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Traditional Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in India

This training is designed for students interested in deepening and refining their personal practice, and for those interested to teach yoga. By practicing classical Hatha yoga with devotion, you will be able to create sequences for expanding your yoga practice and reap physical, mental, and spiritual benefits that will remain with you for the rest of your life.

Meet the instructors

Shiva & Anish
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Highlights

  • Pranayama, biomechanics, alignment, mantra, lectures, and puja
  • Daily Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga Flow
  • 3 one-hour Ayurveda massages and 1 Kerala food cooking class
  • Daily yoga philosophy, ancient tantric and Vedantic knowledge
  • Certificate of completion
  • Healthy, high-energy, vital, sattvic vegan and vegetarian food
  • Airport pickup from Trivandrum International Airport
  • 27 nights accommodation in private room with attached bath

Skill level

  • Beginner
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced

Yoga styles


23 days with instruction
Group size: Maximum of 10 participants
Airport transfer included: Trivandrum International Airport
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Accommodation

During this yoga retreat, you will stay in a very comfortable twin bedroom with a private bathroom, balcony, and kitchen facility surrounded by a beautiful garden with a large terrace. Ganesha Palace Hotel is ideally located only two minutes from the beach and Varkala cliff, restaurants, and shops. Special requests like air conditioning can be accommodated on request for a small extra charge.

Program

At Shiva Rishi, they strive for a warm, welcoming, comfortable, inclusive, relaxing, space and community. When you arrive, you feel like you are coming home. The month with them is a transformational pivot point in your life for delving into the yogic lifestyle and practice. They are here to provide a supportive and nurturing community for your personal growth and flourishing. Through yoga, you change yourselves and through a new perception on life, you change the world. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Taking roots in ancient knowledge and making a bridge to modern life, this yoga teacher training will guide you through the practical, philosophical, and mythological aspects of yoga. The program includes one organic, two hours-long Ayurveda cooking class and three massages. The massages are the Siddha Ayurveda style, rooted in the 5 base elements, and is a practice that pre-dates traditional Ayurveda.

By practicing classical Hatha yoga with devotion, you will be able to follow any style of your choice in the future and reap physical, mental, and spiritual fulfillment from this life-supporting practice. In a serene and ambiance rooftop studio surrounded by a tropical garden, you will deepen your self-practice and experience the true principles of yoga.

Additional massage and cooking classes can also be booked in free time if so desired.

Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff provides a traditional style of yoga, comprehensive and genuine knowledge of practical yoga psychology and philosophy, mantra chanting, Bhakti yoga, bhajans, and daily teachings (yoga philosophy, anatomy classes, focus on alignment and adjustment to avoid injuries, pranayama classes, yoga workshop for yogic management of common diseases, asanas sequencing).

With an education in techniques, teaching methodology, anatomy, yoga philosophy, and practical teaching experience, you will ultimately feel safe and adequately prepared to instruct a general adult population.

After all, yoga is more than physical exercise or stress release. These benefits all come as side effects of regular practice, yet the ultimate aim of yoga is to transcend the limited and egoistic self and connect with the unlimited eternal. Beyond education, Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff will provide a proper spiritual environment for your journey.

Several years of experience flowed into the shaping of a characterful, recreative accommodation atmosphere, and a well-elaborated yogi diet to ideally assist your practices. Furthermore, Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff invites you to occasional spiritual trips into the gorgeous landscapes of Kerala in that you are attuned to nature by walks, mantras, music, and bhajan singing.

In order to be a good teacher, it is important to establish or deepen your self-practice. To do so, you will practice in the morning and evening together in a group setting supervised and instructed by lead trainers.

In the morning, you will practice Vinyasa Kriya flow yoga. It entails the practice of varying flow sequences uniting asanas with breathing and mantras followed by relaxation, pranayama, and kriyas. In this way, you will get a practical impression of different Vinyasa sequences.

At the beginning of the course, you will start with basic flow exercises that are gradually improved over time. You can experience its physical and energetic effects as also observe how different categories of asanas (bends, twists, and inversions that are investigated in theory classes) harmonize in a set.

Towards the evening, when the sun sinks behind the palm trees in the sea and the climate cools down a little, you will practice classical Hatha yoga. In an atmosphere charged with peace and devotion, you will practice recreational Shanti asanas in the tradition of Swami Sivananda and his disciple Swami Satyananda Saraswati, who framed ancient yoga teachings in a modern language that incorporates both traditional and scientific understandings.

By harmonizing all levels of human life and experience through practical means of asanas, pranayama, kriyas, bandhas, and mudras, you start balancing the sun and moon energies (ha-tha), purify nadis and chakras, and you ultimately practice to gain mastery of prana in order to control the mind.

Curriculum

According to the standards set by Yoga Alliance the training divides into 5 blocks:

Techniques, training, and practice

Herein you will receive training in asanas, pranayama, kriyas, mantras, and meditation in a practical and analytical way. Following a scientific approach, you will discuss physical and energetic health benefits. Subsequently, you will learn to recognize practice mistakes and apply adequate alignments. Find some examples for this block outlined in the following:

Standing postures

Standing asanas stretch and strengthen the back, shoulders, and leg muscles. This is especially important to face stiffness and back pain difficulties increasingly arising in modern times through long hours of sitting.

In this section, you will learn common standing postures, how to explain their benefits, discover and correct common misalignments, understand similarities and exceptions to other asana categories, and experience balancing effects of standing asanas for the root chakra. You will further discuss how to provide effective verbal cues to direct practitioners coming in and out of the poses, how to verbally adjust them, and how to breathe properly.

Bending postures

Bending asanas loosen the back by separating vertebras and improving blood circulation around the spine. This brings vitalizing and overall health improving effects on all organs and the brain. You will receive analytical training by demonstration, conversation, and the use of the teacher training course guidebook in how to teach practice, and adjust bending postures.

The learning objects herein are to explain bending postures and their benefits, verbalize and demonstrate alignments, beware of common misalignments and risk factors, how to direct practitioners coming in and out, how to breathe in these positions, and understand similarities and exceptions to other asana categories.

Pranayama

Pranayama regulates prana flow in nadis of pranamaya Kosha. Through practice, observation, and discussion, you will learn the most common breathing techniques, how to explain benefits, and how to direct practitioners through these exercises. You will also practice pranayama on occasional spiritual trips and breathe fresh air in the mountains or on the rocks at the shore.

Learning objectives: get an overview and practice experience of multiple techniques about the four aspects of breathing (breathing in, out, holding the breath in, and holding the breath out), how to incorporate pranayama in an asanas class, which breathing exercises are appropriate for different ability levels, age groups, and practitioners with special needs (pregnancy, menstruation, etc.).

Mudras relevant to pranayama

These are some of the most common hand mudras in pranayama practice

  • Nasikagra mudras (nose tip position)
  • Jnana mudra (psychic gesture of knowledge)
  • Chin mudras (psychic gesture of consciousness)
  • Chinmaya mudra (gesture of manifest consciousness)
  • Aadi mudra (primal or first attitude)

Mantra Yoga Sadhana

According to Samkhya, one of the schools of Hindu philosophy, the very first element that manifested itself in this plane was sound, and that the element of sound itself originated from Lord Shiva's drum. Sanskrit mantras are energy-based sounds that have the power to vibrate and resonate throughout the entire body.

Sound travels five times more efficiently through water than through air, and as the human body is comprised of more than 70% water, it is, therefore, an excellent conductor for both sound and vibration. The regular practice of mantras balances the agitations of manomaya Kosha. Once a week, there is Yajna yoga time in the evening with a puja with meditation, mantras, breathing techniques, and offerings.

Meditation

  • What meditation is, and why it’s practiced
  • Variety of meditation techniques and tools
  • Quieting the mind to develop deeper levels of awareness
  • Connecting with nature and the world you live in
  • Connecting with the true self

Teaching methodology

In this section, classes will address how to use verbal and physical hands-on adjustments, how to give clear and coherent instructions, how to sequence classes, how poses interact, and how to integrate breathing exercises.

The art of teaching curriculum includes:

  • How to address a group of students
  • How to use your own body as a teaching tool
  • How to use your voice, volume, tempo, and pacing
  • How to correct postures
  • Choosing the right words
  • Energy, passion, confidence, humor

Using your own presence and Self-awareness as a transformative teaching tool

  • The business of yoga
  • Teacher guidelines and etiquette
  • Appropriate conduct inside and outside the yoga room
  • How to apply for a teaching position
  • Teacher expectations
  • Student interaction
  • Roleplaying
  • Feedback

Anatomy and physiology

Herein, you will broaden your understanding of the physical anatomy of the human body and combine important aspects of postures and anatomy with contemplative and internal facets of yoga. Next to physical anatomy, you will go deeper into the realms of energy anatomy of chakras, Kundalini, Gunas, Tattwas, Koshas, Nadis, and Vayus.

Yoga Posture and Alignment

  • 1) How do your bones determine the range of motion in all the yoga postures
  • 2) How and why everyone does yoga postures differently and what they can do about it
  • 3) How joint compression and muscle tension or resistance plays role in all the yoga asana
  • 4) Learn muscular and skeleton restrictions for proper alignment
  • 5) How to improve yoga posture for individuals

Yoga posture and alignment (details)

1) Introduction and concept

  • Applied yoga anatomy
  • Connective tissue and muscle role in movements
  • Bones and joints function in movements
  • Kinetic chain movements and their role in movements

2) Joint stability and mobility drills

  • Wrist and elbows testing and assessments
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for wrist and elbows in arm balancing and loading postures
  • Palm stability and its importance in balance postures
  • Wrist joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Elbow joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to crow pose, [peacock pose, pendant pose, high plank, reverse plank, upward-facing dog, downward-facing dog, and much more

3) Shoulder and scapula testing and assessments

  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for shoulders and scapula in arm balancing and loading postures
  • Shoulder joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Scapula blades anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to Chaturanga, wheel pose, king pigeon, intense side stretch pose, cow facing pose, eagle pose, puppy pose, and much more

4) Cervical spine testing and assessments

  • Cervical spine anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for neck joint in inversions and neck flexion or extension postures
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to plow pose, shoulder stand, ear pressure pose, fish pose, bridge pose, headstand, and much more

5) Thoracic and lumbar testing and assessments

  • Thoracic spine anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Lumbar spine anatomy, health, function, and purpose in backbends
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for the thoracic and lumbar spine in backbends or extensions postures
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to locust pose, cobra pose, crocodile pose, bow pose, bridge pose, wheel pose, camel pose, upward-facing dog, low lunge backward bend, pigeon pose, backbend standing, and much more

6) Sacroiliac joint, lumbar, and Pelvis testing and assessments

  • S. I. joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Lumbar anatomy, health, function, and purpose in flexion or forward bends
  • Pelvic anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for S.I. joint, lumbar, and Pelvic in forwarding bends
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to Marichi asana, twisting postures, revolved side angle, revolved triangle, revolved half-moon, supine spinal twists, standing twists, Paschimottanasana, Janusirsasana, Pawanmuktasana, Hanuman asana, wide-angle forwards fold, Uttanasana, and much more

7) Hip joint testing and assessments for all movements (flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal and external rotation)

  • Hip joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for the hip joint in all yoga postures
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to deer pose, Baddhakonasana, single-leg sitting balance pose, frog pose, Goddess pose, triangle pose, warrior one pose, warrior two pose, warrior three pose, side angle pose, and much more

8) Knees and feet

  • Knee joint, ankle, and foot testing and assessments
  • Knee joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Ankle joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Foot joint anatomy, health, function, and purpose
  • Injury prevention and corrective alignment for the knee joint, ankle, and foot
  • All related yoga postures to experience with muscle control including but not limited to Padmasana, Vajrasana, Veerasana, Tadasana, Trikonasana, Utkatasana, Veerbhadrasana one and two, high lunge, Supta Vajrasana, Malasana, tree pose, eagle pose, single-leg toe hold pose, and much more

Yoga philosophy / lifestyle ethics

This teacher training places an emphasis on discovering the vast heritage of yoga philosophy. By introducing the Samkhya system of evolution and discussing traditional texts (such as the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali), you will explore the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga in more detail and take a glimpse beyond the first limbs towards the ultimate goal of yoga.

Next to getting inspiration from these sacred texts, it may help you recognize how important a firm foundation in these first limbs is as a prerequisite to progress on this path of liberation and how you, as prospective yoga teachers, can assist other beings with that.

Your teachers are looking forward to inspiring conversations about the precept of non-violence (ahimsa), the concepts of dharma and karma, and finally the value of teaching yoga while being of service to others (Seva).

Ayurveda

Ayurveda is the science of living. Your practice depends on you being in balance. Through an understanding of Ayurveda, you learn about your bodily constitution, and what kinds of diets and lifestyles are most suitable to one’s character.

Their Ayurvedic Doctor will teach you about the theoretical basics of Ayurveda, helping you to discover a diet fitting to your type of body and individual needs and intellectually understand the positive effects of the high qualitative sattvic yogi diet you are served throughout the TTC. If you like to relax from the training, you will be delighted to find the yoga studio surrounded by several skilled Ayurvedic massage salons.

Practicum

In this section, you will be slowly prepared to lead a yoga class yourself. In the beginning, you will teach sun salutation and simple sequences to each other. In the progress of your training, you will then start to observe and correct and finally practice teaching as the lead instructor or observe others teaching.

Spiritual day trips

Next to a qualitative education with responsible teaching and care for your individual learning process, this teacher training is distinct in that Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff likes to make occasional spiritual trips on free days and explore the many diverse landscapes of Kerala like the backwaters, hills, and hidden beaches.

Sample daily schedule

  • 06:15 - 06:30 Kriyas and cleansing (self-practice)
  • 06:30 - 07:00 Group meditation session
  • 07:00 - 09:00 Pranayama and yoga asana practice
  • 09:00 - 11:30 Breakfast and break
  • 11:30 - 13:00 Theory class
  • 13:15 - 14:30 Lunch and break
  • 14:30 - 16:00 Theory class or pranayama or self-study time
  • 16:30 - 18:00 Yoga asanas
  • 18:30 - 19:30 Dinner
  • 19:30 Occasional evening program

Included excursions

Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff likes to make occasional spiritual trips during the free days to explore the many diverse landscapes of Kerala like the backwaters, hills, and hidden beaches.

Instructors

Shiva

Anish

Retreat location

This teacher training will take place in Varkala, India. Varkala, a calm and quiet hamlet, lies on the outskirts of the Thiruvananthapuram district. It has several places of tourist interest like a beautiful beach, a 2000-year-old Vishnu temple, and the Ashramam - Sivagiri Mutt, a little distance from the beach.

The Papanasam Beach (also called Varkala Beach), which is ten kilometers away from Varkala, is renowned for the natural spring. It is considered to have medicinal and curative properties. A dip in the holy waters at this beach is believed to purge the body of impurities and the soul of all sins; hence the name 'Papanasam Beach'.

A two-thousand-year-old shrine, the Janardhanaswamy Temple, is a short distance away from the beach. The Sivagiri Mutt, founded by the great Hindu reformer and philosopher Sree Narayana Guru (1856 - 1928) is also close by.

The Samadhi (the final resting place) of the guru here attracts thousands of devotees every year during the Sivagiri Pilgrimage days - December 30 to January 1. Sree Narayana Guru propagated the ideology: "one caste, one religion, and one god", in a society torn by the taboos of the caste system. Varkala offers excellent accommodation facilities for tourists and is vastly becoming a popular health resort with many Ayurvedic massage centers.

Distances

  • Varkala Cliff - 2 minutes
  • Papanasham / Varkala Beach, 10 kilometers
  • Kollam, 37 kilometers
  • Thiruvananthapuram city, 51 kilometers

Unique features

General

  • Air-conditioned rooms
  • Garden
  • Kitchen
  • Special menu request
  • Terrace
  • Yoga shala

Services

  • Free Wi-Fi

This Yoga Retreat is vegetarian-friendly

Click to see more vegetarian-friendly Yoga Retreats

Food

You will be served a full vegetarian Sattvic yogi diet (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) six days a week. Please notice Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff in case of dietary restrictions and allergies.

The following meals are included:

  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner
  • Drinks

The following drinks are included:

  • Tea

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

  • Vegetarian
  • Lacto-ovo Vegetarian
  • Gluten Free
  • Lactose Free
  • Ayurvedic
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

Things to do (optional)

During your free time, you will be able to enjoy Varkala's sights, such as a boat tour and meditation on Golden Island. You will also explore the many diverse landscapes of Kerala like the backwaters, hills, and hidden beaches.

You cannot miss the elephant and dolphin watching, as well as a spiritual trip to Keralan backwaters and Golden Island, Jayattupara Mountain, visiting Amma Ashram Amritapuri (Amma is widely regarded as one of India's foremost spiritual leaders).

Amritapuri is a huge complex, with about 3500 people living here permanently - monks, nuns, students, and families, both Indian and foreign. It offers food, Ayurvedic treatments, and a daily schedule of yoga, meditation, and darshan.

Spa treatments

Three Siddha Ayurveda massages are included.

What's included

  • 27 days a week full vegetarian Sattvic yogic diet (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
  • 27-day program with six days of classes and one free day per week
  • 27 nights accommodation with bathroom and balcony
  • 1 Kerala food cooking class
  • Daily teachings of yoga philosophy, anatomy and physiology, methodology, and hands-on practice
  • Daily yoga asanas and meditation practices
  • 3 Siddha Ayurveda Massage
  • Indian GST tax (19%) (on request, they can issue a formal receipt)
  • Eligibility to register with Yoga Alliance upon completion of the course
  • Free pickup from Trivandrum International Airport (TRV)
  • Free Wi-Fi
  • Few sightseeing around Varkala (i.e. boat tour and meditation on Golden Island)
  • Eco-friendly location, they aspire for all organics and plastic reduction
  • Devotional practice through song and mantra chanting
  • Joyous management of the ego-mind, through peaceful practice
  • Receive a Zero Waste kit upon arrival for your stay
  • Puja ceremony of purification and blessing
  • 18 years teaching in Varkala, a long-standing yoga school
  • Shiva Rishi Yoga 200-hour course book

What's not included

  • Flights
  • Extra excursions
  • Snacks

How to get there

Recommended Airports

Arrival by airplane

Please book your flight to arrive at Trivandrum International Airport (TRV). Transfer from and to the airport is included. Shiva Rishi Yoga at Varkala Cliff will pick you up from the airport.

Airport: Trivandrum International Airport Airport transfer included: Trivandrum International Airport No additional charges. You can request this in the next step.

Cancellation Policy

  • A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
  • The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
  • The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.
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