UYUK Teacher Training - Urban Yogis

Urban Yogis UK 300 hour Yoga Teacher Training

300-hour Yoga Teacher Training

‘Seva’ – Yoga as Service is at the heart of this training

A 300-hour teacher training course incorporating specialist elements of youth and community work and teaching yoga to young people and marginalised communities.

£3950 (payment options available)

This teacher training programme is for committed practitioners with first-hand experience of how yoga practices can positively impact our lives and a passion for sharing these with others from their own experiences, including with young people.

It is designed to support teachers in developing the skills and knowledge to share yoga practices within their own communities.

We believe these practices should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn them, and this training has the importance of accessibility and community values at its heart.

• Yoga Philosophy & History
• Asana (to include teaching yoga asana specifically to young people)
• Pranayama (to include teaching breathing practices specifically to young people)
• Meditation / Mindfulness (to include teaching these practices to young people)
• Teaching Skills and Methodology
• Anatomy (Including specifically to young people)
• The Nervous System (To include how this relates specifically to young people)
• Complementary Movement Modalities
• Youth / Community / Social Justice
• Trauma-Informed Approaches
• Choice of Specialist Modules (Prison Yoga OR Neurodiversity – Additional needs and yoga)
• 10 Hours of Mentored Teaching Experience

The aim of this training is to offer an in-depth training and mentorship programme which will empower teachers with the skills, knowledge and aptitude to share yoga practices, in particular to young people and those in marginalized communities.

This is a training which honours the traditions of yoga philosophy and practice as an evolving process and which focuses on social ethics at its heart.

At the end of the training, teachers will:

• Have the knowledge, skills, confidence and aptitude to hold safer spaces and share these practices in their communities in a way that has practitioner empowerment at its heart.
• Have an understanding of the specific needs of different groups and how to share these practice tools in a way that is as accessible as possible to everyone.
• Understand how to teach suitable asana, breathing, meditation and mindfulness practices, including young people.
• Have a foundational understanding and knowledge of the history/context of yoga and yoga philosophy.
• Have a foundational knowledge and understanding of functional anatomy as it relates to teaching yoga, specifically to young people.
• Have a foundational knowledge and understanding of the nervous system as it relates to sharing different yoga practices, specifically with young people.
• Be able to plan classes and courses for different groups and needs.
• Understand different potential barriers to engagement and have the skills to overcome them.
• Understand and apply the relevant policies and procedures that form the basis for creating and holding safe learning environments, particularly when working with vulnerable and young people – these will include safeguarding and child protection, confidentiality, equality, ethics, code of practice and teacher/practitioner guidelines.
• Understand their scope of practice as a yoga teacher and when / how to signpost students to other professionals for support as required.

This training will take place in person at our Urban Yogis UK community space in Croydon.

In addition to the in-person modules, there will also be 30 hours of online yoga anatomy training, additional live-streamed Yoga Philosophy as well as home study.

Training School: Urban Yogis UK C.I.C.

Lead Trainer: Helen McCabe

Hassan Hassan (course co-teacher)

Rohil Jethmalani (Yoga Philosophy and Ethics)

Other contributors will include specialist educators to deliver modules, including the youth, community and social justice and specialist modules of the course:

David Keil (online Anatomy)

Helen McCabe – Lead Trainer

Helen has been practising yoga for over 30 years, and her experience of the benefits of yoga in her own life has inspired her to continue to learn more about these practices and share them with others.

Over the last two decades, she has taught regular classes in her community and supported other teachers through training and workshops. Helen has also had the privilege of leading retreats in the UK and internationally.

She considers herself a student first and foremost, and her own personal practice is the foundation from which she teaches. Helen draws from many years of Ashtanga yoga practice and pranayama, as well as her work as a somatic movement educator and exploration of other modalities, including restorative practices. She teaches with a practitioner-centred gentle approach that encourages each person to explore their practice from a place of curiosity to developing a deeper felt sense of their unique movement and breath.

Helen is passionate about making these practices as accessible as possible to the wider community. She is honoured to be a founding member of the Urban Yogis UK teaching team, which supports young people and communities, working to make Yoga accessible to all by breaking down social, economic, gender, cultural and other barriers.

Helen trained originally with the British Wheel of Yoga, completing their 3-year training. She has subsequently completed in-depth teacher training with John Scott (Ashtanga Yoga), Somatic Movement Education with Align Somatics and Pranayama, and Asana and Biomechanics with Kia Naddermier. She is a trained pre and post-Natal yoga teacher and teen yoga teacher. Helen has also completed the Neuroscience and Restorative Yoga module with Yoga Medicine and the Yoga4Health training to deliver their NHS-accredited 10-week yoga course. She is a registered Senior Yoga Teacher and Trainer with Yoga Alliance Professionals.

Hassan Hassan – Course Co-teacher

Hassan’s yoga adventure began in the gym, practising hatha yoga for a good stretch to escape the stress of working a challenging social services job.

After graduating from a more specialised hot yoga practice, Hassan felt profound changes in his life and workplace. Becoming a yoga teacher was a natural progression and a heartfelt decision for Hassan – he is grateful to be able to teach one of his great passions in life. He now helps adults go upside down, twist, back-bend and forward bend – all in the name of health and personal development.

Hassan has over 15 years of experience working with people personally and has been teaching in America, Sweden, Norway, Turkey, Thailand and all around the UK. He also runs teacher trainings and enjoys guiding Yogis further along the path.

Hassan is a personal trainer and Bikram, Hatha & Vinyasa teacher. His sessions are person-centred, motivated and compassionate, focusing on technique and a little fun! When not teaching or practising yoga Hassan can be found walking his dogs or sitting with them on the sofa. Specialists tend to stay narrow, the way Yohoho covers only betting and casinos in Argentina.

Rohil Jethmalani – Yoga Philosophy and Ethics

Rohil has taught immersive retreat and teacher training programs in Morocco, Bali and India. He has spent long periods of time learning & practising Ashtanga in the traditional Mysore style, as well as classical Hatha with his teachers in Mysore and Rishikesh.

Having practised yoga with his mother right from childhood, he believes that yoga is not simply a physical practice and strives to highlight the philosophies that underlie these rich and sacred traditions.

His teachings are non-dogmatic, whereby different students receive unique and appropriate instruction to tailor the practice to their needs and not the other way around.

Alice Wood – UYUK Teacher

Alice found Yoga when she lived and worked in Singapore over 10 years ago. She qualified as a yoga teacher with a 300 hour certificate in 2020 and has a Post Graduate Certificate in Mindfulness and Compassion. As well as Yoga, Alice teaches Mindfulness and is qualified to teach the Mindfulness in Schools Project.b course to the young people with whom she works as SENDCo, Designated Safeguarding Lead and English teacher, at a Surrey boys’ school.

As well as teaching within the state and independent sectors both in the UK, and internationally, Alice also has experience working in the specialist SEMH sector.

It is Alice’s background in education – specifically working with complex young people – and her belief in the transformative power of Yoga, that brought her to Urban Yogis. Since 2021, Alice has facilitated Yoga classes at Feltham Young Offenders Institution, and is working to develop a Yoga accreditation for young, incarcerated people, alongside the American Prison Yoga Project.

Alice has a deep understanding – both academically and practically – of teaching young people with neurodiversity, developmental trauma and complex needs. Alice will be facilitating a module on these topics as part of our teacher training.

Ben is the Co-Founder and Director at Gloves Not Gunz and Urban Yogis UK. Ben will be teaching the youth and community element of our teaching training.

Ben has over 17 years of experience working in social care, youth offending, youth work and education. He has a BA Hons Degree in Social Pedagogy (Youth & Community Development), Level 3 ‘Place2Be’ counselling & art therapy and has trained in trauma informed practice, restorative justice and AMBIT.

He has been practising Yoga since 2015 and completed his teacher training in 2018. He has completed training with the Prison Yoga Project and holds 300 hour TT.

In 2018, Gloves Not Gunz started a programme called BoxFlow Yoga, this was an intervention that used yoga to support young people involved in serious violence and gangs. Ben created classes that teach the young people asana, pranayama and meditation to help them develop their emotional awareness and build resilience. The programme had a positive influence on diverting young people from crime and preventing school exclusions.

In 2019 Ben became a Director and Yoga Teacher at Urban Yogis UK. Since his involvement in Urban Yogis he has supported the team to expand the programmes all over the UK, the organization now delivers yoga in communities, schools and prisons with the aim to make Yoga accessible. Ben has been teaching in prisons over the past few years whilst managing the organisation with Adam Ballard.

Ben is passionate about making Yoga accessible to all and believes the Urban Yogis TT will offer people the opportunity to build their skills and experience in teaching yoga within communities that would not normally access yoga due to a range of barriers.

Application Criteria / Eligibility

Applicants should have practised consistently for a minimum of 2 years and have an established regular personal yoga practice. Although not a pre-requisite, any prior teaching experience or experience in youth work will also be welcome. This will be an exciting but demanding course, and we invite applicants to approach it with an open mind, a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn.

In addition to the schedule of in-person modules, which will run over the course of 12 months, there will also be some home study in-between each module and an additional 30 hours of online Anatomy study. There will also be live-streamed philosophy lectures and discussions each month over the course of the training. Applicants should make sure that they have the time and support that they need to be able to commit to the course fully.

For every 12 spaces, there will include a minimum of 1 x fully sponsored space. Please contact us at [email protected] if you would like more information about our scholarships.

This course is registered with and accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals. The course fees include trainee teacher insurance arranged by Yoga Alliance Professionals.

The final teaching certificate will be awarded upon completing both parts of the training (300+ hours), subject to the trainee demonstrating their understanding of all modules and competency to teach the practices safely and as appropriate to different groups.

Attending this training does not guarantee you will be awarded the final certification. Anyone who needs additional time or support to complete the course will be offered the opportunity to do so at an additional cost.

Initial 4-day Immersion: 02/2 – 05/2/2024

Followed by 3 x weekends:

4-day Immersion 17/5 – 20/5/2024

4-day Immersion: 28/6 – 01/7/2024

Followed by 5 x weekends:

Final 4-day Immersion 6/12 – 9/12/2024

In addition to the in-person modules, there will be 30 hours of online yoga anatomy training, additional live-streamed Yoga Philosophy teaching, and home study.

Email: [email protected] Instagram: @urbanyogisuks

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