YSK's 200 Hour Teacher Training Program is designed to instruct Yoga students and existing teachers having a minimum of one year's experience to qualify as a Yoga instructor and be registered with Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level. The program is divided into 3 units of consecutive study taught in English with professional Japanese translation with a native speaker.

Unit 1 will explore the anatomy and physiology of asana and pranayama, particularly as it affects the physical safety of you and/or Yoga students in your classroom.

Unit 2 covers asana, pranayama, mantra, and meditation technique and practice

Unit 3 will review all other required subjects for Yoga alliance registration, including Yoga Sutra, philosophy, teacher ethics, Yoga as a business, Sanskrit language, Ayurveda, and qualities of a Yoga teacher in the 21st century.

Commencing with unit 1, our training includes 100 hours of instruction in asana and pranayama, which together comprise Hatha Yoga. We study in detail variations of Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation Series), as well as a number of basic asana and pranayama exercises that every experienced and beginning Yoga student and teacher should and will master in completing our course.

Our experience informs us that competence in basic Hatha Yoga technique, including correct positioning, breath awareness, safety, and ability to safely adjust students in asana, will place you more confidently on the road to a deeper Yoga practice and teaching career. In order to further your competence in this regard, we require that you read the introduction to the latest edition of Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar. Additionally you are required to be able to demonstrate a degree of competence in one of the variations of Surya Namaskar prior to course commencement.

During Unit 2, in order to better facilitate your Hatha Yoga learning experience during the course, senior teachers will first guide the class in Hatha practice and instruction. Students will begin practice teaching within the first week and will be constructively critiqued by fellow students and staff.

Unit 3 emphasizes the other six limbs of Yoga. They include the Yamas and Niyamas (moral code and individual conduct), Pratyahara (detachment from the senses), Dharana (awareness), Dhyana (development of the meditative mind), and Samadhi (union with the Divine within and without ourselves)

We emphasize Ashtanga or eight limbed Yoga as described above in order to encourage our students to live a Yogic way of life. A life that effortlessly balances body and spirit in a healing relationship with ourselves, others, and Mother Earth. Thus we require that you read prior to your commencement of study the first 5 sutra of Samadhi Pada in Pantanjali's classic work, The Yoga Sutra.

We ask that you join us with a sense of humor, an open mind, and not tied to an image of what a Yoga teacher/student is or is not. MOST IMPORTANTLY, we respectfully ask that you understand that completion of any 200-hour teacher training course and registration with Yoga Alliance is only one of many steps in your journey to becoming a competent Yoga practitioner and teacher. Our course will give you the tools and experience you need to commence your career as a Yoga teacher. It will be entirely up to you to journey as a Yoga teacher through discipline (love of learning), hard work, continuous practice and training, creativity and courage. Competency as a Yoga practitioner/teacher/human being is gained over a lifetime of teaching and living as best you can the life of a Yogi/Yogini. It cannot be conferred through a paper certificate or any authority.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

1. Completion of a study guide that will be distributed to you prior to the commencement of the course and reviewed as a group at the end of the program.
2. Attendance at a group orientation and an individual interview with the staff. The interviews will facilitate for us a better understanding of students' backgrounds, goals, concerns, and Yoga experience.
3. A minimum of 20 hours out of class study as an individual or as part of a group. Study will consist of reading and writing assignments and practice teaching.
4. Completion of a course evaluation
5. Active participation in class discussion and subject matter, which includes being present in class for all phases of the program. An absence from class is understandable and make-up work will be given, Excessive absences may disqualify you from graduation.
6. Successful completion of an end of the course student teacher practicum.

In coming together as a community of teachers and student from diverse cultures and backgrounds, speaking different languages, we will give new meaning to YSK's mottoes which are:

1. HEALING THE WORLD THROUGH PEACFUL COMMUNICATION, COOPERATION AND WELL BEING.
2. TEACHING STUDENTS AND TEACHERS AS LEADERS FOR A PEACFUL WORLD
3. IF IT AIN'T FUN IT'S BETTER LEFT UNDONE.

We look forward to living, working, dialoguing, and studying with you in the intense and exhilarating atmosphere of our 200 Hour Teacher Training Program.

COURSE FEES

$3500

Includes course fees, and Yoga of School of Kailua study guide. Additional expenses include room and board, transportation, personal expenses, required reading materials, and Yoga Alliance registration.

Click here for 2009 Schedule

REGISTRATION DEADLINES
A 25% deposit is required two months prior to the course and the remaining balance is due 30 days prior to the commencement of the course.

REFUNDS/CANCELLATIONS
Refund dates are to be announced. Full refund will be given if YSK chooses to cancel the course due to less than seven enrolled students.

TRAVEL AND ACCOMODATIONS
Please inquire regarding travel and accommodations to including ground transportation through __________________________.

WEBSITES
Our school www.yogakailua.com

Yoga Alliance www.yogaalliance.org

GIVING BACK
A percentage of the net profit from our teacher training program is designated for YSK's Hawaii Yoga Prison Project. The project financially supports Yoga instructors who teach Yoga to prison inmates at four Hawaii Correctional institutions on Oahu.