30 Day 200-Hour Online Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training

Pre-application requirements

Prerequisite for participation is the sincere desire to learn and to open up to the techniques of yoga. It is of advantage to become acquainted with the basic exercises of yoga and the principles of yoga philosophy even before the training, but it is not absolutely necessary. In the online training, you will learn to teach yoga postures, breathing exercises, and relaxation practice for beginners and intermediate levels, as well as to improve your personal yoga practice.

Certifications

Internationally recognized certificate from the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres (ISYVC) upon successful completion of the course. The title of the diploma is ‘Online Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training Course’.

How the training works

The training is held over a 4-week course, from August 1-30, 2020. Each week, there is 1 day lecture-free. All the sessions will be done in real-time following a schedule already set. The live sessions will be done over Zoom.

The training includes practical cooking instructions. During the four weeks, you will learn to prepare healthy and tasty vegetarian meals. Guest speakers and artists will share their knowledge in the fields of Ayurveda, mantra chanting, and Indian arts.

Individual coaching every day with a personal mentor enables individual optimization of your personal practice of asana, pranayama, meditation, and mantra. Question and answer on the teaching contents.

Timing of sessions or daily schedule (Pacific Standard Time, GMT -7)

• 08:00-09:00 Meeting with Mentor
• 10:30-11:30 Bhagavad Gita, mantra chanting, meditation techniques, karma philosophy (cause and effect), nutrition and lifestyle at home
• 11:45-13:30 How to teach asanas and pranayama
• 13:45-15:15 Philosophy and anatomy
• 15:30-17:00 Asana and pranayama class, simple Kriyas
• 18:45-20:00 Meditation, mantra chanting, spiritual lecture

Plus one hour of individual coaching every day with a personal mentor:

• Questions and individual optimization of your personal practice of asana, pranayama, meditation, and mantra
• Question and answer on the teaching contents

One day a week is lecture-free. The optional participation in an online yoga class and the evening meditation is recommended.

Curriculum

The curriculum is based on the five points of yoga which can be understood as the practical application of the four traditional yoga paths:

• Proper exercise (Asanas)
• Proper breathing (Pranayama)
• Proper relaxation (Savasana)
• Proper diet (vegetarian)
• Positive thinking and meditation (Vedanta and Dhyana)

Daily: one meditation session, one yoga class, a workshop on online teaching techniques, two lectures. One day a week is lecture-free.

Course books

• The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnudevananda, Three Rivers Press
• Bhagavad Gita with a commentary by Swami Sivananda, the Divine Life Trust Society
• Yoga: Your Home Practice Companion by the Sivananda Yoga Centres (Dorling Kindersley)

They can be purchased via Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm's online shop.

Teaching Language

The course will be taught in English. ​

Timezone

Even though anybody can register, it is preferable that the applicants live in the time-zones of Pacific West Coast USA, Mountain Time-zone, and Central USA in order to take advantage of the proper timing of activities that follow the rhythms of nature.

Additional Immersion Retreat

Once Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm is able to open again, they will schedule a 9-day immersion retreat for all the online TTC graduates to come to the ashram and learn in-person with the teachers. This will include some advanced practices, such as learning the headstand, advanced kriyas, advanced pranayama, and mantra initiation.

Asanas (Yoga Postures)

The daily in-depth practice with individual corrections comprises:

• Sun salutation
• 12 basic yoga postures
• 100 asana variations, from intermediate level to advanced
• Postural alignment
• Deep relaxation with autosuggestion
• Release of blocked energy

Benefits of asanas on the body:

• Control emotions
• Improve the power of concentration
• Rid the body of excess fat
• Enhance physical fitness
• Relieve chronic ailments such as constipation, rheumatism, stomach complaints
• Stimulate circulation
• Stabilise thyroid functions
• Keep muscles youthful and supple into old age

Pranayama

Pranayama, the science of prana control, consists of breathing exercises to enhance the health of the body and mind. In summary, pranayama will give you the following benefits:

• Expands capacity of the lungs
• Increase oxygen intake for the cells
• Remove carbon dioxide and toxins
• Recharge your energy battery
• Relaxes the nervous system
• Balances the two hemispheres of the brain
• Purifies the nadis (subtle energy channels)
• Awakens the inner spiritual energy

Nutrition

Food is responsible for building our physical body. The foods we eat and the manner we eat, also affect our mind, senses, energy, the capacity of thinking, intellect, and environment.

Course topics include:

• Proper diet
• 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 and Mantra

Meditation is an integral part of the practice of yoga. During this course you will learn:

• The practical steps of meditation
• What meditation is
• What meditation is not
• Techniques of concentration and positive thinking

​In addition, you will learn techniques of Self-Inquiry for Self-Knowledge. Meditation is a spiritual journey to the realization of oneness.

During the course, there will be a focus on:

• Japa meditation, or mantra repetition
• You will learn how a Sanskrit mantra is mystical energy encased in a sound structure
• Furthermore through repetition, you will create a positive thought pattern

Kriyas

The 6 classical cleansing exercises for the eyes, nose, respiratory tract, esophagus and stomach, abdominal organs, and large intestine. Explanation of the exercises and their effects. The practice of Tratak, Neti, Kapalabhati, and Nauli.

Anatomy and Physiology

This study helps you to improve the understanding of your body during your own yoga practice, and to apply it in your teaching practice. You will learn:

• Introduction to the major body systems
• The effects of asanas and pranayama on the cardiovascular, respiration, digestion, skeletal muscular and endocrine systems
• Yoga and physical culture

Yoga Philosophy

Yoga philosophy will give you insights into our mistaken beliefs of who we are and what reality really is.

A deeper understanding of yourself will help you to detach and release stress which will bring your mind and body in harmony with your life purpose.

You will learn about karma and will understand the causes of your obstacles and challenges.

The philosophy classes are considered the main teaching and will benefit you for a long time as the seeds of knowledge are being transmitted.

The study of classical yoga texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the writings of yoga masters will also take place to enrich you.

Kirtan

Kirtan is singing of the Sanskrit sacred mantras which are considered pure vibrations of the divine names. Kirtan helps with the development of devotion, love, and faith.

Other course information

4-week theoretical and practical training in all aspects of yoga, consisting of 267 teaching units of 45 minutes each. This course was founded by Swami Vishnudevananda in 1969 and is the first Yoga Teachers’ Training Course for students from the West with over 48,000 graduates since then. In 1969, Swami Vishnudevananda developed yoga teachers‘ training as the first Indian Yogi in the West. It is part of a universal vision of peace: The more people experience peace within, the more this peace will manifest in outward action. In this way, a glow of peace envelops the world.

Today the yoga teachers’ training courses are under the supervision of senior instructors who were personally trained by Swami Vishnudevananda. The goal of this training program is to produce qualified and inspired yoga teachers who are able to draw on their own practice and personal discipline in imparting the yoga experience to others.

This teacher training is held online. Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm is located in California, USA (GMT-7), and they will live-stream yoga classes via Zoom which you can participate from the comfort of your home.

• All yoga sessions
• All meditation sessions
• Workshops on online teaching techniques
• Lectures
• All individual coaching daily

• Accommodation
• Meals

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