LIVE Online
Decolonizing Yoga: Tracing the History of the Practice Teacher Training
Join Firdose Moonda, E-RYT 500 for this 12 hour, live online training to discuss the understanding of yoga's intersection with art forms including poetry, painting and music.
Decolonizing Yoga: Tracing the History of the Practice Teacher Training | Online
$150.00
Training Description
The desire to “decolonize” yoga comes from a well-intentioned place where people seek to close the gap between the ancient origins of the practice and its contemporary applications, but what does it actually entail? Too often, we confuse decolonize to a return to the pre-colonial but, in the wisdom of the words of Frantz Fanon: “Decolonization is the veritable creation of new men. But this creation owes nothing of its legitimacy to any supernatural power; the “thing” which has been colonized becomes man during the same process by which it frees itself.”
In other words, decolonization can be thought of as a process of remembering, releasing and recreating. This training aims to provide creative and practical steps to engage in the process of decolonizing yoga. It recognizes the plurality of influences on yoga and traces the practice’s links with various cultural phenomena and sensory experiences. Our content is both broad and deep as it explore our understanding of yoga – and ultimately of ourselves – through artistic, auditory and unusual lenses.
Over six sessions, we will look at the intersection of yoga with a variety of art forms, from old-fashioned storytelling to new-fangled social media.
You will take away:
- A rich and varied understanding of the ways in which yoga has interacted with society both historically and in the modern-day.
- New and interesting ways to incorporate yogic ideas in day to day to life.
- The ability to think critically and analytically about source materials and philosophy.
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Training Details
This LIVE online 12-hour training will discuss the diversity of yoga through a cultural lens, to examine its multiple histories and applications and provide a nuanced and rich picture of the ways in which yoga developed.
Course Overview
Session 1: Yoga & the Epics
While the Bhagavad Gita is one of the most cited texts in yoga, the epic in which it is contained, the Mahabharata, is often a footnote. We will discuss the broader context of the Gita and also look at the Ramayana and particularly the strong female characteristications contained therein as we examine early yoga philosophy.
Session 2: Yoga & Sound
Vedic chants, Sufi dhikr, and Indian classical music all have a specific place and role in yoga which will discover in this session. It will also include a listening practice.
Session 3: Yoga & Poetry
The poet sants of the 13th - 17th centuries such as Kabir, Mirabai and Tulsidas, based their work in bhakti and spoke beyond caste and religion. We will consider the revolutionary ideas behind their work and consider how we engage with similar concepts today.
Session 4: Yoga & Visual Arts
From the first drawings of yoga poses to Mughal miniatures to the gorgeous depictions in the 18th century Joga Pradipika, we'll look at visual representations of yoga over time.
Session 5: Yoga & Fashion
We know that leggings and crop tops were not the attire of ancient yogis but what did they wear and why. We’ll address that and consider how yoga has influenced the ways we dress today.
Session 6: Yoga & Contemporary Representations
Yoga has become part of mainstream culture and references to it appear in many places. But what do we actually see and recognize as yoga? From Instagram to Orientalising, we’ll unpack our modern engagement with the practice today.
This training has six, 2hr live sessions running every week. Each session will begin with about an hour of lecture, followed by an interactive discussion to prompt deeper inquiry.
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 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.
For teachers dedicated to a higher standard of learning looking to deepen their knowledge.
This is a course for yoga practitioners and teachers alike and aims to add depth to their knowledge both historical and contemporary yoga. For practitioners, this course will provide insight into the history, culture and social context of the practice they engage in. For teachers, the material may be particularly helpful when referencing yoga history and philosophy classes and will offer ways to make sessions more inclusive, accessible and relevant to a modern audience.
Lindsay Roselle
500-Hour Yoga Medicine Teacher
“I'm continually impressed with the quality of Yoga Medicine programming, the dedication to real, usable education, and the hearts of the group of people that show up to each training. Each YM training has served me perfectly at that moment in my life, and I just want to express my gratitude again to you Tiffany and your team for your tireless commitment to creating exceptional experiences.”
Sophie Tashkovski
500-Hour Yoga Medicine Teacher
“There is no doubt that I have become a better teacher with each training I attend. YM trainings have fine tuned my understanding of anatomy, and helped me better understand how to help individual clients feel best in their bodies. I’ve also learned about my own body and how to treat it with kindness. YM trainings have changed my Yoga perspective-when I started as a Yoga student, I thought you had to push yourself at all costs to achieve a pose. Now I accept where I am on any given day and know that it might be different the next day.”
Meet your teacher...
Firdose Moonda
E-RYT 500
Firdose is a South African of Indian descent, a yoga teacher, practitioner and researcher passionate about issues of decolonisation and social justice. She is currently undertaking doctoral work titled Yoga, Politics and Possibilities for Social Justice at the University of Cape Town. She holds a Masters degree on the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and she is a registered E-RYT 500 teacher with Yoga Alliance. She also works as the Southern African correspondent for ESPN, where she reports on cricket in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and beyond, and she is the women’s editor-at-large at On the Whistle, an African football podcast.
Her teaching style is steeped in historical knowledge, cultural experience, socio political curiosity and practical application. In her classes you can expect historical and philosophical discourse zoning in on particular periods in yoga’s storied development, anatomically intelligent postural practice which is also reflective of asana as it evolved over time and culturally relevant information on practices from the subcontinent which have evolved through a Western lens. She draws on a wide variety of sources including academic wisdom, teaching experience, and her own lived experience as a person of mixed heritage. She is both an African and an Indian and recognizes the shared suffering through colonization. Her work is centered on amplifying both Africa and India’s attempts to seek liberation – of their resources, their cultures and their bodies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be enrolled in the Yoga Medicine 500-Hour Program to attend this Yoga Teacher Training?
No!
This yoga teacher training is designed for yoga teachers, physicians, healthcare providers and those who are interested in learning more about this invaluable curriculum. If you have a consistent yoga practice and a desire to learn more, then we would love to have you join!
If you are new to Yoga Medicine and would like to join the 500-hour program, then please complete the online application. Upon successful completion of this online training, the 12 hours would automatically be applied towards your 500-hour. Details on the 500-hour program can be found here.
How do I prepare for and access the online training?
When you register for this training, you will also receive complimentary access to the following online courses: Conducting a Therapeutic Evaluation and Recognizing Red Flags in a Therapeutic Yoga Setting – reviewing these courses will also help you prepare for this training.
After registering for this training, you will receive a confirmation email with more details on general information, training materials needed, and instructions on how to access your online training.
Do you offer refunds?
Immediately after your payment is processed, you will receive access to this live online training portal and materials. For this reason, refund requests are only accepted before November 5th (when this training goes live).
We appreciate your understanding.
Got additional questions? Contact us here.
Our Promise
We believe bridging the gap between yoga and medical systems is a crucial therapeutic adjunct to modern healthcare. That’s why all of our offerings strive to reach the same goal: to empower teachers and students through deeper yoga education.
We train our teachers to understand the body and the full spectrum of therapeutic yoga modalities so they can build a personalized practice to suit the individual across any yoga style, state of wellness, level, body shape, gender, anatomical differences, age, or capacity. With our credentials, students and healthcare facilities can trust that their yoga teacher is trained with a depth of knowledge in the fusion of research, science & traditional practices as well as a range of applied and highly specialized therapeutic experience!
Apply This Training Towards a 500-Hour Certification
If you are enrolled in Yoga Medicine’s 500-hour or 1000-hour program, then this training counts as 12 ‘in-person/contact’ hours towards your certification, as well as continuing education hours with Yoga Alliance!
If you are a yoga teacher interested in pursuing continued education with Yoga Medicine, then you have the option to apply to our 500-hour program (in which case, these teacher training hours will automatically apply towards your 500-hour certification process).
To learn more about our 500-hour certification program, click here.
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