Yoga Teacher Training

Sampoorna College of Āyurveda & Vedic Studies is offering Yoga teacher training course through Yoga Bijam.

Bijam: meaning seed or latent potential. Yoga Bijam is an offering of traditional Yoga as a foundational method promoting physical, mental and spiritual health through integrative practices drawn from a range of authentic traditions.

Yoga Bijam is not your everyday school of Yoga, as the teachings are inclusive, not exclusive. We
acknowledge that every student is different and through the practice, create conditions for dynamic
awakening in character by the fertilization of positive tendencies. This is achieved by recognizing a
student’s specific qualities, emphasizing what is uniquely their own and allowing them to unlock the
natural teacher in themselves. Not every student will be able or want to do all asanas, understanding what
makes someone a good teacher is not the same for every person.

Yoga is a divine gift passed on through yogis, seers, and sages. As teachers, we are here to guide, not
lead and to assist through our shared experience. Yoga Bijam is a natural expression of innate
intelligence, through which our students will learn to acknowledge their dharma as Yoga Teachers and how best to serve with it.

A teacher is like a farmer bringing a potted seed back to the earth, allowing its roots to flourish, once
firmly planted, the seed, through the teachings will be capable of thriving in all weather.

Yoga Bijam is a registered Yoga school (RYS). Students completing this training are eligible to register
with Yoga Alliance as Registered Yoga Teachers (RYTs).

200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Course Curriculum

Minimum content hours (as determined by Yoga Alliance) include:

Hatha Yoga Asanas (Yoga Postures)

Teaching practice class is devoted to teaching you how to teach asanas and pranayama.

• Sun salutation
• Asanas and variations, from beginner, intermediate level to advanced
• Postural alignment
• Exercises to become aware and move Prana and get in tune with internal organs and the connection between them
• Relaxation techniques
• Release of stagnated energy using Marma points through Yoga practice

Pranayama (Regulation of the Breath or the Control of Prana)

Importance and Benefits of Proper Breathing Exercises.

• Anatomy of Breathing
• Kapalabhati (lung cleansing exercise)
• Anuloma Viloma (alternate nostril breathing)
• Ujjayi, Surya Bheda, Bhastrika, Sitali, Sitkari, Bhramari
• Samanu (mental cleansing of the nadis)
• The three bandhas: Jalandhara, Moola, Uddiyana

Kriyas (Yogic techniques to cleanse internal organs)

• Tratak, Neti, Kapalabhati, Dhauti, Nauli and Basti: Six classical purification exercises for the eyes, nose, air passages, esophagus and stomach, abdominal organs and large intestine. Explanation, technique and demonstration of kriyas and their effects.

Yoga anatomy and Yoga physiology

• Introduction to the major body systems present in the physical body
• The effects of asanas and pranayama on all systems of the body
• Yoga and physical culture
• Diet and Nutrition
• What is Kundalini and the awakening of cosmic energy
• The Absolute and how it manifests itself in nature
• The three bodies and levels of the mind
• Nadis
• The 7 Chakras
• Prana

Teaching Practice

• How to teach basic postures and breathing exercises to beginners and intermediate students
• Setting up of a proper environment for class
• General pointers on teaching a class
• How to go into and out of a pose
• Yoga for Children
• Yoga for Elderly
• Yoga for different health conditions
• Yoga for Pregnancy
• Relaxation
• Detailed asana correction
• Students will teach each other and a group under the guidance of an experienced instructor

Hatha Yoga

• Ethical and moral principles
• Body, Prana (life energy)and mind

Raja Yoga

• Ashtanga – The 8 steps or limbs of yoga
• Antahkarana – Functions of the mind
• Concentration and Meditation

Bhakti Yoga

• Introduction to chanting of classical Sanskrit mantras, what they are and how they are used. Mantra literally means: instrument for thinking. It refers as energy encased in a sound to direct the healing power of Prana and access spiritual states of consciousness

Karma Yoga

• Karma yoga is the practice of selfless service and helps to reduce selfishness and egoism, it purifies your heart and gives immeasurable joy
• You will be asked to do some selfless work for the community or a specific institution or organization recommended or of your choice
• The law of cause and effect
• Samsara – the wheel of birth and death

Jnana Yoga

• Shad Darshan (Six philosophies of life)
• Four main Vedas
• Sankya philosophy
• Vedanta philosophy
• The 7 Bhoomikas or planes of consciousness
• Goals of life (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha)

Bhagavad Gita

• Bhagavad Gita is purely a spiritual document that encompassed everything relating to human beings and life on earth.
• Considered 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 actions. It symbolizes the solution of the eternal struggle between the spiritual and the material in every human being.

Yoga nutrition

• Vegetarianism – for ethical, spiritual and health reasons
• How diet affects body and mind
• Nourishment for all tissues of the body
• Ayurvedic principles of nutrition and how to apply them on daily basis
• Healing effects and proper instructions for fasting

Meditation

• Guide to meditation
• What is meditation and why meditate
• Steps for daily practice
• Effects of and experiences in meditation
• Mantras – spiritual energy in sound

Karma and Reincarnation

• The law of action and reaction
• The law of compensation
• The law of retribution

Program Prerequisites

1. Basic knowledge of yoga postures and philosophy is helpful but not required
2. Enthusiasm and high degree of self-motivation is required for the course
3. Self discipline
4. Students are required to attend all meditation sessions, lectures and asana classes.
5. Meat, fish, eggs, black tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, drugs and nudity are prohibited in classroom and school facility
6. A sincere desire to learn and openness to the yoga teachings

Further Information

For information on upcoming programs, please contact us.

Program investment: $3000