Santiniketan
Biennial School for Yoga Teachers
Inspired by the innovative spirit of Rabindranath Tagore’s pedagogy, SIYA aims to train Yoga teachers through a broad and in-depth training, designed to combine ancient sources with modern medical-scientific aspects, the classic forms of Indian performing arts with more recent experiences of psycho-corporeal research in order to provide future teachers with the theoretical knowledge and practical tools essential for teaching the discipline.
Rooted in the ancient and fertile soil of Raja Yoga, SIYA intends to offer a complete vision of Yoga, its infinite transformations and multiple contemporary adaptations, in the best tradition of the School of Masters, a true abode of knowledge and peace, a Santiniketan.
School directed by Lorena Valentina Pajalunga
International recognized training:
500 hours in person / online
How Santiniketan takes place
The Santiniketan® training school lasts two years, during which it is possible to choose to attend most of the lessons in the dual mode face-to-face / online.
The course includes 10 annual weekends from September to June, for each year; lessons take place between 10.00 and 18.00, both on Saturdays and Sundays. At the end of the two-year period, the date for the final exam will be set, which includes both a written part and an oral part and the management of a practice; upon passing the exam, the final diploma, recognized as Yoga Alliance 500 hours, will be awarded.
N.B. Presence is essential for Asana practice modules.
Terms of payment
Enrollment in the Santiniketan® training school requires a commitment to attend both years of the course.
Payment can be made in installments and discounts are available for students residing outside the Region of Lombardy (by virtue of the planned transfers).
More details in the attached brochure.
Subjects
Indology | Nama and Niyama | Pranayama
with Alessandra De Salvo
Indology
- Rudiments of the Sanskrit lexicon: spelling and pronunciation, phonetic transcription of the lexicon of yoga
- Cultural Context of Yoga: Ancient India, Veda, Upanishad, Darshana, Hinduism and Buddhism, Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Tantrism
- The texts of hatha-yoga (Gheranda-Samhita, Shiva-samhita, Hathayoga-pradipika)
- Yoga in the modern era: the great contemporary masters and today’s schools (8 hours)
Nama and Niyama
- Comparison of definitions taking into consideration the main ones
- Texts and comments on Patanjali’s “Yoga Sutras”: S.Satyananda, J.K.Taimni,
- T.K.V.Desikachar, Vimala Takar, B.K.S.Iyengar, Paramhansa Yogananda, Dr Mukund.V. Bhole, Raphael, Stephen Cope, Scarabelli and Massimo Vinti, Federico Squarcini, Moiz Palaci Renata Angelini
- Yama and Niyama as a message of wisdom and guide to our practice of Yoga and in our daily life
- Experiential practices for each Yama and Nyama
Pranayama
- The respiratory system: anatomy and subtle physiology of respiration
- The experience of respiratory movements: Horizontal planes, Vertical planes
- Puraka – Rechaka – Kumbhaka
- Universal Prana-Individual Prana
- Pancha Prana: Prana, Apana, Vyana, Samana, Udana
- The Pranayamas: theory and techniques of execution
Anatomy and Phisiology
with Chiara Cornacchia
- Introduction to the anatomy of the skeletal system, the muscular system and the positioning of the viscera.
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the spine
- Anatomy and biomechanics of respiration
- Upper limbs: shoulder girdle and upper triangle bone
- Anatomy and biomechanics of the pelvis and pelvic floor
- Lower limbs: the mobility of the hip, knee and feet
- Physiology of the cardio-respiratory system
- The reversed positions
- Physiology of Pranayama
- Anatomy and physiology of the nervous system (CNS, PNS, ANS)
- Proprioception, muscle reflex, relaxation and meditation physiology
- Anatomy and biomechanics of forward, backward bending, twisting with reference to the myofascial meridians
- Posture and balance
Teaching of Yoga | Asana | Yoga Nidra
with Lorena V. Pajalunga
Asana
- The meeting with the other: the creation of the group
- Didactics: how to build a balanced or objective sequence, theory and practice.
- Yoga in pairs: yoga in pairs and assisted yoga
- Theory and practice of yoga nidra according to the method of Swami Satyananda Saraswati
- The modern traditions of yoga (with the collaboration of external experts)
Yoga Nidra
- Theory and practice of the yoga nidra technique according to Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s method
Asana
with Federica Palatella
The large groups of asanas:
- Alignments
- Side extensions
- Bending or forward flexions
- Backward extensions
- Twists
- Inversions
- Balances
For each group the physical, energetic and symbolic effect of the practice will be analyzed in detail, going into the specific study of the main asanas of each category, learning the methods for entering and exiting the position correctly and the possible variants, experimenting and analyzing benefits and peculiar contraindications.
We will experiment sequences with specific physical or energetic objectives. for each group of asanas, and ample space will be left for teaching so that each student can try their hand at building and conducting the objective sequence.
Psychology and Buddhism
with Vincenzo Tallarico
Western psychology and Buddhist psychology: a possible integration?
Contribute to a productive encounter between the two systems of thought. IN this perspective, we wish to explore the theoretical, but above all practical, modalities so that this encounter is made as effective and productive as possible to meet the needs of individuals’ inner and spiritual growth by developing awareness as a method, wisdom as essence and compassion as expression. Our approach is to be open and non-sectarian in an attempt not to waste any opportunity that may prove useful. Personal psychological development is considered indispensable both to allow for spiritual growth and for a transformation of suffering.Meditation
with Carlo Chiopris
Yoga sutras, savitri, mahasatipatthanasutta – the great ancient and modern schools of meditation
Practical experiences to understand in a direct and in-depth way the great teachings of the different traditions
Pedagogy of the body
with Ivano Gamelli
In the training of teachers and educators, it seems difficult to put on topic today what paradoxically would seem closer and simpler: the awareness of the body, with its messages that accompany our experiences, with the small and slow changes with respect to which we show little attention if not even insensitivity and disaffection. Listening to the body requires slowness and deepness, for this reason an awareness that starts from the body and returns to the body can give to our thinking, more and more overwhelmed by the speed and superficiality implicit in our modern lifestyle, a depth of vision and of understanding otherwise destined for oblivion.
The proposal for the body pedagogy module consists of an experience. Students will be invited to get involved concretely in games, to experiment with some of the fundamental aspects that characterize the discipline, to reflect on the methodological and didactic aspects underlying a perspective that makes the body and its languages the hub of their educational action, to understand how it is possible to integrate the body and speech in a fluid way without having to give up one or the other and going beyond any hierarchy in which, in most of the educational proposals, today they are confined.
Indian classical Dance | Carnatic Voice and Chant
with Lucrezia Maniscotti
Indian classical Dance
- Indian classical dance: yoga in motion. History and bases of the discipline (postures, rhythms, coordination)
- The myths of India, from the body to the danced representation
- The mudras: the language of gestures from symbol to myth.
Carnatic Voice and Chant
- Emission, articulation and interpretation
- Carnatic chant and the sound of emotions
Nada Yoga and Kirtan
with Maurizio Murdoca
- The Mantra: its meaning and its benefits
- The primordial sound, the origin of all Mantras, singing technique
- Study of the main Mantras of Yoga and analysis of the symbologies of the Deities invoked by the Mantras
- The Power of the word and deepening of the study of the Mantras of the Yoga tradition
- Bhakti Yoga through the practice of Kirtan and approach to the Japa Mantra
- The devotional chants
- Knowledge of the main musical instruments to accompany the Kirtans
- Mantra of the Buddhist tradition and Bija Mantra
- Kriyas and Mantras in Kundalini Yoga
Bikram, Yin and Flow Yoga. The modern variations of the practice
with Adrienne Jakab
Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 asanas (postures) and 2 breathing exercises that are practiced in 90 minutes at 40 degrees. The series takes place in a room with a high temperature in order to heat the whole body and allows you to work in depth muscles, joints, tendons and ligaments, changing the body from the inside out. Bikram Yoga is a process that can reduce the symptoms of many chronic diseases and is an excellent prevention activity for parts of the body that are healthy. The class was designed as a multi-level practice. Over time you will learn to focus your mind, to control your breath, bringing awareness to the relationship between mind and body, gaining more and more strength and flexibility and feeling calm and rested.
It is in the relationship between body and mind that the true meaning of Yoga lies: the union of body, mind and spirit.
Yin yoga: a caress of the spirit with Hatha yoga asanas
By holding each asana for a few minutes and following deep and conscious breathing, the muscles slowly begin to relax, allowing the connective tissues that surround the muscles and shape the joints (fascia, ligaments, tendons and bones) to feed, fortify and stretch therapeutically, thus increasing the flexibility of the whole body. This type of yoga combines asanas and Chinese medicine by working through the meridians and the 5 elements.
Flow Yoga
Yoga called Vinyasa Flow is a creative form of Hatha yoga. Vinyasa is the term to describe the concept of “breath coordinated with movement”, while the term Flow means “flow, slosh, slide” and the characteristic of this form of Yoga is the “Flowing” slowly, with sweetness and elegance of movement in the passage from one asana to another, all very similar to a dance or sometimes to the movements of Tai Chi. The striking aspect of Vinyasa Flow is its multiple variety. This is a style that does not follow a single philosophy, rule, or sequence, but there are several and countless choreographic possibilities that a teacher can invent by adapting them to the level, anatomy and characteristics of their class.
Panchakosha | Pranayama | Sukshma Vyayama Yoga
with Beatrice Iulini
Exploration and experience of the basic principles of the Vedic science of Pranayamas – the third of the Angas of Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga.
Panchakosha
Introduction to the 5 levels of existence: moving from the superficial level of the physical body to the depths of the self – Bhayranga and Antaranga Sadhana.
Pranamaya Kosha, the pranic body
- Understanding Prana, the life force.
- The yogic energy system.
- Panch Prana Vayu: movement, direction and function of the 5 pranas.
- Sub-prana and their functions.
- Maintenance and dispersion of prana.
Pranayama – The Vedic science of breath.
- Breath and Health (physical, mental, emotional).
- Aims and benefits of the practice of pranayamas.
- Pranayama – Kriya – Bhanda: practice of the basic techniques and use in the sequences.
- Pranayama and meditation.
Sukshma Vyayama Yoga – Subtle Yoga
- Tradition and purpose of the practice.
- Elements of practice and sequences.
Asana and subtle Phisiology
with Renjith Babu
Introduction and practice session of asanas to connect with the subtle body and experience the body’s reaction to activation and the main chakras.
Nada Yoga
with VT Ramprasadh
- Distinction of the different forms of traditional yoga
- What is Nada Yoga
- Distinction of the concepts of Pranava, Shruti, Svara and Laya and the four levels of “Sound”
- The relationship between universal cosmic energy and the energy of the microcosm in the individual
- Nada yoga in the Vedas
- How Sound affects the physical body and the subtle body
- Music therapy in modern science
Comunicating Yoga
with Chiara De Servi
- Recognize your own personal values that make you unique as a yoga teacher
- Building a coherent brand knowing online and offline communication tools
- Build a business model canvas to understand how to position yourself in the market
Meetings 2022-2023
Biennial School for Yoga Teachers | Second Year of Course
September 17-18, 2022
October 8-9, 2022
November 5-6, 2022
December 3-4, 2022
January 28-29, 2023
February 11-12, 2023
March 18-19, 2023
April 1-2, 2023
May 13-14, 2023
June 10-11, 2022
Ask for information:
Use this form to contact AIYB, ask your questions and request more information about the Santiniketan Biennial School of Training.
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