yoga

spynga school: 2012/2013 Yoga Alliance Certified 225 Hour Teacher Training Program
with Sari Nisker- Fox, Tracey Belanger-Soghrati, Meredith Bannan, Tara Antler, YuMee Chung, Scott Petrie & Jeanette Bicknell

Our Next Teacher Training will be held in Fall 2012. We are accepting applications now!
Welcome! We are proud to offer a yoga Teacher Training program which is a 225-hour Level One certification program intended for students of yoga who want to deepen their practice as well as for those students who wish to become teachers themselves. This program will provide a comprehensive education and understanding of yogic life that includes meditation, breath work, and physical yoga postures within a vinyasa practice, theoretical and philosophical aspects of the Yoga Sutras, as well as yogic lifestyle and ethics. Students will take an in depth look at the physiological and anatomical human body and learn to teach to every kind of student with intelligent sequencing and give hands-on adjustments. The business of yoga and how to make it a viable career will be apart of the course curriculum as well. We are a registered Yoga Alliance Teacher Training School and certified as a Private Educational Institution with the Federal Government of Canada. Teacher training students will receive an official tuition fee receipt and an official education and textbook credit (if applicable) for income tax purposes.

Our teachings are a blend of our inspiration from traditions of Hatha, Ashtanga, Anusara and Jivamukti yoga that creates the art of vinyasa yoga.

Prerequisites: No formal training experience is required to register for Spynga’s Teacher Training program; however, due to the intensity of the course, it is advised that you have had at least one year of a regular yoga practice prior to the start of the course. You will be required to take a class with both of our program directors if you are new to the Spynga community.

Complimentary Yoga! One of the greatest benefits of participating in the Spynga’s Yoga Teacher Training program is you will be given a complementary package of classes during the course of your training.

All Mandatory Dates for Yoga Teacher Training 2012/2013: dates TBD


Curriculum:
225 hours of Yoga Study Include:

• 6  training weekends
  
• 40 yoga classes (50 required!)
  
• Participating, observing and assisting in yoga classes over course duration
  
• Chakra Theory
  
• How to Teach Beginners
  
• Restorative Yoga Theory
  
• Kirtan
  
• A  written midterm exam and a practical exam in the form of teaching a Vinyasa Yoga Class
  
• Reading , writing and anatomy assignments
  
• Develop a daily Sadhana Practice
  
• Teaching and Home Practice Assignments
  
• Practice teaching beyond the scope of Spynga

Overview of Course:

• Yoga Postures: Learn the structure, alignment, therapeutic focus and benefits, adjustments, contraindications, modifications, variations, and how to teach the poses to students of all levels.
  
• Human Anatomy: In-depth study of basic and advanced anatomy, internal systems, pain and how to implement this language into your class
  
• Meditation Practice: Learn the basics and essence of meditation and build your own practice
  
• Pranayam Study: Discover the joys and richness of deep breath work. Learn different techniques, their benefits and powerful effects, as well as how to teach traditional pranayama.
  
• Sutra Study: Discuss Indian philosophy, lifestyle, esoteric concept, and thought from Patanjali’s sutras based on ancient Buddhist values.
  
• Yoga Ethics: ideas of how to live clean
  
• How to Inspire Students to take Yoga off the mat
  
• Teaching Skills: Language, Cues, Sequencing, Class Themes, and Adjustments

The Business of Yoga: How to make teaching yoga a full time career

Required Readings:
You will be required to hand-in assignments based on yogic readings that are essential to your study during the training. These books provide an important foundational library of yoga texts that all teachers should have. These books are easy to find at any local bookstore or online.
 

• The Key Poses of Hatha Yoga:: Volume II by Dr. Ray Long
• The Heart of Yoga, Developing a Personal Practice by T.K.V.Desikachar
• The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice by Georg Feuerstein
• Ashtanga Yoga, The Practice Manual by David Swenson
• In addition to these books, you will receive a comprehensive Yoga Alliance Certified 225 Hour Spynga Teacher Training Manual
   

Faculty:

Sari Nisker-Fox Co-Program Director; As a co-creator and co-founder of Spynga The Yoga and Cycling Studio, Sari wakes up grateful everyday that she gets to spend her time teaching her passion and empowers people to take their lives to the next level. Sari has been practicing yoga for over a decade, and has worked as a private and group instructor in New York City, Los Angeles and Toronto. Sari resigned from the corporate world, leaving a career in beauty and skin care product marketing, to rediscover the bright inner beauty inside her and guides her students to reveal their true beautiful, strong, and authentic selves through yoga. Bringing a deeply insightful understanding of movement and inspiration, Sari guides yogis of all levels, from kids to seniors, through a motivating, joyful, and safe yoga practice. Sari emphasizes the importance of the breath and how to use the life force of prana, which is energy, as a compass on the yogic journey and in life, leading to a quieter mind, stronger body, inner peace, and the confidence to see yourself as you truly are, what you want out of life and the best route to get there. Her classes include arrays of insight from the Anusara, Vinyasa and Ashtanga schools of yoga. Also stirred by curiosity and affection for cycling, Sari takes her yoga mantras to the bike and teaches Spynga's signature and trademarked class, The Spynga Flow. Sari challenges her students to go inward with every peddle stroke and is constantly amazed by the exhilaration of every indoor cycle ride. Sari received her 200 Hour RYTT Yoga Alliance certification from Sonic Yoga in New York; Prenatal certification from Be Yoga in New York; Yoga 4 Kids Certification from Sherry LeBlanc in Toronto, and 100 Hours of Anusara-inspired yoga in Toronto. Sari received her indoor cycling instructor's certification from Spinning as well. Sari is honored and thankful to share her enthusiasm for yoga and cycling with all of her students, colleagues and teachers.

Tracey Belanger-Soghrati, Tracey’s vision is to share yoga philosophy & practice in a manner that is authentic, accessible and applicable to modern day life. Her teachings are of sound knowledge of the physical body and a humble perspective on the power of the mind. As an educator, Tracey is the creator and director of Toronto's first Yin Yoga teacher training, which continually inspires her to evolve with her students. As well, she has the honour of co-directing Spynga's 200-Hour Yoga Alliance teacher training with Sari Nisker. Her newest development is a collaborative effort culminating in WuXing YinYang™ which utilizes energy medicine through Kung Fu and therapeutic Yin Yoga as a method of healing.  Tracey has completed over 1000 hours in yoga teacher training of various lineages (Jivamukti, Yin, Prenatal, Yoga Therapy) and her primary influences include Sharon Gannon & David Life, Bernie Clark, Felicia Pavlovic, Susi Hately Aldous & Jeannine Woodall. She is currently enrolled in the 2-Year Yoga Therapist Training with Felicia & Ante Pavlovic. She is a member of the Canadian Yoga Alliance as well as the International Association of Yoga Therapists.  Her formal education includes post-secondary studies in molecular biology, nursing, critical care nursing, parenting/child development, health education, perinatal care, swedish massage and thai yoga massage.  She has worked as a critical care nurse in a busy downtown intensive care unit and as a health educator for women and children. She is grateful for this amazing life and for the support and love of her husband, family and friends..

Meredith Bannan Pranayam and Primary Meditation Facilitator; Meredith’s passion for yoga and eastern philosophy began a decade ago while backpacking through Asia.  In 2004, she completed Classical Ashtanga Yoga Teacher training, under the guidance of Master Yogi Baba Hari Dass. To immerse herself more deeply in yogic lifestyle, she moved to his California centre, Mount Madonna, and completed the Yoga Service and Community Program, taught meditation, pranayama and asana on the center’s faculty and mentored for the Yoga Teacher Training program in both 2005 and 2007.  Meredith’s teaching style is dynamic, therapeutic and infused with inspirational insight. She is forever encouraging students to find balance between ease and effort, so they can flow with grace off the mat and into the world. Her main influences are from the yoga traditions of:  Anusara, Ashtanga Vinyasa, Classical Hatha and Restorative, as well as, the wisdom of Baba Hari Dass and the Krishnamacharya lineage.   In addition to teaching, Meredith is Co-Director Rainbow Body Yoga studio, and former Manager of the The Yoga Studio and Jivamukti Yoga Toronto. Whenever possible she spends her time outside, most likely doing yoga, walking with her dog, cycling or just taking a deep breath of fresh air.  

YuMee Chung YuMee Chung (Padmani) is an Advance Certified Jivamukti Yoga instructor who is also trained to teach Ashtanga Vinysasa Yoga. Named in Yoga Journal’s listing of yoga’s “who’s who,” she is a graceful teacher who offers challenging but accessible breath-driven classes with a strong philosophical underpinning and a playful bent. In 2002, she opened what would become the first Jivamukti Yoga studio in Canada  and co-directed the studio for five years. In 2005, she launched the Passport to Prana, a yoga business that operates in more than 20 North American cities. She has taught and spoken at national yoga conferences and she completed a tour of 19 North American cities with DJ medicineman. Today, she is a yoga teacher, entrepreneur and spiritual seeker. Her work and teaching take her around the globe, but she is happiest at home on the shores of Lake Simcoe with her musician husband.

Scott Petrie is a passionate practitioner of yoga. He is also a photographer, writer and archer. Scott teaches asana, meditation, and lectures on the history and philosophy of yoga.  Scott's approach to teaching asana is grounded in the awareness that our bodies are patterned by our life experiences.  And these patterns are not only held in our bodies physically, but become the thought patterns of our minds, colouring our perception of the world.  Yoga postures may be used to first reveal and then release these patterns, freeing the bodymind from unwanted cycles of behaviour and thought.   In a relaxed and intimate atmosphere, Scott guides students through a flowing series of challenging postures enriched with practical insights from the philosophy of yoga inviting students to explore who they are physically and mentally.  Inspired by Toronto’s eclectic enthusiasm for yoga, Scott has dedicated much of his time and energy to developing dialogue between practitioners of all lineages and styles.  Scott is a co-director of Yoga Community Toronto [yogacommunity.ca]. He is also one of the founding co-directors of the Yoga Festival Toronto, a three day celebration of yoga and community and the Acorn Fund,a non-profit organization that offers annual grants to local yoga projects that offer yoga to those outside of studio culture.  In 2010, he co-authored Yoga 2.0 [yoga2point0.com] with Matthew Remski, an exploration of the evolution of yoga in modern culture. In 2011, Scott once again joined forces with Matthew to produce a radical, new translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali entitled Threads of Connection.  Stripping the original text of many of its metaphysical obscurations, this translation distills the ideas and techniques of the yoga tradition into practical and experiential journey of the self that speaks directly to the everyday practitioner and the modern concerns of the world we live in. http://www.scottpetrieyoga.ca

Jeanette Bicknell Jeanette Bicknell holds a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution and a Ph.D. in philosophy from York University. Currently based in Toronto, Canada, she has taught philosophy and ethics in a number of universities in the U.S. and Canada, including York University, the University of Ottawa, the University of Maryland, Carleton University, and OCAD University, and has written extensively on philosophy, ethics, and the arts. In her current work as a mediator and business ethics consultant, she strives to bring a calm focused approach to every challenge.  She has been practicing yoga for about ten years, and became intrigued by the parallels between yogic thought and ancient Greek philosophy while attending yoga classes at Spynga.  Jeanette looks forward to further exploring how yoga’s great ethical teachings can help contemporary practitioners and teachers meet the challenges that arise on a daily basis in both their personal and professional lives.

Tara Antler: bio to come!


Application Process & Tuition:  

1. To apply for this program, please email sari@spynga.com  to receive your application form. 
2. Once your application has been received, we will review all information and contact you for an interview
   
3. All applicants are required to take at least 1 class with both the directors of the program, Sari Nisker-Fox and Tracey Belanger-Soghrati. Please see Spynga's online schedule to register for the classes upon submitting your application. We also ask that you introduce yourself to Sari & Tracey (if need be) to be sure that they know you are a 225 Hour YTT applicant!
   
4. Once accepted, trainees will be able to register and pay online.
   
   

Class size is limited to 12 students.  Once registration is full, we will begin a waiting list and individuals from that list who are not accepted into the program will be the first on the list for Fall 2013 training. The program will run from September 2012-February 2013

Tuition: $3,800.00 + hst.  This breaks down to $16.80/per teaching hour. Payment plans are available.
This 225 Hour RYTT Yoga Alliance Certification Program® is a certified Federal Government of Canada Private Educational Institution. All tuition and educational books are subject to tax deductibles. We are a Yoga Alliance Certified School which allows you to teach anywhere in the world. 

Cancellation Policy:  Our Teacher Training program is non-refundable.  Should you need to cancel your reservation before the training starts, Spynga will credit the remainder of your deposit fee ($800.00) after subtracting the Application fee, to your Spynga account. This balance can be used for any services that Spynga offers.  Teacher Trainees who drop out of a program already in session will be met with on a case-by-case basis.