“These are some of the ways of offering yoga.”  It was the first day of the Yoga Instructor’s Course at the School of Royal Yoga, and I smiled benignly at the “quaint” phrase my teacher was using to describe the practice.  “Offering yoga, hmm,” I thought, “that’s a different way to say it.” I had no idea how much impact that little phrase would have throughout my training.

Yoga means “Union” — a connecting of body and mind.  For me it also came to mean balance, expansion and centering.  Offering myself this opportunity opened up whole new worlds, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I discovered a deep well of joy inside myself that I had been unable to access since childhood and had forgotten even existed.  I found a seat of guidance and inner wisdom I never knew I possessed and learned ways to embrace my physical self and care for it as never before.  I felt happier, healthier and more energized than I had in years.

So why is this course different?  The School of Royal Yoga’s Course has a comprehensive and compassionate curriculum.  It encompasses the wisdom and structure of Classic Hatha Yoga enhanced with the philosophy of Raja Yoga. 

This comprehensive nine-month instructor training course includes:

• The eight branches of yoga
• Asanas or poses and their alternatives for people with varying degrees of flexibility and sensitivities
• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Pranayama
• Guided visualizations
• Nutrition
• Lesson preparation

All classes are taught in a group setting so that future instructors learn from both the teacher and one another through gentle guidance.  The course curriculum is designed to deliver the greatest care to all levels of students so that each class member can successfully offer asanas in ways that help them expand without risk of injury.  Instructors are taught a myriad of pose variations, alternatives and adaptations to meet every student wherever they are in their practice. 

At the end of the course, instructors graduate excited to teach and with a new awareness that offering yoga classes is both an honor and a privilege. The instructors share that they always feel they are receiving as much as they give. By the end of the course, I no longer smiled at the phrase “offering yoga.”  Instead I nodded in silent agreement, understanding in new ways what that phrase really meant.

The School of Royal Yoga offers instructor training courses in Adult Beginner and Children’s Yoga.  New classes are beginning in 2015. For more information, call 908-879-9648 or visit TheRoyalPathwaysInc.com.