with Scott Johnson and Greg Nardi at Purple Valley Yoga Goa, India
Become a skilled teacher of Ashtanga Yoga
What is person-centered Ashtanga Yoga?
This approach to the teaching and practice of Ashtanga Yoga is based in the teachings of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras written circa 250 C.E. where the Ashtanga Yoga method is clearly described. It utilizes the techniques of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in a way that centers practitioner agency, fostering consent and choice in its application.
In the first ever one month Ashtanga Yoga teacher training at Purple Valley, Scott Johnson and Greg Nardi will focus on the skills necessary to hold space for others in an Ashtanga Yoga room and explore how to teach Ashtanga yoga in a way that is accessible to a wide variety of yoga practitioners.
There are as many ways to approach the teaching of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga as there are practitioners.
At its root, this unique 200hr teacher training envisions the practice and study of Ashtanga yoga as a journey toward self knowledge and right relationship to each other and the world.
If you have been a long term Ashtanga practitioner over the years you’ll know that within our method, Ashtanga teachers share the method in their own unique ways. Ideally this is because teachers are sharing the method based on their own experience as they meet each practitioner’s unique needs and abilities. What if there were a way to take all of this knowledge and place it in the hands of the practitioner? So they can begin to make the decisions that are best for their needs and progress through the practice and study of Ashtanga Yoga.
This training will help you share the traditional practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in a way that is accessible and available to a wide ranging population. We evision the role of the teacher as a guide that helps each student develop the knowledge and skills to support each practitioners journey.
How will this training help you?
It will help you uncover your ‘why’!
The practice of yoga is deeply personal to all of us. We all have our own reason for stepping on a yoga mat or sitting on a cushion. The next step, of wanting to teach, is also deeply personal. This training will help you to uncover your own ‘why?’. The reasons you do what you do. It will then help you shape that ‘why’ to help you support others in discovering theirs.
It will give you the space to learn together!
This training will give space to learning as an individual and within a community. It will honour the interdependence of all of us by exploring how the great vows of Ashtanga yoga, the yamas, can facilitate a space of co-learning and shared experience.
It will help you see Ashtanga yoga as a process of discovery!
Over the training, as you begin to see that the teaching and practice of Ashtanga yoga is actually an ongoing process of meeting yourself and others, you will use learn insights and skills to hold space for a wide variety of people and experiences, through the lens of the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga practice and framework.
Who is this teacher training for?
Experienced practitioners with the desire to take a deep dive into the practice, history, and philosophy of Ashtanga Yoga, who also wish to begin sharing it with others.
What are the criteria for application?
- Two years of dedicated practice of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga.
- Experience, and understanding, of practicing the full primary series of Ashtanga vinyasa yoga.
- On acceptance to the training you will receive access to a resource folder containing the asana names, opening and closing chants and the vinyasa count. Please commit to memorizing, or have a good knowledge of this, before the first day of the training.
What you will learn on the teacher training course
- Guidance on your daily personal practice
- Learn how to facilitate a practitioner-centered learning environment.
- Learn about power dynamics and consent in the yoga class.
- Learn to adapt sequences and poses for individual practitioners.
- Learn foundations of asana assists.
- In depth study of the anatomy and biomechanics of asana.
- Introduction to the physiological systems including polyvagal theory.
- Learn yogic models of assessment.
- Learn the History and Philosophy of Yoga.
- Learn to teach an Ashtanga yoga beginner’s class.
- Learn to teach a full primary series Ashtanga yoga class
- Learn to guide a simple breathing practice
- Learn to guide a meditation
- Have lots of time to practice teaching!
At the end of this course you will be qualified to:
- Teach an Ashtanga yoga beginner’s class.
- Teach a practitioner-centered, full primary series Ashtanga yoga class
- Guide a simple breathing practice
- Guide a meditation
What credentials will you receive?
On successful assessment and graduation of the course you will receive a Stillpoint Yoga foundation teacher certificate accredited by Yoga Alliance Professionals. This certificate will give you the ability to begin to teach your own Ashtanga yoga classes and lead you toward further training with Stillpoint Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga Worldwide.
(this training will not authorise you to teach Ashtanga yoga through the Sharath Yoga Centre/SYC)
(#There will be also an opportunity to upgrade your training to a 230hr foundation plus certificate with 30hrs of online mentoring after the course finishes)
Payment and Schedule
The teacher training is over 4 weeks and is broken down into 2 modules, both 2 weeks long.
On successful completion of both modules 1 and 2, trainees will be awarded with a foundational yoga certificate and be able to register with Yoga Alliance Professionals.
The prices given below are based per 2 weekly module (all training, food and accommodation at Purple Valley) and must be paid in full before beginning each module.
Garden view room Single (Savasana and Cottages) £3400 GBP
Garden view Shared (Savasana and Cottages) £3100 GBP
Standard Single (Ganesh and Savasana) £3150 GBP
Standard Shared (Ganesh/Savasana) £2900 GBP
(Trainees have up to 2 years to complete both modules.)
Sample weekly schedule for each module
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thurs | Fri | |
| 6am – 7am | Sitting practice | Sitting practice | Sitting practice | Sitting practice | Sitting practice | Sitting practice |
| 7am – 9am | Guided practice | Mysore style | Mysore style | Mysore style | Mysore style | Guided practice |
| 9am – 10:30am | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast | Breakfast |
| 10:30am- 12:00pm | Theory | Theory | Theory | Theory | Theory | Theory |
| 12:00pm – 2:00pm | Break | Break | Break | Break | Break | Break |
| 2:00pm – 4:00pm | Asana theory | Asana theory | Asana theory | Asana theory | Asana theory | Asana theory |
| 4:00pm – 4:30pm | Break | Break | Break | Break | Break | Break |
| 4:30pm – 5:30pm | Practicum | Practicum | Practicum | Practicum | Practicum | Practicum |
Who are your teachers?
Scott and Greg have been friends and colleagues since 2014. When they met they realised they had a shared vision around the teaching and practice of Ashtanga yoga. Between 2015 and 2019 they shared teaching annually, with their dear friend Kia Naddermier, at the renowned Stillpoint Yoga Spring Gatherings in London, holding space for practice, conversation and community about the many different elements of what it means to practice yoga.
They have also spent many years writing and collaborating on developing trainings that help Ashtanga yoga impact as many people as possible. They have both run long term mysore progammes, Greg since 2j000 in the USA and Scott since 2009 in London. They bring a wealth of experience not just as individuals but more importantly as a shared outcome of their deep friendship: mutual love, collaboration and respect.
Greg Nardi
Greg Nardi, is a YAP Senior teacher and E-RYT 500.
He is the lead teacher of Ashtanga Yoga Worldwide classes, workshops, and trainings.
Ashtanga Yoga Worldwide comes from Greg’s 24+ years of experience studying, practicing, and teaching yoga. He took extended trips to Mysore, India between 1999-2016 to learn yoga with a focus in asana, yoga history and philosophy, pranayama, meditation, and chanting. Greg also attends Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy. He teaches with Yoga4Change a florida based non-profit organization that achieves lasting, demonstrative change for veterans, individuals who are experiencing incarceration, youth, and people living with mental health conditions through a purpose-driven yoga curriculum.
Greg was formerly authorized level 2 with the KPJAYI in Mysore, India. Since resigning his authorization in 2018 Greg has dedicated himself to educating yoga practitioners about power dynamics and consent driven, student centered approaches to the teaching and practice of Ashtanga Yoga. Greg believes in the healing power of yoga for all.
Scott Johnson
Scott Johnson has 20+ years of practice and study of yoga. He co-founded Stillpoint Yoga London, a dedicated mysore self practice shala, in London Bridge in 2009 which still runs today. Scott’s teaching is greatly inspired and influenced by John Scott, Lucy Crawford and Manju Pattabhi Jois. Scott is authorized to teach the primary and intermediate series of ashtanga yoga by Manju and is a Yoga Alliance Professionals Senior Teacher. Scott has also undergone extensive training with Clear Mind Institute, gaining their level 3 certificate in Mindfulness and Compassion, and brings this quality of awareness to the practice and teaching of Ashtanga yoga.
Scott is host of The Stillpoints Podcast where he interacts with like minded practitioners, teachers and creatives on what it means to live a contemplative life.
Scott teaches with encouragement, insight, and integrity to the ashtanga yoga lineage he has had access to. He adheres to the authentic tradition and lineage of ashtanga yoga, assisting practitioners in discovering how the practice can unfold, not only personally on the mat, but also in the wider context of daily life.
