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Elective Format 500-Level Training

About the Program

Yoga Teacher Training at The Yoga Space is all about transformation; taking you on a personal journey that will inspire you, challenge you, and empower you in all aspects of your life.  Our highly acclaimed 500 hr weekend program is strongly recommended for building close community with the same family of yogis during the duration of your course.

For students needing more flexibility in their schedules, might be traveling from abroad, and wanting to focus on intensive elective modules with Michele, Ian, or guest teachers, our 18 month (or less) elective base format based on 20-100 hr modules is a wonderful way to self pace and earn your 500 hr Yoga Alliance Certification.  

You must currently hold a 200 hr. Yoga Alliance Certification to register.  An initial registration tuition of $1100 is required prior to taking your first module.  Individual modules range from $350-800.  

There are 5 Required Modules that will be offered several times during the year.  Some of the intensives will also have an online training option.

Required Modules 40-50 hours

1.  "Yoga Philosophy, to inspire & embody"

2.  "The Art Of Alignment"

3.  "Anatomy For Yogis"

4.  "Advanced Teaching Skills"

5.  "Super Sequencing"


Elective modules will be offered regularly for students to choose from that will complete their remaining hours in courses such as "Restorative & Yin"; The Subtle Body, Pranayama & Kriya; Yoga Nidra; Hands on Assists; & Meditation.

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  • Yoga Philosophy To Inspire & Embody, with Michele Loew Thursdays, May 7 to June 18th

    Join Michele for an inspirational journey through the major scriptures of yoga, including the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, and the tantric treatises on yoga.  Michele will help illuminate these scriptures in a way that allows us to become intimate with their meanings and bring them into our lives and teaching very clearly.  This is a 30 hour Required Module for the Yoga Space 500 Elective training.  Non-teachers and all interested students of yoga welcome.  

    Those auditing outside of our course can receive 40 hr YA Ceus.  

    This course will take place over a two month period Thursday nights from 7:30-9pm.  Classes will be held on Zoom or live in person.  Both are options, depending on the state of the world.  People are welcome to join from other locations.  Homework will be given each week, and the sessions will be recorded, so if there is a schedule conflict or you need to re-watch, you will still be able to review a weeks material.  Our intention is to come together for a live session May 30-31st for a full weekend of practice, meditation, review together.  For those unable to join in person, that weekend will be accessible via Zoom.  

    30 hour Required module

    Cost:  $375

    More Info and Booking
    Yoga Philosophy To Inspire & Embody, with Michele Loew Thursdays, May 7 to June 18th

  • "Anatomy For Yogis" with Ian Lemasters May 15th-July 10th

    In this module Ian will cover anatomy and kinesiology as it applies to the yoga practices. Teachers will learn anatomical language, major bones, joints and ligaments, muscles and their primary functions within particular yoga postures, common yoga injuries and how to avoid them, mechanics of pranayama as well as sequencing for muscle groups. Once the foundation has been laid, we will then learn how to apply this knowledge and convey it in a way that is practical and easy to understand for your students. If you have been looking for a yoga anatomy training to supplement your teachings, look no further."  
     
    This is a required 40 hour module for the 500 hr elective course.  

    Cost $450

     

    Ian will utilize live in person sessions, recorded interactive videos, a self-study homework guide, zoom sessions if needed to bring the anatomy alive.  Students are welcome to participate remotely via Zoom for all modules, or be with Ian in person as is allowed.   

    Course times Fridays 6:30-8:30pm May 15th-July 10th, with an in person immersion weekend July 9th & 10th where we wil come together to apply the knowledge and look at how the body truly works in hands on practice.   

    More Info and Booking
    "Anatomy For Yogis" with Ian Lemasters May 15th-July 10th

Other Trainings

The Yoga Space offers teacher training programs in other locations around the world, including the retreat center Menla in the Catskils in Upstate New York.  Check below for current offerings and Yoga Alliance Continuing Education courses, including the 300 hr. Vajra Yoga Training with Robert Thurman.

  • Vajrayoga 300-Level Teacher Training

    Intensive Studies & Yoga Alliance 300 hr. Teacher Training With Robert Thurman & Michele Loew

    Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa | Catskills Forest, New York

    This is a 300-plus (500 hr. Yoga Alliance Certification Course). To receive official YA certification, you must currently hold a Yoga Alliance 200 hr. from another program. Participants wishing to attend regardless of YA certification, are welcome.

    • MODULE 1: September 3-13, 2020 
    • MODULE 2: December 3-13, 2020
    • MODULE 3: 10 days in Spring 2021

    Join us for this totally unique yoga teacher training, exploring the philosophical and experiential interface between Hatha Yoga and Indo-Tibetan Vajra Yoga traditions in the pristine hidden mountain valley of Menla—a Medicine Buddha land.

    This will be an intensive immersion designed for students and teachers of Indian and Tibetan yogas wishing to take their practice and teaching to a deeper level. A principal of the approach is to move the context of the yogas into the domain of the mahasiddhas—their trans-denominational Indic spiritual sciences (adhyatmavidya–nangi rigpa). 

    This is a rare opportunity to study intimately and extensively, in the context of a yoga training, with Professor Emeritus, Padma Shri Robert “Tenzin” Thurman—Vajracharya in the lineage of H. H. the Dalai Lama, world renowned scholar & authority on Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Science, Indic spirituality, and world philosophy. He will elucidate the Buddha’s teachings and offer inner scientific, philosophical, and spiritual inspiration for our yoga practices. 

    Michele Loew—in the Hatha yoga lineage of Krishnamacharya and Richard Freeman and also Kalachakra and Tibetan Trulkhor yoga practitioner—has trained thousands of yoga teachers in her long-established Yoga Alliance certification courses and will utilize the deep investigation of yoga from a classical lineage perspective to build an intelligent foundation that can be applied to any style of yoga. The yoga practices will be built mindfully and progressively from the ground up with deep attention to physical and subtle body alignment.

    WHAT TO EXPECT: 

    • Daily practice of yoga asana (harmonizing Hatha, Vajrayana, Kalachakra, and Tibetan Trulkhor yogas), meditation, pranayama, chanting, instruction, contemplation, discussion, and yoga nidra will be offered to create a deeply transformational journey of self-discovery. 

    • We will also gain a strong foundation in yoga teaching methodology, practicum, & technique as well as applied anatomy and physiology that will empower those aiming to teach yoga in a universalist and science-based setting to do so with confidence and poise. 

    • The course is for those who wish to advance their knowledge and experience of yoga, whether they choose to teach or not. All serious students welcome to participate.

    • This course includes study and contemplation of traditional texts and practices from Indian and Tibetan traditions, including but not limited to:

      • The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali and selected Pali Suttas, such as the Samaññaphala

      • The Mahasatipatthana, and the Aggañña Suttas

      • The Yoga Vasishta and the Vimalakirti and Flower Ornament Sutras

      • The Bhagavad Gita and the Lalitavistara Sutra

      • Shankaracharya’s Yogataravali and Shantideva’s Bodhisattvas Career

      • The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Mañjushri-nama-samgiti

      • The Tibetan Book of the Dead

      • Various works by Jey Tsong Khapa and the Dalai Lama on Deity Yoga and on the Inner Science of the Esoteric Community and the Kalachakra.

    SAMPLE DAILY SCHEDULE

    6:30 – 7am:  Meditation

    7 – 9am:  Pranayama & Asana Practice

    9 – 10am:  Breakfast

    10:30am – 1pm:  Asana Technique, Assists, Applied Anatomy & Physiology

    1:00 – 2:00pm: Lunch

    2:00 – 4pm:  Free Time, Self Study

    4pm – 6pm:  Chanting, Meditation, Philosophy

    6:00 – 7:15pm: Dinner 

    7:30 – 9:00pm: Philosophy discussion, Yoga Nidra, Restorative or Yin sessions

    COURSE FORMAT

    This intensive-studies program is taught in three 10-day 100 hr. immersions. For those seeking a 300 hr. certification, all 3 modules must be completed. Each 10-day immersion is a unique and complete course, so they do not need to be taken in order. Course completion could take place the following year or two. Students wishing to just take one or two of the modules are welcome to do so. 

    MODULE 1:  Foundations in Mind and Body Yogic Practice: The Free Void Womb of Compassion 

    • Yoga Asana:  Standing Poses / Core / Forward Folds

    • Tibetan NeJang Yoga

    • Introducing the Philosophies of Yoga, Dualist and Non-Dualist

    • Shiva and Kalachakra Yogas


    MODULE 2:  The Creative Art of Re-envisioning Mind and Body – Mandala as Empowering Space of Practice

    • Visualizations

    • Mantras

    • Pranayama

    • Yoga Asana: Mirroring Subtle Body Fluency

    • Back Bends, Hip Joint / Spine Twists

    • Yin Yoga

    • Tantric Trulkhor Yogas

    • Kalachakra Yoga


    MODULE 3:  Expansion into the Perfect Stages

    • Moving Inner Energies within the Subtle Body

    • Inner Fire

    • Sleep and Dream Yogas Intensified

    • Pranayama Practices Deepened

    • Yoga Asana: Inversions, Shoulders / Head / Neck

    • Kalachakra Yoga 

    More Info and Booking