Yoga doesn't stop with limb #5~ Meditation Teacher Training

You've seen the buzzwords, you've heard the hype. Mindfulness and Meditation are on the rise and communities are in need. Mindfulness, meditation, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, and generic high consciousness varieties of Yoga are gaining greater acceptance than ever! So why aren't many Yoga teachers teaching it?

The 14th Dalai Lama stated recently that all war would end if every 8 year old were taught compassion and meditation. And if you've done practice in meditation and received benefit from it, you probably wanted to share it with someone but perhaps didn't have the words to explain it. And this is why Meditation Teacher Trainings and meditation circles are important: to teach the words that create an experience of mindfulness and meditation which changes lives.

So why are Yoga teachers reluctant to teach it in their classes? Because most studio teachers are expected to get the bodies moving, not to spend precious moments sitting still. And precious moments they are. The 1st-5th limbs of the ashtanga (8-limbed) path are preparation for meditation, and the 6th- 8th limbs of Yoga are related to directing and sustaining that focus. Why do Yoga teachers stop at breathwork (limb 4)? If you're lucky, you might get a really great savasana and experience pratyahara (limb 5), but really, you're half-way there!

It's time teachers step forward in their own practice and include mindfulness and the opportunity for meditation in their classes.

There is a need for Yoga & meditation teachers and leaders in every at home, in schools, daycare, churches, community centers, counseling centers, jails and detention centers, If you feel called to share a more full expression of what Yoga is, I offer meditation training in person and by Skype, individually and in groups.

Meditation Teacher Training level 1

The first weekend module teaches a consistent path to meditation based on the ashtanga path of Yoga, a beginner's model, with specific guidance and practice of mindfulness of posture, breath, sound, and space. We will practice a mantra each day from the Upanishads and there will be short intervals of peer teaching for practice. The second weekend is an intermediate approach focusing on the foundations of Metta, or lovingkindness in the heart, which is the center of love and compassion for ourselves and others. We will study these obstacles in depth from a Buddhist perspective as the "three poisons," anger, ignorance, and greed, and their opposites, the antidotes: compassion, wisdom, and non-attachment. The third weekend is an emerging-experienced meditation skills class to identify obstacles to meditation and using the correct tools to remove them: mantra, sound, affirmations, yoga postures, breathwork, and visual focus (drishti). The question I am most often asked by beginners is "can you help me clear my mind?" We will work with practice students in the last hour of each class to help them "clear their mind" with the tools from this level 1 course. Counts for 6-60 hours toward our YA registered school and YACEP for Registered Yoga teachers. Join me for one day, a weekend, or all three! Contact me to see if a group is forming near you.