Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training
The first of the Four Paths Of Yoga, Karma Yoga, in this context meaning selfless service, seeks to improve the welfare of others through the purification of the heart, counteraction of egoism, and alignment of focus to benefit the wider community, not just one’s self.
Susan Allen, the founder of The Yoga Transition, did her original teacher training in the Sivananda ashram in Rishikesh, India. She holds very dear to her heart the authentic teachings from this one of India’s greatest spiritual teachers. Susan works with motivated yoga teachers to improve their ability to teach Sivananda yoga to their students in the west, helping them build on what they have learnt so far and to take their teaching career to the next level.
Contact us to find out more.
Are you longing for community and collaboration?
By the very nature of teaching yoga, teachers are often isolated with minimal interaction with other yoga teachers. In this environment, improving and maturing your craft can be difficult as you lack opportunities to connect and learn from peers.
That’s where a structured mentorship environment can help.
The Yoga Transition invites yoga teachers across the globe to join a collaborative community to learn, connect, and enhance their teaching skills with a master teacher - Susan Allen. At the heart of Sivananda yoga is our relationship to others - that we are committed to our Sadhana not solely for our own personal benefit but rather so we can be of benefit to others. At The Yoga Transition we hold true to this intention teaching practical and clear strategies for how to take your learnings off the mat.
Do you want to improve and innovate your teaching?
While many students begin their yoga journey seeking physical wellbeing, the path a teacher walks offers further self-realisation and purpose.
Yoga teachers constantly seek to improve their knowledge of yoga as well as their relationship with students but this can be difficult when you do not have a community of teachers or a mentor for collaboration.
Our yoga teacher mentorship breaks down the common challenges faced by yoga teachers and provides a customised framework for progressing their practice and their teaching skills.
We are here to guide you beyond your initial training and experience. Our objective is to strengthen your teaching skills, refine your understanding of the practice, and to provide a community where you can flourish.
How do you teach Satyananda yoga?
The life path of Sivananda yoga is a transformative practice founded in holistic thinking that extends beyond the yoga mat and through to the everyday lives of its practitioners. We mentor our student teachers in the tradition’s 4 paths, which is the method described by Swami Sivananda to love, see, and serve the Self.
The 4 paths of Sivananda yoga are:
- Karma Yoga | The Yoga of Action
- Bhakti Yoga | The Yoga of Devotion
- Raja Yoga | The Yoga Of Meditation
- Jnana Yoga | The Yoga Of Knowledge
Depending on their temperament, most teachers feel more drawn to one or two of the paths over the others. As we develop in one path there is a natural flowering of all the paths. This is a sign that we are practising correctly. Our knowledge grows, our wisdom of the greater influence of the practice develops.
A Sivananda yoga teacher will include something from each of the 4 paths in every class. Even though the predominant part of a yoga class may be asana, from the Raja Yoga path, it is still completely possible, and our duty, to reveal to students the full palette of teachings from this traditional yoga path. When we teach in this way it is very clear to our students how yoga is indeed a way of life, not just an isolated point of practice in one’s day.
The Bhakti Yoga chanting aspect is one of the great heart gifts of Sivananda yoga. Our yoga teaching mentorship program will give you the confidence to introduce chanting into your classes to encourage engagement and connectedness to others – perhaps one of the greatest gifts of yoga.
This quote from Swami Sivananda perfectly conveys the relationship between our personal Sadhana and our attainment of yoga, or freedom.
“The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self, the Divinity within you. Tap the source through looking within. Improve yourself. Build your character. Purify the heart. Develop the divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Conquer all that is base in you. Endeavour to attain all that is worthy and noble. Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, Tapas, self-restraint and meditation. This is the beginning of your freedom.”
How to convey the transformative benefits of Sivananda yoga
As Sivananda yoga teachers, we have been fortunate to experience the transformative benefits of this traditional practice. But imparting this acquired knowledge and understanding to our students in clear, succinct language can be a challenging skill to develop.
The Yoga Transition can help you develop your cueing skills; encouraging creativity to add variety and depth to your cues when teaching the set 12 pose sequence.
We will show you how to be more observant of your student’s movement habits, and help you develop confidence in adapting the postures and the sequence when appropriate. When you develop these observational skills you are able to give personalised instructions and adaptations to individuals within the group environment.
We will also help you expand your knowledge of biomechanics and alignment of the postures, perhaps an element that was not so elaborated on in your original training. For those that are interested to move beyond the 12 pose set sequence we can provide a framework for doing so, one that respects the root teachings and one that has room for further exploration.
In addition to the pranayama aspect of each class our mentors will guide you in how to identify dysfunctional breathing habits, a key foundational element for wellbeing. It is only when one has a baseline of healthy breathing that the benefits of pranayama can be gained.
What will our mentorship cover?
Our yoga mentorship program will cover the following key topics:
- Expanding your knowledge of the 4 paths: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga
- How to teach a holistic class that has elements of each of the 4 paths
- Expand your knowledge of anatomy and movement biomechanics
- How to develop an authentic teaching style by drawing on your personal experiences
- Increasing your confidence and the scope of the chanting part of your classes
- How to be more interactive with your students, including giving more hands-on assists
- How to incorporate the principles and practice of meditation into your Sivananda classes, including variations on contemporary mindfulness techniques
- How to respect the physiology of breathing and understand its importance within the asana and pranayama practice, thereby encouraging healthy breathing for your clients
- Develop a framework for progressing from the superficial to the subtle both within your own practice as well as in your teaching skills
- Expand your repertoire of postures (if desired) so that you can create effective, artful sequences that respect the body’s biomechanics and capabilities
- How to start a yoga studio, organise retreats, workshops, and immersions
- How to turn your yoga teaching into a successful business.
In order to effectively craft your yoga career path, we will work with you to:
- Identify the knowledge and skills you need to improve
- Develop your personal practice and understanding of yoga
- Set achievable and measurable goals
- Be accountable for your development.
What our experience means for you
At the heart of The Yoga Transition is master teacher Susan Allen, an experienced practitioner and devoted student of Swami Sivananda.
Two decades on, Susan’s yoga journey continues to evolve and flourish, with Susan crediting her most meaningful growth to the gift of mentoring from the world-class master teachers she has been fortunate enough to study with during her travels.
Susan brings all of this experience to her mentoring. Harnessing her practical and technical skillset, she understands and teaches yoga pragmatically, creating a safe and collaborative space for personal development; disseminating all she has learnt over the years in easy to digest modules, covering personal and professional growth goals.
Develop your yoga teaching style with mentorship
At The Yoga Transition we celebrate individuality through:
- Steering your practice and teaching in the direction that most interests you
- Encouraging you to discover your unique voice
- Guiding you to develop a teaching methodology that has both integrity and individual authenticity
Once you have completed your initial teacher training, contact us to find out how mentorship can bring you to the next level.
