About the yoga teacher training course

This Yoga teacher training course is for people who want to access a deep wisdom, embody this wisdom, and convey it to others in a practical way.

The theoretical content gives you a deep understanding of the yoga poses and how they can express some of life’s fundamental principles. At the same time you develop your own physical practice of the poses and the skill of teaching them to others. The convergence of theory and practice in the field of yoga gradually helps you build up your own inner resource of wisdom and strength. This becomes something you can apply in all aspects of your daily life, and  also impart to others.

The approach to yoga

The course has been designed by yoga teacher Karen Patterson. It is based mainly on the “New Yoga Will” developed by spiritual teacher Heinz Grill. To find out more about the element of self-development embodied in this teaching, visit my sister site https://self-governance.co.uk/ 

Course length and structure

The yoga teacher training course consists of a two year course with an optional third year:

Two year qualification: Yoga instructor (300 hour)

Three year qualification: Yoga professional (500 hour)

Each year consists of 11 monthly weekend workshops in Somerset and one long weekend course at the “Sun Oasis” training centre in Lundo, Trentino, northern Italy.

The UK weekends runs from 9 am – 5.00 pm on Saturday, and from 9 am – 1 pm on Sunday. The Italy weekends run from 10 am on Friday (travel out on Thursday) and finish at 1 pm on Sunday (travel home either Sunday evening or Monday depending on flights).

The course is modular. Each year consists of four 3-month modules.

The trainers

The Somerset weekends are taught by Karen Patterson. Physiotherapist Jill Canney teaches the anatomy part of the course.

The Italy weekends are taught by international teachers including:

Raphaelle Boudot: Yoga teacher, nurse, natural health practitioner. Raphaelle lives in Germany where she runs yoga classes and training courses.

Matej Stepita: Yoga teacher and psychotherapist. Matej lives in Slovakia and also offers yoga classes and training courses.

As founder of the New Yoga Will impulse, Heinz Grill is regularly invited to teach at the training weekends in Italy. The opportunity to learn directly from Heinz Grill gives you your own personal experience of the inner, spiritual impulse at the heart of this approach to yoga. This in turn brings new steps in your personal development and opens up a capacity to radiate a deep, authentic substance out to others.

Course work and assessment

Years 1 and 2

You will need to submit a 1 – 2 page written assignment at the end of each module (i.e. 8 assignments in total).

At the end of year two you will need to give a 20 minute talk and a teach a 1 hour yoga class to a group of around 6 yoga students. These will be observed by an external assessor.

Year 3

You will be asked to carry out a project and present this in the form of a booklet (20 – 35 pages) and also as a talk.

Entry criteria

If you are interested in enrolling on the course, I recommend that you:

• have some familiarity with the approach to yoga here at Yoga in Somerset, and know that this is the approach you would like to develop further
• are able to practice the basic poses including the sun salutations and the shoulderstand
• have established some sort of regular practice at home.

In order to meet these criteria you should have completed the  yoga intensive course. Where possible it is also good if you have attended weekly classes at Yoga in Somerset for a period of at least 6 months. The next yoga intensive course, will start on  26th April 2025.

Dates of next course

The next two year yoga teacher training course is scheduled to begin on 28th February 2025. The following course will begin in 2028.

2025 dates:

Unless specified otherwise the times are 9am – 5pm on Saturday and 9am-1pm on Sunday. Lunch is provided on Saturday.

Content of the yoga teacher training course

Understanding and practising the yoga asanas (poses).

Physical asana practice forms a large part of the course. You will receive expert tuition to help you form each asana to the best of your potential and to practice more advanced asanas. As well as physical yoga practice, we will study pictures and passages of text together. In this way you will build a relationship to a large number of the classical yoga asanas, getting to know the qualities they express. You will learn how to structure each asana to give a healthy relationship between stability, activity and relaxation in different parts of the body.

A new, artistic way of giving shape to the yoga poses

Developing a personally felt relationship to the asanas means that you can shape each pose in an artistic way. You will learn how to give expression to each position in its meaning when you practise.

Developing personal strengths for everyday life

You will learn and experience how it is possible to strengthen the so-called “soul-forces”, the thinking, the feeling and the will through this artistic way of yoga practice.

Learning to shape clear thoughts: You will learn how carefully formed thoughts or mental pictures can help you to shape the yoga postures in a clear, natural and harmonious way.
Learning to feel subtle qualities: You will learn how to develop deeper, inner feelings for the inherent characteristic qualities of the different yoga poses and the chakras.
Developing your will power: You will learn how to use your will power or body in a harmonious well ordered way that combines both lightness and strength. The movements stay light, the consciousness and breathing remain free, yet at the same time you can experience the joy and satisfaction of an active challenge.
Developing these personal strengths in asana practice helps us shape our ideas more clearly, feel and relate more sensitively and build our stamina and perseverance in general life.

Energy flow and the chakras

We will look carefully at pictures and demonstrations of the different yoga movements, and also at the plants around us in nature. These careful observations will help us understand the different life-energies and their natural laws. You will develop a feeling for the natural patterns these different energies take and learn how to shape the same lightness, harmony and gracefulness into your yoga practice. In this way you will learn how to restore a natural and health-giving energy flow to the body.
You will learn how this life energy can be guided to gather at one or more of the seven different chakras when practising an asana. You will get to know the inner qualities that are associated with each chakra.

Yoga practice and its connection to our health

When we are able to express a natural harmony, spaciousness and lightness in the movements out of an active, ordered and clear consciousness, the effect is naturally regenerating. With the help of some basic anatomy and physiology (taught by physiotherapist Jill Canney) you will learn to understand the connections between yoga practice and the health of the body.

Teaching skills

You will build up practical experience of teaching and adjusting other participants on the course. As you continue to develop your understanding of the individual yoga poses you will learn how to convey the essence of theses poses to your students through verbal instruction and manual adjustments so that you can help each individual reach their full potential. As you develop a feeling for the different types of energy flow, you will learn how to help your students become energised, motivated, calmer and more focused.

The different approaches to yoga and the evolution of human consciousness

We look at the way human consciousness has changed over the centuries and examine some of the different styles of yoga, different forms of concentration, and different approaches to breathing that have been developed at different times. We look at the meaning of these different practices for people’s health and personal development in the past and today.

Nutrition

A delicious wholefood vegetarian lunch is provided on each Saturday to give participants a taste of an aesthetic style of cooking based on grains, vegetables, salads, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices. Further information about vegetarian nutrition can be given if requested.

Yoga teacher training course book

The main course book is The Soul Dimension of Yoga by Heinz Grill and we will work with it together on the course. The book focuses on the seven so-called ‘chakras’ or energy centres and describes the inner ‘soul qualities’ connected with each chakra. It teaches us how we can express these inner qualities in the practice of yoga poses and ultimately in our everyday lives.

What time commitment is required?

As .with anything in life, the more we put into something, the more we ultimately begin to live and breathe it. Most yoga teachers that I have come across find that teaching yoga is far more than a job. Rather it is a way of sharing our passion with others.

For me, regular study and practice of the yoga asanas has become a regular part of my routine, regardless of whether or not I have a class to teach. My hope on this course is to be able to support you in developing your own regular study in a way that fits in with your own life.

Minimum commitment

The course follows a modular approach. To complete each module you need to attend at least two of the three weekends which make up that module and complete a short written assignment at the end of it. A minimum of 20 UK weekends and two Italy must be attended to complete the two year training. A minimum of 10 UK weekends and one Italy weekend must be attended in year three.

You should allow 3 – 4 hours per week for home study and personal practice in between weekends. You will be given various topics to study and some months there will be a short written assignment. At the end of each module you will be asked to submit a written assignment which will be assessed towards your qualification. Each month you will also be asked to prepare one or a few poses to teach the rest of the group the following month.

Recommended additional activities

Experience has shown that students gain a more solid and wider ranging knowledge of the yoga poses, and of the practical application of the themes, if they attend weekly classes with me whilst doing the teacher training. For this reason  the price of the course includes free weekly classes, which you are encouraged to attend if at all possible.

The possibility of additional visits to the Sun-Oasis spiritual academy in Italy

This yoga teacher training course is far more than a practical yoga teacher training. It involves a process of personal transformation in which this two year course provides a first basis. The visits to the “Sun Oasis” spiritual academy in Italy, founded by Heinz Grill, offers you the opportunity to penetrate more deeply into the spiritual mysteries that lie beneath the surface of visible reality.

In addition to the teacher training weekends, at the “Sun Oasis” college in Italy there is a daily programme of yoga and other spiritual exercises. Attending the general programme offers you a fuller experience of the spiritual teaching developed by Heinz Grill. Heinz Grill himself is very often there and will give various suggestions and guidance for our practice. I visit several times a year and there is the opportunity to accompany me at any time.

Venue

Extons Barn, Milverton, Somerset, TA4 1RG
Extons Barn is a peaceful, rural yoga studio 20 minutes from Taunton. During the breaks you will be able to enjoy lovely gardens or country walks with stunning views of the Quantock hills.

Accommodation

If you need overnight accommodation I can arrange low cost accommodation with local friends and yoga students. Please ask. There are also plenty of local B&B’s .

How to book

To find out more or register your interest please Email Karen.

Alternatively do feel free to ring for a chat on 07791 951626.

Cost

The total cost of the course is £1220 per year. This includes the tuition and food for both the UK and Italy weekends. It also includes 3 nights accommodation in Italy. Flights will need to be booked and paid for by yourself. In addition to the 12 training weekends, this cost also includes unlimited weekly yoga classes, which are not mandatory but highly recommended.

Payment is asked for in instalments as follows, for the first two years:

£255 payable by 1st February 2025, then 23 payments of £95 per month

For year three:

Initial payment of £175 then 11 monthly payments of £95.

The cost includes lunch on the Saturday of each weekend as well as other drinks and snacks.

The tutors

Karen Patterson

Training

Karen started teaching yoga in London in 1992. She attained teaching certificates both at the Heinz Grill yoga school in 1993 and with the British Wheel of yoga in 1996.

The Establishment of Yoga in Somerset

In 1996 she moved to Somerset and established ‘Yoga in Somerset’, holding various classes in the Taunton area. In 2008 the yoga studio at Extons Barn was built, providing a beautiful and peaceful rural space where yoga classes, workshops and teacher training courses have been held ever since.

Activities

In addition to running a programme of weekly classes and regular workshops, Karen also teaches at yoga festivals, runs training days for qualified yoga teachers and assists with the teaching programme at the Sun Oasis college in Italy.

Aim

Through years of study, practice and teaching Karen has acquired a deep understanding of the yoga poses in their inner characters, their technical practice and the personal learning steps they offer us for life. Her aim is to help each person develop in their own unique way, to their fullest potential, through yoga.

Jill Canney is a practising physiotherapist who also shares a deep interest in yoga and spiritual development. In a vibrant way, she shares her fascination with anatomy and physiology on the course, brining the workings of the body to life!

Testimonials

“As ever, I marvel at how much we learnt over the three months… I have really enjoyed gaining an understanding of this approach… I have certainly experienced an increased clarity in my awareness, a deepening of my ability to focus. Most enjoyably….. I seem more able to detach from unhelpful, anxious or frustrated thinking. Thank you!! “