Yoga & Politics – Holding the Essence of Yoga Teacher Training | Online

Welcome to your Yoga & Politics – Holding the Essence of Yoga Teacher Training! We created this live online yoga teacher training to better support you in an interactive format with discussions along the way. You can either attend the weekly sessions live or watch the recordings to stay on top of the information as it progresses – you will have unlimited access to the live session recordings and resources.

This training has six, 2hr live sessions running every other week. Each session will begin with about an hour of lecture, followed by an interactive discussion to prompt deeper inquiry.

Please note that there are no actual “lessons/topics” built into the course. The videos are all on the home portal – so because there aren’t any lessons/topics to mark as complete, the course will continue to say 0% complete until you complete the exam. Once you pass the exam it will say 100% complete.

This yoga teacher training will count as 12 ‘in-person/contact’ hours towards your 500-hour/1000-hour Yoga Medicine certification. Directly following the last live session of the yoga teacher training you will be invited to take an optional online exam – you must pass the exam within 45 days to receive your certificate of completion and training hours. These online hours will also be recognized as 12 continuing education hours (CEUs) by Yoga Alliance.

LIVE Sessions Recordings:

• Tuesday, February 13th: Session 1: Systems of Separation
  • Click here to access the Live Session 1 recording
  • Passcode: 60Q9+Wg$
• Tuesday, February 27th: Session 2: The Intersection of Yoga and Religion
  • Click here to access the Live Session 2 recording
  • Passcode: #yP1XVBp
• Tuesday, March 12th: Session 3: Colonization and Yoga
  • Click here to access the Live Session 3 recording
  • Passcode: H=8bL&+3
• Tuesday, March 26th: Session 4: Yoga Moves West
  • Click here to access the Live Session 4 recording
  • Passcode: 7Kavm^Y$
• Tuesday, April 9th: Session 5: Cultural Appropriation and Appreciation and Hindu Nationalism
  • Click here to access the Live Session 5 recording
  • Passcode: Db=y#pe7
• Tuesday, April 23rd: Session 6: What Does Yoga’s Political Future Look Like
  • Click here to access the Live Session 6 recording
  • Passcode: 055$KTm+

Yoga & Politics Final Exam – Submissions Due by June 21st

The Yoga & Politics Training was meant to discuss the knowledge of yoga history and politics and question source materials, values and beliefs. So due to the nature of this training’s structure, there are no right or wrong answers to a lot of the discussions we have had throughout this training. Therefore, the format of this final exam is an open-ended written assessment where you will answer 1 of 3 essay questions (whichever one speaks to you the most) so we can see that you can explain, through a process of critical thinking, how you are forming your answer and why you are making your decision. In 700-1000 words (meaning one-worded/sentence answers will not be accepted), you will submit your answers via the associated discussion board to your question (see below) no later than June 21st. Then your lead teacher, Firdose Moonda, will read and comment on your submissions to acknowledge your engagement with the material. Upon approval of your submission, you will have successfully passed and will receive your certificate and 12hrs of completion for the Yoga & Politics – Holding the Essence of Yoga Teacher Training.

• Essay Question #1: An interested student asks you to explain yoga’s “origins,” in terms of geography, language and religion. How would you go about doing this?
• Essay Question #2: What do you understand about the history of the yoga asana we do now – essentially “western yoga” – how old it is, where it comes from and who created it?
• Essay Question #3: How would you respond to questions of cultural appropriation in yoga? What do you consider appropriate or inappropriate in a class setting and how would you explain practicing a culture outside of your own to others?

Links & Chat Boards:

Yoga & Politics Resources Doc

Questions

If you have any content questions, email them to Katie at info@yogamedicine.com.