Teaching Sivananda Yoga
The first yoga teacher training created in 1969 by Swami Vishnudevananda, the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training is a global pillar of yogic teaching, built on an authentic and living tradition.
One of the first yoga masters to transmit this wisdom to the West, Swami Vishnudevananda laid the foundations for a training now recognized internationally, with more than 52,000 graduates and over 1,000 new teachers each year.
Our programme, the most extensive in the world, is taught by dedicated yoga teachers who perpetuate this teaching lineage.
The Sivananda yoga school preserves the classical teachings of yoga in their original and complete form.
Training participants access the profound wisdom of traditional yoga, as it has been transmitted for countless generations.
Our 200h yoga teacher training is not limited to obtaining a diploma. It is an invitation to become a source of inspiration for others, to deeply enrich your personal practice and to develop your intuition.
By following this programme, you will be encouraged to live a yogic life, integrating a vegetarian diet and regular spiritual practice.
You will integrate numerous tools allowing you to continue leading a healthier and happier life after the training.
You will join an authentic lineage and prepare yourself to teach yoga with confidence and in-depth knowledge.
Our 200h yoga teacher training offers you an internationally recognized yoga certification. The diploma attests to your knowledge and experience to teach asanas, pranayama and relaxation, and confers upon you the title of “Yoga Siromani” (yoga teacher) from the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres.
200h Yoga Teacher Training certified by Yoga Alliance
200h Yoga Teacher Training certified by Yoga Alliance
Certified by Yoga Alliance, this hatha yoga teacher training is designed as an intensive one-month immersion with a programme that combines yogic theory and practice for physical, mental and spiritual development.
Immersed in an environment dedicated to yoga practice, and in direct contact with experienced teachers, you will be able to directly experience the theoretical teaching through regular practice.
You will explore and practice the four paths of yoga: Karma, Bhakti, Raja, and Jnana Yoga. The training includes the study of asanas, pranayama, meditation, and yoga philosophy, while progressively developing your teaching skills.
Each day is structured around morning meditations, asana classes, lectures, and organic vegetarian meals. There is one day of rest per week.
At certain times of the year, students from different trainings can attend concerts, lectures and exchanges offered by musicians, dancers, Ayurvedic doctors and other specialists. The ashram regularly welcomes speakers to enrich the learning experience and bring new perspectives.
Our rich and varied programme is designed to offer you a deep and integral understanding of yoga.
Through practical learning and personalized guidance, deepen your practice and acquire the skills necessary to teach yoga.
Each day, you will study and participate in practical learning, guided by experienced teachers on how to teach asanas and pranayama.
The in-depth daily practice with individual corrections includes:
Pranayama, the science of breath control, consists of a series of exercises specially designed to keep the body and mind healthy.
In this study, you will learn in detail the proper technique, its many benefits, and advanced variations:
Responsible for building our physical body, the foods we consume also profoundly affect our mind, senses and environment.
Course topics and details include:
Meditation is both the primary tool and ultimate destination of yoga.
This course focuses on japa meditation, or mantra repetition, as well as the power of positive thinking.
Yogic purification exercises, known as “kriyas”, help nature eliminate waste from our body.
This is important because the yogi considers their body as a vehicle to evolve towards higher consciousness.
Learn and practice, under guidance, the kriya yoga exercises.
Since yoga is primarily a system of self-experience, the goal of this study is to improve the physical understanding of your own yoga practice and apply it in your teaching practice as well.
In this section, you will explore the philosophy and purpose of yoga.
Dive into the deeper dimensions of mind, body and spirit through the study of yogic philosophy and classical yoga texts.
Kirtan is the chanting of mantras, with devotion, love and faith.
Learn how it helps calm the mind, purify the heart, and turn towards universal consciousness.
The teachers of this training are yogis who have fully dedicated their lives to sadhana (spiritual practice) and live full-time at the ashram.
Through their commitment to a yogic lifestyle, the trainers have rich personal experience and vast knowledge that does not only rest on knowledge received in training, but on their own experience.
They teach, study and practice hatha yoga throughout the year. The teachers of this training have between 8 and 40 years of teaching experience and continuous yoga practice.
Swami Kailasananda
Director | Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy
Yoga Acharya and director of the Sivananda Centres in France and England, Swami Kailasananda is a long-time disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda. Trained in Sanskrit at the Sorbonne, she has been teaching in teacher training courses and Sadhana Intensives around the world for 35 years. Author of “The Yoga of Meditation”, she transmits traditional teachings with clarity, enthusiasm and particular attention for each of her students.
Swami Bhagavatananda
Co-director | Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy
Long-time disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and co-director of the ashram, Swami Bhagavatananda has been teaching in teacher training courses in France, India and Eastern Europe for 25 years. Specialist in vegetarianism and Ayurvedic nutrition, she accompanies her students with kindness, always listening and offering good advice.
Gopala
Bhagavad Gita and Sacred Texts
Gopala has been teaching in Sivananda Centres since 1986 and in teacher training courses for over 20 years. After directing the centres in Paris, Montreal, Los Angeles, Delhi and Geneva, he puts his profound knowledge of sacred texts at the service of students. He teaches the Bhagavad Gita by simplifying concepts with concrete examples and a good dose of humour.
Saraswati Chaitanya
Asanas, Anatomy and Pedagogy
Experienced yoga teacher, Saraswati teaches with rigour and precision. Specialist in anatomy which she regularly teaches at the Sivananda Centre in Paris, she excels in the art of training future teachers: how to teach a class, correct alignments, observe errors in asanas and explain the benefits of postures and pranayama with clarity. She egularly teaches anatomy in the training courses.
Rukmini Chaitanya
Chanting, Kirtan and Music
Passionate musician, Rukmini has been practicing Carnatic singing (South Indian musical style) for several years and plays the harmonium. She transmits her enthusiasm for kirtan chanting and teaches chanting classes with contagious energy, contributing to creating the vibrant atmosphere of the ashram.
Ganapati Chaitanya
Asanas and Pranayama
After serving at the Sivananda Centres in Paris and London, Ganapati joined the teaching team at the Orléans ashram. Devoted and disciplined practitioner, he teaches asanas and pranayama with humility and generosity. His approach emphasizes deep understanding of postures rather than performance: everyone progresses at their own pace, without pressure, respecting their current limits.
Narayana Chaitanya
Asanas, Anatomy and Bhagavad Gita
Experienced yoga teacher, Narayana contributes to the training through his love of all aspects of yoga. Very precise in alignments and the breakdown of postures, he teaches with high standards and rigour. His comprehensive knowledge of yoga allows him to teach anatomy as well as asanas or the Bhagavad Gita, always with a balanced and positive nature.
All trainings are taught in French. Only the July training is taught in French and English.
In addition to the manual and two yoga outfits provided, you must bring for the training:
All these items are also available at the Ashram shop.
For your comfort, also bring with you:
The intensity of the training requires a high level of discipline and commitment.
However, prior mastery of yoga practices is not an essential condition. Yoga focuses on inner development. Prior practice of asanas and meditation is however preferable.
To better prepare for the intensive training programme, it is recommended to have stayed at least once at the ashram, or to have taken Sivananda centre classes in person or online.
Recommended prior reading:
Imagine following this transformative training in the birthplace of yoga, in the heart of the Indian Himalayas.
Since 2006, the European Sivananda Centres have been organizing yoga trainings in Rudraprayag, offering the unique opportunity to study yoga in its original context.
Practicing on the banks of the Ganges, meditating facing the sacred peaks, and totally immersing yourself in the energy that gave birth to these teachings – it is an experience that profoundly transforms your learning and your life.
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