YSI Schedule

300-hour YSI Teacher Training near Tucson, Arizona

Breaking News!

The 2011 YSI 300-Hour Teacher Training will be held in two 10-day retreats...

Module 1: January 21st - 31st, 2011
Module 2:  April 7th - 17th, 2011

Both retreat modules will be held at Rex Ranch, Amado (near Tucson), Arizona.

Details on the currently in progress, 2010 Teacher Training...

YSI 300 Hour Teacher Training
with Mira Shani, Kimberley Theresa, Ted Lafferty, Kristina Pao Cheng, and guest faculty Jessica Kung, Venerable Sumati Marut, and Dr. Winston McCollough

April 8-18th & September 1-11th, 2010
with homework assignments during the break.

Location:
At Rex Ranch, near Tucson, Arizona
Travel to and from the Tucson airport will be provided.

Teacher Bios:

Mira Shani is a founding member, North American Regional Executive Director and Senior Staff teacher of the Yoga Studies Institute. She's been studying and teaching yoga, philosophy and Buddhist Dharma for over 10 years. She is a close student of Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally, who she came in contact with while studying at Kopan Monastery in Nepal. She also studies closely with Anusara® Founder, John Friend and travels around the country and world to teach. Mira lives in Arizona where she studies with her heart Teachers and teaches at Yoga Oasis. 

Kimberley Theresa is an internationally-renowned teacher of spiritual philosophy. Widely-recognized for her profound knowledge of Buddhism, Yoga,  mysticism  and psychology, she brings a modern voice to ancient wisdom in the form of lectures, retreats, partnership teachings, corporate events, and yoga teacher trainings around the world.  Kimberley is the co-Founder and Executive Director of the Yoga Studies Institute.

Kristina Pao Cheng is a Staff Teacher for Yoga Studies Institute, certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher, and student of Tibetan Buddhism with Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally. With over a decade of extensive study in the yogic and Buddhist traditions, she brings a highly developed practice to her workshops and teachings. In 2006, Kristina co-produced kirtan album Sounds of She now available through White Swan Records. This year she will be a presenter at the Omega Women of Yoga Retreat and the Hong Kong Asia Yoga Conference. She currently teaches primarily in Asia and North America.

Ted Lafferty teaches workshops, teacher trainings, retreats, and coaching sessions around the globe. Ted also teaches nutrition and runs a health program that uses an integral approach to bring transformation to the whole-self; mind, body and spirit.

Venerable Brian K. Smith (Lama Sumati Marut) is a founding Director of the Yoga Studies Institute. He has been teaching Asian Classics Institute courses, guided meditations, and informal Dharma talks in Los Angeles since 2000, in addition to teaching in New York, South Lake Tahoe, and Ireland. He is on the faculty of Diamond Mountain University in Arizona as a professor of Sanskrit. Brian is a currently an advisor to the Board of Directors of the Yoga Studies Institute, and is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is the author of several scholarly books and translations based on Sanskrit materials.
 

Jessica Kung is a Staff Teacher for the Yoga Studies Institute in both Tibetan Heart Yoga and Classics of Yoga. She is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT and Jivamukti 800hr certified yoga teacher. She has also completed Anusara Level 1 Teacher Training with Desirée Rumbaugh. She teaches Yoga, Sanskrit, and philosophy around the world, and leads Tibetan Heart Yoga teacher trainings for the Yoga Studies Institute. She continues her studies at Diamond Mountain University with Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally.

Dr. Winston McCullough is a professor of Religious Studies at Oregon State University.  He is renowned for his knowledge of the relationship between Buddhism and Christianity and can teach extensively on both paths.
 

Graduation Status and Curriculum:
Graduates will leave the training with the skills they need to teach public yoga classes, Tibetan Heart Yoga or otherwise, and also able to teach Tibetan Heart Yoga Essentials and Yoga Classics Essentials courses as YSI Staff with the option to move to Full Staff Status after a period of mentorship.

Graduates will also be eligible for immediate certification through Yoga Alliance as RYT200.  Below is an outline of the teacher training curriculum.

1. techniques training / practice (100 hours)
asana practice
asana methodology / alignment / technique
weaving asana with inner methods
perfecting inner methods
meditation: practice and teach
nada yoga / kirtan
pranayama / kriyas

2. teaching methodology (50 hours)
seat of the teacher / presence
guru yoga
principles of demonstration
business aspect of yoga teaching
sequencing
teaching alignment / technique
modification / assisting, verbal and physical
voice
theme / inner method
weaving of physical and inner methods
teaching meditation

3. anatomy & physiology (25 hours)
subtle body anatomy
physical anatomy / physiology
physiological benefits of physical and energetic alignment

4. yoga philosophy / lifestyle and ethics for yoga teachers (100 hours)
understand yoga and its final goals
karma and emptiness
three principle paths
guru yoga
sanskrit
kham
understanding of lineage
daily practice
seva
nutrition
tsam / retreat
lung/wind-disorders
bodhicitta

5. practicum (25 hours)
assisting
observing
feedback
composing and teaching a class

Click on these thumbnails to see photos of last year's Teacher Training.

Testimonials from our 2009 Program:

"I attended the first 300-hour training last year, after completing 90% of the classic THY accreditation path.  All I can say is WOW.  They are not messing around, I can tell you that.  The teachings are full-on.  My skills in teaching, understanding of the yogic texts, and my inner body have gone through the roof.  I have taken many trainings - yoga, massage, circus arts - and I was totally blown away by the skill of the teachers and their execution of the program."
-Denise Deniger

Prices:
Total Cost: $5600
Earlybird! Pay in full by Feb. 1st for a $500 discount: $5100

Options (all bold totals include your $500 deposit):
-In full by Feb. 1st: $5100
-Two installments of $2800 due by March 4th & July 11th:  $5600
-Four installments of $1450 due on March 4th, April 1st, July 11th, & August 25th: $5800

Registration:
***To register for this event, please pay a $500 non-refundable deposit and submit your application within three weeks of your deposit.  YSI prefers you send a check to the Tucson address below, but you can also pay through Paypal by using this link.  You can email us your application or send it along with your check to:

YSI
PO Box 44114
Tucson, AZ 85733 USA

If you have paid your registration fee and sent your application (see above) and you wish to make a payment toward your balance, use the box below or send a check to the address above.

to make a payment online via Paypal:

You will receive a receipt via email for your payments as they arrive.  If you have any questions, please email us. 

Lodging Details:
The price for this training includes full accommodations at the Rex Ranch, located one hour South of Tucson in a small town called Amado, Arizona, on the South face of the Santa Rita Mountains.  Rex Ranch sits in the lush Santa Cruz river valley on sacred site referred to by local Native Americans tribes as "the palm of God's hand".  The space includes comfortable adobe lodging, full pool and jacuzzi, horseback riding, hiking trails, and spa facilities.
The weather in Amado is usually 8-10 degrees cooler than in Tucson.  Please plan for 10 days in the high-desert.

Transportation from the Tucson airport to and from Rex Ranch will be provided.

Arrivals/Departures:
Students will need to schedule their arriving flights to arrive in Tucson at or before 4pm on April 8th and September 1st.  Students will need to schedule their departing flights to depart from the Tucson airport on or after 4pm on April 18th and September 11th.  Shuttles will be provided from TUS to Rex Ranch both ways.

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The 2009 YSI 300-Hr Teacher Training was sponsored in part by: