Where to practice Yoga in India, and where I recommend for a Yoga Teacher Training in India.11/20/2017 OK ready to dive These suggestions and recommendations are based on my personal experiences over the last 10 years,I had a really great time doing yoga in lots of places in India. Its possible that some places may have changed a bit but they are nearly all very long standing places which I would not expect to radically change in a decade If you go anywhere and find it very different to how I say, let me know. . At the end are a few other places Id recommend around the world that are not in India. Choosing from the plethora of places to practice and do TTC is quite bewildering. If you are going to do a TTC then the investment is large, around 2000 3000 pounds, its very big business. You may find cheaper, and cheaper can sometimes be better. As less commercial. A few things to consider, do you just want a yoga holiday, do you want to deepen your practice. Some people do TTC to deepen their practice not because they want to be a teacher, and thats cool. do you really need to do a TTC. , could you find cheaper in Europe if money is scarce, do you need a certificate? What style of yoga do you want to practice, and if relevant teach. If applying for a TTC course, do they actually teach you to teach, really this is not always the case. Do your research. I have been able to get some really good insights by going to a good school where there is a TTC happening and do drop in classes. This has been fine for me in India especially in Rishikesh. I have been asked, "Ah madam, you are a yoga teacher?" and its not a problem me taking notes or anything. They were totally cool with that. If you are going to do a TTC if you possibly can, get to India and do some trial classes , but failing that at least really really thoroughly read their information and look for reviews on Tripadvisor etc etc. Of course they are not going to put anything negative on their own site so dont rely just on the schools own info. Look for other reviews. Common sense no. NB photos and websites will be added shortly, technical problems causing delay. OK, ready to dive in. have a cuppa tea ready, its long.... Himalaya Yoga Valley. I chose this school in Goa to do my own TTC becuase it had Indian teachers and Western style teaching, Good agenda and clear structure towards preparing students to teach. I wanted structure and clarity to fit my European mindset. India way of teaching is different way. This school definately teach you to teach. You start teaching the group class from the first week, building up to a longer period towards the end of the month. The style is basically Astanga Vinyasa although they say they touch on Hatha.. I did my course about 10 years ago. This school is big now, I can only vouch for the course I did at the time. I dont think its "the best" training in India, but they are thorough and clear and with a good programme to follow. HYV definately prepared me to teach and thats something. I started teaching the day my course finished... Atmavikasa Yoga with Venkatesh in Mysore THE BEST if you like strict. "With a strict adherence to the tradition of Classical Hatha Yoga, we teach with the intelligence of Iyengar, the passion of Ashtanga and the mindfulness of Vipassana" - Yogacharya Venkatesha The most amazing and recommendable teacher I have discovered, with more than 30 years of teaching experience. This is the man. You look in his eyes and he sees your soul. Theres no bullshit here. if you want authentic Hatha this is the place. This guy has it all. He never demonstrates anything, He can hold a class of 8 people all doing a sequence specifically for that person, He does amazing backbending classes. He and his wife and the best teachers I could recommend to anyone who wants "real yoga". He will break you of bad practices and give your purity, clarity and prescence. Its a very small school and the discipline is strict, and lifechanging. Krisynamacharya yoga Mandiram Chennai. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. You can hardly find a better yoga lineage than here. The founder of this school is Turumalai Krishnamacharya 1888 to 1989 . Kirshnamacharya was a great scholar of the Vedas, and his Hatha yoga teacher for seven and a half years was Brahmachari, who for some years was living in a cave in the mountains of Tibet. The four major teachers who learnt from Krishnamacharya have had an immense impact on yoga in the West. They are, Indra Devi, K Pattabhi Jois , Krishnamacharya's brother in law BKS Iyengar and his son TKV Desicachar. These figures had such total impact on Yoga as we know it today that we name kinds of yoga after some of them, Patthabi Jois name is synonimous with Ashtanga, BKS Iyengar with Iyengar. . The family of Krishnamacharya along with Sivananda, taught yoga to both Indian women and Western women. They overturend centuries of prohibitions against women practicing yoga. However ancient tests used by Brahmachari were parchments of drawings of yoga asanas, where half of the poses were demonstrated by female figures. Today its arguable that more women practice yoga than men. What you will find here. A yoga Hospital and a month long Heart of yoga course for westerners. Authentic Hatha yoga teaching with a thorough balance of Pranayama, vedic chanting, philosophy and asana. Absolutley amazing. I totally recommend their Heart of Yoga one month course. It is NOT a TTC but you will learn more on this course than on many other TTC courses. Its awesome becuase in the "Asana" class you fuse with chanting and pranayama, in the "Pranayama" class you fuse with asana and mantra and chanting and so f they breakdown that very Western mindset that these things are separate and show you the unity and connection of Asana, Pranayama, Mantra, Yantra. They throw it all together and show you a completely holistic healing view of "pure" Hatha. Loved it. Met many people here on my Heart of Yoga course who had been longtime practitioners or teachers of Astanga who were looking for a new way and not a set sequence. Here they teach that every individual needs different practice every day, they teach form over function. This school is in a building where there is a yoga hospital or Yoga Surgery. You can see a Doctor for a consultation and are given a "prescription" of 5 asanas to follow, a mantra and pranayama. You are interviewed holisically, then theres a little platform in the "surgery" where they show you how to perform the asana and pranayama etc correctly. Magic. If only all doctors did that. On the Heart of Yoga course, in each class there was a teacher and an assistant demonstrated the pranayama technique or asana. One man doing the demonstration had one leg about 6 inches shorter than the other and this showed so beautifully their view of what is "perfect" is that the body is doing what its supposed to do in the asana, and not looking like a textbook figure. Function over form they say. I would recommend this school to anyone wanting to go deeper or even to new practitioners. Bharat Shetty Indea Yoga, Mysore. If you want a pretty hardcore Astanga training, Ashtanga Vinyassa and some Hatha. this is it. 20 years experience. But dont be suprised if you are asked to walk across the room in Urdhva Dhanurasana, wheel pose. Himalaya Iyengar Yoga centre Dharmakot Excellent school for practiing or TTC in a beautiful foresty location. Iyengar style obviously. Mysore Mandala Yoga Shala Mysore A cosy little cottagey place far different to the Pattabi Jois Ashtanga school which is huge. Much friendlier in my opinion and suitable for less experienced practitioners. Still serious teaching. It has a lovely cafe and they grow some of their own food. You can do Ashtanga, Ashtanga Vinyassa and Hatha meditation, dancing, Sanskrit chanting classes here. They are good teachers. I dont know about TTC here but for sure to get a taste of Mysore its wonderful. If you like small and simple you might like this place to practice for a while. Mysore is mostly about Ashtanga, but here is quite strong on Hatha. Sivananda Kerala Really lovely place for a yoga holiday. Fairly simple straightforward postures repeated day after day. Early mornings getting up and chanting to Ganesha and soforth, and then 2 yoga classes a day with options for some Ayurvedic healing. I recommend for a holiday or a break, rather than the TTC. You can hear the lions roaring while you practice your headstand. Its a place to go also for a slightly westernised taste of ashram life. Its not fancy and hits not hardcore, but its fun. You will come out with a better practice and a load of new freinds. Then go to Varkala for a beach break. Its a winning combination. Phool Chatti Ashram Rishikesh This is a pretty little ashram with some gardens, right next to the Ganga a little upstream from the hectic Laxman Jula in Rishikesh . Its a spiritual place adapted for foreigners but gives you a fairly authentic taste of an ashram experience. You can stay for any time over 6 days, and the cost is very reasonable. You will learn chanting, with daily classes of Hatha yoga, asana which is suitable for nearly all levels from beginners, pranayama, meditation etc. There are also some walks out by the rier and to a waterfall. Silence is respected here. Simple and delicious meals are eaten in silence . The food is Satvid, a diet free of onions garlic and very simple which is designed to develop a higher state of conciousness. Theres little temples in the ashram and all the usual bellringing and burning incense that is so magical in ritual to watch and partake in. I had some very beautiful experiences here, and its a bit off the usual tourist trail and its a breath of fresh air. Take time out here and go as deep as you like. Anand Prakash Yoga Ashram. Akhanda Yoga RIshikesh. The founder here Yogrishi Vishvketu, is really beautiful and inspiring, experienced and you will laugh a lot with him. He is a delightful character and is an excellent teacher of Hatha, all this in an environment that is really beautiful. Its a great place to do a TTC. Recommendable. You will probably keep going back! I have also practiced yoga all over the world...
some other recommendations are.... Hridaya Yoga, Guatemala, pure Hatha, very spiritual, with options to indulge in silent meditation retreats, and dark retreat from anything up to 90 days. They also do workshops on Tantra and more. I stayed at the school in Guatemala and they were impeccable teachers and walked the talk and the experience was truly inspirational. Clean and authentic. Go there. Jivamukti around the world for amazing adjustments. A really nice style of Ashtanga Vinyasa, always the teacher starts with chanting or a scripture of their choice. In some cities they offer a free week trial to residents of that city so you can get a taster before you are hooked. I go just for the adjustments where the teacher will weave his or her way into your asana , like a large boa constrictor finding its way between your limbs they will, with a squeeze or a shift, bring you more deeply into the pose. Juicy and delicious, if you like this style of yoga. I dont know about the trainings but I would guess they are high quality, yet expensive.
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Parvati and Shiva This is an except from an anazing book...Yoni Shakti, by Uma Dinsmore Tuli.
Parvati was Sivas wife and she was very beautiful. She just enjoyed her life and she had a lvoely home to live in. She had a bath made from a shell in which she would bather herself and rub sandalwood paste on her body and she would stretch out in the morning in the sunshine, and she would feel her body. It was so delicious that she would twist this way , and twist a little back that way, and then maybe she would lean back over a rock or a sofa and breathe. She just felt good doing this. Yoga was traditionally taught in sacred philosophical framework as a way of life. It was taught maybe in a temple or ashram, or deep in the forest. Contemporary yoga maybe taught in a gym or a health club, often practiced solely to get a healthy and beautiful body. Much more is on offer though yoga, philosophy, lifestyle, connection with our deeper self. Its something to learn more about the guidelines of a yogic lifestyle, and its waaay older than you could even imagine. The Yoga Sturas of Yoga of Patanjali centuries old, gives practical guildelines for us to live well. THE EIGHT LIMBS OF PATANJALI YOGA The eight limbs of Patnajali yoga are basically these 8 disciplines or ways of life.. Yamas and Niyamas, then Asana/posture, Pranayama/rhythmic control of the breath, Pratyahara/withdrawal of the senses, Dharana/concentration, Dhyana/meditation, and Samadi/state of Super Conciousness in which the aspirant becomes one with Universal Spirit. Maybe just from this you can see that yoga is actually a pathway to super conciousness. Not just having tight buns. Im not going to go into this in detail. There's reams written about it, But I would like to mention here the basic principles to whet your appetite.... THE YAMAS AND NIYAMAS Yamas are ethical disciplines applying to the individual, The Yamas are ahminsa/nonviolence, satya/truth, asteya/nonstealing, brahmacharya/continence, aparigraha/non coveting. The Niyamas are universal in application and are saucha/purity, santosha/contentment, tapas/austerity, svadhyaya/study of the self, and Isvara/dedication to Divine Conciousness. Yoga is more than asana. Who was Patanjali? Nice article here http://www.fivetattvas.com/blog/who-was-patanjali Trainings and Intensives
200 hours Yoga Teacher Training at Himalaya Yoga Valley, India. Style - Astanaga Vinyassa Heart of Yoga intensive at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai, India. Style - Hatha Hridaya Hatha Yoga, Mahadevi Ashram, San Marcos, Guatemala. Style - Hatha The Yoga Barn, Bali. Style - Vinyassa flow, Hatha Some of My Teaching Jobs around the World. Magic Park , Arambol, Goa Verite, Auroville, Tamil Nadu, India. Gaia Sagrada Ayauasca Retreat Centre, Ecuador The Yoga Forest, San Marcos, Guatemala. Isla Verde, Santa Cruz de la Laguna, Guatemala Teachings on Yoga Retreats Sunfood Yoga and Rawfood Retreat, Granada Simply Sumptious Retreat, Andalucia Regular Yoga Classes The Blossom Centre, Orgiva, Granada. Other classes wherever I may find myself in the world. Styles and method Kind, gentle, compassionate, relevant, mature, attentive. A class with me might seem more gentle than some classes you might find in a busy city, but you will certainly know that it has made a difference to your well being. Mostly I teach Hatha classes now but I am also available to teach Yin Yoga, Yin yoga with Gongs, Partner yoga, and Vinyasa. Teaching yoga is the best job in the world! I pay attention to who is in my class and what my students need and what their limitations are, and I will not ask people to do what is impossible for them. You will not see me demonstrate complex asanas which my students cannot execute. I always come up with something new and interesting, no class is exactly the same. I offer adjustments and variations for varying levels if the class is a mixed level group. Hands on adjustments are offered if they will benefit the student. My Thai Yoga Massage experience allows me to offer this in a gentle and soft way. During a class I like to offer a lot of verbal clues, tips and suggestions - small details that will increase the participants satisfaction comfort and safety in a pose. I find it particularly interesting to work with people with limited flexibility. I welcome people of all ages, shapes and sizes to my classes. As they taught me in Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, "If you can breathe, you can do yoga", so all are welcome. I will take you on a gentle but strong journey with your body and soul, that will leave you feeling relaxed, happy with yourself, and encouraged. Safety is one of my priorities. Pain and forcing are not welcome! Yoga is a journey for me, I am constantly learning, and it will never be complete, I hope to be a really good teacher when I am 70 years old and beyond, still evolving. I welcome you on this journey of loving life, healthy living and awakening. Someone recently said to me "I don't do yoga because its boring". This is what I wish I had said. "Yoga is an embodiment process. We are nowadays completely disconnected from the planet, from nature and from our own bodies, and we are disconnected from other people. We for so long have let the mind rule the body, We numb ourselves from life. We are not in touch with ourselves nor our bodies. By watching feeling and observing the body, and following the breath during a physical yoga practice, we are coming home to ourselves. The body is something magical and mystical which holds all of our memories. If we start to listen to our bodies, we start to listen more to our intuition, and when we follow our intuition we move into our flow. Our lives become filled with beautiful synchronicities.. Yoga can be anything that leads you to the divine, to discover our divinity, and to establish a sense of unity. Our true nature is harmony and joy. How often do you really feel that? Through yoga you discover, discipline, self respect, non violence and transformation. Through yoga we can find our joy, as we can through singing dancing, making love, chanting or gardening. The purpose of yoga is growth and self awareness to the point of waking up. Doesn't that sound like something worth trying?" How could anything, that brings us back home, in touch with oneness, be boring? Or I could just say "Your arms will not be so flabby". You choose! eHatha yoga with Aziza "The ultimate object of hatha yoga is to experience yoga" Yoga - state of union beween two opposite poles, eg Shiva and Shakti, body and mind, individual and universal awareness, the process of unifying opposing forces in the body and mind in order to realise the spiritual essence of being". Firstly I I would like the teachers of my various Yoga Teacher Trainings in India and the lineage going back before them. I have been leading yoga classes for some years, in my classes I mostly teach only Asana classes. Asana is the Sanskrit word for postures. Asana is just one of the 8 paths of the whole science of yoga, and I also teach a little pranayama, with just a suggestion of spiritual ideas. In the West typically yoga is practiced to improve and restore health, to reduce stress, even to simply beautify the body. However the roots and true meaning of Hatha Yoga are more profound and I do want to say that really the practice of Hatha Yoga is to discover and experience the universal spirit within. For the experience of Samadhi or enlightenment, and awakening of the Kundalini. That might be all gobbeldygook to you, and I am quite happy that people come to my classes for many and varied reasons. I am not an enlightened teacher, I am not a teacher with a lifetime knowledge of Vedic scripts, I am not from a family of great Yogis. I am a regular "Western" woman, passing on a little of what I have learned from my respected teachers in India. I share my knowledge and ask for forgiveness for my errors and failings, and wish to become better and better teacher as I grow, and hope to be a fantastic teacher in my 80s. Let's see. But I love Yoga, It is my foundation, It has saved my health and sanity. Possibly my life, and I love to "teach", or to encourage other people to practice. If through my experiences as a "Yoga Teacher" I can inspire a love of yoga in others, that makes me happy. It really is the best "job" in the world. When I see my students coming out of the final relaxation with their faces changed and softer, and with new energy, I feel blessed. If my students want to come to me for a beautiful body, or to help recover from an old injury, or lose a bit of weight, and they are not "into" yogic philosophy thats just fine with me. Because of what happened to me. Through practicing yoga, to recover from a health problem, many years ago, I very fast, gave up my old unhealthy corporate life and started what could be called a "Spiritual path", through which I became a better healthier more balanced person, with more to heal. From my earliest classes I wanted to learn more about the deeper and spiritual aspects of Yoga. That is a huge subject, and a science, and the more i read and "learn" I know the more I see the less I know! What I do know is my intention... I try to be a "good" teacher, in that I will see who is in my class, not perform impossible asanas for them to copy, I will allow students to rest if they need, I will watch how people are proceeding in the class, and offer different possibilities for differing levels of ability. From my training in Chennai at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram I know that yoga asana is more about function than form. If your downward facing dog is more like a crouching slightly trembling creature with bent knees, and heels a few inches from the floor that is just fine with me, as long as you are lengthening your hamstrings in a comfortable way , and feeling a back stretch, and supporting the wrists safely. I love that you are there, Trying, breathing, feeling, experimenting. And if you come out of a pose and rest after 2 seconds that will be hailed from me with a "very good". We all start from different body types. For more experienced students I will attempt to adjust you if necessary to help you feel where the asana should be functioning and encourage you to watch your breath, and offer stronger variations if necessary and useful. My aim is for my students to do what is GOOD for them and enjoy and not feeling foolish, and practice in a non competitive environment. I also want safety, not pushing beyond ones limits. Feeling the breath, and feeling the ultimate experince of Hatha Yoga..... Union. And the happiness of experiencing Yoga, to ones own capacity. Hatha yoga, is a great science which anyone can practice, at least a few techniques can be practiced each day, Some Asana and pranayama is a preparatory limb. Then you may go further, if the preparation is good. One day , while practicing, with or without a teacher, your mind may be lifted to a new realm of conciousness! "One should not be deterred from practicing yoga because of feeling physically inadequate. It does not matter if the body is old or young, fit, or feeble, everybody is eligible to practice Hatha Yoga and to attain self realisation. If one has an inner desire to experinece th etruth of existence one will succeed regardless of physical conditions. Where truth exists there is no place for illusion or delusion. One cannot become a yogi just by assuming the external appearance. Nor can one fool others into believing it, the lack of inner strength and understanding will expose anyone who is a fraud. One may delude oneself by looking like a yogi or ascetic, but the Atma cannot be deluded. Nor can the cloth give power or knowledge, it can only come by training the body and refining the gross conciousness." quote from Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Swami Muktibodhananda. Asana will make the body light.
Pranayama strengthens prana, Dharana purifies the intellect. Meditation purifies the mind. Sloka 27 Yoganjalisaram. Yin Yoga, a quiet floor based practice where poses are held in a relaxed way for up to 5 minutes, to stretch the tendons, ligaments, fascia, and connective tissue in a gentle way.
The body can be supported with blankets, bolsters and pillows and you relax into the pose. The intention is to gently stretch the connective tissue a super slow safe relaxed way, while all the muscles are relaxed in order to rehabilitate the connective tissue and feel lighter, and improve circulation in the joints and improve flexibility. A meditative practice, keeping us young, helping relaxation. A perfect compliment to other more Yang, muscle based exercises like running and swimming and for more vigorous forms of yoga. This style was introduced to the west by Paulie Zink who was a marshal arts teacher, Kung Fu specialist and Yoga teacher, who worked with the principles of Tao and Chinese Medicine. In this practice you can rediscover your personal calm, strength, fluidity, springiness and lightness. Some Yin yoga poses or asanas closely resemble many of the asanas in Hatha yoga, yet they have different names, in part to alert those who are familiar with similar poses in hatha yoga not to perform them in the same way. For example Cobra in Hatha, Bhujangasana, is a strong upward, trunk movement with strong legs, but in Yin Yoga its called Seal and is much more gradual and the legs are very relaxed. In the duration of a class, I might mix up the following, read you some poetry, or a zen story, explain some anatomy, play some beautiful music, and also allow you to rest in silence and listen to the calm in your heart. Use the contact form if you would like to book a one to one or group session. In Orgiva I can work with a friend who plays a vast array of gongs to make this a meditation on sound and body. Saturday morning in La Fuente, in the centre of Orgiva. A one and a half hour Hatha Yoga class suitable for all levels of experience, from beginner, to intermediate, is 7 euros with a discount for 4 classes. There are mats there and you do not need to bring anything. Maybe a bottle of water in summer and a warm wrap in winter. If you have any queries, or prefer a private class, get in touch with me. Namaste. Directions from Baraka cafe. Walk out of the cafe. Follow the road that goes straight down, It then goes uphill again, take the last road on the left and then the first right, You see La Fuente on the corner, door is on your left. Its about 3 min walk from Baraka. |
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