Find out what graduates say about our training

Faculty Teachers 2017 / 2018

Brigitte Longueville

(Netherlands) Director of Solstice Yoga Center. Her teachings focus on the opportunity to "restore" innate capacities to their optimal expression through "relaxation as practice" coupled with traditional yoga practice. Her teachings are a reflection of her long study with international teachers and yogis in the area of "traditional" South India yoga, pranayama, critical alignment, anapana and vipassana meditation. She obtained her teaching certificate after completing a 3-year course at The Bharata Institute of Yoga, Amsterdam, Netherlands. The institute is world renowned for it's work in critical alignment. She is a certified Yoga Alliance teacher and teacher trainer. She has been doing pranayama for 25 years and has been practicing vipassana meditation for over 10 years. An international yoga teacher and member of that community, she teaches workshops around the world...

David McAmmond

(Canada) Member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Beginning as a student of Hilda Pezarro in the early 70s, he was soon encouraged to start teaching. Although he worked with many teachers, David feels that he was most influenced by Dr. Bruce and Maureen Carruthers, and Acharya Dr. S.V. Karandikar. In 1995, David traveled to Pune, India, to train under Acharya Dr. S.V. Karandikar, one of the world’s pioneers in Restorative Yoga. This relationship has been maintained for many years with workshops in Canada and India. Over the last 25 years, David has inspired more than 400 yoga teacher trainees through various Teacher Training programs in Canada and Mexico. His daily life is committed to continuing research on yoga therapy, the origins and development of yoga and meditation in...

Aceneth García

- Started her yoga practice in 1994, studying her first diploma as instructor in Hatha Yoga Solar in 1997. - Certified as a teacher of Kundalini Yoga endorsed by KRI (Kundalini Research Institute) with 200 Hours. - Specialized in prenatal yoga with the program “Conscious Pregnancy” also backed by KRI. - She studied the certification of 200 hours in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga supported by the International Federation of Yoga. - She studied vinyasa and vinyasa karma with the following teachers: David Williams, David Swenson, Lygia Lima and Jivan Vinod. - She has explored the techniques of lyengar with Jñana Dakini and Dharma Priya. - In 2010 she began studying therapeutic yoga and kinesiology with Sonia Fernandez director of the Body Awareness Center in Mexico City (Centro de Concientización Corporal). - She continued her studies in therapeutic techniques...

Ana Paula Domínguez

Director and founder of IMY in Mexico City, writer and promoter of well-being in Mexico. Ana Paula is one of the top yogis in Mexico. She is a certified instructor in Kundalini Yoga and Ayurveda and has trained with the top masters in places like India, USA and México. She is the founder and director of The Mexican Institute of Yoga, ambassador for Adidas Mexico and the host of the "Ayurveda and Nutrition" on Utilisima network. As the author of "Yoga for Happiness and Health" and "The Map of Happiness" Ana Paula is a contributor to many newspapers and magazines in Mexico including National Geographic Traveler, Life & Style and Reforma. She has also guided outdoor yoga sessions at special events like Play Yoga Brazil (2006) that was attended by over...

Eligibility

Yoga practitioners and teachers who have a strong regular asana practice including standing poses, forward bends, back bends, twists, and inversions are welcome to apply. Familiarity with pranayama and mediation is valuable but not essential. While a desire to teach is not necessary to enroll in this course of study, an appreciation of teaching techniques as a tool for deepening one's own practice is key. We limit the number of students in this program each year to give each participant ample opportunity to interact individually with each faculty member as well as create real community among the students themselves.

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Teacher Trainings with Brigitte Longueville with emphasis on 
Restorative and Therapeutic Yoga

November 05 - December 02, 2017	RYT200 Teacher Training with emphasis on Restorative and Therapeutic Yoga	Las 3 Marías, San Agustinillo, Mexico
December 08, 2017 - April 16, 2018	Modular RYT200 Teacher Training with emphasis on Restorative and Therapeutic Yoga	Instituto Mexicano de Yoga, Mexico City
2018
January 19 - April 27, 2018	RYT200 Teacher Training with emphasis on Restorative Alignment Yoga	Akasha Yoga, Querétaro, Mexico
February 25 - March 24, 2018	RYT200 Teacher Training with emphasis on Restorative and Therapeutic Yoga	Las 3 Marías, San Agustinillo, Mexico
2017

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 Therapeutic 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 Therapeutic 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.

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

1. Attendance; To successfully complete the program, a student may not miss more than 5 hours of classroom time.
2. Completed homework assignments.
3. Faculty assessment of skills learned.

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.