A straight-forward approach to meeting the real needs of yoga teachers who want to level up their pronunciation, comprehension, and appreciation of Sanskrit.

Yoga Teacher Training programs don’t usually include any meaningful study of the significance of Sanskrit for teachers and students.

Academic courses offer expensive and time-consuming ways to acquire a lot of detailed knowledge that you'll never use in your classes and workshops.

This mini-course is different. In 3 hours of progressive study, we stay focused on the aspects of Sanskrit knowledge that really matter for yoga teachers:

• How to pronounce the names of yoga poses—starting with how to pronounce "asana" ("AH-suh-nuh," not "uh-SAH-nuh").

• How common Sanskrit words are constructed—and why knowing how those words are put together matters.

• How using the correct translation of a pose's Sanskrit name can change the energetics and cueing of the pose.

• What popular—and often misunderstood—Sanskrit words and phrases really mean (and how to use words that have multiple meanings in the right context).

• How using Sanskrit words and phrases can help you integrate elements of yoga philosophy into your classes.

• What popular—and often misunderstood—Sanskrit words and phrases really mean (and how to use words that have multiple meanings in the right context).

• How using Sanskrit words and phrases can help you integrate elements of yoga philosophy into your classes.

• Why using Sanskrit in your classes is cultural appreciation, not cultural appropriation.

Why should yoga teachers have a basic understanding of Sanskrit?

Sanskrit is the original language of yoga. Language and culture are deeply intertwined. Therefore, the best way to forge a solid connection to the original culture of yoga is by having a basic understanding of the language of yoga.

Sanskrit conveys deeper understandings of the poses, chants, and philosophical ideas of a complete yoga practice. When you have the ability to convey those deeper understandings, your value as an authority on the teachings of yoga increases accordingly.

It’s easier than you think. Over the course teaching dozens yoga teacher training modules, I’ve developed a system that makes learning what a teacher really needs to know about Sanskrit easy and fun.

Practical Sanskrit for Yoga Teachers covers 7 major topics:

1. An Introduction to Sanskrit: what the Sanskrit language is, where it comes from, how it connects us to the yoga tradition, and why using Sanskrit in your classes isn't cultural appropriation.
2. How to make the sounds of Sanskrit: how to recognize pronunciation cues that tell you how to pronounce each letter and how letters are combined to form the sounds of syllables.
3. How to pronounce Sanskrit words: how words are formed, how the names of yoga poses are put together, and why regional accents don't matter for proper pronunciation.
4. How to chant mantras: you'll learn a few Sanskrit mantras, their meanings, and simple techniques for leading chants in your classes.
5. How to chant sūtras: you'll learn about the literary form of sūtras and how to chant a selection of aphorisms from the Yoga-sūtras of Patañjali.
6. How to chant ślokas - poetic verses: you'll learn the cadence for chanting verses from the Bhagavad-gita and other ancient books of yoga wisdom.
7. Sanskrit and yoga philosophy: how Sanskrit words for philosophical ideas reveal deeper meanings and lead to higher levels of understanding.

This mini-course will be a focused and powerful 3 hours dedicated to gaining the level of comprehension and fluency you need to lift your teaching to the next level and provide real value to your students.

You'll come away with a higher level of confidence in your ability to pronounce Sanskrit words, chant mantras, sutras, and verses, and share a deeper understanding of yoga philosophy with your students.

The course will be recorded: replay links will be emailed to all registered participants after each class. Participants can receive 3 hours of CE credit with Yoga Alliance.

Tuition: $64