Each September I begin another round of my teacher training program with a course called Foundations. In this program we explore the physical, energetic, mental, emotional, intellectual and blissful layers of our yoga practice.  We get to dive deeper into our yoga practice than you can in any public class.  We explore the alignment and the physiological and energetic properties of the asanas. We also practice pranayama.  We dip our toes into  philosophy and we practice meditation.  These ten sessions are a deep immersion into your full yoga practice.

A sample day:

Meditation
We begin with an introduction of a topic or technique for meditation and then we sit and meditate for 20 minutes. This is followed by a writing in our journals to help us remember our meditation and to draw us deeper into the experience.

Asana practice
We explore a different group of postures each week starting with the standing poses and moving through all of the categories of poses:  Sun Salutes, inversions, hand balancing, hip openers, back bends, twists and forward bends.  We discuss the alignment, actions, benefits and contraindications of the poses.

Alignment
An in-depth look at the alignment of poses.  We start with the premise that every pose is based on Tadasana and then we look to see if we can find that in each posture.

Philosophy
We read and discuss pertinent Yoga Sutras as they relate to our practice on and off the mat.

Restorative practices
Each day ends with a pranayama practice and a restorative pose.

Sanskrit
Using Sanskrit is not mandatory,  but it is important to have some familiarity with the language of yoga.  We study the names of the poses and we work with mantras.

Homework
Each session has its own homework which can include asana practice, meditation, philosophical readings and writings plus an external practice such as observing silence.

You don’t have to want to be a yoga teacher to immerse yourself in this Foundations program.  In fact, it was designed for the serious yoga student who wants to dive deeper into their practice than you can in a public class.  Each session of this course is designed to be part workshop and part yoga retreat.

If you have any questions you can ask them in the comments section below or contact me directly.  Remember there is an Early Bird discount if you register by August 15th. To register contact Erin Lento at Cornerstone: 215.862.2200.