Teacher Trainings with Brigitte Longueville with emphasis on Restorative and
Therapeutically oriented Yoga
Begin the adventure of a lifetime when you immerse yourself in the practice, study and teachings of yoga at one of Solstice Yoga Center's teacher trainings.
These highly acclaimed trainings are 200-hour Yoga Alliance certified courses. They bring world-renowned teachers together with students from around the world. They are designed for those that want to teach with confidence, enhance their teaching or simply deepen their personal practice.
You will have the opportunity to become absorbed without distraction in a perfect environment of community, study, sanctuary and practice.
Graduating students can register as RYT 200 © (Registered Yoga Teachers) with Yoga Alliance, the international certifying yoga authority. Teachers registered with the alliance are authorized to use the initials RYT 200 © after their names.
Brigitte Longueville, the director and lead-trainer of the program, is an E-RYT 500 (meaning experienced and certified to teach teachers) and Solstice Yoga Center is a RYS200 Yoga Alliance certified school (see www.yogaalliance.org for more information).
Past graduates have found the Solstice Yoga Center's teacher training course to be a great adventure that is life-changing, enlightening and energizing. It is an experience that empowers individuals to find and express their best self and true potential, in both their professional and personal life.
Teaching from the "Heart"
The Solstice Teacher Training emphasizes that in order to teach yoga one must develop a deep personal understanding of yoga.
This is accomplished by providing students with daily instruction and practice in the art and science of yoga designed so that students can have a profound personal experience of the teachings.
You will be invited, in Brigitte's terms, to come to see "relaxation as practice." This means the opportunity to stop "trying" to do yoga and therefore becoming tense.
Instead, students learn to calm the body, and then the mind, creating the optimal state to experience and realize the full dynamic energy of an asana.
With this knowledge, teachers can teach not only from the head (as a result of their studies) but also from the heart (as a result of a deeply felt practice).
It is the premise of Solstice Yoga Teaching Training that once a practitioner has realized this profound experience, they then have the insight to share it, and teach it, to others.
The teacher training has a proven track record in delivering this understanding to students coupled with the knowledge base through which to express their experience to others.
As a result graduates go out into the world with complete confidence prepared to teach classes that students will find to be engaging, challenging and energizing.
The Course Work
The heart of the program is daily instruction and practice of meditation, pranayama and asanas. This is complemented with in-depth teaching of the following integral aspects of yoga teaching:
Yoga Philosophy / Lifestyle / Ethics
You will have the opportunity to understand the ancient texts, the original teachers, yogic lifestyle choices, and ethical choices and appropriate conduct for yoga teachers.
Restorative and Therapeutically Oriented Yoga
"Restorative yoga" is defined as the opportunity to restore and rejuvenate the innate muscular and energetic capacity of the body prior to the practice of asana in order to optimize the practice of yoga. This will be taught using the BackMitra and various pasive positions.
In the therapeutically oriented yoga part you will learn how to work with students that have physical issues and problems including: back pain, repetitive strain injuries, carpal tunnel, scoliosis, sacroiliac pain, sciatica, and strain due to bad posture or weight issues. Many people suffer from these issues and desire to practice yoga for relief. You will learn how to give them appropriate guidance and a safe practice.
For many years the therapeutic benefits of yoga have been recognized by a few. More recently, they have become much better known. Today many physicians are encouraging some of their patients to take up yoga for therapeutic reasons.
Unfortunately the healing benefits may be, to a great extent, hit and miss. The reason for these outcomes is that not all types of yoga address all types of problems equally well. What is needed for yoga as therapy to be consistently effective is an individualized approach based on the particular condition of the patient and a thorough understanding of anatomy, pathology and rehabilitation techniques.
Asana Practice
The complete spectrum of asanas will be explored in depth, including pose adaptations and the use of props. Both the classically, "held" positions associated with Iyengar yoga will be taught as well as Vinyasa Flow (breath synchronized movement) often associated with Ashtanga yoga.
Pranayama
You will learn the science of breathing: changing the rhythm of the breath, inhalation, retention, and exhalation. Ironically, pranayama is not a breathing exercise, but an exercise of awareness.
Anatomy / Physiology
You will learn a functional understanding of the key anatomic structures as they relate to Hatha yoga. Knowledge of these structures can be used immediately to optimize practice, overcome blockages, avoid injuries and of course, communicate with your future students.
In physiology we will be focusing on the autonomic nervous system its structure and function. The chronic imbalance of this nervous system is either directly or indirectly responsible for the many stress related diseases burdening us today. Understanding the connection between stress and our nervous system allows us to explore various yoga and related techniques which can be used to restore proper functioning of the mind and body.
Brigitte teaching anatomy and restorative alignment
Kriyas
These cleansing exercises remove toxins from the body. There are six kriyas: Neti (nasal cleansing), Nauli (abdominal churning), Dhauti (upper digestive tract cleansing), Basti (colon cleansing), Kapalabhati (lung and bronchial tube cleansing) and Tratak (steady gazing). From these six kriyas we will only practice Nauli, Kapalabhati, and Tratak.
Personal Teaching
Experience
Aquiring Teaching Experience You will learn how to teach by teaching classes and observing your fellow teachers as they teach. Each student will teach classes (traditional Hatha and therapeutic yoga) under the guidance of Brigitte. You will work in small groups, prepare classes together, exchange ideas and learn how to teach and assist others as they teach.
The emphasis throughout the training is on hands-on experience and constructive feedback that prepares you to teach with confidence and clarity.
Graduation Policy
Awarding of completion certificates is based on three criteria:- Attendance; To successfully complete the program, a student may not miss more than 5 hours of classroom time.
- Completed homework assignments.
- Faculty assessment of skills learned.
Graduation day!
Participant Video Testimonials
More Info and Registration
To find out more or register for one of our courses, go to the calendar above and click on the next to the program of your interest.
Space in our programs is limited. We encourage you to apply early!
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here you can find a list of Frequently Asked Questions.