Head Instructor: Russ Hazard

What makes this teacher training course different? Everything. Come join us for a multidisciplinary adventure in consciousness studies. Explore physical yoga, dream yoga, shamanic reality, vedantic philosophy, karma yoga and bhakti yoga from the perspectives of some of the great teachers and traditions. Train your body and train your mind in a course that explores the true meaning of the ancient teachings while connecting them to the most current theories in cognitive psychology and physics.

We all want to grow and learn, but taking time out of our hectic lives is so difficult. We all want to set and achieve reasonable goals for physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, but staying on a program seems equally difficult. We all want to reach our full potential, but finding our way to "the core" alone is a confusing process slowed by our daily responsibilities and distractions.

How would you like to make a commitment to taking three months of your life, and devoting it to true personal growth?  The Tanglefoot Personal Development and Teacher Training Course is designed to create a framework for an amazing journey.

Whether you are interested in teaching yoga classes or not is unimportant.

We are all teachers and we are all students. Life is the venue. The underlying principle of this course is to make powerful practitioners who are able to share the incredible depth of the true yogic teachings directly from their own experiences. It is designed to stimulate an intense individual transformation and purification. This is the true process of yoga and we are only able to teach what we have actually experienced. For those who are interested in formal teaching, the curriculum is more than sufficient for international standards.

Students on this course will develop a broad understanding of yoga from a variety of perspectives. We will examine the core teachings of several of the most influential gurus, address modern fusion forms, as well as related teachings from around the world. Physical yoga, experiential yogic philosophy, basic ayurvedic concepts, anatomy, physiology, teaching theory and practice will all be addressed from a number of angles, giving participants a depth of knowledge that few people ever achieve.

This year the course format has been modified to better suit the needs our students. While the bulk of our students come from Toronto and Ottawa, we are welcoming people regularly from Montreal, Vancouver, across the United States and Europe. For this reason, there will be two versions of the course.

The first version is still weekend based for the convenience of those who need to maintain their day jobs while studying. However, it has been intensified to be 12 consecutive weekends in to allow for more rigorous training of the body and the mind.

The second version will be exactly the same course but running for 30 days straight instead of being broken up into weekends. This format will be especially useful for teachers, students, and those of you who live in other areas of Canada or internationally.

In both course formats, self-directed readings and assignments are designed to help integrate the teachings into the prospective teacher's day to day life. We believe that these intensive formats are the optimal way to study yoga, as you are freed from the regular distractions of your life that pull you out of the yogic state.

Because the emphasis is on the internal practice of yoga, you do not have to be an "advanced" physical yogi to take this course. The dedicated training you will undego is respectful to your individual needs while still motivating you to really achieve your physical goals. The training will progressively take your physical conditioning to an appropriate level for you, whether that is truly athletic or just much healthier than you are now. Of course physical training is just a small part of this course. It is what happens inside that counts!

Part of the design of the course is to foster a community of teachers built through discussion, interaction and enjoyment. Unlike most teacher training programs, an extremely small group guarantees lots of individual attention and the opportunity to regularly perform practice teaching (5-7 training classes each!). Training takes place within the warm and comfortable environment of Tanglefoot Lodge and is supported by excellent food and wonderful people.

As anyone who has been to Tanglefoot knows, our courses are unique. The emphasis here is on actually experiencing the internal practice of consciousness transformation (Yoga).

This is a truly intensive program designed to change your life. Take three months of your life to make the changes you have been waiting for. Our exploration of the mind and body will leave no stone unturned! The true path of yoga peels away our conditioning and socialization. Make the commitment to deepening your understanding of what you believe and why, then learn to transcend the mind altogether and experience the profound depths of the moment.

Only then are you free.

We hope to share this time with you!

Tentative Schedule

*Please note that the schedule for the 30 day intensive will follow roughly the same pattern*

Weekend #1 – The big picture/ The nature of the universe.

Opening. Macro level yogic philosophy. The disease of intellectualization. Vedantic concepts. Reality creation 101. Raja, Karma, Bhakti, and Jnana Yoga. The yamas, niyamas and how to practice them experientially. The three gunas. Physical yoga practice with emphasis on core routine. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films 

Weekend #2 – The individual and yoga.

Micro level yogic philosophy. Yoga as physical and emotional detoxification. Yogic anatomy. The yogic bodies, nadis, chakras,and samskaras. Vipassana meditation - what it is and why you want to do it. Intro to Ayurveda. The three doshas and dosha typing. Food and consciousness. Physical yoga building on core routine. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #3 – Yoga is relaxation.

The practice of relaxing into all incoming realities. Dying well. The physical body (anatomy and physiology). Tension in the mind, tension in the body. Deconditioning/relaxation training. Why have a physical practice? Helping others to relax. Basic Thai yoga massage training. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films 

Weekend #4 – The Yogic Warrior/ The Shamanic Yogi

The yoga of action. Karma made simple and real. Intro to Bagavad Gita. Acting rightly without attachment to the fruits of ones actions. Using and discarding identities. The warrior monk identity as a stepping stone to cosmic consciousness.  Destroying yourself/you are the teachings.  Balancing the hard (detachment) and the soft (compassion). The universalizaion of sorrow. The danger of comfort. Maintaining awareness at all times. Equanimity in the dream realms. Lucid dreaming. Waking dreaming/shamanic/non-ordinary reality. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #5 – Intro to teaching.

Being a student, being a teacher. Becoming the teachings/practice what you teach. Minimizing your ego. Self care. Physical training concepts. Contraindications. Class design. Asana corrections. Modifications. The physical body continued (anatomy and physiology). Dealing with unstable personalities. Teaching liability/insurance issues. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films 

Weekend #6 – The Sivananda perspective.

An intensive dealing with physical and philosophical perspectives of Swami Sivananda.  Asanas, pranayama, meditation, philosophy.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #7 – The Ashtanga perspective.

An intensive dealing with physical and philosophical perspectives of Sri Pattabhi Jois.

Asanas, pranayama, meditation, philosophy.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #8 – Teaching/practice intensive plus karma yoga/ world issues workshop.

Student taught classes.  The yogi as a radical. Issues of concern for Karma Yoga such as poverty, education, peace, and environmental sustainability. Acting locally, acting distally. Being conscious and working for change without being tense. The community of teachers/working together. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend # 9 – Teaching/practice intensive plus spiritual relationships workshops.

Student taught physical classes. Spiritual relationships workshop. What we are mistakenly looking for in our external relationships (total dissolution of self). Where you will really find "it" (your relationship with the universe- seriously!).  How this truth impacts your relationships. Your relationship with everybody and everything. 

The true philosophy of tantra – Making love to everything/dissolving into your environment. Relating with the universe as parent, child, lover and friend. Seeing loved ones as "faces of the infinite". Uncovering your selfishness in relationships. Committing to the highest good in others instead of being selfish. Teacher/student ethics.

Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #10 – Teaching/practice intensive plus special populations workshops.

Student teacher practice. Teaching children, the elderly. Pregnancy and yoga. Asanas, pranayama, meditation.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #11 – The Iyengar perspective.

An intensive dealing with physical and philosophical perspectives of B.K.S. Iyengar.

Asanas, pranayama, meditation, philosophy.

Reading assignment

Practice assignment

Suggested films

Weekend #12 – Teaching/practice intensive.

Asanas, pranayama, meditation. Final questions and answers. Written test. Closing ceremony.

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We have held the course tuition to the same level as last year. The course tuition includes either 12 all-inclusive weekend retreats ( 12 x $250 each + GST) or the 30 day intensive with training, cozy accommodations (double occupancy rooms), all meals, use of facilities and certificate!

There are a number of camping spots available at reduced rate.

There is a $500 deposit required to secure a space on the course (to be applied to tuition at course start). The balance is due on the first day of the course.

Tuition is transferable, but not refundable.

If you have true financial hardship, please let us know and we will endeavor to find you assistance.

For students coming from other regions and nations, special accommodation can be arranged for you at the lodge during the period of the course.

The 12 week course will start on the weekend of April 3, 2009 and finish on the weekend of June 19, 2009.

The 30 day intensive will begin on July 1, 2009 and run to July 30, 2009