Yoga By Degrees Yoga Alliance 200 Hour Teacher Training

There is always a million reasons not to start but you will never regret the decision to take the first step. There is still time if you are thinking about joining us. 

2018 Fall / Winter Teacher Training Info. & Schedule:

• Tuesdays 6-9:30 PM in Elmhurst: 9/4, 9/11, 9/18, 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/20, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18
• Saturday 11:30 AM – 6 PM in Downers Grove (Anatomy): 10/20
• Sundays 10 AM-6PM in Downers Grove: 9/16, 9/23 9/30, 10/14, 10/21 11:30 AM – 6 PM (Anatomy) 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 12/2, 12/16
• Community classes on two of the following dates (Times / Locations T.B.D.): 1/12, 1/13, 1/19, 1/20 (& Satsang on 1/20)

Curriculum Includes:

• Opening Meditation
• Pranayama – Breathing
• Asanas – Poses
• Teaching Skills
• Sequencing
• Teaching In Small Groups

• Yoga For Special Groups
• Yoga Philosophy
• Koshas – Sheaths
• Gunas – Qualities of Nature
• Chakras – Energy Centers
• Ayurvedic Healing Techniques

• Anatomy
• Yoga Ethics Business of Yoga
• Practical Test
• Written Test

Requirements

• 5 Classes of Observing a YBD Teacher
• 10 Hours Elective Off Site Yoga Workshops
• 20 YBD Yoga Classes

• 10 Hours of YBD Workshops
• 12 Hour Anatomy Workshop
• Teach Two Community Classes

• CPR Training
• Monthly Homework Assignments Written Thesis

Required Reading:

• YBD Yoga Teacher Training Manual
• T.K.V. Desikachar – “Heart of Yoga- Developing A Personal Practice”
• “The Key Muscles of Yoga” – Ray Long
• “Inside The Yoga Sutras: A Comprehensive Source Book For The Study & Practice of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras” – Jaganath Carrera
• “Light On Yoga” – B.K.S. Iyengar

Pricing, Plans, and Discounts

Course Fees

• $250 Deposit to reserve space (applied towards tuition). Class Size Limited To 20.
• Tuition – $3000 – Due at least three weeks prior to training start date (Includes Anatomy Training)

Additional Costs

• 3 YBD Workshops – $30 each, totaling $90 ($20 each for Platinum Members)
• Offsite Yoga Workshops – Appoximately $350
• Book Costs – Approximately $100

Payment Plans

Based on your individual situation, we can arrange a monthly or bi-weekly auto-payment plan. First payment due at least three weeks prior to training start date and last payment due at least three weeks prior to training end date.

Discounts

• Platinum Members Receive A $250 Discount On Tuition. (i.e. Platinum Member Tuition Rate is $2750)
• Optional $59.50 Platinum Monthly Membership for 5 months during training (Reg. $119)
• Specialty Discount Drop In Rate: $22 per class
• 10 Class Packs: $160

Cancellations

In the event of cancellation, we will refund the total amount paid, minus the following cancellation fees:

• Before Classes Begin – $150
• After 1 Week – $250
• After 2 Weeks – $500
• After 3 Weeks – $750
• No Refunds After 3 Weeks From Start Date

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Question about pricing or the program? View frequently asked questions

Space is limited to 20 Students; Stop by any Yoga by Degrees location or call for more info.

Contact

Email

Meghan@yogabydegrees.net

Mindful Monday: Fudoshin

Good morning and happy Monday!

Last week, we covered the first state of mind in Zen Buddhism known as Sho Shin or Beginner’s Mind. You can read more here.

Today, we move on to the second state of mind in Zen Buddhism, Fudoshin which means “Immovable Mind.”

Fudoshin represents a peaceful state of total determination and unshakable will. It is the state of a spirit that is determined to win, and that is filled with courage, endurance and determination to surmount every obstacle that comes in its way. Fudoshin is associated with a feeling of invincibility, of a mind that cannot be disturbed by confusion, hesitation, doubt, or fear.

It is when your mind is in a total state of equanimity, characterized by mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.

Fudoshin is most commonly associated with martial arts, particularly the samurai warriors in feudal Japan. These warriors displayed a steadfast determination and absolute control over themselves. It should be noted that this doesn’t mean one in a state of fudoshin is being stubborn or angry. Rather a person in fudoshin is calmly resolute and cannot be swayed, tempted or concerned.

We channel fudoshin when we are holding our more challenging yoga poses. Visualize your strength, balance, determination and focus when you’re holding a Warrior III pose or an inversion! Total concentration, muscular engagement and a calm and peaceful countenance. No thoughts, just your breath and bodily sensations evoking a powerful sense of peace and stability within yourself.

In modern Zen practice, Fudoshin is the protection against the “Shikai” or four sicknesses of the mind: anger, doubt, fear and surprise. Through the disciplined practice of meditation, we learn implicitly to center ourselves and clear our minds, thus developing a Fudoshin mind.

There are so many opportunities each day to implement Fudoshin in our lives! Hopefully you won’t be facing a life or death situation, but one can never know what life is sending our way!

In this era of random acts of violence, road rage, bad behavior and other losses of self-control, development of fudoshin can contribute to a peaceful, more compassionate world.

Fudoshin means “unmoving mind/heart”or “immovable mind,” and connotes the imperturbability as well as courage of the truly mastered self. It is the mind/heart from which have been purged all impurities and weaknesses in the resolute process of forging artistic and self-mastery.

Have a great week, friends! Remember that fudoshin is just a few, slow deep breaths away.

Mindful Monday: Sho Shin

Happy Monday, mindful ones!

Sho Shin is a concept in Zen Buddhism that means ‘a beginner’s mind.’ There are four states of mind in Zen Buddhism. This week, we’ll discuss the first state.

Sho Shin is characterized by an attitude of openness, eagerness, and a complete lack of preconceptions when studying a subject or beginning an endeavor.

Think about when you took your first yoga class. Or first 100 for that matter! You were excited and so eager to learn everything about this ancient practice! Your mind was like a sponge, simply and enthusiastically absorbing every thing you could about yoga.

When you are in a state of shoshin you are feeling enthusiastic, creative and above all optimistic.

It’s easy to be fired up about new, exciting endeavors. The practice is to remain open-minded and optimistic when you’ve practiced for many, many years and are considered an ‘expert.’

One of the key aspects of shoshin is an absence of preconceptions and a general sense of optimism. When you are in a state of shoshin you shouldn’t be thinking too much about what you think is going to happen, you should just be eager to accept whatever comes and assured it will all be for the best.

This release of preconceptions and attitude of viewing everything with fresh eyes is one of shoshin’s most valuable qualities. You can work on placing yourself in a state of shoshin even when doing something you’ve done before to keep each experience fresh and to ensure that you aren’t making poor decisions based on preconceived biases. It also helps train you to keep a positive and eager outlook about everything that might come your way.

For this reason, I always try to keep my teaching as well as my personal practice fresh with new and different sequencing and transitions. In order to do this, I MUST continue to practice with new and different teachers. I must continue to expand my knowledge base and work tirelessly to cultivate a state of shoshin. I often see experienced students turn on auto-pilot in class and assume they know where we are going next.

The danger of an ‘expert’s mind’ is that few possibilities exist in this mind. Less aspects of a situation are questioned and more are assumed. This often results in a narrowed perception and performing tasks on autopilot without room for a fresh, new perspective. Things are always done a certain way with no opportunities for improvement.

So how do we cultivate shoshin in our everyday lives and on our mats?

Just like all programs of thoughts in our minds, new thought patterns can be cultivated. Meditating and practicing gratitude are scientifically measurable ways to literally create new gray matter. Cultivating a beginner’s mind is exactly the same.

• Try to approach situations without assumptions or expectations.
• Don’t judge as good or bad. Be open to any outcome.
• Be curious! Question with interest and wonder!
• Switch things up. Drive a different route. Practice at a different time. Move your mat to a different place in the room.

• Empty your mind!

Have a great week, friends!

Mindful Eating Workshop this Friday!

Join Nikki and Alisa at our Elmhurst studioAugust 17 6:30p – 8:30p , as they guide you through an evening of mindfulness. Learn the tools needed to help you cultivate a healthier relationship with food and your body. The first half of the workshop led by Nikki, Registered Dietitian, is designed to teach you the fundamentals of Mindful Eating, a non-diet approach to health and wellness that helps you tune into your body signals, break the cycle of chronic dieting and heal your relationship with food. The second half of the workshop will help you bring awareness and kindness to your body as Alisa guides you through an amazing “mindful” vinyasa flow practice. All levels welcome!

 

Sign up today in studio or by calling: Elmhurst 630.782.9642 // Downers Grove 630.969.0820

August 2018 Pose of the Month: Ardha Chandrasana

Our August 2018 pose of the month is Ardha Chandrasana or Half Moon pose.

This is a beautiful balancing pose that taps into our lunar energies and recreates the sensation of the moon suspended lightly and spectacularly in the sky.

To Begin:

Start from standing at the top of your mat. Bring your right foot all the way back so you’re at a Low Lunge with your left leg, hands framing the left foot.

1. From here, engage your core, bring your right hand to your right hip and lift up your right foot and straighten your right leg out behind you, balancing on the left leg with your left hand on the floor. Gaze is at the left hand.

2. Make sure your left leg is strong by engaging your glutes and quads, lifting up at the kneecap, and anchoring the four corners of your left foot, rooting into the earth for support.

3. Now, rotate your right hip back, stacking it on top of your left hip. So instead of your hips being parallel to the earth, we want it to be parallel to the right side wall of the room.

4. Next, energetically extend your right hand towards the sky, palm facing the right side of the room. Lift the shoulders out of your ears by gluing your shoulders blades onto your back. Maybe imagine you’re holding onto a pencil in between your shoulder blades.

5. Stay with it for 5 slow, deep breaths.

6. Slowly come out of it the same way you came in. Repeat the steps for the other side.

For a variation, try to bring your bottom hand to your heart and float easily on your standing leg. You can also perform this a center against the wall to practice leaning back and opening your heart towards the sky.

Mindful Monday: Back to School – Another Lesson in Letting Go

Happy Monday, friends!

I’m incredulous that the 2018/2019 school year starts this Wednesday! I mean it’s not even the middle of August yet!

Such is the nature of life! In constant flux and movement. Which is why it’s so important to practice being present for each and every moment of life. The days can seem so long, but the years fly by on wings. I so clearly remember my son’s first day of pre-school. This week, he begins his senior year!

Change is inevitable. We can’t control it. We can’t fast forward or rewind. Our only sane, viable option is to embrace every single precious second as it unfolds, exactly as it is. As it is. Not how it should be. Or could be. But as it is.

Therein lies our greatest challenge and truest pathway to happiness.

To embrace life in all of its glory and misery, pleasure and pain, love and fear, belief and doubt, failure and success. All of it!

Sure, I could play the game of beating myself up for every mistake I made in raising my son. Or fast forward and suffer in anticipation of next year when he leaves for college. I’m really, really good at both!

But I see that these patterns of thinking create suffering for myself. And I remember that I really have no reason to suffer. And I definitely don’t enjoy it anymore.

And I remind myself that I’ve been in training for the past 17 years in the beautiful and brutal art of letting go. From the day he was born, I had to let go of having him all to myself within my body.

When I stopped breast feeding, I had to let go of being his main source of nourishment.

When I went back to work.

When he moved from his crib to his big boy toddler bed then later his loft/bunk bed.

Watching that tiny little boy walk into first grade all on his own, getting swallowed up into the crowd of much bigger kids.

His first sleepover at a friend’s house.

First time he closed off from me and didn’t need me to fix it.

Graduating from elementary school and starting middle school.

First day of high school.

First time he drove my car (I’m still traumatized by that one).

And now … senior year begins.

And I remind myself, this is all part of the training. And how it’s helped me so much in life.

It’s strengthened and conditioned me. Learning to release and let go of so many things. Learning to let go even when I’m not ready, because it’s time.

So I have one more year to train for the inevitable. And I remind myself that if I’ve done my job well as a parent, he will fly away with confidence and have all the tools he needs for success.

Sigh. Good luck to all of you parents out there! We got this!

Mindful Monday: Morning Mantra

Good morning, mindful ones!

Take a slow deep breath, and exhale completely. Do that two more times.

As you prepare for your day, remind yourself that you are the creator of your life today.

Acknowledge that many things will happen that are outside of your control. But it is always your choice how you react.

Everything that happens today is designed for your growth.

Commit to walk today’s path in gratitude and love.

You are here to learn and grow.

Be gentle and loving with yourself and all those you encounter today.

You are worthy of respect and kindness.

Show up for yourself today and honor the opportunity you have been given to be alive.

Choose to be happy today. No matter what happens, choose happiness today.

Find new things to appreciate in your life today.

Be a light of joy and love. Radiate peace and calmness.

Today will be an extraordinary day.