Why it’s a good time to take your 300-hr (RYT 500) YTT, and what you can expect to receive at one of Lakshmi Rising’s training’s
Stagnation: it’s a common place for 200-hr YTT graduates to land after some time. You’ve climbed the mountain, reached a plateau (with a lovely vista), but you’re a bit stuck there. You know there’s more to reach, and possibly an even better view further up, but you’re not sure of the exact route. You might resonate with this if you’ve been teaching classes for a while and you’re starting to wonder: is it time to take my 300-hr Advanced Yoga Teacher Training?
This can apply even if your path doesn’t include teaching yoga, and you took your 200-hr YTT for personal growth or to deepen your practice. You might be itching to continue taking your exploration even further. Taking a 300-hr Yoga Teacher Training is an investment in your time and energy, so it is not necessarily a decision to be made lightly. But if you’re being called, it is also not something to shy away from. We have written here about why a 300-hr YTT is an important step in your journey and what you can expect to receive at one of our training’s.
Your Growth Never Ends
It’s been five years since you first took your 200-hr TTC, or you just completed your online Yoga Teacher Training several months ago. Regardless of where you’re coming from, if you’re reading this now, you share the same spark of curiosity – to learn more. Whether you’re feeling stuck in your classes, or in your life, the good news is that there will always be room to go deeper in Yoga. Before we dive further into the depths of what you will receive at one of our 300-hr Advanced Yoga Training Courses, there is a tool you can begin to cultivate which may help you on this next leg of your journey. Both to get the most out of your training and to avoid any stop-gaps in growth or inspiration in the future.
Beginner’s Mind (Shoshin)
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few” – Shunryu Suzuki
Beginner’s mind is an ancient Zen teaching which invites one to approach everything with fresh eyes. Casting aside your previous accumulated knowledge and perspectives and viewing life as though through the lens of a child. You approach your field of study as though you were a complete beginner, no matter how many years you have been studying. This is a powerful practice because it opens you up to receive much more than you would if you were still clinging tightly to what you already know.
You can apply this to what you’ve learned thus far in your Yoga journey, trusting that your previous teachings and experience have been integrated into your being and practice. You can let go and open yourself completely to new ideas and perspectives, letting them transform and enliven you once again.
Re-reading a Good Book
At Lakshmi Rising, we offer a 300-hr Yoga Teacher Training where you will earn the Yoga Alliance 500-hr RYT level status. This training has more contact hours but also overlaps with our 200-hr YTT (click here to read the full curriculum). We liken this approach to that of re-reading a classical text on yoga. You may have had the experience of returning to a book you read years ago, one which you enjoyed or had an impact on you. But you are not the same person who read it in the past and by re-visiting it again, you notice and appreciate insights you weren’t ready to receive before, or view certain sections in a different light. You digest the material more thoroughly and completely than the first time around. At our yoga school, you will revisit the foundational elements and truth’s of our 200-hr TTC, as well as study and receive the advanced teaching modules. In this way, you will know the book of Yoga front and back, your copy well-worn and well-loved.
A Fresh Tool-Kit
Learn Advanced Yoga Sequencing
The Lakshmi Rising therapeutic hatha vinyasa sequencing method is unique and informed. We approach the physical practice of asana neither as a competitive sport, nor as a performance art. We move the body in a way that enhances general health and well-being on all levels. Our sequencing theory uses principles of exercise science and functional anatomy blended with classical yogic wisdom. These thread together to creatively construct a class rooted in injury prevention, body awareness, accessibility and the cultivation of strength and flexibility. You will also learn how to layer music and language into a sequence to deepen and enrich your students’ experience.
Go Deeper into Meditation, Pranayama, and Chanting
We begin each day with early morning pranayama (breathing exercises), seated meditation, and chanting the 40-verse Hanuman Chalisa. These classical practices are tried and tested techniques for circulating Prana (life-force). When we deepen our relationship with the flow of life-force within, we embody vitality and cultivate greater stamina, endurance and immunity. We are more self-aware, experience increased compassion and feel more connected to others. This morning ritual is intended to fill your cup, inspire you, and to support your unique and personal spiritual development. These practices which you develop over the course of our three-week advanced yoga training will provide you with a solid foundation of habit-building, making it easier to integrate ritual into your daily life and experience the powerful effects in both your personal well-being and teaching practice.
Expanding your Perspective and Awareness
The Bigger Energetic Picture – making the imperceptible perceptible
As you advance along the path of Yoga long enough you inevitably will deduce that what we are really learning about is energy; how it manifests, evolves, resonates, and transforms. All energy has unique qualities. Once you come to discern and understand these qualities through personal experience, you can work with them in various ways to benefit yourself and your community. On our 300-hr (RYT 500) Advanced Yoga Training Course, aside from advanced sequencing with asanas and pranayama, we will also explore the wisdom sciences of Hatha Yoga, Jyotisha (Vedic Astrology), Ayurveda, Tantra and Vaastu. These ancient alignment practices each offer a different focus, complete with complementary practices; all of which aid in the alignment of oneself into the Universe. We call “acting in alignment” your dharma. Living your dharma is no easy task but once you are on your way to fulfilling it you begin to open yourself up to true harmony and happiness. Once aligned, you can truly shine! Then you will naturally BE a beacon of guidance for all those on The Path.
Ascend the Summit
When you take the next steps in your development as a yogi and/or yoga teacher up the Mountain of Yoga, your perspective begins to change. You open yourself up to new vistas and perspectives, which inevitably alters your personality. Your limited sense of self (the ego) begins to shed its dead skin to start revealing an unbounded, shining, brilliant being. When your personality changes then your actions will soon follow, taking on a more altruistic or evolved intention, which reduces your negative karmic footprint. This in turn clears your perception and expands your awareness and from here…the sky’s the limit. The air may be thinner, the terrain more difficult, with fewer and fewer spectators the further you ascend and transcend, but the unimaginable, otherworldly views are your reward. And the beauty of it all: there is no summit when becoming a Yogi cosmonaut, just an endless horizon.
Recharge Renew Rebirth
Yoga is a life-long study. You will encounter a plethora of teachings and wisdoms that will transform your personal life and teaching practice. One of those foundational wisdom’s is the process of renewal, the cycles of birth and death. You come to your 200-hr YTT bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to absorb all of the teachings and information you can. During and following the training, you allow this new knowledge to sink into your being and flow outwards into your life and classes; through your individual expression of the same, core truth’s.
Then, after some time, you begin to wonder if it’s time for you to receive your next round of knowledge. In this case… is it time for me to take my 300-hr YTT?
You prepare to wipe your slate clean, open your heart, and let these new teachings enter you. You emerge from the other side, your true Self and your teaching practice transformed and expanded. In this way, you will never remain stagnant on your Yoga journey. Or if you do find yourself stuck again, you’ll remember to return back to this core teaching. These are some of the reasons why taking your 300-hr YTT is important for your development. Along with a fresh toolkit of advanced sequences and a deeper insight into all areas of Yoga; you will be training in the art of opening up to transformation. This is what makes a great yoga teacher, and an exciting, inspiring, well-lived life.