Pranayama and Meditation

A Course in Pranayama and Meditation.

This course has been developed by David Burgess and is the most comprehensive in its field today.  It provides you with the underpinning knowledge and the experience necessary to effectively practice pranayama and meditation.

Points to note:

• This course starts at the very beginning and assumes you have no prior knowledge or experience.
• Over three modules, the practices are incrementally built up to an intermediate, and in some cases, an advanced level.
• The full course duration is a minimum of 45 weeks
• This course is not designed to certify you to teach pranayama and meditation. If you wish to teach pranayama and meditation, you must already be a qualified yoga teacher.

For experienced practitioners, going back to the beginning can be a wonderful thing, as it is surprising how over time we get stuck in a rut of old ways and have often lost our “beginners mind”.

You have the opportunity to step into the higher end of these practices in a systematic, informed, and sustained way and David’s guidance is readily available throughout your study.

Course structure:

This course is broken into 3 modules. It is delivered online through the IYTA training site and can be commenced at anytime throughout the year. For each tranche, there are four hours of quality video taken from the IYTA Diploma of Yoga Teaching that correspond with the practices. There are designated practices for each week, along with recommended related readings and online self-assessing quizzes.

Your commitment:

Every week there is a specific schedule of pranayama and meditation home practice to do and a sequential guide to instruction for each practice. There will also be some set readings on the underpinning theory.

Estimated time required: 30 mins a day of practice for 4 days a week (minimum) and no more than 2 hours of reading and writing each week.

Successful completion for the initial module is a pre-requisite for enrolment in the following module. You will be given reading relevant to that week’s practices and more often than not, a short online quiz, while not compulsory it is available for you there to complete. This will enable you to confirm your understanding of the purpose and technique of the designated practices.

To successfully complete each module, you will need to keep a practice journal showing evidence of your regular practice of the prescribed techniques for each week. This requires you to practice the designated practices for that particular week, a minimum of 4 times per week. Your journal will need to be submitted twice for the first module, and just once each for the subsequent modules.. This is so that you can receive detailed feedback from David.

Each module of this course takes 3 months to complete if you work through it on a weekly basis.  As we understand that life issues can come up and disrupt your practice, or you may just need a break, you have 6 months in which to work through each module.  After 6 months your access to Moodle will be suspended unless you have contacted David or the Course Manager to request an extension.  We are here to help you work through the course and for it to be a positive addition to your life, we will endeavour to assist you in any way we can for the duration of your time on the course and are readily available to discuss any questions you have about your practice or the course.

For more detailed information about the course and to get an idea of the commitment required, please read this interview with David HERE

As a Graduate you will:

• Have the knowledge and experience to conduct dedicated meditation and pranayama classes.
• Deepen your personal practice of meditation and pranayama, whether you are currently teaching yoga or not.
• If you are currently a Yoga Teacher, it will help you to systematically teach these practices and integrate them into your yoga class appropriately.
• If you are an existing Meditation teacher, it will help you to teach these practices from a significantly more informed and experienced position.
• Have a greater sense of who you are and your purpose in life and the joy of enabling others to achieve this.

Note: If you would like to take this course with the intention of teaching meditation, we require that you already have a yoga teaching qualification. 

Testimonials:

“It was an excellent course. Other teaching training courses I have done have dabbled in pranayama and meditation but it has never been presented in such a systematic and thorough way so I felt my knowledge was quite limited and I didn’t feel very confident in teaching various techniques which is why I wanted to learn more and develop my own practice. I now feel way more confident and have a much better understanding of what works for me and feel excited about continuing with practice (albeit sad about finishing the course too!).

I also appreciate that David was so thorough and prompt with his feedback on the journals.”

Theresa – Completed all 3 modules

“I have finished module 1 and I find the course is wonderful. The pranayama techniques and meditation are explained well through the books and the video is detailed.  It’s easy to follow the weekly activities and change perspective in life. Loved the course.

I would like to thank David Burgess for helping with queries and providing guidance and support when required.”

Kavita – Completed Module 1