00 - 20:30 Dinner/break
• 20:30 - 21:30 Self-study
• 21:30 - 22:00 Meditation/prayer

Day 20

• 05:45 - 06:45 Meditation walk
• 07:00 - 09:00 Integrated morning session
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
• 10:00 - 12:00 Final written test
• 12:00 - 15:00 Break
• 15:00 - 18:00 Practicum test
• 18:00 - 19:00 Satsang (soulful mantra chanting)
• 19:00 - 20:30 Dinner/break
• 20:30 - 21:30 Self-study
• 21:30 - 22:00 Meditation/prayer

Day 21

• 05:45 - 06:45 Meditation walk
• 07:00 - 09:00 Integrated morning session
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
• 10:00 - 12:00 Review/feedback
• 12:00 - 16:00 Lunch/Break
• 16:00 - 18:00 Convocation/yajna/naming ceremony
• 18:00 - 19:00 Satsang (soulful mantra chanting)
• 19:00 - 20:00 Time for shower and change
• 20:00 - 22:30 Pritibhoj (satvic supper)

Important notes:

• The course begins on the first day of the month and concludes on the 21st day
• Saturdays are days off; but on the first Saturday morning, four hours will be devoted to Kriya and on the last Saturday, seven hours will be dedicated to yoga-related excursion
• On day 11, there will be a mid-session test from 16:00 to 18:00
• On day 12 to day 20, a 3-hour slot (15:00 - 18:00) will be used for independent practicum
• If the first day of the month happens to be a Saturday, then the first day off would be on Sunday

Yoga related excursions

• Visit places of spiritual or yogic importance
• Meditation or yoga practice in caves/temples

There are many places of spiritual or yogic importance are within 14 kilometers radius of Pushkar.

This retreat will take place in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India 305022.

You will be served with satvik yogic food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Meals are eaten collectively after having been offered to God with the chanting of mantras from Vedas.

• Yoga teaching and practice based on scriptures (Yogasutra, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Gherand Samhita, Hatharatnavali, Shiv Samhita, Yoga Vashisth, Bhagavat Gita and others)
• 1 day excursion
• 3 satvik yogic meals
• 22 nights accommodation
• Certificate of completion
• Course materials
• Diksha and dikshant, initiation and convocation ceremonies
• Program activities

• Airfares
• Bottled water
• Local transportation
• Personal items such as toiletries and others
• Yoga Alliance registration fee

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.