For Yoga Teachers

54. A look at Yoga Hero's 300 hour yoga teacher training

• Yoga Hero • Episode 54

Share episode

Our 300 hour training is underpinned by three golden rules: 

  1. Everything you learn will be inherently useful, immediately usable, or both
  2. All bold claims will be backed by research 
  3. The entire training will stay true to the roots of yoga


Enjoy!

Take a look: Yoga Hero's 300 hour yoga teacher training


--
🤝 The Base
A community for yoga teachers Take a look

📚 Training for yoga teachers
300 hour yoga teacher training, starts March 25
Myofascial Release, Energetic Anatomy and Yoga, Mar 25
Yoga and The Neurobiology of Stress, June 25
Yoga Nidra with Yoga Wisdom, Sept 25
Restorative Yoga and Polyvagal Theory, Jan 26
Yoga for resilience, March 26
Teaching yoga for anxiety & stress, June 26

--

Follow @foryogateachers

Struggle with low confidence and self-doubt? Try the free Shatter Imposter Syndro...

 [00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to For Yoga Teachers and welcome to this very exciting; at least for me; podcast all about our 300 hour training. 

We have had a 300 hour training on the back burner for a little while, which has consisted of some individual trainings. 

So if you've done one of those, um, stay tuned because I'll go through what the options are for you later on in this episode. That sounds ominous. 

But it isn't. I promise. 

This 300 hour training is a combination of what I really believe people need from their yoga teachers; and what I believe [00:01:00] yoga teachers to need to. 

Before we look at the modules that make up the training, let's have a look at our three golden rules. 

One. 

Everything you learn will be inherently useful, immediately usable, or both. My intention is that immediately following each module, you feel confident and ready to teach what we've learnt to your yogis. 

So why is this a golden rule? 

Well, because if you're immediately teaching what you learn, if you want to do that, you'll find that the knowledge really becomes embedded in you.

There's another reason I want you to feel immediately ready to teach what you've learned. 

And that's a plain, simple, financial reason.

If you can hold a myofascial release workshop and you could make that a dedicated [00:02:00] myofascial release workshop, you could combine it with a yoga flow with a different type of yoga with some knowledge that you already have. If you can do that right after our myofascial release module, it will help you generate some extra income. Which is really important to me because joining a 300 hour training is a financial consideration. However, if you have the knowledge, and the opportunity to earn more as you go, hopefully this will nourish you as much as the actual learning process does. 

So that's our first golden rule. Everything that you learn will be inherently useful, immediately usable or both. 

The second golden rule is that any, and all bold claims will be backed by research. You know those times when you say something like this pose [00:03:00] will release emotion from the hips. And then you think. Oh, goodness. I hope nobody asks me more about that because I'm not really sure how I would explain how that works. Well, there will be none of that. during this training. If something isn't evidence-based, but you know, we feel it or we feel like we know it. Then we'll be upfront about that. 

That's really part of the joy of yoga. Isn't it? That kind of inner knowing. 

 And we'll share with you all of the studies and all of the research so that you have them on file. So if a Yogi does say, Hmm, I'm not sure about that. Could you help me understand that a little bit more? Then you'll have the confidence, you'll have the knowledge and you'll have the resources to be able to explain further. 

The third and final golden role is that at all times, our training will stay true to the roots of yoga. The very beauty of [00:04:00] yoga, the reason that so many of us have fallen in love with it, is because of the age old traditional practices that have informed what yoga is or what yoga has become to you and I today. 

So a brief recap on our three golden rules. One, everything that you are taught will be inherently useful or immediately usable, or both. 

Secondly any, and all bold claims will be backed by research. 

And thirdly at all times, our training will be true to the roots of yoga. 

 The first training, which is myofascial release, energetic anatomy and yoga, is in March 2025. But before we go into that, I'll just take you through the resources that you have at your fingertips. Right from the moment that you sign up. 

Firstly, there's the [00:05:00] base. This is included in your 300 hour fee. And in there is everything that you need to create your very important yoga teacher toolbox. So to define who you are as a yoga teacher, who you want to work with. Write your yoga bio, create your yoga brand set and smash your yoga teaching goals. 

And you can work step-by-step through these really important resources in your own time. However. As one of your assignments to graduate, you'll need to provide your yoga, bio and your yoga brand guidelines. This is my way of ensuring that you do do these things because from experience, if there's no deadline, they never really get done. 

Alongside your yoga business toolkit in the base is our applied anatomy module, which is [00:06:00] also on-demand. 

This includes anatomical terminology and language, plus each muscle that yoga teachers should know about, restrictions on movement, common injuries, and tips for sequencing. And again, you'll work through this at your own pace, which is a really, really amazing way to study anatomy. 

Plus running through our 18 months together, we'll have monthly group check-ins. So if you have questions, if you need clarification on anything that we've learnt, if you need some motivation or some support, these monthly check-ins are perfect for those to ensure that you're on track to give us all a boost and make sure that everything is super clear. 

And finally on a bimonthly basis, you and I will have our own private check-in too. Over the course of the 18 months training. I have no doubt [00:07:00] that your focus as a yoga teacher, your ability, the way that you run your yoga business, who you want to reach and who you want to help. All of these things will shift and they'll change and they'll evolve. 

And I want to be there to work with you to make sure that at all times it makes you feel really passionate and really excited and really motivated. 

 So back to our first module. And what a really wonderful place to start, where east meets west. Myofascial release energetic anatomy and yoga. 

Let's start with myofascial release. This is super interesting as a yoga teacher. We work with people on a class by class basis, you know, on a day by day basis who are experiencing pain, niggles [00:08:00] restrictive movement and yes, absolutely, this could be something going on in the muscles or in the joints, or it could well be in the fascia. We'll break down the anatomy of fascia, what it's composed of. The functions of fascia and how it works. 

We'll then investigate how to keep fascia healthy through the various methods of myofascial release. So that you can create specific, dedicated myofascial release workshops, and, or you can add techniques into your existing classes, workshops and courses using dedicated myofascial props, but also using props that you'll very likely have as a yoga teacher or in a yoga studio. Remember. Everything that we learn is going to be immediately useful. 

 We'll also learn the myofascial trains. So, if [00:09:00] you're working with somebody, let's say who has tight hamstrings, rather than just targeting the hamstrings and hoping for the best, you'll learn how to target, in this example, the whole of the superficial back line to help the person find relief in their hamstrings. 

In terms of energetic anatomy, oh, this is just so exciting to be combining this with fascia. Well, um, so slight spoiler alert and slight sort of tangent back to the fascia. Part of what we'll learn when investigating the composition of fascia is the extra cellular matrix, which in effect is where fascia lives. Fascia theorists, hypothesise that running through the extracellular matrix is a piezoelectric charge. Piezoelectricity is a charge in response to mechanical stress and pressure. And Bernie [00:10:00] Clark; a highly respected yoga teacher theorises that in fact, piezoelectricity is Chi; the energy that is talked about in traditional Chinese medicine. And we could expand that to look at this charge as prana. The vital energy, the life force, that the ancient yogis detected in meditation an unimaginably long time ago. Isn't that absolutely amazing that the Yogis sat in meditation, they felt there was a charge. And now in anatomy using all of the tools and imagery that we have, we're detecting that charge as an electrical current. Well, Anyway. Let's take a step back. 

So we're looking at energetic anatomy. We're looking at prana and yoga is so wonderful, um, at describing and communicating [00:11:00] what prana is and there will be a system or a model that you fall in love with. I'm sure about it. 

We have the chakra system. We have the pancha kosha system, the five sheaths or five bodies. We have the nadis, the channels that prana travels through. We have vayus; which are winds directions, that prana travels in, and all of these have an impact on how we feel. So in this module; staying true to the roots of yoga, we'll look at the models, the systems of prana, and you'll probably have one or two that really resonate with you. 

And then when you layer this understanding and this new knowledge onto your understanding of the fascia system, which of course we'll cover in the same module; you're gonna have a whole new dimension to add onto your yoga teaching. A [00:12:00] dimension that helps your yogis free up restriction, address pain or niggles and ultimately benefit the physical body of skin and bones and fascia and the energetic body of breath and emotion and energy level and self-compassion, and all of this of course has such a positive impact on mental health as well. 

So, I'm so, so excited about weaving these two disciplines together. 

 And, next up. Is another module that I'm just absolutely itching to get teaching, which is yoga and the neurobiology of stress. 

Now I know that you'll know that stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, the survival mechanism, that releases, adrenaline and cortisol into the system. And that yoga activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps reduce the [00:13:00] impact of stress, and it helps us feel calmer and it promotes digestive health. It helps us sleep, and so many of the benefits. 

But have you ever wondered why. Why is yoga such an effective tool to reduce the impact of stress. Is it the movement, the asanas themselves. Is it that yoga or at least, you know, yoga as many of us practice it, these days is effectively a moving meditation? Does yoga help to release beneficial hormones? 

Why is yoga proving to be such an incredible aid for people experiencing auto-immune disorders? 

So this module is designed to address the why. It will define the nervous system response, and the HPA axis, and it will break down the effects of chronic stress, [00:14:00] before then learning evidence-based practices, to mediate or even reverse the effects of stress. The evidence-based data-driven aspect of this module is incredibly important here. 

As yoga teachers, we inherently know that yoga is doing some good. And now we're looking to prove it. 

So it's not yoga makes you feel amazing, you should do it more often, kind of woolly unfocused, claims that are hard to verify, and perhaps sound totally ludicrous to a yoga newbie. And I only say newbie here, because I believe that many practitioners of yoga believe and trust the benefits just based on their own experience. So yeah, not woolly intangible claims. Not that. 

What we're looking at is respected [00:15:00] studies that conclude that the practice of yoga is beneficial, and how and why? 

The intention here is twofold. 

One. So that your confidence as a yoga teacher is boosted by knowing that factually you are sharing something that is incredibly beneficial to people's mental and physical health. And two, to help you layer this knowledge into your classes, workshops and courses, should you want to; to encourage your yoga students to return back to your offerings, and to bring their friends. 

Next is Yoga Nidra and Yoga Wisdom. And again, this is a training that weaves together two topics that fit together absolutely beautifully. By definition, yoga wisdom holds ideas that our thinking mind [00:16:00] can't accept; can't comprehend. 

But when this thinking mind is quietened, such as in yoga nidra; we can be open to big ideas; to consolidating information and to making wonderful connections. 

So you can expect to be led through regular Yoga Nidras to consolidate everything that we're learning, to make connections between different concepts and different topics. We will relate yoga nidra to the kosha system, which of course we looked at in our myofascial release and energetic anatomy module. And this is such an amazing opportunity to revisit and build on what we learned. And you'll find that we do this again and again, making connections between different modules. Recapping and revisiting important information, so it's deeply embedded in you as a yoga [00:17:00] teacher. 

And I think. I think yoga nidra probably has some of the. The boldest. Wildest claims of pretty much any form of yoga. Um, like Yoga Nidra reduces unhelpful habits, it reverses aging, this, that, and the other. So we'll look at these bold claims. Many of which are true by the way. And of course we'll look at the evidence behind them. 

We'll seek to understand the brainwave states. What happens neurologically in yoga nidra and of course that allows us to build on what we learned in our yoga and the neurobiology of stress module. And yoga teacher bearing in mind our three golden rules. You can expect to teach safe, beneficial Yoga Nidras, and to write your own scripts, if you want to right from the day after we complete this [00:18:00] module. 

 Next up is Restorative Yoga with Polyvagal Theory. So with the understanding of Yoga Nidra and the power of Yoga Nidra under our belt, it's an amazing time to widen that lens, that deeply parasympathetic activation lens to include restorative yoga. So remembering our golden rules, everything that you learn will be immediately useful. And I know that not many people have access to 2, 3, 5 bolsters per person. So one of the things that we'll cover is the creative and efficient use of props that you already have for your restorative offerings. 

As you might expect, we have restorative Asana clinics; breaking down some standard and maybe some possibly or unexpected restorative poses. And all of this knowledge, all of this [00:19:00] training, this work, all of it. Is totally pointless. If your yoga students don't feel safe. So at this point, we start to talk about safety through the lens of polyvagal theory. Feeling safe is in the domain of the vagus nerve. And polyvagal theory suggests that there are many things that we can do as yoga teachers to help our students feel safe. To ultimately help them access parasympathetic activation. 

The Vagus nerve also plays an important role in healing. So if it's pivotal in feeling safe and pivotal in healing, I know that, you know, it's really important to ensure that we understand it as yoga teachers. 

And that is exactly what we'll do. You can expect to learn the anatomy of the vagus nerve, the functions of the nerve, according to polyvagal theory, and vagus [00:20:00] nerve activation. Both in your restorative offerings, but also in ways that you can layer onto your existing classes, like Vinyasa. Ashtanga, Yin, Rocket, Four Beat. They can all benefit so much from this understanding. 

Our penultimate module is yoga for resilience: mastering respiratory anatomy and immune support. Again, the respiratory system and the immune system have a really wonderful relationship. One of those things that the yogis inherently seem to understand and science is kind of just catching up. 

One of the really interesting things here is the profound impact that the diaphragm has on both systems. Of course, you're not surprised that the diaphragm is fundamental to the respiratory system. But have you ever heard, or has it ever crossed your mind that the diaphragm [00:21:00] has a profound impact on the immune system? In this module. We are looking at, you could say. The jewel in yoga's crown; pranayama. The yogis knew the power of the breath. They really did. And relatively recently, James Nestor's book Breath took the world by storm; talking about the importance of the pace of the breath, and breathing through the nose and so much more, all pretty standard in traditional I'm a techniques, interestingly enough! 

And the yogis of course were also interested in overall wellbeing. The yogis talked about the obstacles to enlightenment and in there is illness. Illness, being unwell, was sighted as an obstacle to enlightenment; the entire purpose and the [00:22:00] entire aim of yoga. So being and staying well is in the domain of the immune system. And is fully impacted by the respiratory system. So this module looks at the beautiful relationship that these two systems share. We'll look at the anatomy of the immune system and how to promote immune support, and of course; the impact that these two systems have on the rest of the body as well. 

 And our last module. Is teaching yoga for anxiety. And. In all honesty. I'm pretty sad actually, that this is a module. But it is. And it has to be. The prevalence of anxiety has absolutely skyrocketed. 

In 2019, the World Health Organization stated that anxiety disorders affected, honestly, are you [00:23:00] ready for this figure? 301 million people. 

That's. What like five times the population of the entire UK. And that was in 2019. That was pre COVID. These figures are absolutely shocking. 

At the risk of state and something that you most likely already know; anxiety can deeply affect the entirety of someone's mental and physical health. They can impact the immune system, making the anxious person more susceptible to viruses, infections, and / or autoimmune disorders. And having already learned about the immune system, you'll be able to deeply understand why this happens. Anxiety, of course, can also affect sleep, the digestive system; resulting in digestive issues and well, so much more, and we'll cover all of it in the module. 

Thinking about that figure 301 million people with an anxiety disorder [00:24:00] in 2019. You can assume if you are working with people; you are working with people who are experiencing an anxiety disorder. So understanding what anxiety is from a pragmatic biological standpoint, and then understanding the tools that we have in our toolbox as yoga teachers will be incredibly important, if you are to have a positive, and lasting impact on people's lives. 

In many ways, this final module will bring together everything that we've learnt, in an inherently usable way. Bringing together the information about fascia myofascial release to help your yogis release physical tension from their bodies, which is a symptom of anxiety. Weaving in energetic anatomy, to work with your Yogi's physical bodies or with their energetic body or with their mind; [00:25:00] finding the solution that works best for them. Layering in the neurobiology of stress, of course what's actually happening in their body when there's a trigger that activates the stress response. Revisiting why yoga nidra is such an important tool and how to teach Yoga Nidra safely with that understanding of safety and Polyvagal Theory, and knowing how to set up restorative yoga poses for when your yogis need them or are ready for them. 

And finally layering in pranayama techniques with that understanding of the respiratory system and how it affects immune support. All this to ensure that your yogis have the agency, and the empowerment and the tools to manage their own anxiety. 

So yoga teacher, that's pretty much our entire 300 hour training summarised for you [00:26:00] there. You can think about it as all the knowledge and tools and confidence that you need to help people with what they really need from us yoga teachers in this fast paced, highly loaded, modern day society. 

In terms of the investment, the early bird price, which is available until the end of November is 4,499 pounds as a one time fee. Or you can pay in 12 monthly payments of 384 pounds. Both those prices will increase after that early bird rate is finished; so just a reminder that finishes at the end of November. 

And if you're a Yoga Hero, 200 hour graduate, you get 20% off the one time fee or the 12 monthly payments. So that's a huge, huge discount. So that's really, that's really cool. At the beginning [00:27:00] of this episode, I said, if you've already done a training, that counts towards Yoga Hero's 300 hour training. I'll explain the options for you. So if you've already paid a fee towards a training that counts to Yoga Hero's 300 hour, we can take that fee off the full fee that I just mentioned. All you need to do is drop us an email hello@yogahero.co.uk. Let us know what trainings you have done in the past and we'll take it from there. We can work with you on your individual circumstances, but rest assured the fee that you've paid and the hours that you've dedicated, they do count. So we can work with you on the best way to work that out. 

Before we round up today, it's probably worth me just running through a couple of questions that you might have at this point. 

So, first of all, if you can't make all of the [00:28:00] modules we have a robust absence policy in place, which might include meeting with me either online or face-to-face so I can catch you up. There might be some pre-study and there might be some study afterwards. If we have to work together on a one-on-one basis, there might be another fee there, but we would talk about the options in our balance of setting any extra fees. 

You might be wondering, do you have enough time? And that would be a very sensible concern, it would, a 300 hour is a serious undertaking. 

So. Like I say we would really recommend to come to all of the modules live. Aside from that, we are going to work with you so much to re-ignite, if necessary, your personal practice. So you're aiming for at least 30 minutes, at least three times a week. It's not set on what that is. It could be yoga nidra, it could be [00:29:00] restorative, it could be something firey. Whatever it is, but we're aiming for 30 minutes, at least three times a week. 

We'd also recommend at least an hour a week study time. And of course there's the monthly group check-ins of an hour or so. And you and I will have bi-monthly check-ins and they just take as long as they take. 

And lastly, you might be thinking. I'd love to do this, but I'm not sure that I can afford it at the moment. So remember we have the 12 monthly payments. If you're a 200 hour graduate, you get 20% off those. And then don't forget that we've written this course, we've created it, we designed it so that you can start earning right after the first module. 

So, if you wanted to start booking in some myofascial release workshops for let's say April, and you want to start selling tickets for those, you certainly can; you're going to have that knowledge. 

In terms of [00:30:00] next steps; if you're feeling excited, if you're feeling passionate, if you're feeling a connection with this course. We would absolutely love you to join us. Wherever you're watching this, there will be a link to our application form, get that filled in and we'll follow that up with a quick chat between you and I. It might be 15 minutes, maybe 30 minutes. And if all of that goes well, then we'll get you enrolled onto the course. Thank you so much for your time. If you have any questions you get in touch with us any time at all. And as always. Happy teaching.