Vajra Yoga 300 Hour Teacher Training 2023-2024: Fall Immersion

Join us at Menla for the start of our Vajra Yoga Alliance Teacher Training Program, sponsored by Menla & Tibet House US and hosted by The Yoga Space.  The full course runs November 6, 2023-April 12, 2024 with 2 in-person Menla retreats and online weekly zoom sessions with Tenzin Robert Thurman and Michele Loew.

In-Person Fall Practice Immersion at Menla:  November 6-13th.  

Use this link to register for the full course and tuition for the in-person event!

Schedule for In-Person Retreat

Monday, November 6

• 3 – 6 pm Arrival & Check-in
• 6 – 7 pm Dinner
• 7:30 – 9 pm Orientation with Bob and Michele

Tuesday, November 7 – Sunday, November 12

• 7 – 8 am Yoga Practice with Michele Loew
• 8 – 9 am Breakfast
• 10 am – 12:30 pm Asana Training, Technique/ Teaching Methodology with Michele
• 12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
• 1:30 – 3 pm- Free Time for Relaxation, Self- Study, or spa healing.
• 3 – 4 pm Asana with Michele
• 4 – 6 pm  Philosophy with Bob
• 6 – 7 pm Dinner
• 7:30 – 8:30 pm Yoga Nidra with Michele or Philosophy & Meditation with Bob.

Monday, November 13

• 7 – 11 am Check-out of Rooms
• 9 – 10 am Breakfast
• 10 am – 12 pm Closing Practice with Bob & Michele
• 12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure

*Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

VAJRA YOGA EXPLORES THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND EXPERIENTIAL INTERFACE BETWEEN HATHA YOGA AND INDO-TIBETAN BUDDHIST VAJRA YOGA TRADITIONS.  IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A YOGA TEACHER TRAINING COURSE THAT IS NON-SECTARIAN AND BRINGS IN YOGA & THE MEDITATIVE SCIENCES FROM BOTH TRADITIONS, THIS IS THE COURSE.  THE JOURNEY IS DEEPLY EDUCATIONAL AND SPIRITUALLY TRANSFORMATIONAL WHILE GIVING YOU THE PRACTICAL SKILLS TO SUPPORT OTHER STUDENTS ON THEIR PATH. 

Working with Vajrayana practices and Hatha yoga, we aim to support His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s 3rd aim to bring back the Indian Inner Sciences, “Adhyatma Vidya”  and the teachings of yoga & Buddhism back to India supporting human beings’ inner awakening for happiness & freedom.   This course is a deeply contemplative & embodied investigation into the yogas of Vajrayana & Hatha Yoga practices with Michele Loew  & professor Emeritus, Padma Shri Robert “Tenzin” Thurman.  Students can take the course entirely online, but attending the in-person course immersion events is highly recommended if your intention is to teach yoga or gather assistance in your personal practice. 

This is a rare opportunity to study, in the context of a yoga training, with Professor Emeritus, Padma Shri Robert “Tenzin” Thurman—Vajracharya in the lineage of H. H. the Dalai Lama, world renowned scholar & authority on Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Science, Indic spirituality, and world philosophy. He will elucidate the Buddha’s teachings and offer inner scientific, philosophical, and spiritual inspiration for our yoga practices.

Michele Loew, in the Hatha yoga lineage of Krishnamacharya, is a student & teacher of Yoga, Buddhism & comparative Non-dual Indian inner science. She is a Kalachakra and Tibetan Trulkhor yoga practitioner, including Niguma yoga as taught by H.E. the 2^nd Kalu Rinpoche and Yuthok Nyingthik Tsalung Yoga as taught by Dr. Nida Chenagstang.  She has trained many yoga teachers in her long-established Yoga Alliance certification courses which utilize the deep investigation of yoga from a classical lineage perspective to build an intelligent foundation that can be applied to any style of yoga. The yoga practices will be built mindfully and progressively from the ground up with deep attention to physical and subtle body alignment.   We will practice and learn to teach both the Hatha and Tibetan Yogas and learn to develop intelligent Vajra Yoga Sequences grounded in a spirit of enlightenment.

WHAT TO EXPECT:

• This course includes study and contemplation of traditional texts and practices from Indian and Tibetan traditions, including but not limited to:
  • The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali and selected Pali Suttas, such as the Samaññaphala.  Dr. Thurman will teach from the excellent Yoga Sutras  translation by P.P. Gokhale supporting the connection between Buddhism and classical yoga. 
  • The Mahasatipatthana, and the Aggañña Suttas
  • The Yoga Vasishta and the Vimalakirti and Flower Ornament Sutras
  • The Bhagavad Gita and the Lalitavistara Sutra
  • Shankaracharya’s Yoga Taravali and Shantideva’s Bodhisattva’s Career
  • The Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the Mañjushri-nama-samgiti
  • The Tibetan Book of the Dead
  • Various works by Jey Tsong Khapa and the Dalai Lama on Deity Yoga and on the Inner Science of the Esoteric Community and the Kalachakra.  

COURSE FORMAT

This Teacher Training program has over 300 hrs of teachings combining two 7-day retreat intensives and 6 months of self-study, online material, complete with regular live-stream asana practices and live-stream Q+As with the teachers.

*Ongoing Weekly Zoom Philosophy sessions with on-demand replays with Robert Thurman Fridays 11am-1pm Eastern Standard time.

*Ongoing Weekly Vajra Yoga practice and meditations/ philosophy Sessions with Michele Loew Sundays 10am-1:30pm Eastern Standard Time.

FALL/WINTER SEMESTER

November 6-January 19 (break 12-23 to 1-4)

Weekend Live Streams with Robert Thurman on Fridays, and Michele Loew on Sundays accompanied by Self-Study videos & study materials.

• Lam Rim Teachings
• Hatha Yoga Asana including Standing Poses / Core / Forward Folds
• Tibetan NeJang Yoga
• Pranayama
• Meditation
• Introducing the Philosophies of Yoga
• Dualist and Non-Dualist
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
• The Book of the Dead

WINTER/SPRING

January 26-April 12, 2024

*In-Person Menla Retreat March 21-27^th, 2024

Weekend Live Streams with Robert Thurman on Friday, and Michele Loew on Sundays. Self-Study via Teachable:

• The Bhagavad Gita
• Mahayana teachings
• Compassion
• Bodhicitta
• Shantideva
• Mantras
• Basic Pranayama
• Yoga Asana
• Mirroring Subtle Body Fluency
• Back Bends
• Hip Joint / Spine Twists
• Tantric Tsalung Trulkhor Yogas

• Moving Inner Energies within the Subtle Body
• Expansion into the Perfect Stages
• Inner Fire, Tummo, Vajra Yoga sequences
• Pranayama Practices Deepened
• Yoga Asana: Inversions, Shoulders / Head / Neck
• Kalachakra Yoga & Anuttara Yoga introduced.