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Why choose India for Yoga Teacher Training?

Whether it is your first teacher training or your 27th, India always has more yogic wisdom to offer.

Here are 10 amazing reasons to take your yoga teacher training in India:

1. Lineage: Going to the Source

The Upanishads, a series of Hindu sacred treatises, literally mean “sitting near,” as in to sit as close as possible to the master.

Like the classic game of telephone, things get lost in translation; therefore, traveling to India is the logical course to learn from the source of sacred yogic wisdom.

2. Diverse Terrain: It Has Mountains and Beaches

Ranging from the Himalayan mountains to the Indian Ocean coastline, India is a beautiful country with diverse terrain.

Rishikesh has access to Mother Ganga and is considered the yoga capital of the world. Mysore is considered the place for Ashtanga practitioners to study. Dharamshala is tucked away in the Himalayan peaks and a great place to study if the mountains call to you. Furthermore, Goa has breathtaking beach views.

Yogi Tip: Be mindful of timing and temperature in various areas. For example, in the summer, the southern regions of India can be extremely hot and humid.

3. Affordability: Lower Cost for Teacher Training

Two months in India at Akshi Yogashala complete with six weeks of 200-hour teacher training in Rishikesh, round trip flight, lodging, food, and travel after training cost the same for me as studying at any of my local studios. Additional food and drinks are low-cost.

4. Full Immersion: No PAUSE Button

If you are travelling to India for teacher training, it is likely not your home base. Therefore, there is no time to push pause and go back to your usual routine.

Being fully immersed in your training and surrounded by like minded individuals helps integrate your teachings into your life.

5. Culture Shock: Sometimes Coming Home is Harder Than Leaving

Without having travelled prior to living in Rishikesh (Birth Place of Yoga) for six weeks, I was expecting a similar experience throughout the country. However, in Delhi, You may experience culture shock when beer and chicken were available at dinner. I was accustomed to Rishikesh (Birth Place of Yoga), a holy city, where a vegetarian diet is the law and there is no consumption of alcohol.

Travelling within India provided an opportunity to reflect on my own personal practice and philosophy after the teacher training ended.

6. Letting Go: Bye-Bye Ego

There is something about the stark reality of living beside immense poverty that strips away the ego. Training in India not only teaches you the yamas and niyamas, it helps you live the yogic philosophy.

Considering aparigraha, non-greed or non-possessiveness — in India, it is easier to strip away the ego that calls for expensive yoga clothes and competition for the perfect asana practice.

7. Ayurveda: Subscribe to the Good Life

Developed over 5,000 years ago in India, Ayurveda is a system of preventative medicine and health care. Ayurveda identifies a person’s ideal state of balance and offers interventions to reestablish balance.

While in India, learning more about Ayurveda from the source is a perfect complement to learning yoga.

8. Mind Over Matter: The Power of Patience

Continuous yoga and meditation practice invites inner peace.

Additionally, riding in a car in India helps increase your ability to stay calm and patient while dodging carts left in the middle of a bustling intersection and hearing honks from at least ten different drivers at the same time.

9. Connection: Gather Energy From Around the World

Not only will there be amazing teachers from India who can help you bring something new back home, you will likely have a cohort from all over the world who will help your practice flourish.

One will train with people from six different continents. One will learn all sorts of new asanas, flows, and how studios from across the world format classes and build community.

10. Fresh Chai Lattes: Repeat Daily

Lastly, if no other reason on the list draws your energy to train in India, let this one help you decide: fresh chai lattes.

For a few rupees, you can lounge outside and sip the most refreshing chai latte in the world. If the idea of exploring stunning Hindu temples and palaces or swimming in the Ganga or connecting to the magnetic and powerful energy in India does not tempt you, go for the chai lattes; they are unforgettable.

Yagya – The Importance of Fire Ceremony

Yagya – The Importance of Fire Ceremony or Holy fire

Our ancient texts are full of legends wherein ancient sages performed Yagya or fire ceremony and the demons (asuras) tried to destroy them. The demons then had to pay a hefty price as the godly, valiant prince used to guard the Holy fire and eliminate the nuisance. Whether these are just folklore, myths, legends or history is a debate for some other day. But there is no denying the fact that Yagya was related to slaying negativity since the Vedic times. Let’s explore how and why…

How it works

All these reasons are show how important to perform yagya or fire ceremony before starting our Yoga teacher training course.

What Makes Kerala a Unique Destination for Yogis?

Towards the southern corners of India is the God’s own land, Kerala, where there is an amalgamation of nature’s blessings and soulful retreats. It is a place where the mind and body are idolized in a temple of health and the religiosity, beauty gives it a retreating balance and its atmosphere act as a catalyst to learn the art of yoga and meditation.

Here are few things that are unique about Kerala:

Kerala is a home of this 5000 years’ old unbroken tradition Ayurveda. As the treatment is carried out in monsoons so it has a particular connection with nature. And, yoga has similar connections to these natural factors. You will find the perfect combination of the yoga and Ayurveda in Kerala’s Yoga Teachers Training Schools to give you dual advantage of learning Yoga +Ayurveda.

Authentic Yoga Teachers

In Kerala, you will find teachers who have inherited yoga and ayurvedic knowledge from their ancestors. The knowledge, wisdom and understanding of yoga and Ayurveda are in their blood which they now bestow on their students. This ensures aspiring yogis gets the best knowledge of yoga which they may not have acquired since years.

Kerala is a Nature’s Paradise

Kerala is a nature’s paradise as in these lands as one hand you will find the peaks of the southern hills while on the other hand beautiful beaches where the coconut trees stand touching the blueness of the environment around. Tourists are also enchanted by the beautiful water bodies, lagoons, meandering rivers, water bodies amidst lavish forests. Houseboats of Kerala are the most preferred for tourists. The Idukki dam is the first ever Indian arch dam in Periyar river. Kerala and one of the largest arch dam in Asia. And there are shopping, museums and markets to explore Kerala more. To add it body spas, and traditional therapy centers are in abundance, to make the tourists thrill doubled. There is everything for everybody, so pure and serene.

The Weather of Kerala

Weather of Kerala is same all the year round, except for monsoons. Monsoons add to the beauty of Kerala and this is a right time also to do massage and yoga. Rains add to the calmness of the mind and seem to bless it with beauty, peace, stillness and soberness.

Awesome Villages.

Villages are the feast to the eyes of the travelers for the panoramic view of the farms, hillsides, lakes, rivers, and fields. The villages with water bodies, greenery all around, paddy fields and coconut trees are perfect for the great yoga holiday.

Cuisine

Kerala has a rich, unique and natural flavor of food like banana dishes, seafood, Malayali dishes etc. It is famous for its rich spices which are healthy and nutritious and therefore many Yoga Teachers Training School in Kerala offers food prepared by local spices.

Still and Peaceful Environment

Kerala is one of the states’ which is not touched by the modernistic western world. It boasts of its pure air and soil, simple people and rich culture. It is also known for its many famous and beautiful temples, where the mythological legends still prevail.

Living in Kerala and undergoing Yoga Teachers Training is a unique opportunity. If you really want to see and feel a true life of love, simplicity, peace, beauty, and health Kerala makes a perfect destination.

Yoga for Beginners – Everything You Need to Know Before You Start

Yoga for Beginners – Everything You Need to Know Before You Start: In these days, Yoga is becoming more and more popular within modern society, people are becoming more aware of themselves and look for something that might help them to live longer and healthier life. Though, there is much more within the path of Yoga that is beyond what most of people think and put as their inspiration for their practice, like simply for creating more strength and flexibility in the physical body.

Yoga is a vast system of self-exploration that leads one towards a realization in order to create a reunion on every aspect of the being and to project this inspiration outwards in order to create a positive impact also on the environment.  Eventually, the ultimate goal is to reach enlightenment through the application of all the different elements, such as leading an ethical life, purifying the body and the mind, practicing the Yogic postures, using different breathing techniques, withdrawing the five senses internally, concentrating on one object at a time and meditation.

As a complete beginner, it would be better to avoid the strain of trying too hard to understand every detail on the first class, it is a long process that demands the investments of time and effort together. It is completely natural not to have the ability to perform from the beginning all the instructions by the Yoga teacher or the book you study. It is even very obvious that in Asana classes many beginner students would pay attention just for the physical movements that are seen only by the gross eyes, without paying attention to the internal events at all.

But the more all elements of Yoga is practiced, the deeper the practitioner will be able to dive internally and explore the subtler level of the being.

Nowadays, the Yoga community is growing larger and larger so it is usually easier to find a Yoga studio, school or Ashram in every populated area around the globe, especially in India. Even though it is just the beginning, it is extremely recommended to find a highly experienced teacher who has the awareness of leading a class in a professional and safe way that is intending to create a transformation within all aspects of life. Along with that, it is also important to pay attention more and more to yourself so you can your actions. For example, studying according to the capacity of the body and the mind and avoiding strain.

Eventually, the whole aim is to re-establish a conscious relationship between the body, mind and the higher self or the soul. It all come with patience and consistent practice; before reaching the deeper levels like dealing with emotional issues in order to create healing within the mental realm, it is likely that most of people will connect to the physical body first and get to explore areas where they were never mindful of before.

To conclude all that, it is important to say, the path of Yoga is a path of exploration, the only thing you have to do is just to start and reduce the expectations, it is like opening a gift box without realizing first what is inside. In this path, instead of only reaching a goal, you will learn also how to enjoy the journey.

Difference Between Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow

One common misconception is in yoga exists between Ashtanga Vinyasa and Vinyasa, two of the most popular styles today. With a little reading, and an open heart, the differences will become clear.

Similarities  

Both styles arise from the Krishnamacharya Yoga lineage, and both highlight breath-centered movement. Movement and breath align and poses will not be held for more than five counts. The similarities stop there, thought while the differences fall into three categories: sequence, asanas, asymmetrical shifts, and teaching style.

Both Ashtanga and Vinyasa employ a three-pose transition, called a “Vinyasa,” which includes Chatturanga, Upward-Facing Dog, and Downward-Facing Dog. This is where the confusion begins. Vinyasa is simply another word for transition.

So when we hear Ashtanga Vinyasa, we should think of the transitions between movements in a series or sequence. When we hear Vinyasa, we should be aware that this is a separate style of Yoga altogether.

Sequence

Ashtanga Yoga entails of three series of postures: primary, secondary, and advanced. The series are in a particular order. Before moving onto the next phase, each series must be mastered and memorized. The predefined order of postures (asanas) that students practice the same way, every time. There is no variation here, ever. There may be modifications, but the practice will always look the same, no matter what.

Vinyasa class sequences vary from teacher and practitioner. There is no set series of movements. The practice itself is almost a free flow, hence the commonly used term Vinyasa Flow. Each practice can appear entirely different than the previous or preceding one. And this change based on the teacher and the practitioner.

Asanas

Ashtanga foundations are based on a set category of asanas. The primary series centers on forward bends. The secondary series focuses on back bends. And the advanced series emphasizes arm-support and arm-balancing poses. During the progression, the postures become more increasingly more complex.

Vinyasa Yoga sequences often highlight challenging poses. Referred to as peak poses, the teacher selects poses for a particular practice or objective. During the class, the teacher guides students through a sequence of postures as preparation for the peak pose. Recovery poses are also incorporated.

Asymmetrical Shifts

Ashtanga performs an asymmetrical pose on the right side, moves through a Vinyasa, and then repeats the pose on the left side.

Vinyasa Yoga, several asymmetrical poses are done together before performing the Vinyasa and switching to the other leg.

Teaching Style

Ashtanga has a unique version of teaching. It is teacher-led, but the primary focus is on student autonomy. The method is called “Mysore” which means self-led. Mysore style utilizes memorized Ashtanga sequences. Each student moves according to the appropriate rhythm and level for the practice. During this time, teachers monitor the students and provide individual adjustments and instruction, as needed.

Vinyasa Yoga is teacher-led in a traditional sense. Vinyasa classes are lead by a teacher who offers instruction, cues from start to finish, and tips for each pose. The teacher guides the class as an entire unit, then offers some personalized adjustments.