Our favorite location in Greece, on Crete Island will be the place to host this intensive, all inclusive month-long training. Paleochora, a beautiful Cretan peninsula is one place where we have held many trainings and we keep on returning year after year. Wild landscape, exceptional local food, pristine beaches and crystal clear waters of Lybian sea contribute to the magic of this place. Our training venue is an ecological retreat center built just a few minutes drive from the village and the beach, just as far as needed to give us the privacy and the peacefulness.Tuition fees, accommodation in double occupancy, breakfast and dinner are included in the program cost. Single occupancy may be available at an extra cost - contact us for availability and details. All traveling arrangements are arranged by the participants solely, we can assist you with directions from Chania or Heraklion airport to Paleochora. Participants should arrive by 5 pm on the first day, and departure will take place after breakfast on the last day. One day a week will be lecture free to give the students the opportunity to relax, study, and enjoy the beach.
Training is Yoga Alliance Certified at the 200-hr level.
Swaha Yoga Teacher Training is based on Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga, so that upon completion of this program the trainees can include any kind of audience and adopt the teachings according to the students' needs. Directed by Tanya Popovich ERYT-500, Yoga Acharya (Master of Yoga), this teacher training course is a combination of years of experience, expertise, and thousands of hours of training in various systems concentrated into a one-month long transformational experience. Swaha Yoga is registered with Yoga Alliance at a 200-hr and 500-hr level.
Curriculum
Training is based on tradition and classical Yoga in its core as it draws from ancient yogic texts such as the Yoga Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Tantric Yoga, and other. At the same time modern teachings are incorporated into the methodology such as the biomechanics of the body, therapeutic alignment and intelligent sequencing etc. This ancient and modern science is embodied in daily practice, on and off the mat.
The morning lesson is dedicated to your personal practice. The afternoon practice consists of your practice and learning how to teach. The daily in-depth practice includes:
Philosophy and Yogic Lifestyle
Satsang means "to be in the company of truth and wisdom". As such it can mean study, contemplation, group discussion and sharing, sound meditations and *chanting, *karma yoga, and other activities that raise our vibrations, lift our spirits and open our minds. We will study, read and contemplate on scriptures of ancient enlightened beings and modern teachers while also discussing how can we transfer their essence in our daily lives.
*Chanting is a practice of repeating a mantra out loud. It develops very clean vibration, lifts the spirits and opens the heart.
*Karma Yoga is a practice of selfless service. It is a way to reach Oneness, as the work is done as an offering without any thought for personal benefit. When needed students take part in the work for the smooth functioning of the community.
Tanya Popovich is a certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, Yoga Alliance ERYT500, and Yoga Acharya (Master of Yoga) in classical Sivananda Yoga tradition. She started her meditation practice at the age of 14 through Transcendental Meditation while at the same time working as a dancer, and from age 23 and onwards is immersed in Yogic lifestyle, study and practice of Yoga through numerable trainings and long term visits to Yoga Ashrams across India. Tanya holds a B.A. in Fine Arts and she is currently pursuing her M.A. in Indigenous Studies, and a degree in Sound Healing. For the past 14 years Tanya teaches yoga internationally including 200-hr and 500-hr Yoga Alliance certified educational programs, Unnata Aerial Yoga training programs, Vedanta Philosophy, workshops, seminars and cultural retreats. A teacher's teacher, Tanya founded Swaha Yoga Center in 2011, and Shri Gaia Institute in 2017. Swaha Yoga Center is based in the center of Athens, right underneath the ancient Acropolis, and since the summer of 2018 is under the management of Dimitris Soutsos, Tanya's trusted friend and student. Tanya's love for culture, arts and mysticism of our world continues to take her across the globe where she explores and trains in spiritual practices of various cultures of our Mother Earth, Pacha Mama, or Shri Gaia. She has been initiated into the Rights of Passage practiced by the Inka Shamans of the Andes and the Amazon and the Q'ero culture in Peru, and is currently training in Shamanic Journeying through Dance and Breath. Most recently Tanya has experienced a practice in Sama, Sufi whirling, during a course on Conscious Death, and began studying Storytelling and Myth with Dr. Martin Shaw, a mythologist, award winning author and a director of the Westcountry School of Myth in the UK. All these practices unite at Shri Gaia Institute as a homage to our planet's peoples and traditions long forgotten in the west. Tanya believes that community, connection, practice, nature, and sharing around the fire are the fastest ways to union (yoga) today.