Costa Rica Yoga Teacher Training with Paula Tursi

200 hr Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher Training

Brief description of Paula’s 3-Week / 21 Day Intensive YTT

Date: January 6-27, 2018

The approach is essentially vinyasa yoga with a strong focus on meditation and pranayama (an integral part of our teacher training), energetic awareness (bandha work, Kundalini meditations), and yoga philosophy. We will explore the process of the mind and meditation through the Yoga Sutras, Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now and Buddhist teachings.

There will also be some unexpected experiences revealed during the journey of your teacher training. Past offerings have included Indian dance, Osho meditations and energetic healing sessions. These activities are very powerful and may seem unusual to some students. Please be aware the entire training is quite a transformational experience and only those students who are ready to delve deeply into themselves, and to share this with the other students should attend. There will be conversations and activities included in the curriculum that involve sharing of deeply personal experiences with the other students. Confidentiality is absolutely expected, and it is of the utmost importance that each student is able to hold space for their classmates.

If you follow the guidelines (i.e. attendance, etc), you will leave this training certified to teach yoga through Yoga Alliance. During the training we will explore the body from a holistic perspective, applying the breath, and yoga therapeutic techniques. We will learn the asanas in their classic form as well as from a developmental perspective; mature a deep understanding of why the body moves as it does. We will experience and articulate that movement or asana can start from the inner or outer body. We will learn that movement initiated from the inner body can be an expression or lack of expression of the organs, bringing awareness and thus health to the deeper systems of the body.

Teacher Paula Tursi

Paula Tursi is the Founder and Director of Reflections Yoga and the internationally renowned Reflections Yoga Teacher Training Program. She has been working with alternative healing practices in New York City and internationally for over twenty years. Paula developed Reflections Yoga as a way to integrate what she found most inspiring in other practices with her own personal truth. She began her training at Integral Yoga, where she studied Hatha and restorative Yoga. She went on to work with esteemed teachers such as John Friend, Rodney Yee and Angela Farmer. She has also worked extensively with Leslie Kaminoff and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen in the art of yoga, breath work, anatomy, and movement awareness practices. She is certified at the 500-hour level with the Yoga Alliance and is an affiliated Anusara teacher. Most of her current studies are in Body Mind Center with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen.

Paula’s work focuses on the alignment of mind and body, understanding that we move not only from our muscles and joints, but also from the support of our inner body. Movement or asana can start from the inner or outer body, however, movement initiated from the inner body can be an expression of the organs bringing awareness and health to the deeper systems of the body. Her teaching and insights are born of the ongoing study of anatomy and kinesiology with master teachers such as Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Irene Dowd, Tom Myers, and Gil Hedley for anatomical dissection.

A Student-Made Photo Montage of a YTT taught by Paula at Anamaya

Paula holds a Masters degree in Psychology from Columbia University and a Masters degree in Education from Hunter College. She did her clinical post-graduate training at the Milton H. Erickson Society for Psychotherapy and Hypnosis. Paula conducts biannual Teacher’s Trainings in New York City and Latin America, teaches workshops nationwide and in Europe. She teaches on going classes, holds corporate workshops and offers individual instruction in breath awareness, partner yoga and yoga for body ailments.

This training programs provides a safe environment for structured asana sequences, and even more importantly, for personal growth through mental and spiritual exercises. The programs facilitate transformation at all levels, helping trainees to be their best selves and, in turn, the best teachers they can be. Paula stays true to classical yoga in all its forms and blends those forms with the beauty and freedom of the modern Vinyasa flow. Her classes are physically challenging, but rooted in alignment and the subtle energetic lines of the body. Paula brings her yoga practice into all areas of her life, and helps her trainees do the same by guiding them to the subtle wisdom within their own bodies.

Testimonials

“Thank you both so much for everything, I’m still feeling what I learned from you blossoming in my life, I don’t know where I’d be now if I hadn’t started this adventure into yoga at Anamaya with you both!” -Casie

“I had no idea what to expect coming into this training, but I am leaving feeling like a new person. I didn’t realize how much more there is to the body than the physical process. I couldn’t have asked for better teacher. I would recommend this training to anyone who is interested in using their bodies in sports, teaching or to those who interested in deepening their bodily skills or to those who simply want to look deeply into themselves and have a profound and rejuvenating experience.” -Sara Dushey

“I took a wonderful one-month Yoga Teacher Training class with Paula Tursi, at Anamaya Resort in Montezuma, Costa Rica. What an amazing experience! Paula is such a warm, loving individual, with such a strong, clear vision of what Yoga is and what it can do for your body! The training I received helped me personally in my yoga practice to correct many mistakes and misunderstandings of the poses and the anatomical issues underlying them, and helped bring out the many benefits that can be accessed through a well-grounded grasp of yoga principles. The training has equipped me to teach and spread the benefits of yoga to my classes, and will help protect my students from injury. Not only this, but it was fun and so enjoyable! Anamaya Resort is a beautiful, perfect place for yoga teacher training, with warm sun and gentle ocean breezes, luxurious accommodations and delicious, healthy organic food. Everyone at Anamaya, from the owners and managers to the kitchen, office, housekeeping and grounds maintenance staff, was warm, friendly, helpful, open to suggestion and willing to do anything they could to enhance our experience. I will strongly recommend this experience to my friends and anyone interested in taking their own yoga practice to new heights of appreciation and health.” -Art Gibert

“Going to Costa Rica all the way from Norway, my expectations where quite high, but the training exceeded my expectations in many ways. Paula Tursi’s knowledge is profound and her style of teaching is professional and calm. I highly recommend YTT with Paula Tursi.” -Sissel Albertsen, August 23, 2017

“This was far more than a yoga teacher training, it was an incredible personal development course. I would highly recommend it, even to those with no intention of teaching yoga. It has been absolutely instrumental in me becoming the person I feel I was always meant to be. I cannot praise Paula enough.” -Noah Hellreich, November 22, 2017

“The Reflections Yoga Teacher-Training is the best thing I did for myself & my practice, and consequently, my future students. Beyond the asanas, teaching techniques and yoga philosophy, this complete immersion invited me to dig deep and open my heart to the infinite possibilities and wholeness of a yogic lifestyle.” -Aina Maj Landvik, June 14, 2017

“Paula Tursi does an incredible job teaching yogic philosophy, meditation, physical asana and anatomy, all while guiding her students through an incredible transformational journey of personal growth and understanding. Anamaya’s grounds in beautiful Costa Rica create the perfect atmosphere for this training. Cannot recommend this program enough!!” -Elizabeth Hansen, May 10, 2017

This training will prepare and certify participants to:

Teach a Vinyasa yoga class with precise adjustments and intelligent sequencing.
Understand common skeletal problems and develop an understanding of how to work preventively and therapeutically.
Apply Anatomy & Physiology to yoga and movement.
Understand the breath and Instruct appropriate breathing techniques.
Sit in daily meditation and be able to instruct on the art of meditation from direct experience.
Students will read and discuss Yoga Sutras.

Written and practice assignments, as well as a final written evaluation and teaching demo, round out the program.

Daily schedule will run from 6:30am- 8:30pm

We will hold sessions for 5 days and have the 6th day off; this is subject to change depending on the needs of the group.

It is recommended to use your time off to study and practice teach as well as spend time in quite and even silence. This is necessary in order to assimilate and digest the work we will be doing together, there is a lot to cover in just 4 weeks and it will require a steadfast commitment on your part in order to complete the course. There will be time for study and practice teaching in order to prepare you for the final. You will be required to keep a journal throughout the program and will need to complete reading assignments on time and there should be no more than one day of absence during the course.

Keep in mind, this is a journey of self-discovery, a time to release attachments to what is familiar and constricting. In order not to disrupt each other’s process, we will, as a group, abstain from the following during the course: sexual activity, drinking alcohol, smoking or drug use. This is not a time to vacation and party; it is a time for purification and clarity. On the evenings/days you have off, you are welcome to do what you wish as long as it does not disrupt the energy of the group. After the final testing is over, we will have a celebration party and prepare for integration into the real world.

A follow up project as well as 10 karma hours will be required for completion after the training.

A Sample Day

Meditation 6:30 am – 7:30 am
Asana Practice 8:00 am – 9:00 am
Breakfast Break 9:00 am – 10:30 am
Massage/Anatomy 10:30 am – 12:30 pm
Lunch Break 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Therapeutics, Adjustments, Sequencing 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Dinner 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Yoga Philosophy 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
(This schedule is subject to change)

Required Book List

Please get these exact books. Condensed or abridged version will not be applicable.
The Key Muscles of Yoga – Ray Long
The Yoga Sutra of Pantanjali – Sri Swami Satchidananda
Light on Yoga or the Illustrated Light on Yoga – BKS Iyengar
The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
The Places That Scare You – Pema Chordron