Announcing our Advanced Teacher Training Program!

This week Emily and I are really excited to announce the launch of our Advanced Teacher Training program. As you know, we began offering our 200 Hour Teacher Training program in 2014, and next month we'll graduate our third Teacher Training class and our 21st TYR-trained yoga teacher!

This October, we're taking our training to a new level (or more precisely, Emily is taking our training to a whole new level, more on that later).

Whereas our 200 hour training provides all the instruction necessary to teach yoga, plus an introduction to teaching in an accessible, inclusive, and therapeutic style, our Advanced Training dives deeper.

In the Advanced Training, students will learn how to make yoga practice accessible and inclusive, and how to teach in a therapeutic style that is beneficial for EveryBody, including people who think they’re not flexible, people who are older, people with injuries, aches, pains, and health issues, and people with other types of special needs that are not typically accommodated in general yoga classes.

Our training program is unique and has a very specialized focus because we feel there is a need for more yoga teachers capable of working not only with the stereotypical young, thin, healthy yoga student, but also with a broader population of people who are interested in enjoying the benefits of yoga.

The TYR community had proven to us, time and again, just how powerful yoga is as a change agent in students' lives and, through our Teacher Training graduates, we are excited to be able to share our style of accessible, inclusive, and therapeutic yoga on a larger scale, outside the Round Rock area, and perhaps eventually throughout Texas and beyond.

In our 17 month, 300 hour, Advanced Teacher Training program, our students will learn how to teach yoga for:

• Brain Trauma/Injury, Anxiety/Depression, Insomnia, Yoga Nidra, PTSD/Trauma, Chronic Fatigue
• Heart Disease, High and Low Blood Pressure, Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis
• Hips, Shoulders & Neck, Back, Knees, Ankles, Feet, Joint Replacement, Pain Management
• Infertility, Menopause, Scoliosis, Fibromyalgia, GI Issues, Prenatal & Postnatal

In my eight years of teaching yoga I have learned quite a lot from my own teaching experience and from my own research, but I'm very excited to personally sign up for our Advanced Teacher Training program to formalize my learning and earn the RYT-500 credential. I have a lot of respect for Emily's deep knowledge of the body and of yoga, and I'm so looking forward to learning from her.

If you're interested in learning more about our program, please click over to our new Advanced Teacher Training page. And please help us spread the word about our new Advanced Teacher Training program and how EveryBody can benefit from yoga, regardless of what they may have going on in their body.

To your good health!

Zelinda

Yoga Philosophy for Yoga Teachers

In last week’s newsletter we talked about yoga philosophy at a high level, the Eight Limbs of Yoga. This week I’d like to dive in to the first of the limbs, the Yamas, which are ethical guidelines for interactions with other people, and explain the Yamas in the context of the role of the yoga teacher. The Yamas are:

• Ahimsa - non-harm or helping, kindness
• Satya - truthfulness
• Asteya - non-stealing
• Brahmacharya - conservation of energy
• Aparigraha - non-possessiveness

These concepts are familiar and we all know what they mean, but take a moment to think about how they apply in the context of different areas of your own life. And for the purposes of our discussion today, let’s dive a little deeper to what these mean in the context of being a yoga teacher.

Practice Ahimsa (kindness)

• Learn your students’ names. It makes them feel recognized and cared for.
• Offer options and modifications so that no student is injured.
• Encourage students to be kind to themselves in their thoughts.
• Welcome all students.
• Respect privacy.
• Respect personal space and boundaries. Be mindful with hands-on adjustments - both for physical safety and privacy.

Practice Satya (truthfulness)

• Walk your talk.
• Make a true representation of who you are.
• Conduct yourself with dignity and respect.
• Teach what you know. Be honest about what you don’t.
• Ask for guidance or refer out when necessary.

Practice Asteya (non-stealing)

• The world is abundant. The pie gets bigger.
• Your students will find you. There’s no need to poach students from other teachers or studios.
• Respect the start and end times of class to avoid stealing students’ time.

Practice Brahmacharya (conservation of energy)

• Show up ready to teach. Check your baggage at the door.
• Be careful not to over-commit to teaching numerous classes. Over time, the quality of your teaching will suffer. Eventually you can become exhausted and burn out.
• Establish boundaries with your students.
• Do show up to class and be present and prepared to teach. Do teach with caring and compassion, but remember that their issues are their own issues. Your role as a yoga teacher is to lead the practice.

Practice Aparigraha (non-possessiveness)

• Encourage your students to try classes with other teachers. Cultivate their confidence in their own practice so that they feel comfortable trying new things. Do not make them feel dependent on you.

When we think of yoga, it’s the physical practice that is usually top of mind. But as you can see, there is a ton of substance and value in the more subtle aspects of yoga. Yoga philosophy can transform your practice, your relationship with yourself and with others, and even your life.

If this type of learning is of interest to you, consider signing up for our 2016 Yoga Teacher Training program. You can read all about it on our Teacher Training webpage.

And please note that we’ve extended the Early Registration deadline just a bit. Applications received by October 15th are eligible for the Early Registration Discount through October 31st. Email us if you'd like us to send you the application.

All my best,

Zelinda

Why You Need to Find the Right Yoga Teaching Training

It's an exciting time for Teacher Training at The Yoga Room. We're running two tracks of our 200 Hour therapeutics-based training right now - one began in January and the other in May. The January track is at that point in their training where they're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel - they've gotten through (or are getting through) the big scary milestones of assisting in public classes and doing their student teaching, and they're starting to think about their first steps as yoga teachers after their November graduation.

And the May track has gotten through several sessions of classroom learning and is at the starting point of the scary (awesome) milestones.

It's interesting to see how each Teacher Training group has a unique personality. The January track is energized and fiery. The May track is quietly confident and determined.

The common thread between the two groups is, of course, their interest in making yoga accessible and beneficial to a broad population of practitioners. And, as I wrote in last week's studio newsletter, their personal and professional success prior to enrolling in yoga teacher training.

This is a unique characteristic of our training. Because of the focus of our training - therapeutics-based, Yoga for EveryBody - we attract a very specific of audience. Our trainees have life experience. They have practiced yoga in the context of raising families and nurturing careers, and they each have experienced a unique and profound set of benefits from their practices.

Our trainees' life experience is a really powerful addition to our teacher training program because it enriches our discussions, provides diverse perspectives, and helps shape the trainees as future yoga teachers.

We're currently in Early Registration for our 2016 Teacher Training program. Yoga Teacher Training is a transformative experience and it's important to find the training that feels like the right fit for you.

If you are interested in deepening your yoga practice and possibly even teaching yoga, I encourage you to come see us at our Teacher Training Information Session this Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

Emily and I will give an overview of our program and we'll be happy to answer any questions you have. We look forward to seeing you then!

XO,

Zelinda

P.S. Here's the link to our Teacher Training program so you check out the details.