Yoga Teacher Training course in Hoi An - week 2 experience

this is my second weeks experience of 1-month intensive yoga teacher training course at http://nomadyogahoian.com/ in Hoi An, Vietnam, which will qualify me as a yoga teacher through yoga alliance along with 6 other budding yogis.

Course timetable

Week 2

On our monday off we have to attend 2 classes of our choice, I attended 08.45am gentle yoga with Lanie and 6pm Restorative yoga with victoria.

At the start of the week, we were given a neti pot, which we have been using every morning filled with warm salt water, which is then poured into the nostril. The solution flows through the nasal passage, flushes out excess mucus and accumulated debris, and exits through the other nostril. The same process is then done to the opposite nostril.
Using a neti pot is an all-natural therapy that offers a number of benefits. It can help:
1, Clear nostrils for improved breathing
2, Reduce snoring
3, Reduce nasal dryness
4, Ease sinus headaches
5, Alleviate facial pain and pressure
6, Relieve allergy symptoms such as stuffy or runny nose
7, Heighten the sense of smell and taste
8, Prevent the common cold and other upper respiratory infections
9, Allow for deeper breathing
10, Reduce the need for medications such as antibiotics and decongestants

each morning after the neti pot we have a herbal detoxing tea between us and then watch a short thought provoking video of Sadhuguru, an Indian yogi and mystic. A couple that we watched were 3rd eye and aum. They are a really great way to start the day.

Youtube video we watched on the meaning of om the universal sound

YOGA
HATHA YOGA - We have Hatha yoga daily first thing in the morning for 1 1/2 hours. This week we have continued doing postures working on opening the back of knees and hips and core muscles to increase strength.

ASHTANGA YOGA - Fast paced yoga - We have ashtanga yoga every evening for 1 1/2 hours and have been learning different sun salutations.

ADJUST AND ALIGNMENT - Rahul has been showing us how to adjust and correctly position people on some of the common yoga postures which will be very useful when we are teaching our own classes.

YIN YOGA - this week we have had 2 yin yoga lessons by teachers Kirstin and her partner Nigel came in to play the singing bowls. Yin yoga was originally to help teach Kung Fu and it was brought to the west in the 1970’s through tai chi. It is holding poses for between 3 - 15 minutes often using props like pillows and bricks.

MEDITATION
In week 2 instead of having 1 hour of meditation daily, we have had 2, 1 hour meditation classes

We did the 4 pebbles meditation
in/out
1, flower/fresh
2, mountain/solid
3, Still water/reflecting
4, space/free

We also did Yoga Nidra meditation, which is a yogic sleep / deep relaxation guided meditation, it is done in shivasanna (lying down) and allows us to totally let go. This was very powerful for me and deep feelings of sadness, pain and grief that i thought i had processed and dealt with surfaced. I felt it in my throat chakra and my 3rd eye. A powerful statement was made in this class - Sometimes the things we are most adverse to are the things we need to do the most

CHANTING
We've been learning various hindu sanskrit chants, this week we have learnt the ashtanga opening and closing prayer . We've had 2, 1 hour chanting lessons this week.

At the end of every chanting class we have been doing an OM circle, with a different person inside of the circle each time

YOGA PHILOSOPHY
We watched a brilliant video by yogananda called awake

The 8 limbs of yoga
1, Yama - Moral / ethical code
2, Niyama - Self discipline
3, Asana - Posture
4, Pranayama - Breathing
5, Pratyaharaa - Withdrawal of senses
6, Dharana - Concentration
7, Dhyan - meditation
8, Samadhi - Liberation

ANATOMY
The 31 Bony Landmarks
Cartlidge - Flexible but hard
Ligaments - Limit movement
Joints - Allow movement
Tendons - Attach muscle to bone
Muscles - create movement
Range of Motion (ROM) of muscles
Types of Stretching - static, active and passive
Directions of movement (DOM)

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy there will be more to follow!