Detailed Outline of the Bridge Program and Nine Required Modules

Modules 1-5 will be held exclusively online.  All times are Eastern Standard Times.  Hours have been adjusted to accommodate students from other time zones wherever possible.

Required Module 1: Teaching with the Anusara Principles of Alignment

This module will focus on cultivating a clear and powerful ability to teach with the Anusara Principles of Alignment

Topics:

  • Deepen understanding of the Anusara Principles of Alignment
  • Practice teaching with the UPAs
  • Learn to link the UPAs to anatomy and kinesiology corollaries
  • Leanrn to link the UPAs to metaphor and poetic corollaries

Dates: January 16 & 17 and February 6 & 7 2021, two weekends. 24 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9-11:45 am (2.5 hours + break time) and 1:00-4:45 pm (3.5 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays:  9-11:45 am (2.5 hours + break time) and 1:00-4:45 pm (3.5 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Chaya Spencer
Pre-requisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Required Module 2: Sequencing 

Sequencing is one of the most important skills required to teach an Anusara yoga class. Since we don’t have any prescribed sequences, we sequence asanas based on sequencing principles, which are in turn based on the biomechanics of the body and deep knowledge of asana.

Topics:

  • Key sequencing principles
  • The two main ways to sequence an Anusara
  • The role of sequencing in creating a class
  • Learn to sequence for specific level of classes
  • Course Curriculum – how to sequence a series of classes over a period of time.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, March 20 & 21, 2021, one weekend.  12 hours of instruction.

  • 9:00-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) EST
  • 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Rachel Dewan
Pre-requisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Required Module 3: Teaching with a Theme 

Teaching with a class theme is one of the hallmarks of Anusara yoga. Themes inspire both teacher and student by connecting the asana practice to a deeper meaning in yoga and life.

Topics:

  • Review theme, heart quality, and the main elements of a class plan built around a theme
  • Practice ways to develop themes directly from personal experience and how to personalize the theme
  • Learn to “weave a theme” through the entire class
  • Introduce other key ways to weave the theme into the asana part of class: mini-dharma talks, metaphors and
    imagery, storytelling, using an image from nature or the natural world
  • Receive linear and graphic templates for creating a class plan with a theme
  • Share a compendium of great themes

Dates: May 1 & 2 2021, one weekend. 12 hours of instruction: 10 live online hours and 2 hours of assigned pre-work.

  • Saturdays: 9-11:45 am (2.5 hours + break time) and 1:00-3:45 pm (2.5 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays:  9-11:45 am (2.5 hours + break time) and 1:00-3:45 pm (2.5 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Chaya Spencer
Pre-requisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Required Module 4: Functional Anatomy as it Applies to Yoga 

Through this training we will better serve each body individually as well as honor all that goes into each asana. Each weekend, the relationships between the bones, joints and muscles will be discussed by region and then embodied through asana-based movement explorations.

Topics:

  • Present the main movements possible in a human body, for example, flexion, extension, twisting, and asymmetrical poses (one leg forward and one back).
  • With each main movement, discuss and practice primary teaching skills.
  • Learn primary and secondary places of movement in these main classes of poses
  • Key observation points and verbal adjustments to get into a safe pose
  • How to teach a safe class. Main precautions
  • Learn the anatomy behind the main movements of the body and behind the UPA’s by focusing on the anatomy of the major joints
  • Learn how to deal with some of the most common conditions we face in class

Dates: September 25 & 26 and October 23 & 24 2021. Two weekends. 24 hours of instruction

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Julia Pearring
Pre-requisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Book: Ellen Saltonstall’s Anatomy of Yoga

Required Module 5 Online: Teaching Pranayama 

Pranayama is a foundation to a well-rounded yoga practice and has profound benefits on every aspect of being: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. There have been several scientific studies to support the yogic claims of the benefits of pranayama. Many traditional yogic texts make robust claims for its benefits but more important than scientific studies or claims of old texts is the practice you do yourself.

Topics:

  • Learn and practice a wide range of Pranayama techniques
  • Learn about the five pranas and the subtle body
  • Develop your own way of expressing your understanding of Prana
  • Learn benefits and contraindications

Dates: December 4 & 5 2021. One weekend. 12 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Rachel Dewan
Pre-requisite: 2 years of yoga teaching experience

 

Required Module 6 Online: Tantric Philosophy: Explore the Pratyabhijna-Hrydayam ~ “The Recognition of the Heart”

Go deeper into the philosophy and practices of the non-dual Tantra, the life-affirming perspective that underlies the approach of Anusara Yoga.  Explore these ideas through the Pratyabhijna-Hrydayam, “The Recognition of the Heart,” a very beautiful and important text which presents the central concepts of the tradition in sutra, or verse form.

Topics:

  • Learn about the history and evolution of the non-dual Tantric tradition and its relevance for us as modern yoga practitioners who remain deeply engaged with outer life.
  • Study the main teachings of Tantric thought on duality and non-duality. Learn how these two domains are always operating in life and within our own individuality and how, as yogis, we grow and transform inwardly, step by step into recognition of our own inherent wholeness and freedom.
  • Explore the two main directions of Tantric practice: The introversive practices such as deep meditation, contemplation and bhavana which connect us with the inner heart, and the extroversive practices that allow us to bring the highest values of the heart into daily life, expanding our experience of them moment by moment.
  • Develop meaningful themes for our asana teaching through contemplation of these inspiring ideas.

 Dates: January 8 & 9 and January 29 & 30 2022. Two weekends.

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

 

Teacher: Elizabeth Doberneck

Pre-requisite: Curiosity & Sincerity.  Open to all: yoga teachers and students of any tradition.

Book

Please select one of the following translations of the Pratyabhijna-Hrydayam to read during the module.  (Cost of book not included.)

  • The Recognition Sutras: Illuminating a 1,000 Year Old Spiritual Masterpiece by Christopher Wallis. A highly recommended book that contains the 20 sutras, Kshemaraja’s commentary, and Wallis’s own lengthy explanations
  • The Splendor of Recognition by Swami Shantananda explains the 20 sutras with clarity and often with stories. Through the 20 sutras, he also explains many of the main concepts of Non-Dual Tantra.
  • The Recognition of Our Own Heart by Joan Ruvinsky offers a more poetic and quite valuable view of the text, though without commentary.
  • Pratyabhijnahrdayam: The Secret of Self-Recognitionby Jaideva Singh is similar to the Wallis book in that it includes Kshesmaraja’s commentary, but it is an older book, written in a style that is more difficult to understand and does not include the useful explanations that are in Wallis’s book.
Required Module 7 Online: Observation and Adjustments 

Deepen your understanding and practice of the art and skill of observation and adjustment in order to be more effective and confident in helping students organize their bodies in held postural alignment as well as in movement (vinyasa).

Topics:

  • Progressive principles for “seeing” our students
  • Using a basic alignment blueprint to map decisions
  • Verbal adjustments
  • Hands-on adjustments and progressive principles of adjustment such as sensitivity and stability
  • Understanding adjustments as refinements/enhancements/deepening
  • Using clear and articulate language in tandem with adjustments
  • Using energetic and bio-mechanic intelligence
  • Types of adjustment and principles of adjustment
  • Key poses to know how to physically adjust

Dates: March 12 & 13 2022. One weekend. 12 hours of instruction

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Rachel Bush
Pre-requisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Required Module 8 Online: Teaching Meditation 

From the beginning and until the second half of the 20th century, the main practice of yoga was meditation. Today, most of us begin yoga with the asana practice. Meditation is a wonderful complement and support for our hatha yoga practice, and for many becomes the central pillar of our sadhana.

Topics:

  • An Introduction to the practice of meditation, including definitions, the theory behind the practice, a discussion about why we meditate with the benefits that are experienced on all levels of our being
  • Learn and practice teaching a simple 3-step template for teaching meditation
  • Learn a more complex 4-step template for teaching meditation.
  • Learning how to use a class theme to create your own meditation dharana

Dates: April 30 & May 1 2022. One weekend. 12 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Elizabeth Doberneck
Pre-requisite: 2 years of yoga teaching experience

Required Module 9 Online: Anusara Methodology and Co-Mentoring 

This module summarizes all that we have been studying about teaching Anusara yoga, and introduces the principles and practice the skill of mentoring, which will prepare the students for Part Two of this Module.

Part 1

Part one will cover other main elements of the Anusara method:

  • Coordinating major movements and actions with the breath
  • Guidelines for verbal instructions, such as plain, active, explicit, linking, giving direction
  • Postural demonstrations
  • Teaching with a clear and succinct theme

Dates for Part One: September 17 & 18. One weekend. 12 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Chaya Spencer

Part 2

In Part two we apply all that we have learned about teaching a class in the 300-Hour Advanced Teacher Training by being part of a co-mentoring program where students will work together to prepare for the Anusara Certification Video Assessment. This part is excellent preparation for teaching whether or not one is going on to Anusara Certification. Those who are not going on to certification will hone their skills creating a stellar class.

Info graphic

Dates for Part Two: October 22 & 23 2022. One weekend. 12 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST
  • Sundays: 9-12:15 pm (3 hours + break time) and 1:15-4:30 pm (3 hours + break time) pm EST

Teacher: Rachel Dewan
Prerequisite: Anusara Bridge Program or Anusara 200 hour training

Online Anusara Yoga Bridge Program 

Apply your training towards Anusara Certification.

The Anusara Bridge Program is for any yoga teacher who has received a 200-hour Yoga Certification in another style of yoga and who is a 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teachers (RYT200), or equivalent. It is a pre-requisite to the 300-Hour Advanced Anusara Yoga Teacher Training and will bring you up to speed on the  central teaching elements of Anusara Yoga including Tantric philosophy, Universal Principles of Alignment, and other elements of the Anusara methodology, teachings, and practice.

a. Completion of this program is a requirement before beginning a 300-hour Anusara Teacher Training.
b. The Bridge Program is followed by an exam, in which the trainee must demonstrate an understanding of the central teaching elements           of Anusara Yoga.

You will receive elective hours credit for this program. The Bridge Program can also be taken by those who completed a 200 hour Anusara training as a refresher for elective hours credit.

Topics:

  • Teaching with a theme
  • Teaching with the UPAs or Universal Principles of Alignment
  • Sequencing
  • Observation and adjustments
  • Other components of the methodology such as language & demonstrations

Info graphic

Dates: September 12 & 13, October 24 & 25, November 14 & 15, 2020. Three weekends. 36 hours of instruction.

  • Saturdays: 9:00 – 11:00 am and 1:00 – 5:30 pm
  • Sundays:   9:00 – 11:00 am and 1:00 – 5:30 pm

Teacher: Rachel Dewan, Anusara ECAT, ERYT 500, YACEP

Pre-requisite: completion of any 200 hour yoga teacher training program plus three years of yoga teaching experience.

Required texts (not included): Anusara Teacher Training Manual and Anusara Immersion Manual.