Sharing Knowledge
Learn to Teach Yoga Nidra
with Uma Dinsmore-TuliStroud
Yoga nidra is a powerful yogic tool for healing and transformation, which many yoga practitioners and teachers would like to be able to use with confidence. This course trains yoga teachers to teach yoga nidra safely, appropriately and with confidence in the class setting, in one-to-ones, and for a range of therapeutic applications. It offers a detailed exploration of the structure, content, history, development and function of yoga nidra, providing a clear programme of supported study and practice to develop personal experience and understanding of this most potent healing yoga practice. Uniquely amongst yoga nidra training courses, it offers a comparative evaluation of different approaches to yoga nidra, exploring and considering the relative merits and suitability of different traditional and contemporary forms of the practice, empowering you to make informed and creative choices about the appropriate application of particular types of yoga nidra to meet specific needs.
The course is all about yoga nidra as a healing and transformative practice of svadhyaya (self-study), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration) and dhyana (meditation). It addresses the therapeutic use of yoga nidra for healing, deep relaxation and problem solving, as well as for spiritual and personal growth by accessing and developing creativity and intuitive wisdom.
We will cover:
- the history and development of yoga nidra: nyasa, tantra, Satyananda yoga, Himalayan institute, Richard Miller, Swami Veda Bharati
- yoga philosophy and cosmology in relation to yoga nidra: tattvas, chakras, koshas, Samkhya, Upanisadic world view
- neuroscience, psychology, psycho-neuro-immunology and physiology: in relation to the function of yoga nidra, including stress and the relaxation response.
- restorative asana for yoga nidra
- hypnotic components: understanding the structure and variations in yoga nidra
- settling the physical body: first stage of yoga nidra, language and other tools.
- sankalpa: listening to inner guidance, framing and using sankalpa
- rotations of consciousness: effects and methods
- pairs of opposites: structures, effects and variations
- breath awareness /pranayama: specific use within the structure of yoga nidra and to support the practice of yoga nidra
- visualisations: traditional and creative scripting, contra-indications,
- appropriateness and therapeutic value
- abreactions: why they happen and how to handle them
- therapeutic applications: values and limitations of yoga nidra
- creativity and innovation: devising your own yoga nidra scripts; metaphor, poetry and grammar for enlightened communication
- responsiveness: tailoring script to needs of target populations
- bespoke scripts: utilising client images in yoga nidra
- self development: sample practices, support for self reflection and growth
- differentiation: sample scripts for different levels of practitioner experience
- voice: developing and supporting the transference of prana through voice
- delivery: timing, safety issues and other practical consideration
- pratyahara: understanding the effects of sense withdrawal.
- dharana: yoga nidra as an aid to improve concentration
- dhyana: yoga nidra as the meditative heart of yoga
- hypnosis and yoga: exploring the connections: yoga nidra as hypnosis, yoga as self-hypnosis
- spontaneous unfoldings of yoga nidra: facilitating the practice as a portal to creative expression and spiritual growth.
- living yoga nidra: practical and effective integration of yoga nidra into daily life.
Before beginning the course, you will be required to read Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s Yoga Nidra and Richard Miller’s Yoga Nidra, the meditative heart of yoga, and to undertake other preparatory work. Please download the course prospectus below for full details of the preparatory work and in course assignments.
Other reading and preparatory assignments and assessments will be set during the course to support the development of a deep personal engagement with the practice of yoga nidra, and to empower you with the practical skills and understanding to use and deliver the practice with confidence. Please note there are two ‘routes’ to completion of the course, the teacher route and the practitioner route. The latter does not require delivery of yoga nidra to the group, but all other elements of the assignments are required, with the modification of using self-reflection instead of student evaluation of the yoga nidras practised.
The course will take place in a retreat format at the Sitaram yoga studio, next to the course tutor’s family home in the countryside outside Stroud, in the Cotswolds, a protective and nurturing space, which will enable you to share your learning journey fully with each other and to enjoy the full support of the course tutor and her husband, who, although now retired from teaching on medical grounds, will be offering support and assistance to the group as and when his energies allow. Accommodation will be provided on Friday and Saturday nights at the Monastery of Our Lady and St Bernard: this is about 7 minutes by car from the course venue (transport will be provided), or about 45-60 minutes walk through farmland, woodland and local villages!
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli was first introduced to yoga at the age of four, has been teaching yoga and meditation since 1986 and qualified as a yoga therapist in 1999. Read Uma Dinsmore-Tuli's full biography.
Certification
You will receive a Yogacampus Certificate of Completion on satisfaction of all the course requirements.
Are you eligible?
The course is primarily designed for qualified yoga teachers and yoga therapists and trainee yoga teachers. However, dedicated yoga practitioners, counsellors, psychotherapists, life coaches, clinical hypnotherapists, complementary medicine practitioners and others with an interest in the healing power of yoga may also apply, but acceptance would depend upon them being able to demonstrate an appropriate level of yogic understanding. This would be assessed on an individual basis prior to acceptance on the course. The efficacy of yoga nidra depends to a large extent on the appropriate use of language: all participants must therefore have fluent spoken and written English.
How to book
Please complete the application form above and either email it to info@yogacampus.com or post it to the address on the application form. Please note that early sign up is strongly recommended in order to give yourself the necessary time to do the prepatarory listening and assignments. – a minumum if 1 month will be required to adequately prepare.
Hosted in partnership with Sitaram Partnership
For more information please email info@yogacampus.com or call +44 (0) 20 7042 9900
Dates, Costs and Venue
Dates
Friday, Saturday and Sunday 3 to 5 August and Friday, Saturday and Sunday 9 to 11 November 2012
Date and time details
The course will contain 40 hours of tuition over two 3 day weekends. Friday sessions will run from 11.30 a.m. to 21.15 p.m., Saturday sessions will run from 8.00am to 21.15 pm, with breaks for lunch, tea and supper; Sunday sessions will run from 8.00am to 15.30 pm with breaks for breakfast and lunch. Each day will include pranayama, meditation and chanting, as well as yoga nidra practices and a country walk.
Cost
£695
Cost details
Includes accommodation each Friday and Saturday night and all meals starting with Friday lunch and ending with Sunday lunch (simple vegetarian food). Accomodation is provided at the Guest House of Monastery of Our Lady and St Bernard, though you are welcome to stay elsewhere if you prefer (at your own expense). The Monastery is a one hour walk OR 7 minute drive from the course venue and transport will be provided. A detailed course manual is also included.
Venue
Other info
Maximum participants: 16
Total hours: 40
What our students say
I enjoyed the relaxed approach to discovering and learning more about yoga nidra - knowing that this course is just the beginning and not the end.
A Yogacampus student on Learn to Teach Yoga Nidra 2011, November 2011