24 Day 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training in Mali Lošinj in Croatia

Certification

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

Overview

Expect to discover new realms beyond your limited sense of self and find love and joy never felt before.

Expect an adventurous journey into your inner being.

This course brings the age-old wisdom and authentic science of yoga to an enchanting island in the Adriatic, thereby combining the intuitional science of the East with the charm and powerful pranic energies of the Mediterranean Adria.

A unique feature of the training is Himalayan Yoga Institute's approach to asana practice: The asanas are practiced and taught in the Rajadhiraja tradition of Tantra yoga, offering ancient knowledge on the deeply transformational effect of asanas with regards to the hormonal and chakra system—rarely taught in other yoga schools.

You will learn how you can balance your endocrine glands, your hormones, your chakras, and your emotions to experience a profound sense of well-being and happiness. You will receive detailed insight into the practice of more than 60 asanas, along with an in-depth understanding of good alignment, benefits, contraindications, hands-on adjustments, and special applications. You will also learn how to use these asanas in a variety of yoga styles, such as Hatha, Vinyasa, and Yin yoga.

Another unique feature is lifelong personalized mentoring offered by Ganga Devi, the principal teacher of this course, to those who wish to receive guidance after the completion of their training. Ganga has taught and practiced yoga and meditation for more than thirty years. She has also trained and performed as a professional dancer of Bharatanatyam, the classical dance of India.

Her philosophy classes are captivating and fascinating, as she skillfully simplifies complex subjects, teaching them in a down-to-earth manner, while weaving in personal experience and storytelling.

She passionately uses her special gift of bringing people together in ceremony to connect, sing, dance, heal, and release. With her intricate knowledge about the use of breath, she skilfully uses a unique system of breathing and breath retention when adapting yoga as a therapy for body, mind, and soul.

Ganga is also a talented musician and nada yogini (sound healer), sharing bhajans, kirtan, and Indian raga music to complement the deeply transformational work she undertakes on each of the 200-hour programs. In addition, she offers personalized instruction in meditation and an individually tailored daily yoga routine for you to take back home and continue your yoga journey with a unique set of asanas and other techniques, adapted to your specific needs.

The Himalayan Yoga Institute offers an authentic, all-encompassing approach to yoga. While providing thorough training in asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, and kriya, the training probes beyond mere physical practice into the realm of higher yoga and meditation. Most importantly you will come away with a broad palette of tools and skills to develop yourself as a yogi/ni and to teach others with confidence and competence.

Highlights of the 200-hour yoga teacher training

• Small class sizes for maximum personalized attention
• Connect with your inner self while spending time in the lush tropical garden filled with birdsong, resting on your terrace, the nearby beach, or swimming in the crystal-clear waters of the Adriatic Sea
• Practice yoga in beautiful natural indoor and outdoor spaces surrounded by the Mediterranean and subtropical plants and trees with stunning views of nature
• Shop for beautiful handmade handicrafts and herbal products produced by local craftsmen/women
• Receive personalized instruction in meditation and receive a daily routine of asana prescriptions individually tailored just for you, which will allow you to advance your practice
• Learn the secrets of Tantric Rajadhiraja yoga, a long-forgotten yet highly powerful approach to yoga, which will completely rewire your body, clear your mind, and awaken your soul
• The yoga instructor certification courses are of outstanding quality, marked by excellence and attention to detail. They are the most thorough and comprehensive ones you will find
• The training is not only suitable for aspiring yoga teachers but also for those who simply want to learn more about yoga and develop a stronger self-practice

When choosing a yoga certification program, make sure that plenty of time is given to developing your teaching skills. In this yoga teacher training course, you will be provided with the opportunity to teach single asanas from day two and you will teach classes very early on in the course. You will be given insight into how to give verbal cues, and how to demonstrate, observe, and correct students with hands-on adjustments.

Curriculum

Asanas / yoga postures

Two types of asana classes will be conducted:

One daily asana practice class will provide you with the opportunity to practice your asanas and will help you to develop a strong personal practice of asanas, and

One daily teaching practice class devoted to understanding how to teach the asanas - you will start learning how to teach asanas from day two of the course. Hence you will have plenty of time to practice teaching throughout the entire course.

The daily in-depth practice with individual corrections comprises:

• Effective warm-ups and how to incorporate them into the class - various categories of warm-ups
• Sun salutation and its variations
• 66 basic yoga postures
• 100 asana variations, from beginner level to advanced
• Postural alignment
• Guided deep relaxation and yoga Nidra
• Release of blocked energy and deep healing
• How to develop flexibility and strength
• Helpful instructions for alignment in the asanas and how to self-correct as well as adjust students

The practical training (asana practice class) allows you to learn asana (yoga posture) in detail. You will understand the benefits of each and every asana on the physical, mental, and spiritual levels. Besides that, you’ll also learn which asanas to prescribe to people with various physical and mental problems. Warm-ups, self-massage, meditation, and relaxation techniques are also covered.

Teaching methodology (teaching practice class) will prepare you to conduct a yoga class in real life with confidence; you will learn how to demonstrate and describe asanas, perform adjustments assist the students in class, and also help them to avoid injury during the practice of asanas.

Benefits of asanas:

• Achieving emotional balance by regulating the glandular system
• Balanced mind
• Improved power of concentration
• Ridding the body of excess fat
• Enhanced physical fitness
• Relief of chronic ailments such as constipation, rheumatism, and stomach complaints
• Massage of the inner organs
• Improved circulation
• Stabilised thyroid functions
• Muscles and joints remain youthful and supple into old age

Pranayama and breathing exercises

• Expands breathing capacity
• Relaxes the nervous system
• Balances the two hemispheres of the brain
• Purifies the nadis (subtle energy channels)
• Stores energy in the chakras
• Calms the mind
• Ujjayi, Surya Bheda, Sitali, Sitkari, Bhramari
• The 10 Vayus (Pranas) and Pranayama

Kriyas, Bandhas, and Mudras

• Neti, Nauli, Kapalabhati, and tongue cleaning: classical yogic purification techniques for the nose, lungs, abdomen, and tongue which will be demonstrated and practiced
• Bandhas: Jalandhara, Uddayana, and Mula Bandha
• Bandhatraya Yoga: Mahamudra, Mahabandha and Mahavedha
• Mudras
• General health rules
• Yogic secrets for a long life
• Lymphatic drainage massage

Yoga anatomy, physiology, and bio-psychology

• Introduction to the major body systems
• The effects of yoga on the cardiovascular system, respiration, digestion, skeletal and muscular systems, endocrine system
• The science of asanas: their physical and mental benefits
• Yoga and physical culture
• Yogic diet, nutrition, and the principles of Ayurveda
• Human anatomy and yoga physiology are important aspects of yoga study, but another relatively unexplored aspect of yoga is bio-psychology. Bio-psychology is the study of glands and hormones and their profound effects on all physical and mental (psychic) functions like growth, digestion, energy levels, emotions, etc.

The history of yoga

• Various definitions of yoga
• A brief history of Tantra
• From Shiva to Krsna
• Patanjali
• The Nath lineage
• Astavkra Muni
• The Kriya Yoga Lineage (Lahiri Mahasaya, Paramahansa Yogananda, etc.)
• Ramakrsna and Vivekananda
• Sri Tirumalai Krishnamacharya and his students (B.K.S.Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, T.K.V. Desikachar)
• Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Karma and reincarnation

• The law of action and reaction
• Karma and Samskara (Samskara means reactive momenta to past actions and is not to be confused with the term Samsara, which means the wheel of birth and rebirth)
• Life, death, rebirth and liberation
• Destiny, Prapatti Vada, and self-effort

Teaching practice

What qualities should a yoga teacher have? This module will focus on the qualities of a good yoga teacher with an emphasis on teaching methodology, e.g. how to communicate with students, and how to demonstrate and observe the student in the class to avoid injury during the practice of asana. You will also discuss the personal and professional ethics of a yoga teacher.

Besides, you will receive sample templates for a Hatha, a Vinyasa, and a Rajadhiraja class. You will also be given a fully designed beginner's course which you can apply in real life as soon as you have completed the course.

• How to teach the basic postures, breathing exercises, and elementary meditation to beginners and intermediate students
• Setting up of a proper environment for class
• Mindful sequencing
• Use of voice and presentation skills
• General pointers on teaching a class
• The basic Rajadhiraja class
• The dynamic Vinyasa class
• Beginners' course
• Advanced postures
• Yoga for children
• Yoga for older citizens
• Yoga for pregnancy
• Relaxation
• Detailed correction workshops
• In the second half of the training course, participants will teach each other under the guidance of an experienced instructor

Yoga nutrition

• Vegetarianism for ethical, spiritual, and health reasons
• How diet affects the mind
• Proper balance of the main nutrients
• Ayurvedic principles of nutrition
• Healing effects of fasting

Meditation

• Guide to meditation
• What is meditation
• Why meditate
• Experiences in meditation
• Mantras as powerful sound energy healing and purifying the chakras, nadis, and body cells
• The science of mantra
• The 3 qualities a mantra must possess
• Mantra initiation (if desired)

Rajadhiraja yoga

• Ashtanga - the 8 limbs of yoga
• Ethics and moral principles
• Hatha yoga
• Koshas – the five layers of the mind
• Kaoshikii and Tandava: dynamic yogic dances for women and men
• Concentration and meditation
• The six lessons of Sahaja yoga
• 16 points of yogic life

Kundalini yoga

• Understanding Kundalini Shakti
• Macrocosm and microcosm
• The Tantric theory of creation
• Nirguna and Saguna Brahma
• Shiva and Shakti
• The 7 chakras
• The awakening and raising of Kundalini Shakti

Bhakti yoga

• Kirtan: devotional chanting of Sanskrit mantras
• Chanting opens the heart and purifies the mind. With daily chanting, you develop a strong feeling of devotion and a very pure inner vibration. In devotional chanting correct pronunciation, devotional attitude, and awareness of meaning (ideation) are all important.
• Creativity and artistic expression for spiritual development and upliftment
• Mandala art workshop - you will create your own mandala in this workshop
• Bhajans (devotional songs)
• Prabhat Samgiita (devotional music for mental expansion)
• Indian classical dance

Karma yoga

• Karma yoga in the Bhagavad Gita: relinquishing the attachment to the fruits of your actions
• Karma yoga is also the practice of selfless service. It maintains physical and mental health, counteracts depression, and refines your mind and heart.
• The spirit of service in daily life
• The law of cause and effect
• Samsara, the wheel of birth and death - exploring how Karma yoga allows every person to be free here and now

Jinana yoga

• Yoga philosophy
• The history, science, and philosophy of Tantra
• The Intuitional Science of the Vedas
• Upanishads
• Contemporary yoga philosophy: Brahmachakra
• Conquest of death and immortality

Bhagavad Gita

• Krsna and the Bhagavad Gita
• Bhagavad Dharma and the concept of dharma as given by Shiva
• Considered one of the greatest spiritual texts of the world, the Bhagavad Gita contains subtle and profound teachings and has a universality that embraces every aspect of human activity. It symbolizes the solution to the eternal struggle between the spiritual and the material in every human being
• Study of the text and commentaries

The business of teaching yoga

• Secrets to becoming an exceptional yoga teacher
• Marketing yourself and your services
• How to set up a successful yoga teaching business
• How to establish a powerful personal practice
• How to set up classes

Sample schedule

• 06:30 Chanting, meditation, and pranayama
• 07:30 Asana practice
• 09:00 Fruit and tea
• 09:45 Anatomy and physiology / workshop / lecture
• 10:45 Karma yoga
• 11:15 Workshop / lecture
• 12:30 Lunch
• 13:00 Main lecture (philosophy / theory / history)
• 14:15 Snack and leisure / self-study
• 17:00 Asanas, asana techniques, and teaching methodology
• 18:45 Satsang (meditation, kirtan, chanting)
• 19:30 Dinner
• 20:00 Free time and study
• 22:00 Lights out