Yin Yoga & Anatomy Teacher Training I
6 day/50 hour certified teacher training - based on the teachings of Paul & Suzee Grilley
This training is suitable for already certified and aspiring yoga teachers as well as dedicated yoga students, who wish for a deeper understanding of yin yoga and yoga anatomy for their teaching and/or own practice.
Welcome to Yin Yoga and Anatomy – the quiet practice
"In the quietude lies the power and out of the quietude arises the power." (Confucius)
Yin yoga – the quiet practice – turns our attention inwards, to connect to the true essence of ourselves.
We practise yin yoga meditatively, using long-held poses without muscle tension, which strengthen and flex our connective, fascial and ligament tissues, mobilise our joints, and stimulate and soothe the nervous system. As a result, the exercises we do have a stress-reducing and regenerative effect.
We learn how to accumulate the subtle energy flow (chi flow) and to feel the enhanced energy flow in our meridians after completing a yoga practice. This practice nourishes us from our core, with a blend of awareness, calmness and relaxation.
In the fast-paced world of the 21st century, yin yoga offers the perfect balance for teachers and students alike.
Yin and Yang
"The noble man strives for harmony and not equality. The little man strives for equality and not for harmony." (Confucius)
Our world is comprised of yin and yang. We find polarity in our language, in our environment, in everything and everyone. This polarity and contrast blend seamlessly, as epitomised by the yin and yang symbol.
In the West, we practise mainly yang forms of yoga (Ashtanga, Bikram, Vinyasa Flow, etc.) muscle strengthening and muscle tension through rhythmic, flowing and repetitive movements, and this complements our fast-moving mentality and learned values.
Yang needs yin in order to exist, and yin needs yang in order to exist. When both sides are aligned, balance and harmony are achieved.
Yin yoga complements every form of yang yoga. While we cannot say that one is better or worse than the other, we can say that both belong together intrinsically, creating harmony between body, mind and soul.
Welcome to Yin Yoga and Anatomy Teacher Training I
“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” (Confucius)
Our 50-hour intensive course is designed for experienced and aspiring yoga teachers and students who wish to improve their knowledge of yin yoga – the quiet practice – and are keen to enhance their knowledge of the anatomical and energetic theories of yoga practice.
This 6 day/50-hour intensive yoga teaching course comprises 4 sections:
1. Yin Yoga Asanas
This section covers the theory and practice for teaching 20+ yin yoga poses, including their specific characteristics and their effects.
We experience yin yoga as a calm, meditative practice comprising poses which are executed on the floor, either sitting or lying down. We practice with patience - calmly and serenely, waiting for our body to yield to the pose.
Yin yoga focuses on the connective, fascial and ligament tissues of the body around the hips, upper thighs, pelvic girdle and lower back – the main problem areas in this modern age.
Each pose is held for between three and five minutes.
This approach of stretching the ligaments in the spine by means of long-held traction and then strengthening the structure by building up the muscle is already known in the realm of back therapy, and yin yoga offers us and our students the opportunity to adopt this approach as a preventive practice for our joints until we reach a ripe old age.
Yin yoga focuses on the uniqueness of the individual.
It accumulates the energies which flow through the body and releases them, after each practice, to enhance the flow of energy and disperse potential blockages.
An additional quality of yin yoga is the meditative, inwardly focusing, quiet attentiveness from which insight and strength are derived.
Yin yoga prepares both body and mind for longer meditation sessions.
A key component of the Yin Yoga TT is of course the asana practice. Each day there will be at least one class of 120 minutes in all modules. The only exceptions are days 2 and 3 of the first module. On these days we will be offering asana labs to gain a fundamental understanding of the mechanics of the Yin Yoga asanas.
2. Anatomy is the Key
Anatomical understanding of the individual bone structure, muscles, connective tissue, fascia and ligament tissue.
The backbone of Yin Yoga (in the style of Paul & Suzee Grilley) and thus of our Yin Yoga Teacher Training is anatomy, because without an understanding of muscles, ligaments and joints (bone structure) it will be difficult for us to feel secure when teaching. Students with their individual challenges, will always overwhelm us.
In the Yin Yoga & Anatomy Teacher Training we will refresh the basic knowledge and concentrate largely on the unique bone structure (compression) and the unique muscle, ligament and fascia tissue (tension) in order to create anatomical knowledge and security.
This knowledge of looking deeper into the human body, of seeing the human being as a moving skeleton, of being able to read their movement and identify which joints are involved in a yoga pose, where and how much mobility or flexibility is necessary for this, brings us to the understanding why some yoga students can do yoga poses and others cannot.
We develop an understanding of why each person practices yoga poses differently.
We realise that even if two people look the same in a pose, it feels different to them.
This understanding leads to great confidence in teaching, suggesting logical variations of a pose or giving individual assists.
Yoga (asana practice) becomes a very simple combination of muscle and joint movements once you have understood this principle.
3. 7-point Analysing Principle for Assists - Theory
"Whoever knows the goal can decide. Whoever decides finds peace. Whoever finds peace is sure. Whoever is sure can consider. Whoever considers can improve". (Confucius)
In the Yin Yoga and Anatomy Teacher Training we are less concerned with teaching set assists than with introducing a 7-Point Analysing Principle, that can be used for every known yoga posture and every person.
This analysing principle combined with the anatomical understanding of the student’s individual bone structure helps us to learn to read people in yoga postures. We can then give them logical assists and/or offer them variations, tailored to the needs of the individual, with their unique physique and bone structure.
With the 7-Point Analysing Principle, we learn to read, analyse and evaluate human bodies with ease.
Once the anatomical understanding has been developed, it is child's play to apply and an assist is always a logical consequence of the student's unique body.
4. 7-Point Analysising Principle - Practical Tests
"One cannot make a jewel shine without rubbing it." Confucius
Learning through touch and learning through practice.
You cannot learn yoga anatomy from a book or a DVD, no matter how experienced you are. We learn by practising on ourselves and our fellow students.
In the Yin Yoga & Anatomy Teacher Training we use and learn practical test series to analyse the bone structure, compression and tension of our students. In a safe atmosphere we learn to read people, to feel our own limitations and to test and recognize the limitations of others. This goes hand in hand with many insights and a gaining a great deal of self-confidence in being able to judge what needs and limitations a student has.
Through much repetition, we become more confident and clearer each day in our approach to yin yoga and anatomy.
The foundation has been laid.
After each successfully completed module, participants receive a Yoga Alliance certification until the final 200 or 300 hour Yoga Alliance certificate is issued after the last module. All certificates (hours) can also be submitted to the Yoga Alliance as “Continuing Education”.
““A tonne of knowledge was imparted with at least two tonnes of fun and clarity. That’s how you can make learning enjoyable! Explanations regarding “false” perceptions were given gently but with perseverance.
I would do the course again at a moment’s notice and would recommend it to everyone. Personally, I am taking so many priceless treasures and skills with me and I feel more free and less bound and can completely allow my body to do what it wants again - thank you , thank you , thank you.” (YYTTI Aachen)
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““I am so happy. Thank you that I could be there. The super explanations, the jokes in between, the many eye openers. New insight. When I stand before my yoga students, I see them with other eyes. I’m already so looking forward to the second module!” (YYTTI Vienna)
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““For the first time I was fascinated in an anatomy class and not only did I understand it but I internalised it. Aha factor - super! Your teaching style, you dear Markus and the subject matter - all very inspiring.” (YYTTI Hamburg)
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