A Six Month 100-Hour Yoga Essentials Program

If you’ve ever had the feeling that your yoga practice is pointing towards something deeper, something unseen but essential and urgent, this program is for you. You see the practice working, mysteriously transforming your thoughts and actions but are curious to explore how and why it works, and where it comes from. This program is an invitation to look again at these ancient yet perennial philosophies, techniques, and practices.

We will approach these practices and studies with the receptivity and open-mindedness that yoga requires, so that we can give them the space they deserve, considering them from varying perspectives. Joining this program is a conscious decision to truly begin, or continue, the work of yoga and establish a paradigm in your life that will support explorations of this vast subject beyond the 6 months of this program. 

We explore Ashtanga yoga in its conventional and historical context but also in its current evolution. We will explore the first two posture sequences as they are, and learn how to adapt them without losing the integrity of the method. We will deconstruct the vinyasa method, explore how it applies to the sequences, how vinyasa keeps the practice working from the inside, and why that is important. We will not only look at postures from their external expressions, but through the internal forms which support them and the underlying patterns threading them together. We will explore anatomy and the organizing principles of posture and movement to further understand the body’s holistic relationship and cooperation. We will begin to understand the physical body’s connection to the mind and to the why of yoga. 

Beyond asana, we will practice meditation, pranayama, and Sanskrit chanting. We will learn the techniques that support these practices in order to gain deeper insight into the practice of yoga through our own direct experience. Beyond practice, we will study, reflect upon, and discuss philosophies and texts which support and inform the practice on the mat so that they naturally extend into everything we do. 

While much of the training takes place through practice and study, the deeper aim of the program is to explore how yoga influences the whole of life. Over the 6 months, students begin to observe how the practice shapes the way we respond to challenges, the quality of our attention, our relationship with ourselves and others, and our ability to remain steady in changing circumstances. In these ways we will experience how the practice gradually shifts from something we practice occasionally to something that informs how we live and interact with the world, so that the ideas and concepts we engage with do not stay as intellectual ideas but rather become embodied. This way the practice of yoga can truly take root deeply within our mind, body, and heart. 

The intention of the program is not simply to train students and/or teachers, but to help practitioners establish the foundation for a more intelligent practice. We will discover together that it is by direct engagement and experience of yoga for a sustained period of time that we learn to express the practice in our own unique way. That expression might then be shared through teaching. So instead of giving you specific cues or directions to guide a class, we will take you through the process of finding your own way of sharing the practice, your own words and actions to authentically express your experience with yoga. We will consider how to hold a space with wisdom and communicate with compassion, so that the fruits of your efforts on the mat are truly for the benefit of others, for we are all interconnected. We will find that these are refinements of skills relevant to anyone relating with other beings, not just those who wish to teach. But for those who do, we will explore what it takes to do so with clarity, accountability, and integrity.

Since we will have six months together we will be able to see the fruits of these explorations absorbed and reflected upon over some time. Not only within ourselves but also within the community, with many opportunities for discussion, dialogue, and consideration of different perspectives to assure we keep our minds open.

If you are ready to move beyond practicing yoga occasionally and start exploring how yoga can shape everything you do, this program offers the structure, support, and community to begin that journey.