For yoga students wanting to deepen their understanding of yoga,
and new yoga teachers who are seeking a 200 hour Yoga Alliance® registration.

About the Level I Course

Level I classes are for yoga students at all levels of experience who want to learn more about the yoga tradition or new or experienced yoga teachers who want to sharpen their teaching skills. Students who are interested in learning how to teach yoga will find these classes indispensable. The classes are taught by our lead instructors who will show correct alignment and practice points for yoga postures, how to modify postures for different practice levels and injuries using props, dialogue, verbal corrections, manual adjustments and appropriate demonstrations. We will show you how to practice (or teach) yoga safely, effectively, creatively and enthusiastically. You will make lifetime connections with a well-established community of dedicated yoga practitioners, and have access to our courses, classes, workshops and continued study, use of our library, resources and facilities.

Course Subjects

Yoga Philosophy, Lifestyle & Ethics (PLE)
This class studies the history of yoga and its fundamental texts including The Yoga Sutras, the text that first described the Eight Limbs of Yoga and forms the basis of the yoga system we practice today. Often quoted by Pattabhi Jois, every serious student of yoga should be familiar with the Yoga Sutras.  A sutra is a short, pithy phrase, as Mr. Jois says, "Small sentence; big meaning."  Often called the original psychology, the Yoga Sutras help us to understand the nature of the mind make it strong, steady and still.  Recommended texts are Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (preferably with Sanskrit text and word-by-word commentary) and Value of Values by Swami Dayananda. We recommend you bring a journal and pen. Free copies of the Yoga Sutras can be downloaded from the website of Chip Hartranft or you can purchase his translation of the Yoga Sutras at the studios. 

We also introduce Sanskrit by learning the correct names and pronunciation of asanas and reading and chanting mantras and short texts. No knowledge of Sanskrit is expected or required. Sanskrit transliteration (reading Sanskrit sounds with English letters) and Devanagari script are both taught.

Level II classes continue studies of the Yoga Sutras and add the study of Vedanta through texts such as the Bhagavad-Gita, Upanishads and Vedas, and Tantra through texts such as the Vijnana Bhairava, Shiva Sutras and Pratyabijna Hridayam.

Anatomy and Physiology of Yoga (AP)
Language of anatomy, orientation, muscle action, movement principles, basic anatomy of stretching, stretch reflexes, effective stretching techniques, alignment, Sweigardian lines, learning the name and function of each major muscle, joint and bone, and its relation to the movements of hatha yoga postures.
Required texts: Anatomy and Asana, Suzi Aldous Hately; Anatomy Coloring Book, 3rd Ed., Kapit and Elson. Recommended Texts: Anatomy of Yoga, Leslie Kaminoff. Level II uses the text Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, by David Coulter and "Anatomy for Yoga" DVD by Paul Grilley.

Techniques (T)
Develop a deeper and more accomplished practice of asanas, pranayama and meditation. Our teachers will show how to instantly improve your postures by using correct alignment, how to increase your flexibility using stretching "secrets" of the masters, and creative ways to approach difficult postures.  Pranayama and meditation techniques will show you how to be at your best.

Teaching Methodology (TM)
In depth analysis of yoga postures including how to modify postures for chronic conditions and injuries, how to teach postures to students at all levels, how to use props and improvise props, develop precise dialogue and effective cueing, how to correct students with verbal cues, simple touch and adjustments and how to give appropriate demonstrations yourself or with student models, how to develop sequences, class themes, lead relaxation, and teach with authority.

Practice Teaching (PR)
Learn to teach yoga under expert supervision in a supported environment. This includes learning to assist in classes, then teach parts of a class, then teaching on your own with supervision. You will be given  constructive criticism on how to improve your skills and the opportunity to be videotaped while teaching.

Instructors:

• Kim Esteran is a Yoga Alliance ERYT-500 teacher and a certified Forrest Yoga Instructor.
• Anne Kosko is a Yoga Alliance RYT-500 teacher and is one of our most experienced teachers, having taught yoga and group fitness classes for twenty years.
• Shae Bryant graduated from Yoga East’s teacher training in 2006. She is a certified Pilates instructor, a licensed massage therapist and has studied yoga in India with K. Pattabhi Jois and R Sharath.
• Laura Spaulding is president of Yoga East. She has been studying and practicing yoga for over 40 years and has over 10,000 hours of yoga training and teaching experience. Laura has trained over 75 yoga teachers since 1994.
• Kim Eisner is a Yoga Alliance RYT-500 teacher, and a Yoga East 500 hour teacher. Kim is the Advisor for questions and challenges with the training.

Yoga Alliance RYT 200™ Registration
Yoga Explorations Level 1 is registered as a Yoga Alliance RYS 200 hour program.

Yoga Alliance is a national registry of both yoga teachers and yoga schools.  Yoga Alliance does not "certify" teachers or "accredit" schools, but maintains a registry of teachers and school that have met certain minimum standards as set by Yoga Alliance.  Yoga East and our Yoga Explorations classes are registered with Yoga Alliance® at the RYS 200 level.

All Yoga East students are welcome to take Level I Yoga Explorations Courses. If you are seeking Yoga Alliance registration as a RYT200 teacher, we ask that you submit a teacher training application. If you are taking the course to deepen your knowledge of yoga, you do not need to submit an application.  You can submit an application later if you change your mind about becoming registered as a teacher. Applicants should be well-established in an intermediate-level daily asana practice. We recommend a minimum of two years of yoga practice and six months in classes at Yoga East with our lead teachers.

Download the Flyer

Download the application

Mail to:
Yoga East, Inc.
1232 E Broadway
Louisville, KY 40204

Level I Course Payment Options:

• Complete Course: $2750.00  Includes unlimited attendance to Yoga East classes and workshops with Christine Sell and Francois Raoult. Students who are on auto-debit may deduct $450 from course fees if you plan to remain on auto debit until the course ends.
• Monthly Payment Plan: A deposit of $500 to secure your spot must be paid by August 15, 2009. Monthly payments: $375 starting September 1 and due the first of each month through February 1, 2010. Includes unlimited attendance to Yoga East classes and workshops with Christine Sell and Francois Raoult.
• Pay as you go: Fees for individual classes are shown on the Course Schedule. Please register with the instructor or register online. Class sizes for most of the classes are limited, so register early to get a space.

Course fees must be paid in full to receive your certificate for registration with Yoga Alliance.

Texts and Materials: Yoga the Iyengar Way, Mira and Silva Mehta; The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, any translation with Sanskrit text, transliteration and commentary (suggested: Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, B.K.S. Iyengar); Anatomy and Asana, Susi Hately Aldous; Anatomy Coloring Book 3^rd Ed., Kapit and Elson; notebook or journal. Books are available at Yoga East at a 20% discount.

Missed Classes: You are required to have all the course hours in order to meet the Yoga Alliance standards. Please do not miss classes.

Refund Policy: $500 of the fee is non-refundable after September 15, 2009. No refunds will be given for parts of the course you have attended. In the event of withdrawal a pro-rata refund will be given for extraordinary reasons such as medical emergency or transfer out of state. The course is a significant commitment of time, finances and energy. The course is challenging. Make sure you are determined to complete the course before enrolling. No refunds will be given for course work already commenced.

Orientation:

August 22, 2009, 1:00-3:00 pm at the Kentucky Street Studio. You will be given the Course Syllabus and Manual, and can purchase your texts. This is also your opportunity to meet with the instructors and ask questions about the Course. You must have submitted an application and received notification of acceptance to attend orientation.

2009-2010 Course Certification Requirements

Candidates for certification must complete these requirements. Total your hours on the syllabus, make a copy for your records and turn in the original.
1. Required hours as shown on the Yoga Explorations course charts. (200 hours)
2. Course fees have been paid.
3. Satisfactory performance on Exams (1) Asana exam 1: demonstrating intermediate-level proficiency in asanas. (2) Asana exam 2: demonstrating correct use of props, (3) Teaching methodology: instruction and demonstration, and (4) written anatomy, ethics, safety, theory and philosophy exams.

Miscellaneous fees: Replacement certificate: $25

*Required

• *Yoga, the Iyengar Way, Mira and Silva Mehta
• *Anatomy and Asana, Suzi Aldous Hately
• *Anatomy Coloring Book, 3rd Ed., Kapit and Elson
• Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar
• Yoga Anatomy, Leslie Kaminoff
• *Value of Values, Swami Dayananda
• Bhagavad Gita, any translation
• Notebook or journal to journal your home practice assignments
• *Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - we recommend Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by B.K.S. Iyengar. Try to find an edition that contains an English translation, Sanskrit, and a transliteration (English pronunciation of Sanskrit sounds) and a word by word commentary.
  Texts are also available at Yoga East.

Yoga East Scholarships and Financial Aid

Mysore Fund
Authorized Ashtanga teachers are required to travel to Mysore, India every 18 months to spend a minimum of one month studying with Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. Grants give Yoga East Ashtanga teachers financial assistance for international travel and classes at KPJAYI and also helps us pay for substitute teachers while our regular Ashtanga teachers are studying in India.

Rhonda Lawson Memorial Scholarship Fund
Named in honor of our teacher training student Rhonda Lawson.  The day before she was to have begun our teacher training program in 2004, Rhonda was seriously injured in an automobile accident and passed away a few days later.  This scholarship honors the memory of Rhonda, a dedicated student who wanted to bring the benefits of yoga to as many people as possible.  The first scholarship will be awarded on August 1, 2010 for the teacher training beginning September, 2010. Interested students should phone Laura Spaulding at 502-585-9642 to get an application. The scholarship pays the total tuition for a student to complete our 200 Hour Foundation Yoga Teacher Training. Please note that there are prerequisites, the most important of which is that you have maintained regular class attendance for a significant period of time, a minimum of one year. If you do not currently attend classes at Yoga East, you need to establish a record of regular attendance before we will consider your application. One scholarship will be awarded each year to the most deserving student with financial need. 

Community Yoga Teacher Training
We get many requests for yoga classes for cancer survivors, teens and children, the elderly and other under-served segments of our community. We offer a unique free teacher training program for volunteer teachers who agree to teach one free class a week for one year.  Students are trained to teach beginning yoga classes to the elderly, teens, children and other beginners. Interested students should have a minimum of three years of yoga class experience at Yoga East (required) and enough free time to teach one class a week for one year after completion of your training. Contact Laura Spaulding by phone at 502-585-9642 for more information.  Before you call me, it would be helpful to go to our Forum Page and read the article I've posted about the training.)

Financial aid is based on financial need and takes the form of work-study opportunities - teaching yoga in supervised settings or assisting an experienced teacher.  These opportunities are only available to students who have maintained a regular practice in classes at Yoga East for a minimum of one year prior to taking teacher training-level classes.  Please contact us if you're interested in these opportunities.

Laura Spaulding
Yoga East, Inc.
1232 E. Broadway
Louisville, KY 40204
502-585-9642
email us

Becoming a Yoga Teacher

The best way to become a yoga teacher is to be a serious student.
Yoga exists today because it has been passed from teacher to student, as one candle lights another, in an unbroken chain for thousands of years. In the not-so-distant past, a yoga student carefully chose a teacher and practiced with that teacher for a long time. The teacher determined when and if a student was ready to teach. 

About Our Yoga Explorations Courses.
Our Level I 200 hour course is based on instruction given by our founder, Maja Trigg. The course is intended to give yoga students an opportunity to study the tradition of yoga and learn about yoga in more depth than is usually taught in general classes. Our 500 hour Level II course is for yoga practitioners who already have a 200 hour registration. It provides additional instruction in the yoga tradition as well as how to confidently teach the elderly, pregnant women, and students with injuries and physical challenges.

Note: Our Yoga Explorations Courses are not Ashtanga, Iyengar or Anusara teacher training. These yoga systems have specific teacher training requirements.  If you are seeking training in these styles please consult the information below.

Ashtanga Yoga Training
In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, no teacher training courses or programs are recognized. To become an Ashtanga Teacher one is required to go to India and practice in the presence of the teacher for a long period of time.  As stated on the website of KPJAYI: In order to become a teacher of ashtanga yoga the aspirant should demonstrate an appropriate attitude, devotion towards the practice, and a respect for the tradition of parampara, the succession of teacher and disciple. Click here for more information about Ashtanga Yoga teacher qualifications.

Anusara Yoga Training
Go to the Anusara website.

Iyengar Yoga Training
Go to the Iyengar Yoga National Association US website.

Employment Prospects for Yoga Teachers
U.S. Department of Labor Occupation Outlook Handbook for Yoga Instructors (fitness workers).

Requirements for Yoga Teacher Trainers
Merely graduating from a teacher training course does not authorize you to train yoga teachers or teach yoga teacher training courses.  At a minimum you should meet Yoga Alliance ERYT-500 requirements before training yoga teachers.

A teacher training course will not turn you into a yoga teacher. Long years of practice, dedication to yoga, respect for the tradition of yoga, humility about your own abilities, and the blessings of your own teacher will make you a teacher.

Notice of Nondiscriminatory Policy as to Students

Yoga East, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization and admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational/admissions policies, scholarships, and other school-administered programs.