• To provide each student with in-depth experience of Yoga and the personal consciousness it fosters    
• To create a group environment conducive to the sustained practice of Yoga
• To have students learn the basic asana and other yogic practices through direct experience and personal practice
• To allow students to learn and understand the Yoga teaching methodology and develop confidence as Yoga teachers
• To provide students with an opportunity to develop the ability to competently and safely teach a beginner Yoga class
• To make students aware of the basic skills needed to start a professional Yoga practice

This SETD course is intended to result in your certification as a Basic Level Yoga Teacher.  Certified Yoga teachers must possess the skills and abilities necessary to safely and competently teach Yoga.  The great majority of SETD students who apply themselves to the course complete the program and are certified. We reserve the right, however, to withhold certification from those students who fail to develop the skills necessary to safely and competently teach Yoga. Every attempt will be made to give you input throughout the SETYD course on teaching deficits that might lead to you not being certified. The following criteria will be used by the program director to establish the student’s eligibility for certification.

Full participation in all practice teaching sessions is mandatory for certification.  During these sessions you must demonstrate an ability to teach Yoga using the methodology present in this training which is Hatha multi-disciplinary. Certification is dependent on your ability to competently and safely teach the Hatha multi-disciplinary Yoga as determined  by the subjective evaluation of the course Program Director.

All practice teaching, exam and post assessment sessions are mandatory for certification.  If you miss any of these sessions, you will not be certified. A Take-Home Exam is given near the end of this one year course and given two months to complete. Exceptions are to be discussed with the Program Director.

• Principles of asana practice – 27 poses
• Benefits of warm-ups and guidelines for leading warm-ups
• Teaching and guiding a new posture to beginners - also include modifications and props for poses
• Attend workshops and / or seminars
• Core lift, bandhas
• Centering a group, chanting AUM and mantras
• Principles of coordinating breath and movement
• Action words for guiding postures
• Teaching basic pranayama and mudras
• Basic pranayama techniques such as Ujjayi, Dirgha Pranayama, Nadi Shodana, Kapalabhati, Alternate Nostril Kapalabhati
• Awareness of prana – an exercise in spiritual attunement
• The purpose of relaxation
• Relaxation Teaching Methodology
• Corpse Pose and types of relaxation
• The purpose of meditation, its benefits, process and prerequisites
• Physical and mental preparation
• Contraindications and precautions for meditation
• Techniques of Meditation
  

• Multi disciplinary teaching methodology
• Creating sacred space
• Creating psychological Safety
• Methodology for developing awareness such as awareness for the body, awareness of support and awareness of the Self
• Teaching aphorisms
• The student’s process of learning, such as hearing, seeing and / or feeling
• Principles of demonstration, observation, assisting/correcting, instruction, teaching styles
• Maintain a journal or log book of above
• Lesson planning, guidelines, designing a workshop or lecture demonstration, principle of promotion, publicizing your yoga class

• Physical anatomy and physiology – teaching bodily systems, organs, glandular system, skeletal system, muscle groups, digestive, circulatory and respiratory systems         
•  Energetic/subtle anatomy and physiology (chakras, nadis)

• Study includes journal writing, meditation, pranayama practice, discussing Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita and how this applies to your everyday lifestyle       
• Types of Yoga
• The inter-relatedness of Yogic philosophy and practice
• Yamas and Niyamas and how they can be introduced into a regular yoga class as well as regularly practices on own
• The five sheaths and Yoga (Samkhya Philosophy)
• Diet and nutrition – introduction to ayurveda

• In the presence of a qualified Yoga teacher must teach a component of a class such as Breathing or Relaxation and/or observing demo and assisting in a class (ALL UNDER SUPERVISION)