Teachers Training Course
A Life Transforming Experience
Founded in 1969 and launched here in Upstate New York in 1974, our Yoga Teachers Training Course is the oldest yoga teacher training in the West, educating over 40k teachers around the world to date. Join us for a unique and profoundly transforming month-long teachers training course.
- Awaken and strengthen your yoga practice
- Build a firm foundation in classical yoga from which to teach others instinctively and confidently
- Model a peaceful Yogic lifestyle, including participation in Karma Yoga (selfless service), vegetarian diet and daily spiritual practice
- Connect to a tradition and lineage passed down by masters
- Earn an internationally recognized certification which is accepted by the worldwide Yoga Alliance as the standard 200 hours required by Registered Yoga Schools (RYS)
Course Curriculum
Becoming a Yoga Teacher
“My goal in creating this course was to allow people to develop their latent power and build a better world.” – Swami Vishnudevananda
Yoga Alliance Certified
Through hands-on learning and guidance, deepen your practice and gain the skills needed to teach yoga. Our graduates receive an internationally recognized certification through the worldwide Yoga Alliance confirming they have the practical knowledge and experience to teach Hatha Yoga (asanas, pranayama and relaxation). The Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training Course includes the following:
Course Topics and Details
• 12 basic Yoga postures
• 100 Asana variations, from intermediate level to advanced
• Postural alignment
• Deep relaxation with autosuggestion
• Release of blocked energy
• Relaxes the nervous system
• Balances the two hemispheres of the brain
• Purifies the nadis (subtle energy channels)
• Awakens the inner spiritual energy
• Kapalabhati (lung cleansing exercise)
• Anuloma Viloma (alternate nostril breathing)
• Introduction to advanced pranaymas
• How diet affects the mind
• Proper balance of the main nutrients
• Ayurvedic principles of nutrition
• Healing effects of fasting
Meditation is both the main tool and the ultimate destination of Yoga. This course focuses on japa meditation, or mantra repetition, as well as the power of positive thinking.
• The effects of asanas and pranayama on: the cardiovascular, respiration, digestion, skeletal muscular and endocrine systems
• Yoga and physical culture
Study in an Ancient Tradition
THE GURUKULA SYSTEM
This 4-week course is styled after the ancient Gurukula system in which students live, study, and work with their teachers and fellow students in an ashram. For every idea the student understands, there will be a hundred that come into the conscious mind only when the time is ready. The goal of the teachers training program is to produce qualified and inspiring yoga teachers who are able to draw on their own practice and personal discipline while imparting the yoga experience to others.
The Daily Schedule
5:30am Wake Up
6:00am Meditation, Mantra chanting, Lecture, or Silent Walk (Satsang)
8:00am Asanas and Pranayama
10:00am Brunch
11:00am Karma Yoga
12:00pm Bhagavad Gita or Chanting Class
2:00pm Main Lecture
4:00pm Asanas and Pranayama
6:00pm Dinner
8:00pm Meditation, mantra chanting and lecture (Satsang)
10:30pm Lights Out
Practical Information
Students enjoy special programs, festivals, concerts and symposiums that are offered during evening satsangs. There is one weekly day off.
*During the day off students are only required to attend morning and evening satsangs and to perform their Karma Yoga.
*Attendance at all activities is mandatory.
*Changes in the program may occur.
The Four Paths of Yoga
As an integral component of this course, for one month you will immerse yourself in and study the lessons of the Four Paths of Yoga. Learning within the Gurukula system, students transform detailed Yogic theory into practical, on-the-ground understanding.
Bhakti Yoga, the Yoga of Devotion, teaches how to open the heart and purify the mind. Discover Kirtan (chanting of classical Sanskrit mantras), Indian gods/goddesses and their energetic meaning, and other traditional Indian rituals.
Also known as Ashtanga Yoga, this is the science of mental and physical control where meditation is the chief practice. Discover the effects and experiences of meditation, how to meditate, the use of mantras, and how to cultivate concentration.
Explore the Yoga of Knowledge and the concepts of Vedanta philosophy such as space, time, and causation, the difference between the physical and energetic bodies, and also the subconscious, conscious, and superconscious mind.
Registration Information
Signing Up for the TTC
The practice, and especially the teaching of yoga, demand a high degree of self-discipline and virtue. To ensure the success of the program, participants are required to attend all spiritual activities, meditation sessions, lectures, and asana classes.
A basic knowledge of yoga postures and philosophy is helpful but not essential. A sincere desire to learn and openness to the teachings of Yoga is all that is required. Meat, fish, eggs, black tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and nudity are prohibited during the course (and in the ashram) as they are counterproductive to yoga practice. Participants who do not comply with the ashram rules may be dismissed from the course.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to cater to personal dietary preferences beyond the yogic-vegetarian meals.
Registration Details
$2,400 – Tent Space
$2,960 – Shared Room
$3,220 – Double Room
$3,900 – Single Room
Sign up for the TTC and ATTC at the same time and save $450 on ATTC tuition. If you have additional questions or would like more information, please call us at: 845-436-6492
The course cost includes all your meals, classes, accommodations, training manual, and use of the ashram grounds.
It does not include your training course textbooks (required materials which are available at our boutique) or any of our Wellness Center services.
• The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnudevananda, Three Rivers Press
• Bhagavad Gita with a commentary by Swami Sivananda, the Divine Life Trust Society
• Yoga mat, cushion, blanket, Kriya set
• Yoga – Your Home Practice Companion by Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Dorling Kindersley
• Sivananda Beginner’s Guide to Yoga by Sivananda Yoga Centre, Gaia Books
• Yoga Mind & Body by Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Dorling Kindersley
• Meditation and Mantras by Swami Vishnudevananda, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
• Comfortable as well as warm and waterproof clothing
• Notebook and torch or flashlight
• Towel, toiletries, Neti pot
• Water bottle
• Swimsuit for our wood-burning sauna
