5 Day Private Yin Yoga Retreat and Teacher Training in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limon

Facilities

Certifications

Upon completion of this yoga teacher training, students will receive a certificate affiliated with Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Program. Registration with Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Program provides a globally recognized credential.

Yin yoga has a deeply healing effect by bringing your focus more inwards. With appropriate sequences you can balance the major imbalances in the body, the emotional blockages, the lack of energy and trust, and fears. All these can be nurtured through a Yin yoga practice. Yin yoga is based on traditional Chinese medicine and therefore intensively works with meridians, targeting your organs and balancing the five elements: water, wood, fire, Earth, and metal.

During this training, you will understand how Yin postures can be beneficial for you and how to teach them effectively to others. It’s a process of feeling deeply and re-patterning your system to its optimal potential.

The 30 hours Yin yoga teacher training is an intensive training course that will give you proper understanding of practicing and teaching Yin yoga. Yin yoga is rapidly becoming a popular yoga style, perhaps because the everyday Yang lifestyle is so exhausting that everyone naturally needs to bring their focus more inwards, going more "yinside".

The focus of Yin yoga is on the rejuvenation of the physical and mental body by maintaining a certain set of asanas for three to five minutes, and allowing to apply gentle tension and compression to your tissues. The practice can be an excellent bridge towards meditation or can be meditation in itself. Yin yoga teaches you to be with what is and when you let go of resistance, sometimes by releasing physical, mental, or emotional baggage, your life becomes more fluid and easy.

This course is a registered YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Program) and you’ll receive a certificate on completion of the course.

Curriculum

• Yin yoga asana practice: how, why, and when to practice this style safely and effectively
• Yin yoga philosophy (Taoist principles, Yin versus Yang)
• Yoga anatomy (connective tissues, compression versus tension, fascia structure)
• Introduction to the Chinese meridians and organ health (practice sequences for the kidneys, liver, etc.)
• Balancing the Yin style with a Yang practice to support structural strength and stability
• The primary focus of breath in asana: length, depth, and direction (including Pranayama practice)
• Mindfulness in asana and meditation practice
• The art of teaching and how to sequence a Yin yoga class
• The use of touch and hands-on adjustments
• Skillful verbal communication

As final assessment, there will be a written test and a practical teaching experience where every student will create their own Yin yoga sequence.

Suitable for

This training is suitable for yoga teachers, people who want to teach Yin yoga, or Yin yoga practitioners of all levels. There is no lower or upper age limit. Please note that, according to Yoga Alliance, only teachers with a recognized 200-hour certification will be allowed to professionally teach Yin yoga at the end of this course.

Daily schedule

• 07:00 - 07:30 Morning meditation
• 07:30 - 09:00 Morning asana practice
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast time
• 10:00 - 12:30 Theory sessions
• 12:30 - 15:00 Lunch break and personal studies
• 15:00 - 16:30 Theory sessions / the art of teaching
• 17:00 - 18:30 Evening asana practice

Suggested readings

• Yin Yoga: Principles and Practice by Paul Grilley
• Insight Yoga by Sarah Powers
• The Complete Guide to Yin Yoga by Bernie Clark
• No Time to Lose by Pema Chodron
• Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
• Light on Pranayama by B.K.S. Iyengar
• Theories of the Chakras by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama
• The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar
• The power of now by Eckhart Tolle

The retreat will be held even if there is only one participant, so it can be a one-on-one experience.

This teacher training will take place at Vista Verde Guesthouse, in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica. The guesthouse is set in a tropical garden and located just 150 meters from the beach. The center of Puerto Viejo is only 500 meters away, where you can find plenty of restaurants, shops, and supermarkets.

Distances

• Puerto Viejo center, 500 meters

During your stay, you will be provided with daily breakfast.

Puerto Viejo, on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, is a small village that celebrates ecotourism, nature, and diversity. There are plenty of things that you can do while staying in Puerto Viejo. You can rent a bicycle for around 6 USD a day and explore the stunning Caribbean beaches, from Cocles to Punta Uva and Manzanillo. You can visit the National Parks of Cahuita and Manzanillo, or enjoy the near waterfalls.

Puerto Viejo is also famous for its waves. You can have the opportunity to take a surf lesson. Prices range between 30 USD and 40 USD for a one hour and a half lesson.

Costa Rica is definitely known for its beautiful nature and wildlife. Close to Puerto Viejo you can visit the Animal Rescue Center and the Sloth Sanctuary. If you go to Cahuita National Park, you will have the chance to see a lot of animals, including monkeys, snakes, and toucans.

Organized tours

• Boat trips
• Chocolate tour
• Rafting
• Tortuguero National Park
• Visit to an indigenous village

• Tuition fees
• Yin yoga manual
• 30 hours YACEP certificate
• 4 nights accommodation
• Daily breakfast

• Airfare

• A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.