YogaWorks

YogaWorks offers one of the most comprehensive Teacher Training programs in the country for aspiring teachers and serious students of yoga. This cohesive, multi-specialist approach to teacher training blends the best of the yoga tradition from the East and the West.

The mission of YogaWorks is to provide teacher training students with the foundation to teach skillfully – with compassion, integrity and safety – as they discover their own unique voice, style, and gifts as a yoga teacher.

During the 200-hour teacher training, students will learn the fundamentals of intelligent instruction: the cornerstone of a YogaWorks style class. We feel it is a teacher’s job, rather than just leading students through a routine, to really teach them something in each class, using instructions to stretch students’ thinking and approach to postures and/or the philosophy of yoga. In this way we hope to offer our students a rich, original, multi-layered experience.

The YogaWorks distinctive view of sequencing asana is inspired by three lineages: Ashtanga, Iyengar and
Viniyoga. From Ashtanga Yoga comes sun salutes, heat and breath, from Iyengar, conscientious
instruction, focus on inversion and themes and from Viniyoga, individualized modifications. From there,
YogaWorks has added its own unique sequencing guidelines based on the needs of the average
practitioner and has tied these threads together into a cohesive whole.

The 200-hour program is divided into sections according to types of asana studied. We begin with
standing poses – Tadasana – the template – and the postures that are most like Tadasana – those poses in
which the femur bones are placed neutrally in the hip sockets. From neutrally-rotated standing poses we
move to outwardly-rotated standing poses. From there, we explore a new type of asana each session:
inversions, sun salutes, back bends, forward bends, twists, arm balances as well as how to teach
beginners and restoratives. Anatomy and philosophy are woven into the cloth of the course so that they
relate to the asana. Pranayama, meditation and study of the subtle body are introduced once students
have built a solid physical foundation through work in the asanas.

YOGAWORKS HISTORY

The founders of YogaWorks, Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller and Alan Finger believed in Yoga’s power to change lives. They came together from different parts of the world, from different Yoga disciplines, and from different life experiences to share a passion for, and commitment to, bringing Yoga to more people. They did not aspire to be businessmen or trendsetters; they were first and foremost students, teachers, and practitioners. They got on their mats to practice everyday – it’s how they lived and grew.

When they founded their school, they saw an opportunity, indeed an obligation, to bring together many styles of Yoga under one generous, open, flowing umbrella – YogaWorks. They sought to uphold the 5,000-year-old tradition of Yoga by infusing their programs with integrity, quality, authenticity, and accessibility to all who came through their doors. Their hearts and minds were always open. And their vision inspired thousands.

Maty, with the help and inspiration of senior teachers Chuck Miller and Lisa Walford, honored the tradition of the great Yoga masters who passed knowledge from teacher to student, and created the highly renowned YogaWorks Teacher Training Program. This Program has formed and guided leading Yogis across the world. Working side by side, these three visionaries pioneered a unique approach to teaching asana, inspired by the classical Ashtanga, Iyengar and Viniyoga schools, yet distinctly attuned to the needs and challenges of their students’ bodies. Their work has since been complemented by Alan Finger’s deep knowledge of meditation and the subtle body, making the curriculum the incredibly rich, diverse, and comprehensive program it is today.

YOGAWORKS PHILOSOPHY

Theory and Practice of Yoga
This foundational training will emphasize deepening a student’s personal practice, as this is the source for their creative teaching. It will also include a comprehensive study of the techniques and mechanics of fundamental yoga postures, while providing the tools necessary to teach yoga to others. To facilitate a more scientific understanding of the body, the training includes the study of functional anatomy-including units devoted to the feet, legs, pelvis, spine and shoulder girdle as well as the physiology of inversions, breathing and the nervous system. In addition, to give developing teachers a balanced understanding of yoga, the Yoga Works training moves beyond the physical with the study of meditation, pranayama, Ayurveda and the chakra system.

Topics Include:
> Intensive asana study
> Beginning anatomy and physiology
> Introduction to meditation
> The principles of pranayama
> Understanding restorative yoga
> Introduction to ayurveda
> Overview of subtle body/chakra system

Yoga Philosophy
Over 2,000 years ago the sage Patanjali described the process of Yogic movement toward higher consciousness and peace in his treatise “The Yoga Sutras.” His teachings are a living, practical model that, once understood, can be applied to all aspects of life today. They serve to deepen the awareness of our relationship to ourselves, to others, and to our environment. Participants of this course will be introduced to the vast wealth of inspiration available in the Yoga Sutras.

The Theory and Practice of Teaching
The art of teaching is a form of yoga in itself requiring sensitivity, compassion and practice. A teacher must encourage and inspire, being sensitive to both the needs of individuals as well as those of the group.

The practical and subtle aspects involved in teaching, to be addressed in this course, include:
> How to be an effective teacher
> Use of voice, body language, touch
> The art and science of sequencing
> Learning how to see and understand bodies
> The purpose and use of props: in personal practice and class setting
> Hands on adjustments
> Practice Teaching