It starts with one class. Then you are fitting 2-3 classes in a week. Soon, you are scheduling events around your yoga practice and you begin to seek something deeper– which basically means you’re hooked.
A few months pass by… and you and your yoga practice are now having a serious love affair. How did you ever live without this practice. I ask myself the same thing everyday.
Fast forward a few more months… stress levels are decreasing, the body is more relaxed, relationships are richer, the body is stronger, and you feel blissed out. Or as I like to call it – yoga drunk.
And now you wonder to yourself, how can I take this to the next level. How can I enrich my life with more yoga, more practice, more spirituality, more self-love, and more, more, more….
Well yogis, that more is yoga teacher training.
This more can lead to a potentially life altering experience
Deeper practice: yoga beyond the physical practice
A better understanding of yoga’s history and philosophy
A stronger connection others and a higher power
An unraveling of anxiety and personal life drama
A deeper look into the self
For all of these reasons, many people find themselves pondering the idea of yoga teacher training. And regardless of the reason, it’s always a good idea. Whether you envision yourself teaching or want to dig deeper beyond the physical and immerse yourself in the study of yoga for the sake of knowledge and self-love – it’s all worth the journey!
Oxygen is excited to offer its first 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified teacher training. Yoga Alliance is the organization that certifies and registers all yoga teachers who have completed their training. This training program will be Vinyasa based and is a foundational yoga training based upon the deep roots of Hatha Yoga. With an emphasis on Vinyasa Sequencing. This training will provide the participants the knowledge, practice and experience to become dynamic, innovative and inspiring yoga teachers.
Here’s what to expect:
History behind yoga
Philosophical and lifestyle reading and discussion
The methodology and alignment of postures
Yoga anatomy, physiology and movement
Creating sequences
Sanskrit terms for postures
Meditation and breathing techniques
Self-practice and how-to do it
There is a dynamic power of studying yoga in a classroom learning environment. Those in the training become a community. We learn from and inspire each other. Our group discussions are intellectual, though provoking and deep. When discussing alignment of asanas, our understanding is heighten as we see how the postures are translated in other’s bodies.
Once the 200-hour yoga certification is completed, then teachers can expand upon their education with additional workshops and certifications. Such as:
Pre-Natal Yoga
Yoga for Back Pain
Restorative Yoga
Yin Yoga
Yoga for Trauma
The amount of education is endless which is why we are forever students!
Meet Joni, The Lead Trainer
I decided to take my teacher training after practicing for a year while living in Austin, Texas. At the time I was a Personal Trainer and was looking to add a more therapeutic discipline into my training. Before I started my yoga teacher training course, I really didn’t know what to expect. I’d read the syllabus, the schedule and the description, but there were plenty of gaps that couldn’t be filled. What would my fellow students be like? Why would they be doing the course? Would I be the least proficient? How would my body cope with so much yoga? The unanswerable questions were plenty.
So, now safely out the other side, I will tell you that the study and process have changed my life and investing in the teacher training was one of the best decisions of my life. My relationship with myself, family and fellow human beings has never been as connected, cherished and truthful. Yoga is my way of life. I look forward to aging and continuing this fascinating study , this practice and approach to living.
JONI’S TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
Joni views yoga as a means to balance the energies of the mind and body so that one can practice a healthful lifestyle and maintain a state of relative equanimity. If the body is returned to its optimal form, through breath, alignment, and massaging and nourishing the tissues, then optimal space will be restored. In this space, prana (or energy) will flow. Freedom from restrictions, both physical and emotional, will follow. Joni’s classes emphasize precise physical alignment and core strength within the framework of an dynamic vinyasa sequence. She particularly enjoys teaching empowerment through the art of stillness. She teaches students to find the interconnections of body, mind and soul and to take what we learn on the yoga mat into all areas of their life. Joni encourages her students to find the sweet spot when two opposites balance in perfect dynamic tension to achieve the purest expression of joy and calm.