Mindful Yoga Training 120 hr
Integrating mindfulness and compassion into yoga practice.
April 22 - Nov 20, 2022
At Hiyoga Aker Brygge in Oslo, Norway
About the program:
This 120hr Mindful Yoga training is a continuing education program on how to integrate mindfulness and compassion in yoga asana. Mindful yoga is a gentle and therapeutic style of yoga practice. In this training, we explore the intersection of Buddhist yoga and Classical yoga with science and psychology to achieve optimal well-being. The emphasis of this training is how to transform difficulty into greater awareness, ease, and balance. With the therapeutic tools of Mindfulness in yoga, we can learn to let go of distress and suffering, develop more positive attitudes, increase our resilience, and make healthy choices in life.
This training is designed as a journey of self-transformation, as well as providing tools for teachers to use in their profession. The program covers both the theory and practice of mindfulness meditation and a mindful approach to postures. Although meditation is the cornerstone of traditional yoga practice, very little is taught in modern yoga training. This program goes deeper into meditation practice, and how to bring more mindfulness into yoga asana and movement, finding meditation in motion.
The entire 120hr training runs over 6 weekends, approximately one month apart. As a part of the training, there is a residential retreat at Dharma Mountain meditation center, located in the mountains outside of Oslo. The retreat, which runs from Thursday to Sunday, is an opportunity to experience deepening in the practice.
All participants receive a Mindful Yoga Training manual, along with recorded meditations and practice material.
This program is for:
- Anyone who wishes to deepen their own practice of mindfulness and yoga with tools for transformation, healing, and self-realization.
- Those who are interested in a softer or more therapeutic approach to yoga.
- Yoga teachers who aim to use Mindfulness and Compassion in their classes or teach Mindful yoga.
- Mindfulness/ MBSR instructors or students who want to bring more understanding of yoga into their teaching or practice.
What is Mindful yoga?
Mindful yoga is a gentle practice which blends mindfulness and yoga. Also called Mindfulness yoga, it integrates the practices of mindfulness meditation together with yoga postures and movement as a holistic mind-body approach to wellness. Mindful yoga is an effective, evidence-based training to rest in the present moment, receive the benefits of a therapeutic approach to yoga practice, and develop a compassionate response to our experiences. It promotes deep relaxation and stress relief, brings clarity and insight into our present condition, and fosters beneficial attitudes such as non-judgement and self-kindness. Mindful yoga is ultimately a path of practice that leads to more inner calm and balance in life.
Mindful yoga brings together the ancient Buddhist and Classical yoga traditions with modern research in neuroscience, psychology, and physical therapy as a method for achieving greater balance and well-being. It is inspired by such pioneers as Jon Kabat Zinn, who helped popularize modern Mindfulness with the creation of MBSR, or Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.
You will learn:
- Mindfulness; its history, benefits, science, and methodology
- Mindfulness and Compassion meditations
- How to practice and teach Mindful yoga
- Breathing/pranayama techniques for the nervous system
- Buddhist psychology for working with suffering
- Tools for stress relief and stress management
- How to transform difficult emotions or negative thinking
- Self-compassion for increased happiness and connection
About the teacher:
Jonathan Weber, E-RYA 500, is a certified teacher of Mindful Hatha yoga and educated in MBSR/MBCT (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction/Cognitive Therapy). He has been practicing yoga and meditation for over 30 years and teaching in Norway for 15 years. Jonathan has been a leading teacher in the integration of mindfulness with yoga. He started teaching mindfulness and compassion meditation to yoga students in 2006, introduced Mindful yoga to Oslo in 2015, and established the first Mindful Yoga Education through Oslo Yoga studio in 2018. He has been a co-therapist and program developer with Maja Thune in the first Therapeutic Yoga Teacher training in Norway, using mindfulness and yoga as therapeutic tools in psychiatry. With a background in traditional Buddhist yoga practice, has studied with many respected Buddhist and yoga teachers, including Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, Lama Surya Das, Allan Wallace, Ani la Tsering Chodron, and Ram Dass. And over a decade of leading international retreats, trainings, workshops and classes, Jonathan has become known for his calm, open-hearted presence, and wisdom.
Format:
This is a 120-hour training over 7 weekends. Between weekends there are home practice assignments to be completed that are part of the training hours.
The training includes a long weekend residential retreat that will be held at the Dharma Mountain meditation center, a 2-hour drive outside of Oslo.
Dates and hours:
Weekend #1 April 22-24
Weekend #2 May 20-22
Weekend #3 June 17- 19
Weekend #4 Aug 26 -28
Weekend #5 Sept 23-25
Retreat Oct 27-30 (Thursday – Sunday)
Weekend #6 Nov 18-20
Hours for the weekend trainings
Fridays 16:30-19:00 (online)
Saturdays: 9:30-17:00
Sundays: 10:00-16:30
Certification:
All participants who successfully complete the entire training will be given a Mindful Yoga certificate for 120hrs. Successful completion of the training means:
- full attendance, including retreat
- the submission of all homework assignments
- completion of final presentation
Requirements:
It is recommended that you already have some basic experience with yoga or mindfulness practice to attend, though it is not required. Many take this training for their own personal development, without the objective to teach it.
You should have a basic understanding of English, as the teachings will be held in English. However, questions and dialogue in class can be in Norwegian.
Price:
Ordinary price: kr. 19.500, plus retreat cost (see below)
Early-bird price, before March 1: kr. 18.000
Deposit: 3.000 (to secure registration, not an additional cost to the training price)
Retreat price:
4.150 Lodging in single room and meals
3.430 Lodging in shared room/or loft and meals
The retreat cost is in addition to the training price. As lodging prices vary, registration is made separately through Dharma Mountain. Information on how to register for the retreat will made available after you register for the training.
Questions and inquiries:
If you have any questions about the training, feel free to contact Jonathan:
Email: jonathan.rigpa@gmail.com
Contents
Contents of the training:
The first part of the training emphasizes theory: the fundamentals of mindfulness and compassion in yoga, their therapeutic properties, applications, and how they transform suffering into wisdom or insight. The second part focuses on Practice: how mindfulness and compassion are integrated with asanas, working with postures and movement, and creating custom yoga classes or sequences. Then both theory and practice are blended into a method of practice that extends into our everyday lives.
Weekend #1: Fundamentals of Mindfulness and Compassion in yoga
In this weekend, we explore the essential principles of mindfulness and compassion that are used in Mindful yoga. We begin with an overview of Mindfulness; its definition, roots in Buddhist yoga, evolution into a modern secular movement, and how it relates to Classical yoga. We look more deeply into the fundamental practices of traditional Buddhist mindfulness, the basic principles of a modern approach to mindfulness-based therapies, and how compassion practices are at the heart of a mindful approach to yoga.
Weekend #2: Therapeutic elements of Mindful yoga
In this weekend, we explore the basic principles of how mindfulness and yoga can have healing and therapeutic effects. We look at the scientific research, the psycho-somatic connection of mind and body, and its clinical applications and therapeutic uses. We investigate the causes and symptoms of physical and psychological distress, and how to treat our bodies in a mindful and compassionate way. Learning how to approach difficulty with kindness rather than avoid it, we can develop greater resilience in our system, and understand the healing effects of connecting with the heart.
Weekend #3: Asana practice in Mindful yoga
In this weekend, we will explore the physical practice of Mindful yoga; the common postures or movements, as well as general class design and sequencing that support a mindful and compassionate approach to yoga. In this practical weekend we will examine various postures, common asanas to use, why and how. We will explore the sequencing of postures and the use of breath to create vinyasa flows, release of tension, and periods of rest. Most importantly, coming to understand the way of approaching and experiencing each posture that makes it mindful.
Weekend #4: Meditation in Motion
In this weekend, we will explore Mindful yoga as a moving meditation and learn how to bring more heartful presence into yoga asanas. Blending mindfulness and loving-kindness with movement and postures, we can experience an integrated, heart-centered yoga, with meditation at its core. Mindful yoga is not so much about what we do, as how we do it. Mindful yoga is a way to pay attention and listen deeply to all that is going on inside, with each movement, each breath, and each moment of our practice. During this weekend, we will work with exercises using the body, breath, and attention to make our entire yoga practice a meditation session.
Weekend #5: Mindful yoga, Mindful life
In this weekend, we will explore what it means to live our yoga. Bringing together all the elements of a mindful, heart-centered approach to yoga, we will expand into how this becomes a mindful way of living in everyday life. We continue to develop the practice of Mindful yoga and look at the ways we can integrate it into everyday practice, as a path of practice. We go further into yoga as a path of transformation and cultivation, and how we can make wiser choices in life.
Weekend Retreat: Insight and Awakening in yoga
In the supportive environment of this retreat, we will use all the elements of Mindful yoga we have learned to create a foundation for deeper practice . We will further explore the essence of both Buddhist yoga and Classical yoga as a meditative path which leads to insight and awakening. Through mindfulness we can investigate our mind, dis-identify with habitual thinking, and recognize the nature of our authentic self. As we learn to quiet the busy mind and open the heart, we can experience the peace and clarity of resting in our natural state.
Weekend #6: Teaching Mindful yoga
In this last weekend, we will explore Mindful yoga in a teaching context, and support each other in developing our ability to share these practices. Everyone will have the opportunity to practice teaching, with encouraging feedback. Even if your intention is not to teach in the future, this way of study and presentation gives valuable insight into the practice of Mindful yoga, and your own process with it. We conclude with a topic around learning to listen and trust your inner wisdom.