Fleur de Yoga


Level One Anusara Yoga Teacher Training

New Orleans with
Scotta Brady and Cat McCarthy. November 2009. That’s me in the Fleur De Lis Hard Tails.

Yoga is For The Dogs



Last Saturday at Yoga Birds, Yoga Day USA was to benefit The Haven, a no-kill, adoption guarantee shelter in Fairhope, AL. It was a great success. We raised over $1300 for the shelter. It was way more than I expected to raise. Goes to show I need to expand my expectations! Upon delivering the donation to the shelter, I was introduced to Reggie, a Baldwin County stray who has been at The Haven since November. My husband Burke and I signed the adoption papers today and now we have a new pet! Reggie is the perfect companion for our other Haven ‘graduate’ Bear. Everyone says how lucky the dogs are to become adopted. I feel it’s the other way around. The dogs are so ‘in the moment’, and they evoke amazing heart qualities. I may feed and house them, but these pups take care of me! They teach me the Yoga of compassion, patience, unconditional love and total devotion. What gifts!

Yoga Teacher Training in 2010

For 2011 Teacher Training schedule go to: http://www.yogabirds.com/2010/07/yoga-teacher-training-in-2011/

Yoga Birds is offering 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2010. Students who successfully fulfill the requirements of the YBTT will receive a Certificate of Completion from Yoga Birds. This training program meets RYT-200 standards and students may contact the Yoga Alliance for registry at the RYT-200 level at the completion of the program.

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Overview of Logistics, Required Texts, Pre-Requisites, and Tuition

Meeting Weekends

June 4, 5, 6
June 18, 19, 20
July 9, 10, 11
July 23, 24, 25
August 6, 7, 8
August 20, 21, 22
September 17, 18, 19
October 1, 2, 3
October 15, 16, 17
November 5, 6, 7
November 19, 20, 21
December 3, 4, 5
December 10, 11, 12 (storm date)
December 17 Graduation

Fridays 6-9pm
Saturdays 1-6pm
Sundays 10-4pm

  • Applicants to the program must have at least six months of regular (at least 2x/week) yoga practice of asana to participate.
  • Applicants must attend at least one class or workshop with Melanie prior to being accepted into the program.
  • Attendance to all Teacher Training weekends is expected. All missed sessions must be made up, at the student’s expense, through a combination of attending other RYT teacher training sessions and/or workshops (approved by Melanie), additional homework, and meeting with other YBTT participants to go over missed material.
  • Attendance to one Yoga Birds, RYT-led public class per week is required and included in the price of the program.
  • Participants must attend at least two and observe a minimum of one Foundations of Yoga Class.
  • Participants must attend at least two and observe a minimum of one Restorative Yoga Class.  Participation in as many classes and workshops as possible is recommended.
  • Participants are expected to have or begin home study practice from the start of the program.  A minimum of 3 hours asana per week and 10 minutes meditation per day is required throughout the duration (and hopefully beyond) the training. .
  • Each participant will submit a log of attendance to public classes, observation of public classes or special topics, and home practice reflecting the course requirements before completion of program.
  • Each participant must keep a notebook of required written assignments, self-inquiry journal entries, classroom exercises, and lecture notes.
  • Each participant will teach or co-teach one Yoga Birds Community Class before completion of program.
  • Every meeting weekend will include written homework assignments, quizzes on Sanskrit, readings from assigned texts, and practice teaching skills in ‘student oriented teaching’.
  • A section of the program will include an audio taping of each participant  while practice teaching. There will be an assessment of the recording with feedback from the participant and the Director of Teacher Training.
  • The texts for required reading are not included in the price of the program. All texts must be acquired before the start of the program. Please read the Introductions to all of the texts before the first Training Meeting.

Required Reading List (hover over titles for details):
The Heart of Yoga, T. K. V. Desikachar
Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga Mala, K.Pattabhi Jois
30 Essential Yoga Poses, Judith Lasater
The Yoga Tradition, Georg Feurestein
Yoga Anatomy, Leslie Kaminoff
The Breathing Book, Donna Farhi
Hatha Yoga Illustrated, Martin Kirk, Brooke Boon, Daniel DiTuro

TUITION
The tuition for the Yoga Birds Teacher Training Program is $2000.

There are a few different payment methods:

A $400 deposit is required to reserve your space. (Pay Now)

Final payment of $1600 is due on May 31, 2010. (Pay Now)

An optional payment plan is a contract in 5 payments with a monthly credit card auto-draft: $400 deposit to register and 4 subsequent payments of $425 on June 1, July 1, Aug 1, and Sept 1, respectively.  The deposit is refundable through May 31, 2010 minus a $100 administrative fee. No refunds are given after May 31, 2010 unless your space can be filled from a waiting list. (Pay Deposit Now).  After paying your $400 deposit, please use the contact form to let us know you would like to set up this option.

*Included in the Tuition:
Yoga Birds Teacher Training Manual
1 class / week at Yoga Birds for the duration of the Training Dates.

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Sacredness of Breath and Sound with Phil Jones

The didgeridoo
The didgeridoo

Visiting Australian interfaith minister and recording artist Phil Jones will present an interactive workshop teaching meditation and simple breathing techniques with the Australian didgeridoo. The didgeridoo is an ancient mesmerizing drone instrument made from a eucalyptus tree and traditionally played in ceremony and healing by the Aboriginal clans of Australia. Phil has been performing Sanskrit chants for over 40 years and will begin the evening with meditative chanting – setting up a wonderful vibrational atmosphere for the workshop, whereby the participants will be invited to tone and chant the OM mantra as he sings the chants to the accompaniment of a Shruti box (a traditional east Indian instrument). No musical experience is necessary. Phil studied seven years with an enlightened Hindu teacher (1968-1975) and parallels the didgeridoo, a non-denominational meditation accelerator, with Eastern Philosophy, New Thought, and Aboriginal Traditions. He was the lead singer and songwriter of the renowned English band Quintessence (Island Records/RCA), where he pioneered the merging of sacred Sanskrit mantras into a modern musical format during the late 1960’s and 1970’s (performing three concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and two at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London). Phil has been a frequent guest presenter at Deepak Chopra’s Center for Well-Being, has appeared on radio (NPR, Sightings, etc) and television (The Wisdom Channel, ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC, BBC), and is featured performing and teaching the Australian didgeridoo on the IMAX DVD: ‘Sydney – A Story of a City.’ Phil’s website is www.philjonesmusic.com $20 Pre Registration, $25 Day Of Register and Pay at www.yogabirds.com. Workshops are non-refundable.


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