Yoga Teachers’ Training Course

Develop the skills to teach yoga asana, gaining a solid grounding in the classical yogic tradition, at the same time deepen your spiritual connection to yoga and open yourself to profound inner transformation. The Teachers’ Training Course (TTC) is a four-week intensive residential course, based on the ancient gurukula system of India where teacher and student live together. You will be in a traditional Ashram and closely interact with our experienced and dedicated teachers and staff who themselves are immersed in the yogic lifestyle. Connect to an ancient teaching lineage (guru parampara), passed down from guru to disciple through thousands of years, the curriculum is extensive and covers both theory and practice.

In these four-weeks you will establish a firm foundation of discipline that promotes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth while building a strong base from which to teach others naturally and with confidence. The Course was designed by Swami Vishnudevananda in 1969 with the vision to not only develop successful yoga professionals but to also spread peace in the world through them. A sincere desire to learn and openness to yogic techniques is required – a basic knowledge of yoga postures and philosophy is preferred, but not essential.

Upcoming Courses

Canada

Dormitory: USD 2070
Twin Share Room: USD 3100
AC Twin Share Room: USD 3790
Single Room: USD 3800
Single AC Room: USD 4500

Register Now!

Dormitory: USD 2070
Twin Share Room: USD 3100
AC Twin Share Room: USD 3790
Single Room: USD 3800
Single AC Room: USD 4500

Register Now!

Dormitory: USD 2070
Twin Share Room: USD 3100
AC Twin Share Room: USD 3790
Single Room: USD 3800
Single AC Room: USD 4500

Register Now!

Thailand

AC Cottages

  • 3 person Occupancy: USD 2550
  • 1 person Occupancy: USD 4300

Register Now!

India

Dormitory: USD 1500
AC Twin Share Room: USD 2875
AC Single Room: USD 3500

Register Now!

The goal of the programme is to produce qualified and inspiring yoga teachers who are able to draw on their own practice and personal discipline in imparting the yoga experience to others. The curriculum is based on the five points of yoga as taught by Swami Vishnudevananda, which can be understood as the practical application of the traditional four paths of yoga. The intensive daily schedule includes:

• two satsangs • two asana classes • t​wo​ lectures • one hour of karma yoga​

One day a week is lecture-free.

Asanas

  • The twelve basic postures in depth
  • Practice of classical advanced variations
  • Precise and detailed corrections
  • Prolonged holding of the asanas
  • Deeper understanding of hatha yoga

Pranayama

  • Practice of kapalabhati
  • Daily practice of anuloma viloma
  • Advanced pranayamas
  • Use of bandhas

Meditation

  • Guide to meditation
  • What is meditation?
  • Why meditate?
  • Concentration and thought power
  • 12-step daily practice
  • Effects of and experiences in meditation
  • Mantras
  • Mantra initiation (optional)

Yoga Anatomy and Physiology

  • Introduction to the eight major body systems
  • The effects of asanas and pranayama on the: cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive and skeletal and muscular systems
  • Yoga and physical culture

Yoga Nutrition

  • Vegetarianism for physical, mental and spiritual health
  • How diet affects the mind
  • Principles of nutrition
  • Healing effects of fasting

Kriyas

The six classical purification exercises for the eyes, nose, air passages, oesophagus and stomach, abdominal organs and large intestine. Explanation and demonstration of the exercises and their effects. Individual instruction.
• tratak • neti • Kapalabhati • dhauti
• nauli • basti

Teaching Practice

  • How to teach the 12 basic postures and breathing exercises to beginners and intermediate students
  • Setting up of a proper environment for class
  • General pointers on teaching a class
  • The Basic Sivananda 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.

Bhagavad Gita

One of the greatest spiritual texts of the world, the Bhagavad Gita contains subtle and profound teachings and has a universality which embraces every aspect of human action.

  • Study of both the text and Swami Sivananda’s commentary.

Karma and Reincarnation

  • The law of cause and effect
  • The law of action and reaction
  • The law of compensation
  • The law of retribution
  • Destiny and self-effort
  • Samsara, the wheel of birth and death

Hatha Yoga

  • Ethical and moral principles
  • Body, prana and mind
  • From control over the body to control over the mind and meditation

Raja Yoga

  • Ashtanga: the eight limbs of yoga
  • Antahkarana: functions of the mind
  • Concentration and meditation

Kundalini Yoga

  • The Absolute and its manifestation in nature
  • Macrocosm and microcosm
  • The seven chakras
  • The awakening of cosmic energy

Bhakti Yoga

  • Kirtan: chanting of devotional songs. Chanting opens the heart and purifies the mind. In devotional chanting correct pronunciation, devotional attitude and awareness of meaning are all-important.
  • Sanskrit mantras, Indian deities and their cosmic meaning
  • Arati and pujas (traditional Indian devotional rituals)

Karma Yoga

  • Karma Yoga – selfless service: one hour daily in the Ashram community. You will be asked to do various tasks within the Ashram setting necessary for the smooth running of the community. Karma yoga helps to reduce selfishness and egoism, essential for spiritual progress.

Jnana Yoga

  • Basic concepts of Vedanta philosophy
  • The seven bhoomikas or planes of consciousness
  • Space, time, causation
  • The three bodies
  • The three levels of the mind
  • Conquest of death

Refund Policy

If you wish to cancel your registration before the start of the course, the original payment will be refunded less:

  • $150 CAD (more than 3 months from course start date)
  • $200 CAD (less than 3 months from course start date)
  • If you contact us before the course begins in order to transfer to another teacher training course, a $300 CAD administration fee will be charged. Some restrictions may apply, and this change can only be done once.

Once the course starts:

  • If you do not show up and do not contact us, no refund will be issued.
  • If you decide to leave during the first 5 days of the course, we will refund your original payment less an administration fee of 25%.
  • No refunds will be issued after the 5th day of the course.
  • Students leaving the course before completion, are required to return manual and uniforms.
  • Full refund of the course fee paid will only be granted where SYVC has had to cancel the course / programme.