Katie Breen, RYT500

Really sitting in the seat of the student, as my advanced studies have been shifted to be my priority this year, my teaching has (of course!) also changed. I’m noticing things about my classes, I’m reflecting on what path I want to take as a teacher, and I’m seeing where there’s openings for new offerings in ways we don’t typically see. It is my joy to share what I’ve learned so far along this Yoga journey in my public and corporate classes, and it will continue to be – I hope for my lifetime! But I’m hearing the call to offer more for sincere and curious practitioners who crave a deeper understanding and experience of the practice, and who want to take a deeper look at themselves. Beginning in March 2019, I’m honored to offer a totally new, and somewhat divinely inspired program, By Way of the Heart: a Journey of Self through Yoga.

This immersion program will be one weekend a month from March to August, in Raleigh, NC. The program will run with no more than 4 in a group, and with enough interest, I’m open to running two groups congruently, or even one that runs the second half of the year.

Everywhere we look there are Yoga teacher training programs, and while we need the good trainings to continue passing the yoga tradition along in honor and integrity, there isn’t much available to those students of Yoga who don’t want to necessarily teach – or to sign up to study HOW to teach – but who maybe just in essence want to take their practice further. To learn more about the transitions of yoga. To see and feel it’s roots. Maybe even to just set aside dedicated time for themselves. To reflect. To learn the myriad of tools available to be at their disposal to create a happy, healthy, virtuous life. To move about their world with ease and a little more awareness.

Through this journey, you won’t be “certified” to teach yoga. This intensive study is focused more on creating a close community, self study and integration of a yoga practice by way of coming to know what yoga truly is, by way of the heart rather than by way of the head. We’ll read texts, talk about Vedic Astrology, learn how to open up the pathways of the heart (what is bhakti?), focus on breathing and mindfulness techniques, spend time cultivating personal practice, discover how our bodies work, listen to stories about India and the roots of yoga, and even visit a Hindu temple to experience ritual first hand. This is a heart first training. We’ll use the mind (of course!) but not as a stopping point, but rather, one way into the heart.

This may be for you if you’ve been practicing yoga for a while and you’re interested in how yoga is more than just a physical practice. This may be for you if you’d like to create more ease in your life by learning how to take care of yourself. This maybe for you if you just want to do something good for yourself and have accountability to do it. This period of study may be for you if you’ve done a 200hr and want to go deeper. It is important to me to make this accessible to anyone who wants to commit to self discovery, and affordable! Both of my trainings I signed up for out of a knowing that I had to take the step. I needed it. I didn’t have a pile of cash sitting around to pay for them, but the money has been there when I listened to the call of something deeper. Payment plans are also a godsend 🙂

Yoga has been my greatest love of my life, and I am forever a student really ready and excited to walk with a few of you as yoga works it’s magic on you, too. Get in touch with me for specifics and with all questions – I’ll send you an outline & details of the course! More to come…